She felt the quiver that knifed through him at her words, but she could never guess the deep pleasure they gave him. Unable to think clearly any longer, the urgent demands of his body pushing all thoughts but one from his mind, he kissed her passionately, his hands tightening on her wrists, and with one swift lunge, he buried his aching flesh within hers.
Racked by a sharp burst of pain as his body thrust into her virgin one, Melissa shivered violently, her fingernails digging into the backs of his hands as she choked down a cry of hurt. Her body heaved upward in protest at the pain he had so unexpectedly given her, but Dominic's hands clamped even more securely around her wrists, holding her prisoner beneath him.
He remained motionless within her, giving her body time to adapt to this new intrusion, and gently he kissed her cheeks and the tempting outline of her mouth. "I'm sorry," he breathed huskily, "but there was no other way...."He kissed her deeply, only by the greatest effort able to control the elemental compulsion to seek his own release. It was ecstasy to lie here like this, to feel his body locked with hers, to feel the heat and silkiness of her all around him, and a surge of incredible tenderness eddied through him. She was fire and wine in his arms, everything that he had ever wanted in a woman, and helplessly, his kisses became more demanding, his body moving slowly, gently, within her.
In a welter of confusion and shock, Melissa felt the pain ebb, felt her body widen to accommodate his possession. She was a woman now, Dominic's woman; that one thought banished the remnants of her pain, and mindlessly she let him wrap them both in the pleasure to be found between lovers.
Bemused by the sensual experience of his hard body driving into hers, aware of his strong hands clasping her buttocks, holding her tight against him, instinctively she matched him movement for movement, her hips rising to meet the downward thrust of his. Dominic's lovemaking was intoxicating, the demanding pressure of his mouth sweeping her along with him, a ripple of tingling pleasure unexpectedly shooting through her as he increased the tempo. Breathless and wide-eyed, she lay there stunned beneath him, unable to understand how such a simple act could bring this much delight.
Dominic had been uncertain whether he could bring her fulfillment this first time, but he felt that faint quiver her body gave, and a surge of exultance raced through him, pushing him over the edge to find his own ecstasy. And afterward, afterward, there was her sweet, soft body to pull next to him, his hands tangling in the tousled curls that tumbled wildly near her temples, his mouth, gently, thoroughly, searching hers as he plainly enjoyed the aftermath of lovemaking.
Melissa lay silent beside him, shyness and confusion sealing her lips. What did one say after such an event? My, wasn't that enjoyable? Thank you very much? A nervous giggle threatened to escape her and she burrowed her head deeper into his warm shoulder, unbearably conscious of their nakedness as they lay there together on the satin coverlet.
It would have come as a great surprise to her to learn that Dominic was suddenly, paralyzingly, at a loss for words. He had made love to several women in his life, although he had never had quite as many mistresses as had been attributed to him by the gossips, but this was the first time that he had ever made love to a virgin or to a woman who was his wife. What, he wondered, did he do now? Ordinarily, he would have dropped a kiss on her head, mentioned a future meeting and then discreetly taken his leave, but this was his wife, for God's sake. He couldn't treat her like a damned mistress. Besides, he discovered to his astonishment, he didn't really want to leave her bed; he rather enjoyed lying here with her tempting body pressed against him. More to the point, he was conscious of the renewed stirring of his body—not since his hot-blooded youth had he felt this compelling desire to taste again the delights that he had experienced only minutes ago. And that rather alarmed him. Truth be told, his whole reaction to Miss Melissa Seymour, now Mrs. Dominic Slade, alarmed him.
Frowning, ignoring the urgings of his body, he considered his uncharacteristic actions of late—particularly since he had first laid eyes on the bewitching, infuriating creature at his side. He could in part, now that her disguise had been dispensed with, understand the attraction he had felt for her... except it nagged him that even when he had thought her a sharp-tongued dowd, he had still found himself drawn to her. He hadn't been aware of her beauty the night Zachary had gotten drunk. Nor had he plumbed the depths of her disguise when he had made the ridiculous offer to buy a half interest in Folly. In the darkness, he smiled wryly. Folly. That was what this entire episode had been, pure folly. But calling it folly didn't satisfy him, and his sensation of disquietude grew. He could convince himself, in regard to the purchase of the horse, that he had allowed compassion to move him; he could even tell himself that it had been simply to rescue her from what he was positive had been an unpleasant situation involving Latimer. He would have done a lot to thwart Latimer.... But that still didn't explain everything. Nor did it answer why he had meekly stood by and let Josh Manchester coerce him into marrying her....
It had been an unfortunate situation that night at the inn, of that there was little doubt, but marriage... He moved uneasily on the bed, his hand unconsciously caressing Melissa's arm. Marriage was something he had sworn to avoid, and he was aware that had the woman he had found in his room that night been anyone other than Melissa, he would never have lost his head that way, nor would he have let any number of angry relatives force him to take such a drastic step. Not liking the trend of his thoughts, he scowled. Why he had acted as he had on numerous occasions with Melissa wasn't important, he told himself. The important thing was that they were married and that it would behoove them to make the best of a bad situation. But even coming to that sensible conclusion didn't quell the uneasiness within his breast. He had the unwelcome premonition that if he were not very careful he would commit the greatest folly of all—falling madly in love with his wife and turning into as besotted and doting a husband as his brother Morgan. It was only natural that his young bride should fascinate him, but loving had absolutely nothing to do with it. As for the desire she aroused, well, that was normal—he wouldn't be male if his body didn't respond as it did to the warmth and silky feel of her soft flesh. He pushed aside any further thoughts on the subject. What if he did want to make love to her again? She was his wife; this was their wedding night and he had been a long time without a woman. Convinced for the present that he had explained everything away, with renewed hunger stirring in his veins, he tightened his clasp on Melissa and fervently sought her mouth with his.
Melissa responded blindly to Dominic's kiss, the touch of his lips on hers plunging her again into the whirlpool of physical desire. He was not quite as gentle with her this time, his movements hurried, as if he were driven by a strange urgency, but she didn't care, her own newly awakened desires rising up swiftly to meet his, and for the second time she discovered the magic to be found in a lover's arms.
But when it was over, when their heartbeats had stilled once more and the passion that clouded rational thought ebbed, Melissa returned unpleasantly to her present predicament. Her cheek resting against the gentle rise and fall of Dominic's chest, she was miserably conscious that nothing had changed. He still didn't love her; he still hadn't wanted to marry her, and she didn't know if she could bear to have him come to her bed, aware that it was not love but common lust that brought him there.
To her horror, she felt tears prick at the corners of her eyes and for an awful moment she was afraid she was going to burst into sobs. Biting her lip, she blinked several times, berating herself for being a fool and for allowing herself to be beguiled by his undoubted charm. There was no use pretending to herself after tonight that she would ever be able to deny him anything. Her sweet mouth twisted. Certainly she wouldn't be able to deny him her bed—all he had to do was touch her, and her bones turned to pudding, she thought disgustedly. But if she was willing to admit that Dominic fascinated her, she wasn't about to let him know her feelings—then all would be lost.
Tears go
ne, she lay there for several seconds, her thoughts busy with ways to hide the silly yearning of her wayward heart. It wouldn't do to sigh and beg for the moon. She would have to act as careless and indifferent around him as she could. Not for her languishing looks and soulful eyes. She had lost this first skirmish between them; that didn't mean that she should surrender and turn into a biddable mouse of a wife, did it?
A sparkle in her amber-gold eyes, she began to formulate plans to make it clear to her new husband that, while he might command her body, he had not conquered either her heart or her spirit. If he wanted a mewling, clinging vine, he should have continued his pursuit of the fair Deborah, she thought tartly. But she was aware of an odd constriction in the region of her heart at the thought of Dominic with Deborah, and she sighed, suddenly depressed about the future.
Dominic heard that soft sound and remembering her virgin state and concerned that he might have hurt her this last time, he brushed a kiss across her forehead and inquired quietly, "Shall I leave you? I did not mean to act in the manner of a rutting boar—I hope I did not hurt you."
Still shy with him, she shook her head, not able to look at him. But it seemed that Dominic suffered from no such niceties, and before she could protest, he had shifted their positions until she lay flat on the bed and he was propped up on one elbow, lounging there beside her and gazing down at her wary features.
A thread of laughter in his voice, he murmured, "What did that shake mean—no, you don't want me to leave? Or no, I didn't hurt you?"
Staring up at him in the flickering light of the candle, Melissa wished that he didn't look quite so appealing with his curly black hair ruffled from her caressing fingers and his gray eyes full of lazy amusement. There was a satisfied smile curving his mobile mouth, and that more than anything strengthened her resolve not to let him know precisely how very attractive she found him.
Pretending indifference she didn't feel, she smiled at him and shrugged. Not meeting his eyes, she replied, "Take it to mean whatever you like."
That wasn't what he wanted to hear, and her cool smile annoyed him. He had hoped that she would want him to stay with her, and even in spite of her less-than-inviting attitude, he found himself reluctant to move away from her warm body, much less her bed. With an edge to his voice, he muttered, "Then I'll take it to mean no... to both questions."
Hoping he would not guess at the effort it cost her, she shrugged again and yawned delicately. "Whatever you wish. I for one am quite fatigued and would like to sleep now." She opened her eyes wide and said innocently, "Since I have proved myself to be a dutiful wife and endured your demands, I do think that I should be allowed to sleep alone in my own bed... don't you?"
Chapter 15
"By God, I sure as hell don't!" Dominic burst out furiously, all signs of lazy amusement gone. A glitter in the gray eyes, he jerked upright and in one lithe motion leaped from the bed. Snatching up his robe from the floor where he had thrown it in what seemed only moments before, he glared at Melissa. "Endured!" he snarled, wounded pride battling with the strong inclination to grab her into his arms and kiss her mindless. How dare she act this way! He had given her pleasure, he knew he had, and now the brazen little baggage was trying to pretend that it had meant nothing to her.
He stood there glaring at her for a long moment while he considered climbing back into her bed and proving to her that enduring was not quite what she had done during their lovemaking. But there was a niggle at the back of his brain that questioned his assumption that she had enjoyed what they had just shared.... Perhaps, he thought with a sinking feeling in his midsection, she had simply endured; that, her actions to the contrary, she found his touch repulsive and had merely suffered his presence.
It was, for Dominic, one of the most painful moments of his life, and if Melissa could have guessed the hurt she was inflicting by her facade of indifference, she would never have been able to carry it out. As it was, she met his look squarely, and continuing with the role she had selected, she replied with a remarkable amount of composure, considering the tumultuous beat of her heart, "Yes, endured!"
Jaw taut, Dominic said acidly, "Very well, madam wife, you have made yourself abundantly clear—I will not inflict my company on you any longer—and rest assured that while you find my lovemaking distasteful, there are many women who don't!" His gaze raked her naked body. "And although your charms are delightful, I'm sure that I shall find others who are just as pleasurable! Good night, dear wife!"
Her topaz-colored eyes huge in her pale face, she watched as he stalked from the room, the urge to call him back strong, the desire to retrieve every word she had spoken overpowering. In trying to protect herself, had she made a mistake? Had that been a flicker of pain she had glimpsed in the depths of those usually laughing gray eyes?
Miserably she stared at the door that Dominic had slammed behind him. To add to her feeling of guilt and unhappiness, the memory of all the kind things that he had done for her since she had first known him came rushing back. Oh, my wretched, wretched tongue! she thought forlornly, wishing that there were some way to call back the last few minutes.
Melissa's abject state didn't last very long. Though she remembered the kind things that Dominic had done for her and Zachary, she also remembered Josh's early comments about Dominic and the ugly content of Latimer's letter. Reminding herself that he had made it apparent that he'd had no desire to marry her and had done so only out of a sense of honor helped to lessen some of the guilt she was experiencing. After all, she mused, she hadn't said anything vicious and she had warned him that she didn't want to consummate their marriage, so he shouldn't have been surprised at her actions. And since he didn't feel any deep emotion for her, it shouldn't have bothered him that his lovemaking apparently left her unmoved....
She wasn't comfortable with her line of thought, but it did give her some solace and it did dilute her awful feeling of having wounded Dominic's sensibilities. But it didn't explain away her growing uneasiness that she had made a terrible miscalculation and that she was going to pay a dear price for tonight's works. With a lowering spirit she recalled his final words to her about finding other women who didn't find his lovemaking distasteful.
Angry with herself for even caring that he might seek the charms of other women, Melissa sat up in bed, pulling her knees up to rest her chin on them. Wrapping her arms around her legs, she stared at the door from which Dominic had departed such a short time ago. It didn't matter, she told herself for perhaps the tenth time. This was a marriage of convenience—they both knew that! There was no love between them; they would live separate lives, each one busy with his or her own pursuits. Melissa grimaced. Somehow that wasn't how she had expected her marriage to be; it was to avoid such an empty life that she had refused to marry in the first place.
A bitter laugh escaped her. It was ironic that after all the machinations she had gone through over the years to avoid being forced into a loveless marriage, she should find herself in just that position. Conscious of the tiny ache in the region of her heart, she felt a tear trickle down her cheek.
She wished she knew what Dominic was thinking; wished she had some inclination of his feelings for her. She knew he desired her, or had desired her, she thought with an unhappy twist of her mouth, and she knew that he had been both generous and indulgent with her during the brief time they had known each other. But just because he had been generous and indulgent didn't imply that she meant any more to him than... than his horses! He was a wealthy man, he could afford to be generous, and as for indulgence—sometimes indulgence merely masked indifference!
A militant sparkle appeared in the golden-brown eyes. She was not going to brood over tonight. She would be polite and proper with her husband, but she was not going to allow herself to be hoodwinked by his charms. Hadn't Latimer written in his letter that Dominic had been seeing Deborah only days before the wedding? And hadn't dear Uncle Josh warned her repeatedly that Dominic was a bounder, a womanizer of the worst kind? O
h, no, she wasn't about to allow her foolish heart to be captured by such an unworthy creature!
Giving her tawny head a defiant toss, she decided that she had not been wrong to act as she had tonight. Her husband was already too arrogant, too confident of his own worth and it was just as well, if she had punctured his pride a little. It would never do to let him have a hint of the sweet turmoil he created so effortlessly in her breast by a mere look, a touch, a smile....
Melissa took a deep breath. She wouldn't think about that! She concentrated instead on what she had gained. The worst hurdle was over; she had made her position clear, and it was time that she stopped yearning for something she couldn't have and set about finding some even ground on which to base their marriage. Having convinced herself of the soundness of her reasoning, she lay back down and prepared to sleep.
But sleep came hard, the memory of Dominic's lovemaking causing her body to ache for his touch; the memory of the expression in his eyes just before he had turned away from her making her doubt the wisdom of the stance she had taken. It wasn't at all surprising that she awoke depressed and tired at the first light of dawn, her thoughts going instantly to her husband, all the uncertainties she had assumed she had resolved within herself rushing to the forefront of her mind.
At least Melissa had been able to sleep, even if only for a little bit, but such had not been the case for her very new and very angry husband. Dominic had spent the hours since he had stormed from her bedroom alternately cursing her and yearning to creep back into her bed and press her sweetly perfumed flesh next to his, to know again the intoxicating wonder of making love to his wife.
Midnight Masquerade Page 22
