Historical Trio 2012-01 Read online

  Dominic roughly pulled the bodice of her gown and chemise down to her waist and pushed the two garments down about her knees, before his mouth once again captured hers. His hand cupped firmly about one of Caro’s exposed breasts and his fingers began to tweak and tug on the hardened nipple.

  She forgot everything else but Dominic. Her neck arched invitingly as he finally wrenched his mouth from hers to lay a trail of fire down the column of her throat, her arms moving up over his shoulders and her fingers becoming entangled in the dark thickness of hair at his nape, as his head moved lower still and he drew one of those hardened nipples deep into the heat of his mouth.

  Caro gave a choked gasp as there seemed to be a direct line of pleasure from Dominic’s rhythmic tugging at her breast to the dampness between the bareness of her thighs, her movements becoming restless as she pressed into his hardness in search of some sort of relief for that throbbing and hungry heat.

  Dominic had meant only to punish Caro for her disobedience, for her questioning his courage, but as he kissed and caressed her he instead found himself more aroused than he had ever been in his life before. So much so that he had not hesitated to pull down her gown and chemise and expose the silky paleness of her naked body to his heated gaze. Her breasts were high and firm, her waist narrow and flat, with a tiny thatch of enticing golden curls in the vee of her thighs.

  He continued to lay siege to both her breasts with his lips, tongue and teeth as one of his hands gently parted those thighs before cupping her silky mound with his palm and allowing his fingers to explore the heat beneath. Caro was so hot and wet as he parted those sensitive folds to caress a finger along the heat of her opening, slowly, gently, circling but not yet touching the swollen nub nestled amongst those curls, in no rush to hurry her release, but instead savouring every low aching groan she gave as he caressed ever closer to that sensitive spot.

  He touched her there once, lightly, feeling the response of that hard and roused little nubbin as it pulsed against his finger, hearing but ignoring Caro’s low moan as he resumed caressing the swollen opening below, fingers testing, dipping slightly inside, and feeling the way her muscles contracted greedily about his finger even as she pushed her hips forward in an effort to take him deeper still. An invitation Dominic resisted as he continued to tease and torment her.

  ‘Dominic, please!’

  He raised his head slightly in order to look into Caro’s flushed and reproachful face. ‘Please what?’

  Her eyes flashed deeply green and her fingers clenched on his shoulders. ‘Do not tease me, Dominic.’

  ‘Tell me precisely what you want from me, Caro,’ he encouraged gruffly. ‘You have only to issue an instruction and I will obey.’

  Could she do that? Caro wondered wildly. Could she really tell Dominic plainly, graphically, what it was she required from him in order to give her relief from the heat threatening to consume her?

  ‘Do you want some part of me inside the sweetness of you, Caro?’ Dominic prompted softly as he seemed to take some little pity on her desperate silence.

  ‘Yes!’ she groaned achingly.

  ‘Which part, Caro?’ he pressed. ‘My fingers? My tongue? My shaft?’

  Oh, help! Those satisfying fingers? The hot and probing moistness of his tongue? His swollen arousal that she could clearly see hard and throbbing beneath his pantaloons? From not knowing what she needed, Caro now knew she wanted to experience having all three of those things inside her.

  ‘Perhaps we should experiment? See which it is you like the best?’ Dominic looked down at her nakedness with eyes that had become both dark and hungry as he once again swirled his fingers into the silky curls between her thighs to unerringly find and gently stroke against that secret part of her.

  Caro felt the instant return of that earlier pleasure, stronger now, more demanding, as she instinctively began to move into those caresses, knowing she was poised on the brink of—Caro had no idea what she was poised on the brink of, she only knew that she wanted, needed it, with a desperation she had never known before.

  She moaned again in her throat as one long finger probed her before slipping inside her heat. Deeper. Then deeper still. At last giving her some relief for that aching need as she moved her hips in rhythm with that finger as it thrust slowly in and out of her.

  ‘Lie back upon the bed, Caro,’ Dominic instructed throatily even as he eased her back against the pillows, continuing that slow and penetrating thrust inside her as he discarded her gown and chemise completely before moving to kneel between her legs to lower his head between her parted thighs.

  Caro’s hips jerked up from the bed at the first hot sweep of his tongue against her sensitised flesh, her fingers contracting, clutching at the bedclothes beside her, at the second sweep. She cried out, her neck arching her head back into the pillows, as unimagined pleasure ripped through her, Dominic thrusting a second finger deep inside her at the same time as he administered a third sweep of his tongue against that pulsing nubbin.

  Caro became pure liquid heat. She felt as if she were on fire as wave after wave of pleasure radiated from deep between her thighs, only to surge through the whole of her body, each caress of his tongue and fingers creating yet another, deeper, swell of that mind-shattering pleasure.

  Dominic watched Caro’s face even as he continued to lave her with his tongue and slowly thrust with his fingers, knowing the exact moment she became lost in the throes of her climax; her eyes were a wide and stormy blue-green, her cheeks flushed, lips slightly parted, her breasts thrusting, the nipples hard as pebbles, her thighs a parted invitation as the nubbin pulsed beneath his tongue and she convulsed greedily about his thrusting fingers.

  As he looked at her Dominic knew he had never experienced anything more beautiful, more physically satisfying, than watching Caro lost in the pleasure she felt from the touch of his mouth and hands. He found it more satisfying even than attaining that climax for himself.

  He had been so angry with her earlier, so absolutely furious, not least because by behaving in that reckless way she had exposed her whereabouts to Nicholas Brown. But he did not want to dwell on that here and now, when Caro still quivered and trembled from the ministration of his lips and hands. Not with her all but naked beneath him, her only clothing now a pair of white silk stockings.

  Besides, he had no answer as yet to his earlier question: fingers, tongue, or shaft?

  Caro lay back weak and satiated against the pillows as she watched Dominic quickly strip off his boots, jacket, waistcoat, neckcloth and shirt, to reveal a hard and muscled chest covered in a light dusting of dark hair that disappeared beneath the top of his pantaloons. Pantaloons he now unfastened and pushed down and off equally hard and muscled legs to reveal the surging power of his engorged arousal.

  Caro had never seen a naked man in her life before, but even so she was sure that Dominic was a physically well-endowed man. Her gaze rose to look at his face, and she swallowed convulsively as she saw the flush to his cheeks and the slightly fevered glow in those silver eyes as he wrapped a hand around that impressive length before moving forwards to rub it slowly against the opening between her thighs.

  Caro felt herself quiver with each stroke of that hardness against her sensitivity, breathing heavily as she felt the return of that heat between her thighs. Surely she could not feel that pleasure again so quickly?

  She could, Caro discovered only seconds later as Dominic continued to stroke that silky hardness against her own reawakened nubbin, her breasts becoming firm, nipples thrusting achingly even as she felt herself moisten in anticipation.

  ‘Fingers? Tongue? Or shaft?’ Dominic prompted gruffly even as he moved his hips forwards into her opening, one inch, two, before pulling back and starting again. One inch. Two. Three this time, before he pulled out and started again.

  Caro had never experienced pleasure like this in her life before. Never imagined anything so exquisite as looking down at Dominic as he knelt between her parted thighs and
slowly breached her, inch by glorious inch.

  Each time Dominic thrust inside Caro she felt full and satisfied. Each time he pulled out again she felt bereft and empty. And each time he thrust inside her a little deeper she was sure she had reached her limit, that she had inwardly stretched and accommodated him as far as she was able. Until Dominic pulled out before thrusting even deeper inside her the next time.

  Caro had been convinced when she first saw the size of Dominic’s arousal that she would never be able to accommodate anything so large—

  ‘Oh, my God!’ Caro tensed suddenly, eyes wide with shock as she felt herself start to rip apart inside the moment Dominic took his weight on his arms to thrust forwards urgently with his hips so that he surged into her completely. It felt as if she were being torn in two as she finally took his whole length inside her.

  ‘What the—!’ Dominic froze above her, his face suddenly pale, his eyes glittering like opaque silver as he stared down at her incredulously.

  ‘It is all right, Dominic,’ Caro assured breathlessly. And, incredibly, it was, that first searing pain having now faded, and so allowing her to once again become aware of the pleasure of having his fullness completely inside her.

  His face was grim. ‘It most certainly is not all right!’

  ‘I assure you that it is,’ she encouraged softly. Dominic’s arousal had looked hard and fierce earlier, but now that he was completely inside her Caro realised that fierce hardness was encased in skin of seductive and silky velvet. She moved her hips up, and then down again, the better to feel that sleek and velvety smoothness as it moved against her sensitive flesh.

  ‘Do not move like that again, Caro, or I cannot be responsible for the consequences.’ Dominic’s jaw was clenched, his expression pained, a fine sheen of moisture upon his brow.

  But of course Caro must move! How could she not move, when every part of her, every sensitised inch of her, cried out for the relief of having that pleasure-giving hardness stroking inside her?

  Dominic had been stunned into immobility the moment he discovered Caro’s innocence. ‘Why did you not tell me?’ His gaze was fierce as he looked down at the flushed beauty of her face, angry with himself at the moment rather than Caro, knowing he should have put a stop to this long before it had come to the point of his breaching her virginity.

  And he had every intention of putting a stop to it now!

  Dominic moved up and carefully away from her as he slowly disengaged himself, frowning as he saw Caro’s wince of discomfort as he slipped from her obviously sore entrance. That frown turned to a dark scowl as he looked down and saw the blood smeared between her thighs as well as on him.

  ‘Do not move,’ he instructed harshly as he stood up to cross the room to the jug and bowl on the washstand, pouring some of the water from the jug into the bowl before moistening a cloth and cleaning Caro’s blood from his own body before returning it to the bowl to rinse it in preparation for her. The water was cold, of course, but would hopefully be all the more soothing because of it.

  Caro had watched Dominic beneath her lashes as he stood up to cross the bedchamber, completely unconcerned by his own nakedness, his movements gracefully predatory, like the sleek movements of a large jungle cat. He stood with his back towards her now, his shoulders wide, his back long and muscled, his buttocks a smooth curve above heavily muscled thighs and legs. If a man could be described as beautiful, then Caro knew that he could be called such.

  The colour warmed her cheeks, however, when he returned to sit on the side of the bed and began to bathe between her thighs with a cool and soothing washcloth, his face a study of unreadable hauteur. Caro attempted to push those attentive hands away. ‘There really is no need—’

  ‘There is every need.’ Dominic barely glanced up at her before continuing that studied bathing between her sensitive thighs.

  Caro felt embarrassed, both by the intimacy of his ministrations, and the fact that their lovemaking had come to so abrupt an end once he’d been made aware of her innocence.

  Surely there should have been more to it than that? A completion? A reciprocal pleasure? Dominic had certainly not shown signs of experiencing anything like the pleasure that Caro had.

  All whilst in the bedchamber of house she had never visited before!

  Caro moistened her lips, instantly aware of how swollen and sensitive they still were from the force of his kisses.

  ‘Exactly where are we, Dominic?’

  He looked at her briefly before turning away to place the cloth back in the bowl. ‘I hope you are a little more comfortable now.’ He stood up abruptly, his arousal already noticeably depleted. ‘Perhaps I should send for a physician and he might give you some sort of soothing balm to apply—’

  ‘I have no intention of being attended by a physician!’ Caro’s cheeks were hot with embarrassment as she imagined having to explain this situation to a third party. ‘Dominic, is it possible I might become with child from—from what just occurred between us?’

  Dominic closed his eyes even as he gave a groan of self-disgust. An innocent. Damn it, he had just deflowered a complete innocent!

  Chapter Eleven

  ‘It is very doubtful,’ Dominic answered stiffly.

  ‘But possible?’

  ‘Perhaps,’ he allowed abruptly.

  Caro turned away. ‘Whose house is this?’

  Dominic looked down at her between narrowed lids, her cheeks flushed, her mouth slightly trembling as she pulled the sheet over her nakedness. It was a little late in the day for maidenly modesty, of course, but now was possibly not the right time for Dominic to allude to that fact.

  ‘I do not believe that to be important at this moment—’

  ‘I do.’ There was a stillness about Caro now. A wariness that bordered on anger, perhaps?

  He gave a humourless smile. ‘You had made it obvious from the first that you did not wish to remain at Blackstone House, and last night it became just as obvious to me that the two of us could not continue to reside under the same roof any longer—’

  ‘At which point in last night’s proceedings did this become so obvious to you, Dominic?’ Caro interrupted sharply. ‘Perhaps at the point where you announced the inappropriateness of seducing a female guest in your own home?’ Angry colour now heightened the delicacy of her cheeks.

  Looking down at her, the warmth of their lovemaking still visible upon her body, Dominic knew that she had never looked lovelier: her eyes sparkled, her cheeks were flushed, her lips slightly swollen from the passion of their kisses, and the skin across her shoulders and the exposed tops of her creamy breasts was slightly pink from the abrasion of the light stubble upon Dominic’s jaw.

  That jaw hardened at the accusation he heard in her tone. ‘If you are somehow meaning to imply that I brought you to this house in order to seduce you—’

  ‘Did you not?’ She stood up, her movements agitated as she held the sheet tightly to her breasts to pace the bedchamber.

  ‘Do not be ridiculous, Caro.’ Dominic’s quickly rising anger was more than equal to her own. Damn it, he was the one who had been in complete ignorance of her innocence until a few minutes ago!

  The signs had been there if he had cared to see them, Dominic instantly rebuked himself. Caro’s naïvety concerning the interest of the men who had come to Nick’s night after night just to see her. The frequent indications of her being a young lady of refinement. The often imperious manner that hinted at her being used to issuing orders rather than receiving them.

  That Dominic was now assured he had not been guilty these past three days of attempting to make love to a married woman or a member of the servant class was poor consolation when he had instead robbed a young woman of the innocence she should one day have presented to her husband.

  ‘Ridiculous?’ Caro now repeated softly, eyes gleaming as dark as emeralds. ‘You strode into this house earlier as if you owned it—and perhaps that is because you do?’ She didn’t wait for Dominic to answer
before striding across the bedchamber to throw open the wardrobe doors, her expression darkening as she saw the three pretty silk gowns hanging there. She turned to shoot Dominic a scathing glance. ‘The previous occupant of this house appears to have been so hastily removed that she has left several of her gowns behind!’

  ‘There was no previous occupant of this house—’

  ‘All evidence to the contrary, my dear Dominic!’ Caro was breathing hard in her agitation—she could only hope this anger served to hide the deep hurt she really felt.

  It was humiliating enough that he had not even desired her enough to complete their lovemaking once he’d become aware of her innocence, but for him to have chosen to bring her to the house he had already owned, and where another woman had obviously been hastily removed, was a much more painful insult.

  Dominic was well aware that at the moment Caro did not consider him her ‘dear’ anything; in fact, she looked more than capable of plunging a knife between his shoulder blades if one had been readily available. Which, thank God, it was not… ‘Look at the gowns more closely, if you please, Caro,’ he ordered.

  Her nose wrinkled delicately at the suggestion. ‘I have no wish to—’

  ‘Look at them, damn you!’ Dominic demanded impatiently. ‘Look at the gowns, Caro,’ he repeated more evenly as he realised that it was himself he was angry with and not her. ‘Once you have done so, you will see that they are the ones ordered for you yesterday.’

  Caro eyed him uncertainly for several seconds before turning her attention back to the gowns hanging in the wardrobe, frowning as she realised they were indeed the ones ordered from the seamstress yesterday. Two days dresses, one of pale peach, the other of deep yellow. The third an evening gown of pure white silk and lace.