Erotica Fantastica (2 page)

"Now that the Minister of Defense has seen
it," Dominic continued, "he wants more of your beautiful machines."
He paused, observing her reaction. "Imagine it, Nina, a frontline
of Daedalus spiders, cunning workers observing our coastline, able
to march through any terrain and confront the enemy."

Her emotions twisted and turned. Pride
flared in her chest, but at the very same moment the sense of
injustice she felt bit deep into her. If she had taken the project
to Parliament she would have been cast out as a foolish woman. "I
suppose you expect me to be grateful that you took charge of
it?"

"Of course not. You are far too contrary and
stubborn to be grateful for anything."

The sardonic tone to his comment irked her
even more.

Then he licked his lips as if he was
relishing his power over her. "I've engineered your design
successfully, improved on it, made it solid in real and useful, but
all you can do is glare at me." He shrugged one shoulder. "I'm
disappointed. Frankly, my dear, I expected more fire." His handsome
mouth lifted at one corner, as if he was daring her to lash out at
him. He knew her rebellious spirit far too well.

"I always knew it could be done," she
retorted. "What annoys me is that you stole my designs and you
ruined my reputation, and now you expect me to be pleased because
you've sold it to Parliament, the very establishment I detest?"

"What better way to mutiny Parliament than
from within?" He was quite serious, and she loved that. The
suggestion was there in his eyes, bright, devilish, and promising
her many an adventure. Her body responded, aching for him.
"Besides," he continued, "as I recall you were quite willing to
have your reputation ruined, eager in fact." He looked her over
with undisguised appraisal, as if recalling their more intimate
encounters.

Nina bristled. "Heat of the moment, nothing
more."

"Is that so? And there was me thinking it
was so much more than that."

He was right of course. Studying together
meant that their mutual attraction had built steadily, until it
could not be denied. And how well matched they had turned out to be
in matters of sexual congress. Her body throbbed with arousal as
treasured memories flitted through her mind. But that was behind
them now, and that's where it had to stay.

Dominic strolled closer. He parted her cloak
and gazed at her chest, then trailed the back of his knuckles along
her jaw, his touch inflaming her. "In fact being a vicar's daughter
only seemed to make you more rebellious in matters of morals."

Fury bit into her. She slapped him.

With lightening reactions he gripped her
around the upper arms and kissed her, his mouth hungry and
possessive on hers.

Stunned, she froze then melted. Her lips
parted under his, her fisted hands pressed to his chest. His wicked
charms always had made her weak.

"I want you," he demanded as he drew back,
"right here and now, at the heart of the Daedalus." Bending her
back over the area for map reading that was stationed next to the
controls, he pinned her down to the flat surface with his hands on
her shoulders.

"No!" Nina gasped, torn between fighting him
and submitting. She hated the way he affected her so, but heat
gathered between her thighs with startling speed. "Not until we
discuss my rights."

Dominic's eyes glinted, as if that was the
very thing he wanted her to say. He undid her cloak where it was
latched at her collarbone then his hands moved to her skirt. He
moved it in his hands, pausing to speak. "You have no rights
whatsoever, but that is not because I took them from you."

Oh, how she reviled that fact, and he knew
it. She'd ranted about it often enough, much to his amusement. It
felt far too much as if he was making her face the paltry existence
her sex was fated to, something she balked against as a woman who
could outthink most men.

"The patent in your name," he offered, "in
exchange for something I want."

Her lips parted, objection hovering there,
but need put its own spin on her reaction, making her moan with
longing instead. Without further ado he tugged her skirts and
petticoats up, handling them roughly, until the material was
bunched at her waist.

Desire tugged at her will, unraveling it.
"You cannot put the patent in my name," she blurted, attempting to
cling to reason. "As a woman I do not have the status to carry it."
Heated emotions flared in her. Having a female monarch made not one
jot of difference. "A scholarship to Cambridge for a woman of
humble background does not change the fact she is a worthless
woman."

He stroked her woolen stockings over her
knees and his eyes flickered, dark and possessive, his mouth pursed
as he observed her "Don't be bitter, Nina. It doesn't suit you.
Besides, you were more intelligent than most of the men at
Cambridge."

More intelligent than most of them, except
him. If she was she wouldn't have been captured here and at his
will, all for the sight and touch of a machine that she could never
own. Her thoughts were in chaos, because the position he had put
her in splayed her intimate parts against his hard erection.
Fighting to stifle her response, she pressed her lips together and
turned her face away, when what she really wanted to do was rub
against the hard bulk of his erection. He bent to kiss her in the
dip of her cleavage.

"And more desirable than all of the women I
have ever known," he added. "Why else do you think I arranged
this?"

She stared down at him, her eyes widening.
This was an elaborate trap? He'd used the Daedalus to bait her,
knowing that she would have to see her dream made real? All the
evidence suggested it was so, but she could not believe it. Dominic
had the world at his feet. He did not need to toy with her, a
vicar's daughter who had ideas and intelligence above her station—a
burden if ever there was one.

"Ah, you see it now. Yes, that is how much I
want you. I knew that you could not resist seeing it so I secreted
it in the place that the local vicar's daughter knows so well." he
ran his fingers down her cheek, and there was longing in his eyes.
"If only I could lure you as easily as this machine has."

"You can lure me all too well," she shot
back at him, "that is why I stayed away."

"Why did you run from me?"

His question disarmed her. Months had gone
by. She didn't even think he cared, and had for a long time assumed
he'd moved on to his future bride. "I left you a note," she
muttered.

"All it told me was that our relationship
was over. Why?" His fingers stroked up and down the soft skin of
her inner thighs, maddening her. The way he touched her while he
quizzed her made her vulnerable, her desire undermining her will to
defy him.

"I heard of your impending engagement to
Lady Lucy Etherington." The old familiar pain uncoiled in her gut.
She lashed out. "I have too much wit and will to be designated the
role of secret mistress until you cast me aside!" Her body rose
against his attempting to buck him off.

He pinned her down with his hands on her
hips. "And you also have too much pride to ask me if the rumors
were true." He quirked an eyebrow to emphasize his point. "The
match was discussed, but it was not for me. My father has been set
straight on that matter." He shrugged off his great coat, casting
it aside. "There's only one woman I want in my bed."

The fine lawn of his shirt clung to the heat
of his body, drawing her attention, making her want him even more.
Ducking his head, he breathed along the skin of her cleavage. His
mouth on her breast stole her breath away. Meanwhile, he pushed her
further up the flat surface, so that her bottom rested on it and
her legs dangled, then his fingers breached her drawers, finding
their way into the gap there. He stroked her puss. "I want you,
Nina Ashford."

His demanding approach made her pulse race.
The damp heat between her thighs was impossible to ignore. She felt
exposed, emotionally and physically stripped to the core, her will
and being made freely available to him because she craved him so.
Dominic did this to her, only he could. Moaning aloud, her head
rolled.

He ran his fingers into the slit in her
drawers then stroked them up and down her damp folds. "Ah yes, but
you're lush and ready for this."

His voice was hoarse. She cried out, because
the tantalizing touch made her to rub against. She hated him for
disarming her so thoroughly and turned her face away.

"Your absence in my bed has driven me close
to madness." He held her jaw in one hand, forcing her to meet his
gaze. "I must be inside you or I will not be held accountable for
what occurs."

The provocative statement left her
speechless, but he moved his hand, rolling his thumb back and forth
over her seat of pleasure. The relief she felt was immense. Then he
shifted and ducked. His mouth engulfed her swollen nub. He grazed
her tender flesh with his teeth and release barreled through her.
He pushed his tongue inside her, collecting her copious juices. She
was still gasping for breath when he rose up and tugged at her
bodice, making her breasts rise from the tight fabric. Nina was so
shocked by his actions that she stared up at him, then his hands
moved and he arranged her legs around his hips.

As he did so he looked at the pistol
strapped to her ankle boot with both admiration and amusement.
Again his fingers roved over her puss. "Are you ready for me?"

She turned her face away. Ready? Her body
clamored for him, her center alight with expectation, her core
slick with her juices. "Make haste," she blurted, "before I change
my mind."

Dominic gave a wry laugh and then unbuttoned
his breeches. When she felt the blunt head of his cock pushing at
her slippery opening, she clutched at his shirt. Then he reached
past her and pushed a lever. The Daedalus roared into action, the
engines huffing and whirring, the pipes that ran around the pod
vibrating. One of the dials to the side of her head pinged loudly,
startling her. Then the entire machine jolted, lifting up onto its
legs—first at the front, then at the rear where she had climbed up
the ladder.

Staggered by the sense of power and the
sudden movement, she tugged on his shirt. "Dominic!"

The shunt and jolt of the machine as it rose
up only seemed to assist his approach, angling her body to him. His
cock thrust deep into her, stretching her open and filling her. She
cried out, intense sensation rolling through her when he touched
her center.

The machine swayed as it leveled, making her
head spin.

"Oh, dear lord, how it rolls!" Delighted
laughter escaped her.

"I took the liberty of lengthening its
rise." As he spoke humor flitted through his eyes and he put his
hands beneath her bottom, lifting her in order to probe her deeper.
Her corset seemed tighter still, pressing down against her womb
where heat built and swelled. Meanwhile the Daedalus remained
poised and pumping, as if waiting instruction.

The feeling of being filled by him was too
good. Her thighs locked around his waist, her body arching up to
meet his. The pressure of his rod at her center sent a wild flare
through her entire body, a fiery reaction akin to that of the
combustion engine that stoked the Daedalus. She was back at the
precipice in moments, her groin alive with sensation.

He worked his length in and out of her
sensitized puss, his hands locked around her bottom while he drove
himself into her, relentlessly. "There is a way," he stated,
between thrusts. "Marry me, Nina. Take my name and it will be on
the patent. The Daedalus is ours and there will be many more
inventions with you as designer and me as engineer…it's not the
same without you."

Her breath caught.

"Answer me!"

Defiance still underpinned her will. "You
indicated the patent was for this favor."

He shook his head, and his expression was
thoroughly wicked as he clarified his meaning. He drove his slick
cock in and out of her in measured strides, working her closer to
spilling while holding his own release in abeyance. "You're here.
I'm claiming my reward. I want the rest…your name on the
patent."

She could see it was taking intense
concentration for him to work her while he spoke, but he did so.
"Marry me, Nina, make it so." His fingers trailed along her throat,
his expression growing serious. "Please, I need you."

She loved him so much that his plea broke
her apart inside. Never before had he shown her that need, that
affection. Her fingers dug deep into his powerful shoulders and her
core clenched at his rod. He groaned and leaned closer still,
bending her legs under him, his weight against her tender folds.
Again she flooded. The release was so great that she felt dizzy
even though she was flat on her back, but the hard rod of his cock
inside and the pressure of his body against her sensitive, intimate
parts kept her there.

The muscles in his shoulders and neck stood
out, his eyes closing. His cock stiffened, stilled and jerked
repeatedly. Another wave hit, her thighs shuddering as her entire
body burned with the raw pleasure he'd brought about.

When he withdrew he rained kisses on her
face, throat and chest, then reached out and pushed another lever.
"Hold on tight," he murmured.

Taking her hands in his, he guided them to a
metal strut above her head then he rested over her. He held her
steady while the engines roared and the Daedalus rose to its full
height, bursting through the ramshackle covering above them.

Only then did she realize that Dominic had
incorporated a glass panel above their heads, and she was bathed in
moonlight. In the gloom of the old moorings, the panels were not
visible. Now they were. She was in ecstasy. With her eyelids
lowered she felt every swift movement the machine made, how it
emulated the leap and stride of the insects that had inspired it,
as it made its way across the marshland. It rose and fell as it
gained the measure of the uneven landscape beneath it, the pod
acting like a massive spirit level just as she had dreamed. All the
while Dominic held her tightly, staring down at her face as she
took in the intensity of what they were sharing and what had passed
between them. Pleasure spiraled through her. From her core, where
she still throbbed in the aftermath of her release, it radiated
through each and every part of her.