Once Upon a Kiss (19 page)

A shudder coursed through Blaec at the look she
gave him. “You what, demoiselle?” His voice sounded strange to his own ears.
God curse him, she didn’t know what trouble she was courting with that look.
Were he any other man... and she any other woman...

Christ... were she not to wed his brother...

It didn’t matter what she wore, or for that
matter, that she was dirty after serving in the village and rollicking with the
children, she was beautiful—too beautiful for his own good. He’d watched
her from the castle walls, for it had struck him as odd that she’d wish to aid
the villagers when it was her own brother who had caused so much destruction...
or perhaps that was why she wished to help. Guilt was an effective motivator.
Or at least, he’d begun to believe it was so until he’d spied her here,
waiting—he’d not missed the rider on horseback, watching from the
distance. Dominique must have known him, expected him, for she’d waved. But the
rider had disappeared upon spotting Blaec’s approach. That she’d not realized
he rode toward them told Blaec only that she’d lost all thought at the sight of
her... lover, was he? The mere possibility sat like acid within his belly.

“You seem to be struck dumb of a sudden, Lady
Dominique.” His jaw tightened with displeasure. “Was it something I said?”

Her gaze remained fixed upon his limbs. “Something
you said,” she repeated. Her brows knit, and her tongue darted out to lap at
her lush, full Lips.

Heat surged through his veins. “Lady Dominique...”
Blaec shut his eyes, willing his own body to restraint. When he reopened them
again, it was to find her staring still, and he shuddered, undone by the desire
so evident in her brilliant blue eyes. Eyes that were too knowing by far. It
was a gaze that enticed and teased, for she knew very well he could not have
her.

Would not.

Did she tease him on purpose? He wondered.

It led him to wonder, too, though he had no right
to, how oft she’d issued such blatant invitation before. It led him to wonder
how oft such temptations were met. Once again, it led him to anger.

And then he reminded himself that he had every
right to consider his brother’s interest. The very last thing he intended was
to allow her to foist some bastard’s by-blow upon Graeham. Graeham was too
accepting by far. His anger rose, and with it his determination to discover the
truth about the little vixen standing so defiantly before him.

Who had she intended to meet... her lover, by God,
or was it her brother’s spy?

Either possibility burned his gut raw.

She was no innocent, he vowed. Nothing about her
bespoke it—not her too ripe bosom, nor her long, lean legs, made to wrap
around a man’s waist in bawdy pleasure. Again he shuddered, more affected by
the sight of her than he cared to acknowledge.

Was that, then, why William wished to hurry the
ceremony? Was she no innocent? Was that why they’d come to Drakewich
unannounced? Had they hoped to secure the alliance before her belly swelled
with child? God damn the both of them!

He’d not realized he advanced upon her until he
saw her retreat a step, back into the tree, and thwack the back of her head in
her haste to evade him. She cried out, and tried to scurry away, but before she
could flee, he lunged forward, pinning her between his arms against the oak
tree. “I’ve warned you already, demoiselle... when you stir the fire, you risk
being scalded by its flames.”

Dominique winced as he pressed her against the rough
bark, but something fluttered deep within her at the intimate feel of his
stone-hard body against her own. Every nerve in her body her came alive at his
words of warning. His touch.

“That gaze of yours is a dangerous thing,” he said
coldly, softly.

Dominique’s heart vaulted against her ribs. “I...
I’ve no idea what you are saying. If I have looked at you any way at all, my
lord, ’twas with disdain, and naught else!”

‘Truly?”

His husky whisper sent a shiver of alarm down her
spine. Dominique felt her voice leaving her even as her lips parted to speak.
“Aye,” she croaked. “’T-Tis the t-truth...”

He lowered his face till his lips hovered just
above her own. Dominique felt herself grow cross-eyed as she stared at them in
dread, remembering. Dear God, did he plan to kiss her now? Her heart tumbled
with the thought.

Surely she did not want him to... did she?

His eyes darkened to smoke green. “Do you think me
so dull- witted that I would believe you, demoiselle?” He pressed her more
firmly against the tree, his lips brushing against hers as he spoke.

Dominique cried out at the brief touch of their
lips, and averted her face, though something in the depths of her leapt to life
in that instant. Liquid heat spread through her limbs like wildfire, burning...
just as he’d warned it would. God’s mercy, she could not be feeling this...
this feeling! Should not... could not... She shook her head in bewilderment,
for she did. She wanted him to kiss her, God rot her soul. She was faithless...
wanton...

“Who were you planning to meet here today?” he
asked, changing the subject abruptly. Dominique could scarcely part her
Lips—much less answer.

“Lady Dominique!” he snapped. “Who did you plan to
meet?”

The meaning of his words penetrated the haze of
her mind at last. Once again he mistrusted her, when she’d given him no reason
to do so. Dominique turned her head sharply to face him.

“I planned to meet with no one!” she swore
vehemently. “No one, do you hear me? Why do you accuse me yet again? It seems
to me you are bound to believe the worst of me, my lord. What mischief is it
you think I scheme?”

“Any number of things,” he murmured hatefully, his
gaze unblinking, unrepentant. The cur! He cared not a whit that his words
wounded her.

Dominique narrowed her eyes and glared at him. She
wanted so desperately to lash out at him. And she would have, too, if his
thighs against her own had not trapped her legs so mercilessly. She twisted
furiously, trying to free herself, to no avail.

“God curse you, Blaec d’Lucy,” she railed. “God
curse and rot you!”

He made some clucking sound with his tongue,
admonishing her as though she were naught more than a naughty child. “Such
language from the lady,” he said, his eyes piercing her. “Did I not know
better, demoiselle, I would think you less than your breeding.”

“Oh!” Dominique twisted again, managing only to
set him more fully against her, for he was as unmovable as solid stone.
“You—are—truly—all that they say you are! You are despicable!
Get off me, you arrogant beast!” She shoved at his chest, but he would not
budge.

“I think not,” he said, hovering closer yet. His
very nearness sent her pulses skittering wildly. “Not till I know for certain
you come to my brother pure and untouched.”

Dominique screeched indignantly. Her brows
collided. “Pure? Untouched! You black-hearted swine! Let me go! Get off—”

His lips covered hers with a swift brutality that
sent lightning bolts racing through her entire body, ending her protests once
and for all, and curling her toes inside her soft pointed shoes. Dominique
meant to shove him away, she truly did, but her hands came about and clung to
him instead. To her dismay, she could do nothing more, for her traitorous knees
buckled beneath her as he claimed her mouth with a fierceness he was unprepared
for.

She could only whimper as his tongue traced the
outline of her lips, demanding entrance.

Blaec was determined. It was a madness within him
now. He couldn’t stop himself, despite that he knew this was not his right. The
sight of her, the feel of her against him, aroused him beyond rational thought.
When she wrapped her arms about his neck and her fingers curled at his nape, he
could only recall the lust, the white-hot need that surged through him like an
explosion of fire.

God... when she parted her lips... he experienced
triumph like a burst of lightning throughout his veins. His tongue thrust
within her mouth, tasting, plundering—not a gentle invasion but a
punishing one. The taste of her was sweet, much too sweet. Pressing more fully
against her, he allowed her to feel his arousal, hoping to God she would thrust
him away. God save them both, because now that he was touching her... kissing
her... at last... he didn’t know if he could ever stop.

Ever.

She felt too good, too right in his arms.

God’s truth, he could not even remember the reason
he’d begun this, nor what he’d hoped to prove. And she didn’t resist. He
groaned in torment... in pleasure. His hand slid down to cup her bottom,
lifting her against him more fully.

Dominique moaned low, scarcely aware that his hand
crept lower still, down the length of

her leg, lifting her skirt clear to her thigh. How
could she be so recklessly drawn to this man?

How could she ever go back? She was branded just
as surely as she was lost. Branded by the flames of the Dragon’s breath... her
soul, heart, body...

Nay... nay... but nay... how could this be? How
could she yearn for a man she’d known so little time and mostly despised? How
was it possible? Nay, she told herself.

“’Tis not,” she murmured, but her body called her
a liar even as she said it, for it arched against him in shameless abandon,
aching for his touch. Tears pricked at her eyes, burning, slipping silently
from her closed lids. She was wicked, like her mother, and worse, for she did
not even love this man. She could not. How could she crave the touch of the
infamous, heartless Black Dragon? The man who had done naught but taunt and
mistrust her at every turn?

The brother of her betrothed.

“Blaec... no... please...”

Like some distant call to arms, some part of Blaec
heard the voice that summoned him back to reason.
Her voice.
Still he could not quite find
his way through the black lust that clawed at his body, drove him to the brink
of insanity.

And then suddenly his mind cleared and he thrust
her away, panting heavily. Backing away from her as though she were sin
incarnate, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Like some intoxicating
poison, the taste of her lingered to torment him. And like some seductive enchantress,
the sight of her beckoned to him still. Weak-kneed and glassy-eyed, she leaned
against the oak for support, her breast heaving beneath her blue bliaut, and
her lips rosy from his kiss, swelling, even as he watched. Evidence of how
close he’d come...

Christ, what had he done?

Too much, and not enough.

He shook his head, resisting, for even now, even
knowing he must walk away, he wanted nothing more than to take her into his
arms again and lie with her right here.

God help him... even now... and if he so much as
touched her again... he knew he would...

Their gazes held, locked, revealing too much.

Far too much.

Dominique’s heart leapt at what she saw there, and
suddenly... she understood everything. Every moment that had transpired between
them. Every word. Every look.

Everything.

With that first fated glance they’d shared in the
bailey, he’d felt it, too. And he’d resisted, to no avail.

Her legs almost failed her. So jolted was she by
the knowledge that she could barely catch her next breath.

His face flushed with angry color. “Damn you to
hell,” he hissed, tearing his gaze away. “Damn me, as well!”

He spun toward his mount, closing the distance in
a few angry strides, retrieving the reins and remounting hastily. Giving her
one last baleful glance, he whirled his mount about, spurring it with a
vengeance toward Drakewich. He rode as though wolves snarled at his heels.

Away from her.

Swallowing the knot that rose to strangle her, her
eyes glazing with tears, Dominique watched him go... knowing in her heart that
from this moment on... she was changed.
Branded.
There could be no denying it now...
she loathed him—a low keening sound escaped her constricted throat as she
acknowledged that she wanted him, as well. Sweet Mary, but she did! She slid
down the tree, not caring that the bark might ruin her gown, wondering to God
how such a thing could have happened.

Never could she have foreseen it—never!

Nor could she ever, ever have him.

Benumbed with shock, and trembling, she slid to
the ground, her breasts heaving with sobs she would not free.

With nothing more than a simple kiss... their
fates had been sealed.

And God have mercy upon both their souls.

Desperate
for solitude—if for no other reason than to give her mouth time to heal
from Blaec’s ruthless kiss—Dominique sought out the mews instead of her
chamber, thinking it the one place she could escape prying eyes— Alyss’
in particular.