Velvet Embrace

Her annoyance mounted when she realized Dominic was subjecting her to another of his brazen perusals. His dark eyes traveled the length of her slender frame, gliding slowly upward again to pause measuringly on the curves of her breasts. The warmth of his gaze seemed to penetrate her garments. She wondered if he would say anything about her choice of attire— and he did.

"Interesting," Dominic remarked mildly. "Can't your protector afford to clothe you in anything better?"

"What are you doing here?" Brie demanded, ignoring his question.

His eyes returned at last to meet her own, but he seemed undaunted by the fierce glare she was leveling at him. An annoying little smile hovered around the corners of his mouth. "You didn't say goodbye, ma belle. I was beginning to think that I had frightened you away."

"You did no such thing," Brie replied with a toss of her head. The gesture sent her cap flying and her hair tumbling down around her shoulders.

A lazy, mocking smile spread across Dominic's lips, showing strong white teeth. His grin unsettled Brie's composure. She felt at a distinct disadvantage with him towering over her. When he bent to help her up, she refused his outstretched hand and scrambled to her feet, unassisted.

Dominic's grin deepened appreciatively as his eyes took in the curves displayed by her breeches, but Brie tried to ignore him. Pressing her lips together and swallowing the hot words that were forming on her tongue, she brushed impatiently at the snow that clung tenaciously to her clothes and went after her horse.

Jester had not gone far. He stood quietly as Brie approached, allowing her to pick up the reins that trailed the ground. She led the gelding at a slow walk, looking for signs of injury.

Dominic came up beside her. "He's favoring his right fore. Probably strained a tendon."

Brie didn't need the advice, nor did she appreciate Stanton's interference. She raised a glare of annoyance to his bronzed visage.

It disturbed her to find his gray eyes upon her, watching her closely. His persistent regard was unsettling, but before she could comment, his gaze shifted back to the horse.

Dominic casually removed his gloves, then bent beside the bay and ran a careful hand down the animal's leg. When he nodded his dark head, as if confirming his own opinion, his calm assumption of authority ignited Brie's glowing spark of ire. She rounded on him as he straightened. "I'll thank you, Lord Stanton, to leave the horse to me. In fact, I'll thank you to leave! You are on private property."

One of his dark brows shot up. "I was not aware—"

"I can certainly believe that! You seem to be aware of very little. Indeed, your lack of intelligence astonishes me. What did you mean, riding out of the woods like that, appearing like an apparition without any warning? If I had been a less accomplished rider, Jester could have ended with a broken leg and I with a broken neck!"

A look of sardonic amusement crept into Dominic's eyes as he contempla

ted her. "You have my profound admiration, mademoiselle, for your daring display of horsemanship. I have rarely seen such magnificent riding, certainly not from a woman. At least your skill matches your boastfulness." The corner of his mouth lifted slowly in a smile. "Tell me, does your master know you have taken that beast from his stable?"

Brie digested his statements with a certain amount of amazement. His words, rather than the contrite apology she expected, were little more than taunts. A warning spark flashed in her eyes, turning them a deep, sparkling green. "I do not boast," she ground out. "I am perfectly capable of handling any horse I care to ride—without your assistance. Besides, what I do with Jester is no business of yours. And my . . . master, as you phrased it, would not have stood for your interference for an instant. He would have had you shot for trespassing and frightening his horse, and asked questions later. I generally don't support such drastic measures, but I am beginning to. Now, will you leave, my lord? I have work to do."

He didn't comply. Instead, he raised a mocking brow and indicated her horse with a slight movement of his head. "You won't be able to ride him for a day or so."

"I realize that!" she snapped.

She was totally dumbfounded when Dominic reached out to lift a lock of her hair from where it lay curled on her breast. "You look a little absurd, standing there all covered with snow," he murmured. "Perhaps you have aspirations to become a snow fairy?" He let the curl drop, watching with a speculative gleam as it caught the fire of the sun.

Brie resisted the urge to slap his handsome face. She was suddenly uncomfortable with his closeness, with the way his penetrating glance lingered on the swell of her breasts. She turned from him abruptly, looking for her lost cap. Adopting her haughtiest tone, she flung over her shoulder, "You, Lord Stanton, are also guilty of a breach of manners. A gentleman does not argue with a lady, nor does he call her absurd."

Dominic's slow chuckle rumbled deep in his chest. "Lady?" he repeated, his voice heavy with satire. "Is that what you are, chérie?"

Brie's cheeks flushed with hot anger, but she continued searching through the snow until she heard Dominic ask if she were perhaps looking for something. When she saw that he held her cap and was waving it gently in the air, she silently voiced an oath and marched up to him, bristling with fury.

Tauntingly, Dominic held the cap out of her range. "Oh no, my lady. You must allow me the honor of rendering such a small service."

Brie glared, her soft mouth set mutinously, but she remained silent, thinking he would put the hat on her head and be done with it. He bewildered her by commanding her to turn around. "I beg your pardon?" she asked, knitting her brows.

"I said turn," Dominic ordered, an odd gleam of amusement warming his eyes.

Brie stared at him uncertainly. But when he grasped her by the elbow, her resentment flared. "Damn you, unhand me!" Giving a jerk, she tried to free herself, but she found she had miscalculated Dominic's strength. She stumbled and would have fallen but for the supporting arm he wrapped around her waist. Startled by the sudden contact with his hard body, she reacted instinctively and drew back her hand to deliver a stinging blow.

Dominic caught her wrist easily, holding it in an iron grip. "I wouldn't do that if I were you, chérie. You would not like the consequences."

His tone was deadly calm, and when Brie's flashing eyes clashed with his chilling gaze, her words of protest at his barbaric treatment lodged in her throat. Her frozen breath mingled with Dominic's as she stared up at him. Curiously, she could feel her defiance retreating under the hard intensity of his gaze.

Her ebbing anger quickly turned to dismay when Dominic shifted his position and captured both her wrists in one hand. His eyes were half hidden by bold, black lashes, but Brie could see charcoal flecks floating in the gray depths, plus a smoldering gleam that was both predatory and sensual. Reading his look, she attempted to pull away. But his grip merely tightened. When his gaze settled on her mouth, her heartbeat quickened in panic.