Velvet Embrace

Some moments later, he eased himself away, but it was a great while before Brie could even think to open her eyes. She found Dominic gazing down at her with an expression that was difficult to read. The firelight cast shadows over the harsh planes of his face, but his eyes seemed to hold a tenderness that warmed her all over.

"Is it . . . always like that?" Brie whispered, returning his gaze.

Dominic smiled. "So intense, you mean? Not often."

Brie let her eyes fall shut again. "I didn't think so," she mur

mured. "Otherwise how would anyone survive?"

Dominic chuckled, gently brushing a curl from her cheek. He studied Brie for a moment longer, before raising his gaze to the window. "The storm seems to have blown over," he said idly.

The warm glow surrounding Brie dissipated at once as reality came rushing back with a vengeance. Feeling acutely self-conscious, she turned her head away, trying not to contemplate the fact that she had just allowed herself to be seduced by a handsome rake. When Dominic bent to kiss her bare shoulder, she flinched.

Watching her, Dominic frowned. He couldn't blame her if she felt awkward and uncertain—he was feeling something similar himself. But he didn't like to see her so meek and passive. He would rather see her spitting fire, even if it were at him. He knew just how to bring her spirit back, though.

With one finger, he traced a path between Brie's pale, gleaming breasts, letting his hand rest over her heart where he could feel the beat against his palm. "This cabin leaves much to be desired," he observed casually. "Next time I suggest we choose somewhere more congenial to meet."

Brie's eyes flew to his face. "There won't be a next time."

"Are you so sure of that, Brie? Somehow I got the impression you enjoyed my lovemaking."

"Perhaps I did, but I have no intention of allowing it to happen again."

A smile teased the corners of Dominic's mouth. "Well, if you change your mind, you know where to find me. But for now," he added as he pointedly lowered his gaze to her bare breasts, "we really should be going. Unless, of course, you would rather spend the rest of the day in bed."

He could feel Brie stiffen with anger. "No?" he asked innocently when she brushed his hand away. "Then you had better get dressed. I won't be held responsible for my actions if you insist on displaying your charms in such a provocative manner."

Giving Brie a playful slap on her thigh, Dominic stood up and stretched. He watched as she fumbled with the bodice of her chemise, knowing it might be some time before he had another chance to feast his eyes on her beauty.

Furious at him now, Brie snatched the blanket up and gave Dominic a glare that would have pierced him had it been a sword. Dominic merely grinned at her, admiring the flashing green sparks in her eyes. "What a pity no one thought to enlist your services during the war," he remarked provokingly. "One look like that from your beautiful eyes would have routed the enemy without resort to cannon. I imagine you could have intimidated Napoleon himself."

Brie clenched her teeth. "You are beyond all doubt the most uncivil, boorish, arrogant, conceited, odious man I have ever had the misfortune to meet! Why don't you just go away and leave me here? I can find my way home without your help."

Dominic went to the fireplace and began sorting through their various apparel. "I told you before," he replied, tossing Brie's clothes to her. "It isn't safe. I don't want you wandering these woods alone."

"You don't want—well, really!" Brie exclaimed, her voice heavy with satire. "What more could possibly happen to me?"

Dominic slanted an amused glance at her. "You're asking me that?" Fortunately for him, he was able to avoid the boot she threw at his head.

Chapter Seven

The arrival of an earl in their quiet neighborhood, especially one of Dominic's stamp, was cause for awe and excitement. Brie tried to ignore the furor—indeed, she would have preferred to forget that Dominic existed altogether—but no one would allow her to do so.

John Simms in particular had taken an immediate liking to Dominic. John had been waiting for Brie in the stableyard when Dominic had escorted her home after the storm. Fortunately, he had been too interested in Dominic's stallion to ask many questions about where she had spent the past few hours. When the two men fell to discussing horses and bloodlines, Brie made her escape. She found out afterward that Dominic had promised to return at a later date to inspeet several of Greenwood's Arabian mares. John was in such alt over the prospect of breeding the mares to the stallion that for days he could talk of little else.

Caroline, too, spoke of Dominic frequently, for she had seen him accompany Brie back to the house. She had nagged until Brie was forced to give a much abbreviated account of what had happened at the cottage, and then she had asked so many questions that Brie didn't know whether to scream or throttle her cousin first.

As far as Brie could tell, though, not even Caroline guessed that she had been far more intimate with Dominic than was proper. Oddly enough, she trusted Dominic's assurances that he would say nothing of what had occurred between them. And she was no longer concerned that he would ruin her reputation with a careless word. But whatever she remembered letting him make love to her, she felt hot with shame.

She couldn't understand how it had happened. He had aroused a traitorous desire in her when properly she should have felt fear and revulsion. The feel of his hard body had been exciting, and what he had done to her own body had set heron fire. When he had kissed her with such passion, she had surrendered to him like a common hussy. Brie was disgusted with herself, particularly since she still harbored a strong attraction for Dominic.

About a week later, however. Brie was given something else to worry about. Her steward, Mr. Tyler, reported that there had been several thefts in the neighborhood, two of them on Greenwood land. Brie decided to pay a visit to Squire Umstead to see what was being done to apprehend the thieves, since the squire frequently handled such matters.

Brie took her cousin along and shortly regretted the impulse. When they arrived, they found Squire Umstead out with a shooting party, but his wife was at home and she insisted on meeting Caroline. Brie could hardly refuse an invitation to stay for tea, but she cringed inwardly when Mrs. Umstead sent a footman after her son Rupert.

Enduring half an hour of Rupert's company set Brie's nerves on edge. She was relieved when the squire at last returned home, even though her plan of speaking to him in private was forestalled because Viscount Denville and Lord Stanton were with him.

Brie felt intensely self-conscious, meeting Dominic again, for it was the first time since their intimate interlude in the cottage. Seeing him enter the room, she was again struck by his extreme masculinity. He looked impossibly attractive in a claret-colored shooting jacket and buff breeches. The collar of his shirt was opened comfortably at the throat, while a silk scarf was tied loosely about his neck. Brie found the casual touch strangely appealing, but it was his sheer maleness that made her stomach flutter. She knew first hand that his muscular body was every bit as lean and hard as it appeared.