Captive Bride (13 page)

 
His full lips rained a sea of kisses on her bare shoulder as he drove into her, his male body aroused by the feel of her feminine flesh joined intimately to his. Their love-making blocked out all thought, but Dominic could not have recalled other moments that compared with these. He was winging his way toward heaven, an angel in his arms, feeling the warmth of each star as they soared past. As he was swept into a dark world of rapturous sensations that played havoc with his sanity, he realized he had sacrificed part of himself when he had dared to introduce this innocent sprite to passion. Yet Dominic was discovering a universe so delightfully fulfilling that he didn't care if he ever charted his way back from this ecstatic journey into eternity.

 
He felt Rozalyn's nails digging into the taut muscles of his back, her body moving in perfect rhythm with his, and he tasted the hint of brandy on her lips before hee died a slow sweet death as love's pleasures overwhelmed him. Raw emotion swelled in him like a melodious crescendo until Dominic was completely absorbed in the taste and feel of the woman in his arms, driven onward by primal desires that numbed his mind and freed his emotions. His passion flowed like wine, sending streams of rapture in all directions.

 
Then shuddering tremors claimed him and he toppled from his towering perch. He clutched Rozalyn to him as if he never meant to let her go, couldn't let her go. He could feel her heart beating in wild, frantic rhythm with his as, together, they plunged helplessly through time and space, recalling each wondrous sensation that had gripped them, not yet ready to collide with reality.

 
When Dominic's powerful body relaxed against hers, tears of ecstasy misted Rozalyn's eyes. His lovemaking had satisfied her craving, but she still longed to touch him as he had touched her, to return the pleasure his hands and mouth had given her quivering flesh. She had not yet known him by touch and feel, and she knew she would never be content until her inquiring hands had sketched the hard, lean terrain of his body.

 
When Dominic eased down beside her, Rozalyn half-rose to lean on an elbow and her curious gaze ran brazenly over the naked length of him. Her fingertips traced the firm line of his jaw and then trailed down the corded muscles of his neck to circle each male nipple. Then her hand splayed across the crisp, dark hair that covered his laboring chest and she felt a deep rumble of laughter beneath her palm.

 
Rozalyn's wide innocent eyes swung back to his shadowed face to see a raised eyebrow and a boyish smile.

 
"My, but you are an inquisitive imp . . . and not easily satisfied," he chortled, his voice still husky with the aftereffects of passion.

 
A becoming blush stained her cheeks, but her roving hand continued to follow the furring of hair that descended across his lean belly. "Shouldn't I be?" she parried. "After all, I have never been with a man before or dared to touch . . ."

 
Her explanation was cut short by Dominic's quick intake of breath. Her adventurous hand brushed across his lower abdomen and the sensitive part of his anatomy, making him flinch uncontrollably.

 
"Did I hurt you?" Rozalyn questioned, concerned. She glanced up and noted his odd expression.

 
Dominic could not contain the soft laughter that bubbled from his lips. Rozalyn was so naive and innocent that she was delightfully amusing. It was obvious that what she knew about men could easily have been stored in a thimble. She was unlike any other woman he had taken in his arms, for those in his past had taken many passionate journeys and not all of them with him. Rozalyn was inexperienced, but she was quickly learning to become a seductress.

 
"You were sensitive to my touch," he reminded her. Dominic grinned when a crimson coloring swept over her cheeks. "Men and woman are not so different."

 
Rozalyn's blue eyes scanned his hair-roughened flesh and hard, muscled thighs. "Men and women are not so different?" she repeated incredulously. From where she sat there seemed to be noticeable differences between them!

 
"Perhaps you should peek in yonder mirror," she advised. "It would seem you have not looked closely of late. You and I are as different as night and day."

 
Another tremor of laughter shook his broad shoulders and then died into silence when her inquiring hands trailed lower. Dominic had intended to make a clever rejoinder but Rozalyn's dedicated investigation of his body had ripped the words off the end of his tongue. Her thumb slid over the bulky muscle that enlarged his thigh, then it rose to examine the scar that curled around his ribs.

"Mountain lion or grizzly bear?" she questioned.

 
"A hungry pack of wolves that intended to make a meal of my horse until I interrupted them," Dominic supplied, although he had to fight to keep his mind on their conversation when her gentle hands were transforming his brain into mush.

 
"And this one?" Her light caress flowed down to his right hip to another telltale sign of a painful encounter.

 
"That was a starved panther. He invited me to dinner. Needless to say, I declined," Dominic told her.

 
Rozalyn giggled at his remark and then allowed her hand to trickle across his left thigh. "And what caused this?"

 
"A ruthless white man." His voice quivered with long-harbored hatred.

 
"And how did he fare in the scuffle?" Rozalyn queried curiously.

"You don't want to know."

 
No, she probably didn't. Rozalyn had witnessed the result when Jeffrey had dared to assault this angered lion of a man with nothing more lethal than his fist. She hated to venture a guess as to the fate of the man who'd attacked Dominic with a dagger.

 
When Rozalyn's butterfly kisses skimmed across Dominic's chest and then skipped across his ribcage, he lost all interest in conversation. What she is doing to me should have been considered a crime, he mused. She was draining him of his strength and leaving him a quivering mass of desire. Her innocent, inventive techniques were wildly sensuous and Dominic was amazed at how quickly she had aroused him. He had thought his passion completely consumed after he'd made love to this playful sprite, but now it blazed anew, feeding on the embers that smoldered within him, and on memories of moments so wild and sweet they fueled the sparks to flame.

 
Her tender hands caressed, her soft lips whispered across his quaking skin, exciting him, dragging a moan of torment from his thudding chest, and he allowed Rozalyn to take the initiative when he had granted that privilege to no other. He had always instigated lovemaking in the past and, once his needs were appeased, he left his lover's arms. But tonight he remained in her silken arms, adoring the feel of her caresses, the light touch of the warm feathery kisses that tasted his flesh. Dominic was too immersed in pleasure to consider why he was in no hurry to leave this raven-haired enchantress or why he allowed her to dominate their lovemaking. He could only respond to the exquisite feelings her touch evoked.

 
Dominic caught his breath when her hand folded about him, stroking him, arousing him until the dancing flames became an inferno of desire. Then her caresses began to roam once again, touching him everywhere until Dominic was engulfed by such fierce, driving needs that he craved to fulfill them before they shattered his sanity. He had meant to be gentle with Rozalyn, but the savage yearnings that compelled him were more than he could bear. Like a great tiger rolling upon all fours, he pressed Rozalyn onto her back and crouched above her, his body taut, his eyes ablaze with desire.

 
Rozalyn's breath lodged in her throat when she met his tortured gaze. It gave her a warm sense of pleasure to realize that her touch had such a devastating effect on such a powerful man. She welcomed the feel of his lean, muscled length, the sinewed columns of his legs blending into hers; losing herself in the sea of turbulent sensations he created. His male body burned against hers and with the desperation of two lovers reaching for each other from afar, they came together, hungry and impatient to ease the wild yearning that consumed them.

 
Dominic could not seem to get close enough to the maddening flame that burned him inside and out. He moved against Rozalyn, seeking the ultimate intimacy, instinctively driven toward that one glorious moment of pulsating numbness that blocked out all except sublime pleasure.

 
Their storm of passion was so intense that Dominic felt like a weightless feather flung high into the churning clouds, whipped and tossed in a tempest so furious that he could not fathom how he could survive it. Savage splendor whirled about him, echoing like the crashing roll of thunder, and just at the moment when he swore his very soul would split asunder from the overwhelming sensations swirling within him, he found sweet, satisfying release.

 
Then, from the depths of the dark, rolling clouds of passion, came shards of golden light, illuminating the bright, shining moments that transcended reality. His soul touched the pure essence just beyond his reach, and then every part of his being vibrated. He was soaring on pinioned wings, unsure whether he had forfeited his life or been caught up in some fantastic dream.

 
Rozalyn was suffering from the same feeling of disorientation. She could not seem to sort reality from the blinding rays of light that sparkled before her eyes, and strange sensations splintered through her. Somewhere beyond rational thought, she dangled in the timeless universe of emotion. And then, ever so slowly, she seemed to fall through space, to come gently to rest on a puffy cloud.

 
A soft, shuddering sigh tumbled from her lips, and her eyes fluttered open to see the shadowed face only inches above hers. The contented smile that rippled across her lips faded when Dominic dropped a feathery kiss to the sensuous curve of her mouth.

 
No words were spoken. Their fulfillment was silently communicated. And, in that moment of tranquility, Rozalyn realized that she was staring love in the face.

 
It cannot be, Rozalyn lectured herself. It is the aftereffect of passion that provokes such thoughts. She decided when she had the opportunity to sit back and contemplate these moments she would realize that Dominic was just a man, not the man of her dreams.

 
As Rozalyn's heavy eyelids fluttered down to rest against her cheeks and she surrendered to sleep, Dominic quietly inched away from her to don his clothes. But his eyes lingered on her shapely contours, bathed in moonlight, and he again longed to caress the feel of her silky skin. Fighting the battle of self-conquest, Dominic bent over Rozalyn to draw the sheet around her bare shoulders.

 
She stirred slightly and then moved toward the pillow that had cradled Dominic's head, her senses still filled with the fresh, clean scent of him. Even in sleep she found herself in his sinewy arms, yielding to the pleasures of passion, soaring like an eagle in a cloudless sky, drifting . . . diving . . . spiraling.

 
With grim determination, Dominic turned away from the sleeping beauty who had responded so wildly in his arms. It took a great deal of will power to walk into the shadows instead of easing back down beside her and following her into her dreams. But the last thing he needed was to be caught in that lovely temptress' bed, he reminded himself. He quickened his step, threw a leg over the balcony railing, and shinnied down the supporting beam. Aubrey DuBois would probably have him shot before he could voice a word in self-defense.

 
"Damn," Dominic muttered as he rammed his hands into his pockets and ambled down the street. He had openly invited trouble by taking Rozalyn's innocence. But Lord, how could he have resisted her? The attraction between them was like the spark that ignites a forest fire, and nothing could contain the blaze until it burned itself out.

 
A quiet smile grazed Dominic's lips as he aimed himself toward the Baudelair estate. He had known his share of women, but not one of them could hold a candle to the captivating vixen who had very nearly trampled him with her stallion and then had taken him on a passionate journey beyond the stars. Perhaps I am asking for trouble, but it is worth it, Dominic assured himself. A sea of memories flooded over him, sweeping him back into moments mere words could not describe. No ice maiden this, he chuckled as Rozalyn's bright blue eyes and raven-haired visage materialized in the darkness. Beneath her cool exterior was a woman capable of unbelievable passion. Like an arrogant fool, Dominic had thought that once he had sampled this bewitching minx's charms he would be content to walk away, but leaving her had been one of the most difficult tasks he had undertaken. Now he wondered how in the devil he could forget the way it had been between them, the way her lips melted like rose petals beneath his, the way her satiny skin trembled in response to his exploring caresses?

 
Dominic scolded himself. He had returned to civilization to confront Aubrey. Now he would simply have to tread carefully with Rozalyn lest she confess a fond attachment for him. Damnation, why hadn't he kept his distance? He had complicated matters by allowing his desire to overshadow his purpose. He had made wild sweet love to an innocent maid, and the repercussions of that passionate tryst could be disastrous!