Velvet Embrace (71 page)

When she still remained silent, he gently cradled her face between his hands, holding her gaze. "I want you for my wife, my love. Will you have me?"

Brie searched his face intently, looking for any sign that he might be playing a cruel game with her. But his gray eyes were completely serious, holding a touch of uncertainty in their depths that went straight to her heart. "Are you sure Dominic? I couldn't bear it if you—" She broke off, her voice choking with tears.

Seeing her weakening, Dominic pressed his small advantage. "If it's your independence that concerns you, I'll have my attorneys draw up a contract leaving you in full possession of your fortune, to be given to your children or your designated heirs—whomever you choose. I'll even have them include a paragraph stipulating that your manner of dress is beyond my authority. You can wear those blasted breeches whenever you care to. I don't want to deprive you of your freedom, Brie. I only want you—on any terms you care to name."

When she lifted her gaze to his, he could read the answer in her eyes, could see the love shining in their clear depths. His heart soared with joy. But he wanted to hear Brie's answer from her own lips. "Will you marry me?" he repeated softly.

Brie nodded.

"Yes?"

"Yes, I will marry you."

Dominic closed his eyes in sheer relief. Drawing Brie into his arms, he simply held her, his cheek pressed against her hair. "How can I ever begin to say I'm sorry for all the pain I caused you?"

With tears of happiness running down her cheeks, Brie buried her face in his good shoulder. "You don't need to, just so long as you love me."

"God, Brie. . . . Do you know how humble you make me feel? I don't deserve you."

When she didn't answer, he leaned back a little and with a finger, tilted her face up to his. Seeing the tears trickling down her cheeks, he gave her a devastatingly tender smile. "No tears, my love. This is to be a joyous occasion."

"I know," Brie sniffed, wiping her eyes. "It's just that I don't believe this is happening."

"You should have accepted my proposal the first time and saved us both this misery."

"The way you phrased your proposal hardly inspired confidence in a rosy future, my lord," she interjected with some of her usual spirit. When Dominic's gray eyes filled with laughter, Brie pressed her hands against his chest and sat up. "I would not have married you under any circumstances, since you thought yourself
forced
to have me."

He grinned slowly, a heart-stopping grin. "But you are still forcing my hand,
chérie
. I would rather cut out my heart than let you go." Still looking at her with that mixture of love and laughter and tenderness that held her spellbound, Dominic pulled Brie into his arms once more. "I do love you, you know."

"You do?" she murmured, her thoughts suddenly distracted by the way his hands were caressing her back.

"Yes, my darling Brie," he whispered in her ear. "I love you passionately, madly, desperately. And I'd like to show you. Unfortunately, Jacques will be along at any moment, not to mention that Julian would truly kill me if I made love to you right now."

Coming to her senses, Brie sat up abruptly. "Julian would kill us both," she said, self-consciously dabbing at Dominic's wound again.

Dominic grinned. "I think we should send him to London. Someone has to tell your family that you are safe, and he can make up some kind of story to reassure the
Langleys
. Perhaps he can phrase it so Sir Miles won't feel obliged to call me out."

"My uncle won't call you out. Not if you intend to marry me."

Dominic reached out to run a teasing finger over her lips. "Does that mean I can have my wicked way with you?" he said huskily.

Seeing the gleaming lights in his gray eyes, Brie flushed. "You're in no condition to undertake such an activity. You're wounded, remember?"

"I remember. It hurts like hell. But I'm not sure if I can wait till after the wedding."

Brie smiled, meeting his gaze fully. "Neither am I."

They did wait, for even when Julian returned to London, Katherine remained at the inn to act as chaperon. Dominic and Brie were permitted a chaste kiss or two, but nothing more.

When Dominic had recuperated enough from his wounds to travel, they returned to Rutland. They planned to be married by special license, but Brie wanted the ceremony to take place at Greenwood with her family and friends present. She was relieved to find the scandal Julian had predicted had never materialized. No one had even known about her journey to France with Dominic, since her aunt and uncle had made up a story to cover her sudden absence from London.

Dominic stayed at the Lodge during the week before the wedding and called daily at Greenwood, but even though he spent the majority of his time with Brie, he rarely saw her alone. Finally, the day before they were to be married, he was able to get her to himself—by the simple expediency of inviting her to go riding.

She was waiting for him in the
stableyard
when he rode up on Diablo.

"Still wearing breeches, I see," Dominic observed when he saw how she was dressed.

Brie glanced up at him uncertainly. "You said you didn't mind."

His eyes raked her body, lingering on the swell of her breasts. Then he grinned. "No, ma belle, I don't mind. I even find myself growing quite fond of your breeches. And at least you've rid yourself of that disreputable coat. Remind me, though, to recommend a decent tailor to you—one who can fashion you something with a bit more style."

Seeing the teasing glint in his eyes, Brie felt her pulse quicken. Dominic looked impossibly handsome, she thought as she gazed up at him. His flowing lawn shirt was opened at the throat, its whiteness contrasting with his dark features, while his ebony hair was ruffled by the fresh spring breeze, glinting blue-black in the sunlight.

"What was it you wanted to show me?" she asked, trying to dismiss her fluttering heartbeat.

"You'll see. Come here." He urged Diablo closer, reaching down to pull Brie into the saddle before him.

Brie leaned back in his arms, never suspecting what such intimate contact with Dominic would do to her. Immediately she sat bolt upright, startled by the throbbing tremor that ran though her.

She sat rigidly erect as they rode out of the
stableyard
, but Dominic's arm remained wrapped around her waist, his hand resting directly below her breast, making her skin burn. She could feel the strength of his muscled chest against her back, the iron hardness of his thighs against her legs.

"Is it a secret?" she asked breathlessly, trying to take her mind off Dominic's nearness.

"No, I merely want to show you a horse I recently acquired. I had considered asking you to train him for me."

"A simple business proposition, then?
Why didn't you say so?"

Dominic didn't reply, since he too was trying to ignore the warm currents radiating between them. He hadn't counted on his body's instant reaction to Brie's soft thighs, but he could already feel himself stiffening. "Perhaps riding double wasn't such a good idea," he murmured, removing his arm from about her waist.

When he fell silent, Brie kept her thoughts occupied by concentrating on her surroundings. It was a mellow spring morning, one whose beauty couldn't fail to enchant. Lush green fields stretched before them, glowing emerald in the bright sunlight, and in the distance, cattle and sheep grazed peacefully. The hedgerows and coverts that dappled the rolling landscape were bursting with hawthorn,
agrimony
, and meadowsweet, their sweetness adding to the scent of new grass and damp earth, while black and yellow butterflies vied for space with larks, goldfinches, and hedge sparrows.

Dominic was more enchanted with the woman in his arms, though, than with the lovely morning. Brie's fragrant scent was teasing his senses, arousing a fierce hunger in him that was only aggravated by the feel of her warm, lithe body pressing against him.

When Brie squirmed in his arms, Dominic sucked in his breath. "Unless you want to be ravished, ma belle, you had better be still," he warned. "It's been far too long since I last had you to myself, and my control is rather tenuous at the moment."

They rode for a while longer, but when the ache in his loins grew too painful to ignore, Dominic touched his heels to Diablo's flanks and the powerful stallion bounded forward.

They cantered across a field, heading south when they reached a lane. About a mile further, Dominic checked their speed and turned off the lane into a wooded area. He followed the path until it ended, then brought Diablo to a halt.

"Here we are," he announced, gazing down at Brie to watch her reaction. The woods had given way to a meadow, and in the center, some distance
away,
a bay horse was grazing with apparent contentment.

When she spotted the bay, Brie leaned forward, narrowing her eyes. Then suddenly she gasped. "It couldn't be," she breathed.

Dominic's mouth twisted in a tender smile. "What you see in that sorry specimen of horseflesh I'll never understand. But, yes, it is Jester, alive and well."

Brie was off Diablo's back in a flash, her cry of excitement startling the high-strung stallion as she broke into a run. "Sorry, boy," Dominic murmured, soothing the nervous animal. "She isn't always this flighty, I promise you."

Dominic watched her race across the meadow, smiling when she flung her arms around Jester's neck in obvious delight. All the effort to save the injured horse had been worth the trouble, he decided. Swinging down from his horse, he tethered Diablo to a branch, the followed Brie across the meadow.

She looked up when he approached, and Dominic's heart skipped a beat at the lovely picture she made. The ribbon holding her hair had come undone, and the vibrant tresses cascaded over her shoulders, shining like fire in the sunlight. She had been crying and her eyes sparkled like emeralds through her tears. Seeing her happiness, Dominic wished it were his neck she had wrapped her arms around, rather than the
bay's
.

"Dominic, I . . . Thank you," Brie said simply, gazing up at him.

He took a step closer, reaching out to gently brush away a glistening teardrop.

Brie caught her breath at the tenderness in his gray eyes. When Dominic drew her into his arms, she went willingly. He looked at her for a long moment,
then
lowered his head slowly, just letting his lips brush hers.

Brie was lost. With an anguished moan, she melted against him, needing to feel his arms around her, needing his strength and warmth and love. Her hands clutched at his shoulders for support, digging into the rippling muscles beneath his shirt. When Dominic's lips grew more demanding, more insistent, she opened to his searching tongue, responding with all the passion she was capable of.