Midnight Masqerade

by Shirlee Busbee

  Groaning softly, Dominic endured the exquisite brush of her body against his, the feel of her yielding flesh nearly his undoing. He had wanted to savor this first joining, had wanted to slowly bring them both to that final, mindless pleasure, to kiss and fondle every delectable inch of the intoxicating body moving so wildly under his, but the demands of his own body and the irresistibility of this sweet wanton made it impossible.

  Raising his head from her breasts, he stared down into her face with passion-blurred eyes. A sensual smile on his lips, he said huskily, "I see you can wait no longer than I... but, sweet witch, I'm afraid that I shall be embarrassingly quick this first time. . . . "

  Caressingly, his gaze dropped to her bare bosom, to the upthnusting coral nipples, and a spasm of intense desire made him tremble and groan in defeat. His mouth swooped on hers, his lips crushing urgently against hers as his hands pushed up her silken skirts in one almost violent motion. He wanted her unbearably, could hardly prolong this sweet torture another second, and shifting slightly, he settled his hard body firmly between her thighs.

  Melissa's eyes flew open with shock as she felt the unmistakable bulge press intimately between her thighs. Only his breeches separated his naked flesh from hers, and suddenly, horrifyingly, she realized that this was no dream. This was real and this was happening to her right now!

  Reality shuddered through her, the events of the evening flashing wildly before her eyes, and fright such as she had never known numbed the ardent cravings of her body. Yet when Dominic's searching fingers found the tight little curls between her legs, a gasp of mingled fear and melting delight came from her. But fear was the far stronger emotion, and she began to struggle frantically to escape from his seductive fondling, tearing her mouth away from his half-coaxing, half-bruising kiss.

  Neither of them heard the faint knock on the door, nor the sudden opening of the door as Melissa cried out desperately, "Oh, stop!" Her hands no longer tangled in his black hair, she began to beat upon his back with clenched fists. "Oh, I beg you, you must stop this instant!"

  Royce stood transfixed in the doorway, unable to believe the sight that met his eyes. His voice full of angry incredulity, he burst out, "Good God! Lissa! "

  Melissa froze, her horrified gaze on Royce's pale, shocked features. She was only dimly aware of Dominic's instant tensing, of the sudden removal of his weight as he rolled away from her. Her cheeks flaming with shameful embarrassment, in great agitation she fumbled around, trying to straighten her clothing, to cover her naked breasts and exposed thighs.

  There was a terrible silence and Melissa was certain that she would die of humiliation, that the ugly situation could not possibly be any worse than it was at this moment. But she was wrong. The three participants were still frozen in their revealing tableau when Josh's head appeared just beyond Royce's shoulder and he said jovially, "What is it, my boy? Dominic fall down drunk on his bed?"

  Royce made an abortive movement to shield the occupants in the room from Josh's gaze, but he was too late, as Josh gently pushed his son aside and walked into the room. When the full import of the tawdry scene percolated into Josh's drink-befuddled brain, he made a strangled attempt to speak, but nothing came from his mouth save an odd gobbling sound.

  It was Dominic who seemed to recover first. Rising swiftly from the bed, as if he wanted to put as much distance between himself and the deceitful, wanton little slut who sat there mute, Dominic snarled, "For God's sake, shut the damned door! We don't have to put on an exhibition for everyone in the tavern!"

  His voice seemed to release the others from their dumbfounded state. Josh bellowed furiously, "Now see here, young man! Don't you take that tone with me-particularly when it is my niece you have cravenly attempted to seduce!" Averting his gaze from Melissa's disheveled state, he muttered, "And, Lissa! What were you thinking of to come to a man's room alone! The shame of it! We are disgraced! You are ruined!"

  Royce, his face hard and set, his eyes gleaming with a golden fire, growled dangerously, "But that is easily remedied. My friend can name his seconds, and we can settle this insult with pistols at dawn."

  "Don't be a fool, Royce," Dominic said coldly. "I have no intention of blowing your brains out-or allowing you to do the same to me over what is an unfortunate mistake. "

  "Mistake!" Josh nearly shrieked. "How can you call it a mistake? Is that not my niece there on your bed, and were you not in the process of ravishing her when we arrived?"

  A grim smile quirked Dominic's lips. "`Ravish' is not the word I would have chosen-and I did not know that she was your niece."

  Royce's common sense began to reassert itself, and as his initial outrage and stunning fury abated somewhat, he asked in a calmer voice, "Perhaps you would like to explain to us precisely what was going on?"

  It was a most embarrassing predicament, but embarrassment was the least of the emotions that Dominic was feeling at this moment. He was furious at the entire situation; furious that he had not instantly recognized Melissa Seymour, if by no other clue than the almost uncontrollable passion that had assailed him the second his mouth had touched hers-a passion that only she seemed to provoke; furious that he now found himself in the unpleasant position of having to explain to two very justifiably angry gentlemen exactly what he had been doing with one of the ladies of their family; and furious because he very much feared that he had allowed lust to lead him blindly into a very clever trap. Silently he cursed himself for not having been more wary; he knew Josh had been eagerly matchmaking, but he would never have suspected that Manchester would go this far to get a husband for his niece!

  Dominic threw Melissa a look of bitter dislike. She had caught him in one of the oldest snares known to woman, and that perhaps infuriated him most of all. His gaze decidedly hostile as it roamed over her rumpled state, the amber gown now clutched protectively in front of her, her legs hidden beneath its folds as she crouched there against the headboard watching this drama with a glassy-eyed stare, he felt something stir within him. But then, reminding himself that she was very adept at disguise, he squashed the slight softening he sensed within himself and said icily, "I would be happy to explain my part in this whole ugly affair, but I think that we would all find it far more interesting to discover why Miss Seymour came unknown and uninvited by me to my room and bed this evening."

  "What? " Royce and Josh demanded in unison, Royce's eyes narrowing speculatively and Josh's blue orbs nearly starting from his head.

  Dominic smiled tightly, his gaze hard on Melissa's white face, lingering for a second on her passion-bruised mouth. "Exactly what I said. I came up here with no other purpose in mind than to get the document about which we had been speaking. You may well imagine my surprise when I discovered an attractive young woman asleep on my bed." He flashed Royce a wry glance. "I thought that you had sent her up here-and that you had manufactured a reason for me to go to my room so that I could find her. , , His voice tightening, he looked again at Melissa, the contempt he felt obvious in his face. "I had never seen your cousin without her, shall we say, disguise, and so I did not recognize her. Why should I even connect the seductive creature I found with the prim Miss Seymour? It is not the habit, I believe, for most proper young ladies to come calling alone, at night, to the room of a man they barely know ... nor do they usually offer themselves so freely to the demands of strangers."

  Each word was like a savage blow to Melissa, and as each one fell, she shrank closer to the headboard as if this way she could escape the pain they brought. She could think of nothing to say, her brain numb, her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth. This must be a nightmare, she told herself half hysterically. It must be! This could not be happening to her! She would wake up any moment and discover that she was at home in her own bed, not, please, dear God, at the Whitehorn tavern, in Dominic Slade's room in this degrading situation. But her prayer went unanswered and she was certain that her heart stopped beating when she heard Dominic say caustically, "But that is enough of my explana
tions. I think it would be only fair if we let the lady tell us what she was doing here at this time of night."

  Melissa suddenly found herself the focus of three pairs of eyes, and if she had thought that nothing more terrible could happen, she discovered that she had been very wrong. She didn't know which was the worst to bear-the disappointment and embarrassment in her uncle's eyes, the cynical speculation in Royce's or the furious contempt in Dominic's cold gaze. Wishing she were dead, she stared back at them in misery, her thoughts whirling through her brain like autumn leaves as she tried frantically to formulate some reasonable explanation for her presence. Never mind about why she had responded so ardently and wantonly to Dominic's kisses; that was something she would never discuss, even if they applied red-hot pincers to her flesh!

  The silence spun out, the three men waiting in varying degrees of impatience. Melissa swallowed with difficulty, then licked her dry lips, desperately hoping that inspiration would come to her. And just when she was positive that she would disgrace herself by having a case of the vapors, something that Dominic had said earlier popped into her brain. Not meeting the gazes of any of the men, she looked down at the hem of her gown and stammered, "It-it ww-was the a-a-agreement."

  "What agreement?" Dominic snapped, wondering precisely what sort of a trick she was pulling now.

  Josh's expression was gentle as he coaxed, "You had an agreement to meet with Mr. Slade tonight in his room?"

  Horrified that her words would be interpreted that way, Melissa opened her mouth to protest, but it was Dominic who said explosively, "That is a damned lie-I do not go about seducing innocent young women! I never made any assignation with your niece!"

  Josh sent him a cold glance. "You, sirrah, are already on dangerous ground. I would not compound your errors by calling my niece a liar!"

  Dominic's mouth shut with a decided snap, and from the furious glance he sent her way, Melissa knew that he would like nothing better than to wring her neck. This was an appalling set of circumstances in which to find oneself, and though she sympathized with Dominic's position, at the moment she was far more concerned with concocting a plausible explanation for herself. She risked a look at her uncle and regained a little of her courage from the encouragement she saw in his eyes. He was, she knew, shocked and revolted by the state of affairs, but he would help her in spite of where her own stupid folly had taken her.

  Actually, once his first astonishment and dismay had waned, Josh was quite delighted with the situation and could barely control the urge to rub his hands together with glee. He had been plotting and scheming for years to get Melissa married to a wealthy, aristocratic gentleman, and now, just when he had been about to give up hope, she had plunged into a most compromising situation with a most eligible gentleman! If he had arranged the affair himself, this little contretemps couldn't have turned out better, and it was only by exercising the greatest self-restraint that he prevented a satisfied smile from creasing his mouth. Since one of his fondest dreams was about to be realized, he could afford to be magnanimous. His voice soothing, his manner warm and confiding, he said, "Come now, Lissa, tell us what happened tonight. You don't need to fear us-we are your family and we will do our best to shield and protect you from any disagreeable results that might arise from this unfortunate incident." He bent Dominic a telling glance. "We will all do what is expected of us!" Looking back at Melissa, he continued. "You have nothing to fear. Whatever you say will go no further than these four walls. Speak freely, my dear, and tell us about the agreement."

  Melissa licked her lips again, wondering helplessly what would happen if she just flatly refused to say anything. For a long moment she considered the idea, but then rejected it, having the lowering notion that if she refused to offer some sort of reason for being in Dominic's room, the four of them would be there indefinitely.

  Keeping her eyes averted from Dominic's half-naked form as he stood there beside the bed, his white shirt still gaping open to reveal the black, curly hair which covered his muscled chest, she said in a rush, "It was the agreement about Folly. I wanted to talk to him about some of the things that we had discussed this afternoon."

  It was an extremely feeble excuse, almost nonsensical, but it was the best that she could come up with under the circumstances. She dared not reveal that she had made a terrible mistake, that it had been Julius Latimer she had come to see and not Dominic Slade! She shuddered as she imagined the expressions on their faces if she blurted out that information! But it was apparent that the explanation she offered found no favor with the gentlemen, and she wasn't really surprised at the look of patent disbelief that Dominic shot her or the mocking skepticism she saw in Royce's eyes. Josh, however, betrayed no lack of mistrust in her statement, and with relief, hating herself for having to lie so blatantly to him, she continued doggedly.

  "I only meant to speak a moment with him-1-1-1 n-n-never intended to-to . . ." Her throat closed up and she could not force another lying word from her mouth. The entire situation was too humiliating, and she wished desperately that this embarrassing inquisition could be put off until tomorrow. She felt soiled and tawdry. It didn't help her state of mind to have two of the gentlemen in the room staring at her as if this ugly situation were completely her own fault. That most of the blame clearly lay at her feet she was more than willing to admit, but not all of it was her doing, and as the minutes passed, she was conscious of a stirring of angry resentment. How dare they look at her this way!

  Her chin lifted proudly and she said stiffly, "I never meant to put myself in a compromising position, and if Mr. Slade had been a gentleman"-she slanted him a haughty glance-"instead of a rutting boar, then none of this would have happened."

  Dominic's face darkened and his hands clenched into rather formidable fists. Why, that lying little slut! he thought furiously. She comes uninvited to my room, arranges herself seductively on my bed, returns my kisses with avid enjoyment and then has the gall to say that I am the one who is at fault! With a great effort he kept himself from speaking his angry thoughts aloud, but he promised himself savagely that he very definitely had a score to settle with Miss Melissa Seymour!

  His eyes narrowed, he drawled mockingly, "But what else could I do-especially when I find a sow in heat in my bed!"

  Melissa gasped with outrage, her topaz eyes flashing with molten golden sparks, her cheeks flushed with fury. "A sow in heat!" she hissed. "Th-that's a disgusting thing to say! "

  Dominic's eyebrow flicked upward in cynical surprise. "Surely no more disgusting than what you said?" Only by the most tremendous willpower having gotten his own flaming temper under control, he was almost enjoying himself now, wondering idly how he could have been so misled by something as simple as an untidy bun and a pair of disfiguring spectacles. Seeing Melissa as she really was, he understood now the comments about her loveliness that the Manchester men had dropped. And he would be the first to confess that she was indeed lovely. His gaze resting on the enchanting sight she presented, the honey-colored hair tumbling in wild abandon about her shoulders, her lovely eyes bright with temper and her delightful bosom heaving with suppressed anger, Dominic thought that he had never seen another woman who appealed to him so powerfully. It was, he decided with a sudden sensual twist to his lips, truly unfortunate that Royce had arrived so inopportunely-it would have been very interesting to see how far the little minx would have gone in order to snare a husband! Realizing grimly where his musing had taken him, Dominic cursed under his breath and his enjoyment E

  .

  vanished. He had been neatly jockeyed into an untenable position, and here he was mooning over the very creature who had applied the whip!

  Josh had concluded that enough insults had been traded and it was time both principals became aware in what direction their duty now, lay. Clearing his throat portentously, he said quietly, "This is a most distressing affair, but I am exceedingly thankful that there is an honorable solution for us all."

  Dominic stiffened, surmising
where Josh was leading. It didn't come as any surprise to him-he had been expecting it from the second that Melissa's identity had been revealed. He shot the source of his predicament a dark look. She was clever, he'd grant her that, but although he might be forced by circumstances to make an honest woman of her, she wasn't going to find him a complacent husband! He was furious that after having escaped the most elaborate traps set out by some of the most expert matchmaking mamas and their daughters, he had been well and truly snared by such a seemingly artless country miss. Not that she had responded so very artlessly to his embraces! Dominic thought savagely. His only consolation, and it was poor comfort at best, was that at least he'd be able to take pleasure from her body, if nothing else! With arrogant thoroughness, his gray eyes moved slowly over Melissa's slender form. Marriage was something that he had sworn to avoid at all cost, but perhaps it wouldn't be too hellish, he decided coldly, if she lived up to the promise of passion her wanton responses to his kisses had revealed.

  Melissa was so embarrassed and shocked by what had happened that she had not given much thought to her situation beyond the most pressing problem: explaining her presence in Dominic's room. Somewhat naively, she was hoping that now, having given her explanation, no matter how weak it sounded, Josh would escort her home. She expected to get the worst scolding of her life and she was prepared for Josh to be very angry with her for a while, but that would be the end of it. Of course, it was going to be very uncomfortable the first few times she was in company with Mr. Slade, but that too, she was foolishly confident, would pass in time. After all, she reminded herself optimistically, no irreparable harm had been done. Yes, it was a disgraceful position to have found oneself in, and there was no doubt that she would ever forget this humiliating experience, but Royce had appeared at a most opportune moment and in spite of how sordid it seemed, her honor was still intact. About why she had so ardently returned Dominic's kisses she perversely refused to speculate, yearning only to put this mortifying experience behind her. Later, when she wasn't so sensitive about it, wasn't so inexplicably attracted to the disruptive Mr. Slade, she would examine her perplexing and uncharacteristic reaction to him. For now, though, she just wanted to go home.