CHAPTER 1
Dinah Benson was not a one to be easily frightened, but now she was near screaming with horror.
Being left alone on an empty road, in a carriage with a broken axle was difficult enough, yet she bore it as best as she could, knowing that there was no alternative but to wait patiently for help to come. But now, in quickly growing darkness and with stormy clouds gathering speedily, she shivered with fear. She had always been petrified of storms! It was on a stormy night five years ago that her mother died of fever which contributed to Dinah’s dread of thunder and lightning.
Suddenly, it started to rain. Heavy drops hit the carriage’s roof and soon waterfalls were cascading down its sides. A lightning bolt zigzagged across the sky and Dinah closed her eyes, counting silently until she heard the rumble of thunder. She went as far as eight. The centre of the storm was still far away, but it was approaching fast.
Oh, what a day full of catastrophes it was! She had always dreamed of having adventures but this one was turning to be less and less pleasant. Another lightning ripped the clouds and this time the thunder followed much more quickly. Dinah could not help herself and screamed.
And then she heard a voice calling her name. Was it real or did she imagine it?
‘Miss Benson, Dinah!’ she could hear through the rattle of raindrops.
‘Over here’ she shouted sticking her head outside. ‘I’m here! Oh, help!’
Another lightning flash! In its light Dinah saw a man approaching on horseback, long black hair plastered to his face. He looked like a Highwayman. But at that moment she did not care who he was. She just could not bear to be alone in this storm any longer.
‘Miss Benson, are you all right?’ the stranger asked, approaching. ‘We must get you out of here. It is not safe on the road in this storm. Any moment a branch can fall and do further damage to the carriage.’
‘Who are you? How do you know my name? Has Hincks sent you to search for me?’
‘Your coachman? We found him on the road, not far from the inn. His horse slipped in the mud and threw him. He’s hurt his head and ankle, but it is not serious. My man is tending to him.’
‘That is a truly most wretched day I have ever had! Oh, poor Hincks… I shall go to him and make sure that he has got all the care he needs. Is the inn far away?’
‘It is too far to ride there now.’
Another flash of lightning was followed by almost immediate rumbling of thunder so loud that it nearly deafened Dinah’s scream.
Next moment the door of the carriage were open and she found herself wrapped in strong, muscular arms.
‘Hush, there’s no need to be afraid of the storm. Come on, I will take you to a safe place. It is not far away.’
He lifted her as if she was feather-light and helped her get on a horseback. Sitting behind her, he put an arm around her waist to support her and they set off in a quick pace. The rain was falling heavily and within minutes Dinah was drenched to the skin. She closed her eyes to block the horror of frequent lightning but she was no longer so mortally terrified. The strength of the stranger’s embrace and the heat of his body seemed to give her courage. She did not know who he was and where he was taking her, but she decided that she had no choice but to trust him.
They turned into a wood path and after ten minutes they reached what looked like a small hunting lodge. The stranger jumped off the horse and helped her dismount. Then, he fished a large key from behind a loose stone at the front steps and opened the door for her.
‘Wait for me inside, I’ll just get the horse to the stable.’
When Captain Alex Legrant came back after having seen to his horse, he found the girl exactly where he left her. Her teeth were chattering but he did not know whether from cold or from fear. Both, he surmised.
‘Come’ he said, his voice urgent. ‘You must get off these wet clothes; otherwise you’ll catch your death. I will build a fire in the drawing room, so we can both dry ourselves.’
‘Are there no servants here, sir?’ she asked.
‘Not at the moment. It’s my uncle’s old hunting lodge. I’ve just come here for a day or two to check the grounds. I brought only one man with me and him I left at the inn.’
The girl looked uncertain. She was alone with an unknown man in the middle of the forest. He read the doubt in her eyes and said impatiently:
‘Look, I know what you are thinking but there is hardly any choice left under the circumstances. Would you rather be sitting alone on the road?’
‘No, of course not’ she said quietly, but looked unconvinced.
‘Good. Now, come with me, I shall find you one of my uncle’s old dressing robes and a blanket, so you can change and wrap yourself for warmth.’
She followed him into one of the bedrooms and accepted a dark blue silk gentleman’s dressing gown and a plaid blanket.
‘Once you are changed, come to the fire. And bring your clothes so they can dry.’
He left her a candle and shut the door behind him. Thank goodness he and Richards had been off riding for so long today. Had they not found the injured man, he might have been lying on the road till the morning. And Dinah Benson would have to spend a night alone on the road in the raging storm, of which she was so clearly petrified.
He started the fire with the practised ease of a soldier and went in search of a dry shirt and a clean pair of breeches. He also fetched some cold ham and bread from the kitchen and a bottle of brandy. He was just laying it all out on the table when the door opened and Dinah came in.
The dressing gown was obviously far too big for her and she had to tie it with an improvised belt. The blanket covered her shoulders. Her damp red hair was in disarray and she was clearly still shaking.
He took the bundle of her wet clothes from her and spread each garment on various pieces of furniture. He noticed that she blushed when he was handling her underclothes.
‘You must excuse me the lack of elegance, Miss Benson. I know that it is more like a soldier’s camping place that anything you shall be used to.’
‘Why, it is all perfectly all right’ she said kneeling in front of the fire. The flames put a rosy glow to her white skin and Alex could not avert his eyes from her slender figure. ‘There is fire and I can see that you brought some refreshment. After all, having adventures is not about being comfortable, is it?’
‘Are you keen on adventures, Miss Benson?’
‘I have not had much experience of them and, I dare say, I shall have even less in the future.’
‘Why is that so?’ he offered here a glass of brandy and when she looked dubious, he urged: ‘Drink it, it shall chase the chill out of your body.’
She turned to face him as she accepted the glass. She lifted it to her eyes, as if appraising the golden liquid within it, and then, with a challenging gleam in her green eyes she drank half of it in one go. She grimaced slightly and then gave Alex a speculative look.
‘I shall tell you about myself, sir, but first I would like to know something about you. We could start with a name.’
She is reproaching me, thought Alex. Just seeing Dinah Benson, dressed only in an old dressing robe, with her red curls coiling around her long white neck, was enough to make his throat go dry. When she gave him that look, she was almost provocative.
He swallowed, chasing away disturbing thoughts, and introduced himself:
‘I am Captain Alex Legrant.’
Dinah looked across the table at her saviour, her mouth full of ham and bread. She had hardly eaten all day and had been starving. The situation, she decided, allowed her to forget some of her table manners and let her youthful appetite take over. For a moment they ate in silence and Dinah took opportunity to study Captain Alex Legrant. He ha
d the strong features and browned complexion of a man used to rough conditions. His eyes were dark and watchful and his nose must have been broken. Long dark, hair hung around his face in drying curls and a black short beard covered his cheeks and jaw. Not enough, however, for Dinah not to see the terrible scars disfiguring a big part of his left cheek. Dinah had a feeling that she had seen him before.
‘You probably wonder where I got those’ he said and the directness of his statement made her blush.
‘I am sorry, sir. I did not mean to stare.’
‘Do not apologise. Everybody does. Stare, I mean. Even growing a beard did not help much.’ His mouth twitched in a bitter smile. ‘An explosion during a battle in the Pyrenees. I am very lucky to be alive, actually. But let us not talk of me. You were supposed to tell me why your life is deprived of adventures.’
Dinah looked him in the eye. His way of speaking in short, direct sentences made her suddenly abandon all proprietary and answer in the same manner.
‘Because I am a woman, sir. I have been brought up to obey my father and soon I am to learn to obey my husband.’
‘And who is to be your husband?’ he asked and a curious gleam lit his black eyes.
‘Lord Timsbury’ Dinah said bitterly.
‘Don’t you like Lord Timsbury? I have met him on occasion, I believe, and he seemed pleasant enough. Besides, he had a reputation of being a very good soldier.’
‘Well, you know more about him than I, sir. I have not had a pleasure of meeting the gentleman. It is my father’s wish that I marry him. Such an honour for a merchant’s daughter to marry a title!’
‘Is that all what he is to you, Miss Benson, a title?’
‘Not to me, Captain Legrant, to my father. He does business with Lord Timsbury. And if you are, by any chance, feeling sorry for the man, do not forget that for him I am probably just another piece of goods in a transaction.’
He seemed startled by her choice of phrase, but she was past caring. Somehow, in this forest lodge, with an unknown man for company, she felt an urge to be free of all pretence that duty and upbringing forced her to adopt.
‘Do you mind if I sit down by the fire?’ she asked and not waiting for an answer she took her half empty glass of brandy and sat on a fur rug in front of the fireplace.
She felt rather than heard the man sitting just behind her.
‘A title marrying money. How crude it sounds when you put it like that, Miss Benson.’
She was sitting just in front of him and Alex had to fight an urge to caress her neck. Her red hair shone in the firelight. She smelled faintly of roses. His eyes were on the knot of her belt. It did not look very tight. If he just pulled it… Her voice brought him back to his senses.
‘How else shall I put it? It is hard for me to think well of Lord Timsbury. Papa says that it is not the money that he is interested in. Apparently, he had seen me riding in a park when we last visited London and he was charmed by my beauty. But, for some reason, he did not introduce himself. How am I supposed to believe that?’
‘Maybe he has got his reasons not to make your acquaintance as yet. And why should you not believe a man capable of falling for your beauty?’
She turned abruptly and faced him.
‘Do not mock me, Captain Legrant! My beauty?’
‘You are a very beautiful girl, Dinah’ he said quietly, his voice slightly hoarse.
In her agitation, she did not seem to notice that he used her first name.
‘How can I be beautiful? So skinny and with my red hair. And those freckles!’
‘Your hair is your greatest asset. And, slender as you are, you are certainly full in all the right places’ his gaze lowered to her breasts, now rising and falling very fast. ‘As for freckles, a man just wants to kiss each of them.’
She should be shocked by his words, slap him, scream, anything! Instead she looked into his damaged, but oddly attractive face, and let herself imagine what it would be like to be kissed by him. She remembered the strength of his arms, the steely muscles, and wanted to feel them around her again.
You have always wanted an adventure, she told herself. And here was her only chance. All her life she had been a good girl, always properly behaved and polite. She had followed her father’s wishes in everything, knowing how much he had suffered after her mother’s death. She would obey him now, as well, and marry Lord Timsbury, although it made her feel as if she was one of her father’s merchandises.
This once, just this once, she had a chance to follow her instincts and do something she wanted to do, regardless of the consequences. She closed her eyes and whispered:
‘Do you want to, Captain Legrant?’
‘Call me Alex. Do I want to...... what?’ His voice was husky, as if affected by the tension growing between them.
‘To kiss… every freckle…’
He lowered his head and kissed her cheek.
‘Like this?’
‘Like this.’
Next thing Dinah felt was his lips on hers and she shuddered under that first kiss.
CHAPTER 2
At first she seemed shy and uncertain of herself, but slowly she relaxed and let her lips part in response. Alex put his arm around her, drawing her closer to his chest and, as she gained confidence, was surprised by the passion with which she returned his kiss. He let his mouth travel down her neck and he could feel her body arching under his caress.
‘You should not tempt me like that’ he said, drawing himself reluctantly away.
‘Why, don’t you want me?’
‘My Lord, girl, how can a man resist you? It’s just… Do you realise what consequences could there be for you?’
‘Yes. But I do not care. I shall be married very soon. If Lord Timsbury should be displeased with me, he would have only himself to blame. It is not as if he has gone to any trouble to meet his future wife.’
Her voice was bold but he could feel that, in fact, she was deeply hurt. Still, he could not resist inquiring further. He needed to know.
‘So, is that just your way of taking revenge on Lord Timsbury?’
‘No’ she cried passionately. ‘I want it. I want to have my own experience, something that has not been decided for me by my father or anybody else. I want you, Alex.’
Her eyes shone with passion and tears. She was so beautiful, so innocent, so determined…
‘You know that if we start now, I shall not be able to stop, even if you change your mind.’
‘I will not change my mind’ she said and smiled a bewitching smile.
She lifted her arms and started to loosen her hair. As it fell in a heavy red-gold curtain down her shoulders, Alex undid the belt tied around her waist and let the old dressing gown slip down to the floor.
She was naked before him and he had never seen anything so perfect.
‘My little adventure seeker’ he whispered and pulled her in his arms.
First his kisses were very gentle, as he let his hand travel down her bare back, but soon they grew more and more passionate. Hungry, demanding… Dinah closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around his neck, stroking the nape, losing her fingers in his dark tangled curls. As his mouth moved down her neck and he reached for one of her full breasts, she tilted her head backward and gave a sigh of pleasure. Her heart was beating fast and her breath was coming in quick shallow gasps.
Alex was stroking the underside of her left breast and brought his mouth to kiss the nipple of the other one. Dinah caught her breath with a moan. She had never imagined such pleasure. She could feel a pulse beating between her legs as warm moisture flooded her most secret place. Her body felt weak and heavy with lust in Alex’s powerful arms, while his tongue caressed the centre of her nipple and his hand travelled down to cup one of her buttocks.
Suddenly she wanted to see him naked, to touch him as he was touching her. She tore on the opening of his shirt and, reading her meaning correctly, he took it off, revealing the horrific scars that the explosion had caused on the le
ft side of his body. Unabashed, Dinah put her both hands on his muscular torso and, in wonder, begun to explore the man’s body. The breadth of his shoulders, the knots of the muscles and the scars brought from the battles he had fought were all new and wonderfully exciting to her. Imitating him, she trailed her mouth down his neck, caressing his chest, stroking his back, letting him bury his hands in the richness of her hair.
As her wandering fingers moved lower and lower, his breathing grew faster and a groan escaped from his throat when her hand encountered the hardness of his manhood. Feeling mounting desire, Alex freed himself from his tight breeches and Dinah took in the full size of his arousal. He pushed her gently onto the rug and his powerful, masculine body covered hers. Her green eyes darkened with desire and longing to be fully his.
Alex looked into her face, aglow with passion and kissed her, his tongue exploring her sensuous mouth. He had to come inside her, he could not fight the urge any longer!
‘It might hurt a bit’ he whispered as he parted her legs, letting his hands caress the soft inside of her thighs.
‘I am not afraid’ she whispered back. ‘I want to feel it all…’
She was ready when he entered her, but still a little cry of pain escaped her mouth as he broke through her maidenhood. He stopped for a moment, but she gave a little nod and felt him move inside her. Slowly pain gave way to new, powerful sensations. She felt waves of pleasure, weak at first, but growing in strength when the movements of his loins got faster and stronger.
Dinah coiled her legs around his waist, making it possible for Alex to penetrate even deeper inside her, and her movements followed his rhythm. She felt his hand cupping her breast and teasing the nipple. The sweet waves of pleasure were getting more intense. When she opened her eyes, she looked into his face and read the passion in it that mirrored her own.
But then a powerful spasm run through her body and tore a cry from her throat. Her back arched in climax just at the same moment as Alex gave a throaty groan and found release inside her.
Alex watched Dinah sleeping in his arms, his face unusually tender. When she insisted that they stayed in front of the fire, he brought some pillows and covers to make her comfortable. Soon, tiredness got the better of her and she dozed off, as trusting as a child in his arms.
Seduced Bride-To-Be Page 1