Beyond Temptation (25 page)

‘Bastard!’ she roared. For a moment her arousal was forgotten. Her anger and fury boiled to a white rage as she tore herself from Dominic’s grasp and paced furiously around the room.

‘Bastard!’ she screamed again. She stamped angrily on the wooden floors.

‘Bastard! Bastard! Bastard!’ She could think of no other words to summarise the situation.

‘What the hell have I done?’

She glared at Dominic. ‘You’re just a pawn in this game. Harold’s pushed you into position and he’s waiting for me to make the most obvious move before he slams me with a checkmate.’

There was a puzzled expression on Dominic’s face that showed he didn’t understand her. But Robyn was beyond caring. Her outrage at Harold was so overwhelming she couldn’t see beyond the black cloud that cloaked her thoughts.

‘Why is he doing this?’ she wondered, not realising she had asked the question aloud.

‘I don’t even know what he’s doing,’ Dominic said. ‘I thought you and he had some kind of open marriage.’

‘We do,’ she snapped. ‘I mean, we did,’ she amended. She shook her head irritably. ‘Harold wants that to stop,’ she explained. ‘He’s threatened me with divorce if I do anything against his wishes.’

Dominic’s sympathetic expression lacked conviction. It was obvious he was still no closer to understanding the situation. Robyn also thought his sympathy might have been more convincing if he hadn’t been stroking his erection at the same time.

She rubbed stiff fingers against the tense muscles on the back of her neck. It was an automatic reaction to lash out and she desperately wanted to do that. She toyed with the idea of throwing herself at Dominic now and defying Harold’s wishes by fucking the man until they were both exhausted. Because of the state of arousal that had been tormenting her over the past two days she couldn’t deny this idea had an appeal. She was already walking towards him, her fingers reaching out to touch him, when common sense intervened.

If she had sex with Dominic she would be doing exactly as Harold had forbidden. She would be offering herself on a plate to Dominic – and she would be offering her divorce on a plate to Harold.

With a sigh of frustration, she turned away from him and paced the bedroom again. ‘Cover yourself up,’ she growled irritably. ‘How am I meant to think properly when your cock’s staring at me as I walk around the room?’

He glanced down at himself and laughed apologetically. ‘I’m sorry, I hadn’t realised I was flashing.’

Robyn thought he was lying, but didn’t say so.

‘Why don’t you just do what you want?’ Dominic asked, as he tied the cord around his bathrobe. The front of the robe was distorted by the shape of his erection.

She stared at the bulge with a hungry gaze. He had been the last person she had fucked and the thought of holding him in her arms again held an infuriating appeal.

‘I won’t tell Harold, if you don’t want me to,’ he promised.

She shook her head and stepped into his arms hoping he would embrace and comfort her. She was feeling miserable and depressed and believed Dominic now understood the machinations behind her dilemma. Although he seemed to act like a rash and irresponsible hedonist, Robyn thought he was decent enough to offer her the platonic advice and friendship she currently needed. And she felt certain he would do that rather than coax her into bed.

‘We can’t do anything,’ she whispered. ‘Harold would know. He has this way of looking at me so that I can’t keep anything secret. I don’t know if it’s something in my eyes or my body language but, whatever it is, he never fails to spot it. He can read me like a book and he always knows when I’m lying.’

She felt the reassuring warmth of Dominic’s arms as he embraced her. He had obviously showered before he came to visit her bedroom and she inhaled the lightly floral perfume of soap on his chest. It was a subtle smell that evoked memories of happier times when they had hugged with a blissfully carefree attitude. She was so lost in the pleasant world of his scent that she barely noticed when his fingers began to caress her back. His hands moved slowly between her shoulders, mimicking the manipulation of the subtlest massage. It was only when he dropped his hands and began to gently knead her buttocks that she realised what he was trying to do.

The swell of his hardness pressed against her flat stomach.

‘No. Dominic, stop it.’

She tried stepping out of his reach.

He held her tight, ignoring her pleas for mercy. Staring down at her, he pressed his mouth over hers and kissed.

Robyn struggled not to accept his tongue but she couldn’t resist. She didn’t know if he was too powerful for her to fight against, or if her own desires were rebelling against the common-sense path she wanted to follow. Whatever the reason, the consequences were the same. His tongue filled her mouth and delved deep. His caressing hands continued to stroke and knead her buttocks, daringly raising the hem of her skirt as he held her against his body.

She could feel her resolve weakening and knew it would only take a moment more before she submitted to him. The thought was simultaneously exciting and terrifying.

‘NO!’ she bellowed, pushing herself free.

He stared at her with malicious glee.

‘But you’re desperate for it.’

Robyn didn’t bother to deny the accusation. ‘That doesn’t mean I’m going to fuck over my marriage because you want it. I’ve said no and I meant it. You know my reasons and you should respect them.’

He drew a deep breath and she tried to decide if he was angry or excited. He stared at her with such peculiar intensity she felt threatened. It was annoying to realise that even that emotion wasn’t without sexual connotations.

‘I think your reasons are stupid,’ he said eventually. ‘I want you and you want me. Stuff what Harold has to say.’

‘It’s not that easy.’

He sniffed, obviously dismissing her objections. Stepping closer he reached for her breasts and stroked them through the half-open blouse. His fingers slid smoothly against the cotton fabric, stimulating the flesh beneath with a demanding caress.

‘It’s as easy as you want it to be.’

Robyn drew a startled breath. She was suddenly unable to move away from him. Her need to experience his touch held her where she stood. She studied him, hating him and yet desperately wanting him.

‘If Harold knew you were doing this, he’d demand a divorce,’ she said quietly. ‘But I believe I can keep this much from him. If I did anything more, he’d find out. And that would be the end of my marriage.’

Dominic shook his head and stepped closer.

‘I have the answer to your problems,’ he said confidently. He lowered his head and kissed her lips softly. ‘I’ll tell Harold you were the perfect host, and that your behaviour was chaste, if not virginal.’

‘And when Harold asks me?’

He shrugged. ‘You lie?’

Dominic was an idiot, Robyn decided. He hadn’t heard a word she had said about Harold’s ability to intuit the truth. She supposed he hadn’t been listening because his thoughts were fixed on finding ways to get her into bed. Annoyed, she tried to turn away.

Dominic wrapped his arms around her and held Robyn in a forceful embrace. ‘I want you, Robyn,’ he said passionately. ‘I want you, and I’m going to have you.’

She tried to struggle away from him but his grip was unrelenting.

‘You’ve told me the situation that exists between you and your husband, and I appreciate you’re not in a good place. But I have needs of my own, and you’re going to satisfy them.’

She started to shiver, terrified and excited by his demanding manner.

‘I know that you’re struggling to resist temptation. But I think I should tell you what I have in mind before you pull away from me again.’

Robyn glared at him, her expression a mixture of anger and distaste.

‘Go to bed with me now,’ he demanded.

‘No.’

She tried to break free but his hold on her was strong.

‘Take me to bed now, and Harold won’t hear a word of it from me.’ The malevolent light returned to his eye as he grinned down at her. ‘But if you turn me away, I’ll make up such fantastic stories for him he’ll think you’ve been mainlining Viagra.’

Robyn gasped as though she had been slapped. ‘You bastard!’

He grinned, unruffled by her anger. ‘Let’s face it, Robyn.’ His words were coloured by fake sympathy. ‘You’re fucked whatever happens. If you sin like the devil, you lose. And if you remain pure for your husband, you still lose. At least with my way you get to release some of that frustration that’s building between your legs.’

To illustrate where he meant, he pushed his fingers beneath her skirt and brushed his knuckles along her gusset.

Robyn drew shocked breath, startled by the pleasure his caress excited. She trembled and her arms shook as she pulled herself free from his grip.

‘You can’t be serious,’ she hissed. ‘This is blackmail.’

He held her again, pressing his mouth over hers and kissing deeply. ‘I am serious.’ Lifting her by her arms, he hurled her onto the bed and stood over her. His robe had come open again. The threatening length of his cock moved towards her as he climbed onto the bed.

‘This is rape.’

He gave a dour laugh. ‘Rape is when a woman doesn’t want it. In spite of your protests, we both know you’re begging for this.’

Robyn wished she could call him a liar but she knew there was some truth in what he said. She glared miserably at him as he climbed on top of her. She was still wearing her blouse and skirt but she doubted that would spoil Dominic’s plans. He was resolute and she knew he was going to have her one way or another. She tried to condition herself to that thought and enjoy the intimacy.

But a small voice at the back of her mind insisted there was still a chance to save her marriage and she tried to heed its words of warning.

‘Please don’t make me do this,’ she begged.

He shook his head. A sullen smile creased his lips. ‘You can suck me first. You do that really well. Then I can try out that black condom I’ve been so desperate to use.’

She watched him move further up her body. The length of his thick cock hovered in front of her face, the head towards her mouth. She shifted her head from side to side, but he managed to push it into her face each time. The pearl of pre-come that covered his glans drew itself slickly against her lips and cheek.

Robyn moaned, begging him to stop. She reached up to try and take hold of his shaft, hoping to guide him away from her. The scent of his excitement fuelled the glowing embers of her arousal, making it difficult not to want him. But she told herself she had to resist.

‘Suck it,’ he encouraged. ‘You know you want to.’

And he was right. She wanted to take his cock into her mouth more than anything else. After she had sucked it, she would have been elated to feel his sheathed length penetrate her pussy or slide into her arsehole. The idea left her nerve-endings singing with passionate longing.

‘Suck it,’ he insisted. ‘Or I’ll tell Harold you did it for me on the doorstep.’

‘Bastard,’ she gasped.

He nodded. ‘Suck it, or I’ll tell Harold that I came in here and caught you fucking Yale and one of his models. Which do you want, Robyn? Do you want to suck it and enjoy yourself? Or do you want to spend the night frustrated and then suffer Harold’s wrath after I’ve had a chance to talk with him?’

Robyn opened her mouth and moved her head towards the tip of Dominic’s length. She pushed her tongue forward, determined to taste the glistening purple dome. Her fingers had encircled his shaft and she had pulled his foreskin back so that the length stood proudly before her.

‘You’re a despicable blackmailing bastard, Dominic,’ she growled. She spoke to his cock rather than to his face. ‘And if I ever get the chance for revenge after this, I’ll take it.’

‘But you want to,’ he reminded her.

She held her tongue near to the head of his cock, then hesitated.

‘I want it,’ she agreed. ‘But you want it a fucking sight more. And you’re the one putting me under pressure.’ The words spoken, she moved her mouth back to his cock.

‘Bitch,’ he growled, pulling away from her. ‘Bitch. Bitch. Bitch.’

His anger reminded her of her own furious outburst when she had worked out Harold’s Machiavellian plans. She stared at Dominic, startled and a little bewildered by his sudden display of anger. She watched as he climbed off the bed, wrapping the robe around himself and hiding his erection from her sight. He had started towards the bedroom door before she thought to shout after him.

‘What are you doing now? Where the hell are you going?’

He glared at her from the doorway.

‘I’m going back to my bedroom for a wank.’ He spat the words through gritted teeth. ‘I want you. And you want me. But you make me feel like a fucking rapist.’

‘You’re not that far removed from one,’ she snapped. A pulse throbbed between her legs, reminding her how desperately he had excited her. ‘You threatened me with some pretty serious consequences if I didn’t do as you demanded. Now you’re complaining because I don’t go out of my way to make you feel good about that?’

‘Then I’ll leave,’ he said, turning to the doorway. ‘And don’t worry about my talking to Harold. I won’t say a word to him.’

She groaned heavily as the door closed behind Dominic. The heat of her arousal burnt and she fervently wished there was a way of satisfying the need. Her own fingers were painfully inadequate for the task. What her body desperately craved was the one thing Harold had forbidden her.

She supposed she had been lucky that Dominic finally decided to act like a gentleman, even if his threats of blackmail had been reprehensible in the first place. Once again she had had a narrow brush with infidelity and escaped. She tried to take solace from that thought, regardless of her body’s truculent depression.

Miserably, she sat up on the bed and tried to clear her thoughts. Her mouth felt dry after the close brush with Dominic and she needed a drink of water to help calm her down. Being honest with herself, she thought she probably needed something far stronger than water, but she felt sure alcohol would cloud her judgement and she needed full control of her faculties in the sexually fraught atmosphere of Holbert Manor.