Dominic's Nemesis (16 page)

“This is your room.” Her sweet voice
fluttered near his ear like the wings of a hummingbird.

“Yes.”

“
Your
…bed.”

He nodded. “Yes.”

“Who is ‘Cara’?”

“Not a person…an endearment.”

“Oh.”

She lifted her head up from his shoulder,
pulling back to look into his face. “Why the circles, Dom? The bed,
the music room, your library, all with a cyclic design.”

He smiled unabashed, amused at the guileless
curiosity in her expression. He also noted that his nickname had
spread…like gossip in the ton. By society
’
s standards, it was, ruinously
inappropriate for her to refer to him by his Christian name, much
less anything as intimate as ‘Dom
’
. He frowned, at the thought, and tilted a little
out of her space. He shouldn
’
t be so free with her either.

“I
’
ve said something wrong, haven
’
t I?”

“No.” He took the two steps to the bed, and
bent to deposit her on its soft counterpane, careful to pull
together the lapels of his jacket around her. “We need to dry off.
Stay. I
’
ll find some
towels.”

* * *

Eden watched her enigmatic host exit through
a side door. Instinctively she curled her wet, chilled feet under
her. She snuggled, inhaling the woodsy scent of him permeating all
around her. His jacket sleeves dangled overlong as she toyed with
the brocade pattern of blue-black bedding. She shoved the sleeves
back several times before finally giving up. What would he do with
her now?

She knew he did not believe her about the
evil thing. She shook her head. Why couldn
’
t he feel it too? It did not make sense.
If he traveled by the same conventions as the evil thing, then
wouldn
’
t they—pass each
other on the street, so to speak? The evil had seen
him
. It
defied logic that he was so completely oblivious. Her brow furrowed
on a sobering thought. Why could
she
see it…and
him
?
To her knowledge, she couldn
’
t travel as they did, so why would she be able to
sense them ‘on the astral
’
?

Dominic reappeared through the same door,
jarring her from her thoughts. Eden appraised him openly.
He
’
d changed his pants,
removed the vest and shoes…and now walked purposefully toward her
on bare feet with an armful of towels and a white garment of some
sort.

“Come.” He dumped the load on the bed and
beckoned for her to scoop nearer the edge.

Holding his jacket closed with one hand, she
complied; dangled her bare legs off the bed just next to where he
knelt. He took up one of the towels and started to rub the chill
from her foot with vigorous efficiency. Enjoying his taking care of
her, she braced herself on her free hand, and watched his dark
half-bowed head, looking for any tiny change in the lines around
his mouth or the tension in his jaw. If she observed him diligently
enough she could gleam subtle changes in his moods, despite the
disadvantage of never seeing his eyes.

“Tell me how it works then. This
astral/corporeal travel.” She longed to hear his voice…deep,
unintentionally sensuous, thick sometimes with emotions he chose to
either hide or deny. Surprising her, he complied, though he never
lifted his bespectacled eyes from his task.

“The corporeal is this world…any mode of
normal travel, me walking across the room or you traversing the
ocean in a three-month sea voyage. The astral is more undefined. It
affects the same surreal, ethereal quality of a dream.” He switched
feet and again rubbed vigorously to extinguish the bluish twinge
from her shivering toes.

“It
’
s timeless, directionless, airless space. There are
no landmarks. All the normal senses are dulled, replaced by
mindsight, a psychic perception of sorts.”

“Then how do you find your way around?”

“Practice. I navigate using human
touchstones. Emotions run wild there. That
’
s how I always find you, know when
you
’
re overset. People
exist in elemental form…all spirit. Everyone
’
s is unique. They have their own soul or
essence on the astral. So I learn certain souls of people who are
close or familiar to me. People whose habits I know, and they help
me know where I am in respect to them and visa versa.”

He finished up on her feet, tossed the towel
aside and reached for a fresh one from the pile beside her. “Lean
forward a bit.”

He slung the towel over her hair and began
blotting dampened chunks of blonde with circular massages and
horizontal propagating rubs between his toweled hands. Her scalp
tinkled deliciously. Eden
’
s eyes drifted closed, savoring the soothing
sensations, leaning even further into the circle of his arms and
resting her head on his shoulder as he pulled the towel the length
of her hair, blotting the still dripping ends especially.

“Hmmm…and you can see everyone, their souls I
mean.”

“Yes, but mostly they are random strangers I
do not recognize.”

“Why can I sense you there?”

“
You
can
’
t.
You
’
ve only ever sensed
me when I step off the astral into invisibility.”

“Oh.” Eden frowned into his shirt, confused.
This was something new. “What
’
s the difference?”

“When I am invisible, I am as I am now,
except you cannot see me…but if I were to touch you, it would be as
I
’
m touching you now. If
I made a sound, you would hear me, as you hear me talking now. On
the astral, there is no sound, no sense of touch, no corporal form
to touch even if touch existed there. You see the difference.”

“I think so.” She nodded against him,
lingering absently to butt her head against him like an
affectionate kitten.

Eden felt him give her hair a final wringing
twist with the towel before it plopped on the floor several feet
away. With a sigh, she straightened. He too moved back from
her.

“Give me your hand.”

She hadn
’
t realized they were bluish and shaking until he
said the words, and she noticed the concerned crinkle on his
forehead as he eyed the one she rubbed unconsciously against her
thigh for warmth. Lulled, and eager for more of his tender loving
care, she thrust both of her hands at him…forgetting that the one
hand acted as a button holding the slack, knee-length garment
closed around her. The jacket dropped open, an innocent instigator
of passion.

Frozen in the act of reaching for a third
towel, his breath split the air, audibly sharp, as he caught her
reckless hands in his. “Eden…I—”

The rest of what he said was a mystery to her
as he spoke sharply…in some foreign language she assumed to be
Italian.

* * *

He was having a hard enough time trying to
ignore the tiny glimpses of her body. Now, privy to a long,
thorough view of the gentle curves of her taunt pink-tipped
breasts, expanding and contracting with each hitching breath she
took, as if teasing him…begging him to pleasure them. He did not
dare let his eyes drift down, knowing what he would see there.

Dominic knew he
’
d never win the battle with his desires, much less
the war with his conscience. Slowly, he clamped a hand at her
waist. Sliding his thumb in a caressing arch across her stomach, he
hissed out a breath at the silky smooth texture of her skin. He was
lost. His other, outstretched hand shook as it shifted direction,
inching toward her exposed loveliness.

Their gazes collided for a moment, his
smoldering, hopeful, and lost behind the shaded barrier, hers open,
giving, longing even…he noted with mild surprise. Further lured by
enticing mother-of-pearl skin and rosebud nipples, his hand closed
over her left breast. Her eyes registered shock and silent wonder.
He loved how her hazel eyes burned hot at even his lightest touch.
Her lids drifted half closed when he brushed her budded nipple with
his thumb, testing its sensitivity.

* * *

“Ahhh…” Eden
’
s back arched forward a little. Her breast seeking
out his caress. She
’
d
been worried at first that he
’
d be disappointed in her barely-there endowments.
She trembled anew, but not from cold.

“
Beautiful
…cara.” She heard him murmur, a moment
later she felt the flutter of his other hand wander up her torso to
cover her other breast with warm engulfing fingers. Eden, unable to
hold herself still under the collective onslaught, dropped back
landing with her elbows braced against the bed. The jacket spread
even wider until it fell off her shoulders altogether and pooled on
the bed around her.

Pausing, he slid an arm under her slight
frame, lifted her, and shifted them further onto the bed. He eased
his weigh onto his side and propped himself up on his elbow to one
side of her.

“Lie flat, cara…for me, please.” Eden smiled
at the pleading in his voice. She turned her face to see him again
reach a tentatively hand across to her breast. A deep furrow marred
his forehead and Eden couldn
’
t stop herself turning toward him to place a soft
kiss there. The gesture brought her breast into contact with his
seeking palm. She let him ease her back flat with a gentle
nudge…and then his hand was caressing her breast again. Eden let
her eyes drift closed. Unbidden, her hand wondered over to lose
itself in his thick black locks. She felt him tense; his hand froze
mid-caress.

“Shhh, Dom, let me touch you.” She whispered
soothing promises, and words of encouragement to him and was
rewarded when he relaxed into her light ruffling of his hair.
“
I won
’
t hurt you, I promise. Please. You can
trust me.”

His fingers switched back into a light caress
over her chest, traveling from stroking her breast to touching the
tender skin of her throat and then palming her cheek. It was like
he was getting used to the feel of her, allowing himself to relax
and enjoy another
’
s
touch, presence, and proximity.

“Eden.” He said her name in a husky yearning
voice that made her sigh. A fresh surge of protectiveness and
righteous anger whelmed up inside Eden at the thought of what some
sadistic person could have done to create such a fragile
vulnerability in a man his size and strength. At that moment, she
felt quite certain that she could murder them.

“Dominic.” She opened her hazel gaze on him,
still toying with his hair. “Close your eyes.”

He did not respond. She waited a beat before
letting her fingers drift out of his hair on to his cheek and come
to rest at the edge of his specs. She paused there, cautious.

His hand on her cheek stilled, his breath now
a quiet pant.

“May I?” She whispered.

His lips parted. Eden watched him. He
hesitated, seemed caught in a web of anxiety and indecision.

“I…can
’
t.” The words tore from him, tortured. Then, like
before, he simply wasn
’
t
there anymore…except, he was.

“Dom?”

“Yes.”

She could still feel his hand against her
cheek. The heat of his body poised a scant foot from her naked
form. She could see the indentation on the counterpane and hear
tiny puffs of air going in and out of his lungs as he breathed.
He
’
s invisible! The
oddness and delight left her disconcerted, excited, and aroused all
at once. He did not protest when she slid the spectacles off his
nose and set them aside.

“Does it…bother you? My being…here, but not
here.” His deep voice asked near her ear.

“No, Dom.” And to show him just how very
little she minded, Eden, slid her hands back in his hair and
exerted pressure to propel him forward. She
’
d seen him do something to her in one of
her ever-intruding visions that had intrigued her enough to want to
test it out in the real world. “Kiss me where your hand was
before.”

Her arm curled around his head as he followed
her urging and leaned in to close his hot moist mouth over her
jutted nipple. Her back jackknifed off the bed. Her arm, free of
the cumbersome sleeves, tightened, clasping him to her breast. She
lapsed easily into a sensuous daze, created by his disembodied lips
and hot, moist tongue waxing erotic over her skin. Foreign yet
addictive sensations spread throughout her body, a tidal wave of
heat and undulating pulsations gripped her. A deep burning settled
at the pit of her stomach. She hungered for something she could not
name.

“Ummm…” Her fingers snaked in his hair.

Warm hands grasped her hips and lifted her to
sit astride him, as he rose so that he too sat up. This he did
without breaking the delicious hold he had on her breast. She was
wickedly naked, while he still wore pants, shirt and an open
waistcoat. Eden scooped forward, the textured material of his
trousers wreaking havoc on the sensitive folds of her most intimate
place. She shuddered.

Dominic left off, pulling slightly away.

“I
’
m not cold.” Eden cut off his concern…but got no
further, as his hands found her hair and pulled her to him in a
deep, bottomless kiss. Her heart exploded, pounding hard against
her rib cage…growing louder and more intense by the second.

Knock! Knock! Knock! A firm succession of
raps snapped Eden back into her right mind.

“Dominic?” The sound of Kathleen’s voice so
close was like a bucket of cold water. “Is tha wee one in there
with you? I
’
ll no
’
have any
slap-n-tickle on my watch. Open dis door, I tell ya!
”