The Sweet and Spicy Regency Collection (66 page)

“What is there left to do?” a younger female wolf with striking blonde hair asked. “We now possess her. No human can harm us. Is that not correct?”

“Let us go out and hunt. I’m in the mood to celebrate,” a large male suggested.

“Yes, I have a craving for some human blood,” another said.

Vlad’s voice turned sharp and impatient as the room erupted into excited discussions. The heated energy in the room crackled in the air. Vlad would have his hands full for quite a while as he worked to calm the restless pack. Some in the group had already begun to shed their human forms in anticipation of going on a hunt.

While many within the pack obviously believed simply reacquiring Lev and Sasha’s offspring would be enough to save them, Vlad had apparently interpreted Misha’s vision another way. Based on his earlier comments, he defined possession in a more carnal sense. And judging by the strain in his voice, he was clearly becoming more and more anxious to put his plan into action.

Whether the lady was willing or not, Vlad would make her his mate and his
possession
. Brute force had always been Vlad’s way. Even as a pup, he’d snap and growl, fighting for more than his fair share. Now that he was alpha, what reason would he have to change?

Come morning, life as Lady Amelia knew it will have crashed down around her ears. She’ll have had her dignity, her standing within her beloved
ton
, her family, her illusion of freedom, and her virtue forcibly ripped away from her. If she put up a fight, she’d be broken, bruised, and crushed, utterly crushed. And Vlad won’t give a damn. Her existence was merely a means to an end.

And this is none of my bloody concern
, Dimitri reminded himself. The lady wasn’t his responsibility. Nor did he want her to be.

Yes, there was one thing he could do. Yes, it might save her a night—perhaps even a lifetime—of pain and humiliation. But it would mean exposing his own neck. He hadn’t survived this long by doing something as foolish as that. And he didn’t plan to start now.

Lady Amelia would simply have to fend for herself. He wasn’t the gentleman she’d seen in him. And he sure as hell wasn’t a hero. But to let her fall into Vlad’s clutches…

Hell. He was going to regret this. That was, if he
lived
to regret it.

* * * *

Lia tugged at the ropes that bound her arms to the bed’s headboard until her wrists burned raw. The knots were tight, the biting rope unforgiving. She could live with the pain, as long as she managed to escape before…

This was
his
room. Lord Carew’s scent was all over the bed sheets. She wondered how long it would be until he sauntered through that door to take advantage of her vulnerability.

She’d been such a fool to fall for his charming manner and rakish good looks. After her one disastrous brush with love, she should have known better than to trust any man. She should have never let Carew lead her into the garden. And she certainly shouldn’t have kissed him. How could she have so lost herself in a kiss that had clearly meant nothing to him? Lord Duncan had been right all along. Not only had the wickedly handsome Carew not raced to her rescue, he appeared to be the leader of the motley gang.
A gang of monsters!

His betrayal really shouldn’t hurt this much. After all, she barely knew him. But, dash it all, it did.

How dare he kiss her with such feeling and then step back and let those creatures manhandle her and her brave, dear Aunt Lettie? Lia’s heart began to pound with a new, much more violent emotion. How dare he watch her with such intensity and then do this?
This!

“The bounder. The cad. The… The…”

“Lovable rogue?” the offending cur offered. She jerked her head toward the bedchamber’s doorway. How did he manage to always sneak up on her as silently as a ghost? Not a piece of his clothing rustled as he moved into the room and closed the door behind him.

“No? Not the right word, then?” he said thoughtfully. One corner of his mouth lifted in a half-grin. “Something stronger, perhaps? I’m a bloody bastard.”

She fought the ropes with renewed vigor. “You are the devil. And you will rot in hell for what you have done.”

“I’m sure that is true.” He moved toward the bed, toward
her
. She wanted to hold up her hands and force him back. But she couldn’t, not while her hands were tied. She was helpless against him. “I am the worst sort of blackguard because I will not help you escape, do you not agree?”

He stopped when he was no more than a few steps from the bed. The hard look in his eyes had softened just a touch. His crooked smile faded as if he was truly sorry for the position she’d been forced into, which frightened Lia much more than anything he’d done so far.

“Why don’t you defend yourself instead of helping me come up with nasty names to call you?” she demanded. She’d much rather be angry than suffer this terror beating through her veins. “Why don’t you concoct another lie for me to believe?”

“You wish to condemn me.” He glanced pointedly at her wrists tied to the bedposts. “Who am I to take that away from you?”

“Implying that you can take whatever else you want? I hate you! I hate you!” She fought to tear free of her ropes even if it meant ripping her hands from her body. She was not going to let him terrorize her like this, nor was she willing to lay motionless like a helpless doll while he violated her. If he forced himself on her, it would kill her. Didn’t he realize that? Hadn’t he seen how ready she’d been to freely offer what he now planned to steal?

“Stop. Stop. You’re going to hurt yourself.” He bent over her. The lapel of his coat brushed against her cheek as he freed her wrist from the ropes. He moved to work on the knot binding her other wrist.

She took the opportunity and grabbed his neck and squeezed with all her strength.

His fingers stilled on the ropes. She continued to squeeze his throat, letting her anger and fear fuel her. Lord help her, she would kill him with her bare hands.

She’d thought she was on the verge of winning when he moved with lightning fast speed. He grabbed her hand and peeled her crushing fingers from his throat. With the full weight of his body sprawled across hers, he pressed her arm into the mattress.

“I know you won’t believe this,” he whispered into her ear, not sounding the least bit injured. “But I am trying to help you.”

“By accosting me?”

“Yes.”

His gaze met hers.

“I’m not going to harm you. But I
am
going to make love to you. Here. Tonight.” He paused for just a heartbeat. “Now.”

When she moved to scream, he pressed his hand over her mouth.

“Shh… If that fool Vlad hears you, he’ll come bursting into here. As it is, we don’t have much time. You don’t understand the situation. You don’t even know who you are, do you? No, of course you don’t. Please, you have to trust me. Certainly what we had in the garden was real. Tell me you weren’t playing the role of coquette behind the bushes. All I am asking is that we rekindle that flame of passion and finish what nature intended.”

He was mad. Crazed. She shook her head, trying to get his hand away from her mouth. Perhaps if she screamed loud enough a servant would take pity on her and send for help. She had no idea why she hadn’t tried that before now.

“Please, Lady Amelia, I beg you at least kiss me and see if you don’t still feel the same attraction for me that I feel for you. I won’t force you to do anything you don’t want to do. But Vlad—that brute who grabbed you in the garden—
he will
.”

Chapter Four

Carew appeared to be holding his breath as he lifted his hand from her mouth. Lia considered screaming. Her heart banged against her chest. This was a nightmare, a horrible, terrifying nightmare.

“Is Lettie…er…er…Lady Brampton?” she whispered, ashamed for not thinking to ask after her aunt earlier.

“She’s safe. Her wounds tended.”

Lia sighed with relief, though for the life of her she didn’t know why she trusted anything he said. Perhaps she did because it was better to trust him and cling to a thread of hope than to believe the worst.

He shifted, moving his weight off of her, and finished untying the ropes. Once she was free, he sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed her wrists until her numb hands felt warm and alive again.

“Thank you,” she said, pulling her hands into her lap as she sat up. She could not bring herself to look at him. Being alone in his bedchamber was embarrassing enough. She didn’t want him to see her face. He seemed able to read her feelings better than anyone she’d ever known, even her family. If he looked at her, would he know that beneath her pounding fear a pulling restlessness still lurked? Would he know how her restlessness had flared into a roaring blaze at the suggestion she let him… let him…
claim her
?

Her cheeks burned at the thought.

“You are trying to trick me,” she mumbled. “But you see, I may be a woman, but I’m not an empty-headed fool. Men do women a grave injustice when they forget the gentler sex has the ability to think.”

He curled his finger under her chin and turned her face toward him. He leaned forward slightly, closing the distance between them.

“It’s not your mind that troubles me.” He lightly brushed her lips with his own. “It’s that you, Lady Amelia, have forgotten how to follow your instincts. We are animals, you and I. Nothing more than simple creatures who heed the call of the moon.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I know. Let me show you.” He gave her hand a gentle tug. With a nod of understanding, Lia rose from the bed.

He kissed her gently at first, and then with more passion. Her senses bloomed to life at the reminder of the unfulfilled promises his body had made to hers in the garden.

“Yes,” she whispered, despite herself. “
Yes
.”

Dimitri ran his hands down her sides and across the flat planes of her belly. She was soft and tiny. Her blue eyes grew wide and dark as his caresses went lower. Her breathing deepened. He smiled at her readiness. She was certainly a biddable woman in his arms, and here he’d been thinking earlier he wouldn’t enjoy that about her.

He unlaced her gown with exquisite care and let it slide down her glorious body. Her corset was the next to go. Lust darkened her blue eyes even further as she helped him remove it. Her breasts were swollen and taut against the plain fabric of her chemise, her rosy nipples visible. He kissed them through the fabric, sucking hard, feeling her respond as her chest rose toward him. She was panting by the time he let up.

Sensing she was ready for more, he untied the ribbons and let the chemise drop to her waist. At first, he did nothing beyond drinking in the glorious sight of her young body.

She nervously glanced away. Her hands trembled as she pressed them against his chest in both an invitation and a warning. Clearly, she didn’t yet understand the desire burning through her body. He would have to go slowly, teach her to accept and savor those feelings, teach her an animal’s need to trust its instincts.

He bent his head and took her breast in his mouth. Suckling, pulling, nipping, he teased her until Lia’s mind spun like a top. She pinched her thighs together and squirmed. She grew damp and hot between her legs as he devoured her body inch by delicious inch, ever so slowly. She would not be able to survive the sweet torture.

She only vaguely noticed when he eased her chemise down her narrow hips. The virginal white material dropped to a pile at her feet. Still trembling, she stroked his chest, circling lower and lower until she felt the hard bulge in his pants. His breath caught in his throat when she first touched him there. Pleased by the reaction, she stroked harder.

With a frustrated growl, he took possession of her lips. His tongue thrust into her mouth, filling her as his hand followed the contours of her naked body until his fingers lightly stroked the mound between her legs, easing her thighs apart. Gentle at first, he stroked her damp, soft flesh, giving her time to grow used to his touch, his possession of her body.

Then he stroked her harder, teasing her.

“That’s right, cub,” he whispered in her ear. “Don’t think, just do what nature wants us to do. Open to me.” He eased his forefinger into her damp opening. “Stay with me.”

Lia gasped as her body tightened. She pressed her hips against his caress, letting her instincts take control of her movements. The animal in her knew exactly what was happening. And it wanted more. She bit his soft earlobe, encouraging him.

He pushed deeper within her soft folds and slowly pulled out. Before she could cry out, he pushed back inside her. Faster this time. He moved within her, stroking her from the inside out. He added a second finger, stretching her.

“Please,” she whispered, grabbing onto his shoulders to keep her wobbly legs from collapsing beneath her. “Please.”

“Please what?” he teased as he stroked her.

But she didn’t have the ability to answer. Her whole body was tightening, tightening around his caresses, until she completely came apart. She bucked against his hand between her legs. Colors flooded her senses as her body throbbed with so much pleasure she could barely breathe.

He seemed to be having trouble catching his breath as well. He tore the shirt from his body. The sparse hair on his chest was black, tapering into his breeches. Lia pressed her face to his warm chest, kissing him, loving the taste of his skin.

He scooped her into his arms and lowered her onto the bed. He followed, kissing and caressing every silky inch of her tingling body. His touch was demanding but gentle. Too gentle. Lia bucked against him. She twisted her hips, raising her body to press against his tight breeches.

“Shhh.” His voice was smooth against her throat. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

He drew her legs up, bending them at the knees, spreading her legs wide, leaving her open and vulnerable to him. He lowered his mouth to her.

“
Ohh
…” Lia breathed her surprise. “
Oh
,” she repeated as his warm, rough tongue caressed her
down there
. The intimate pressure of his lips and tongue against her made her eyes roll back into her head. He suckled her, gently pulling. His tongue followed the path his fingers had taken just a moment earlier, mimicking the movements she was beginning to realize his cock would soon make. As he made love to her with his mouth, she felt outside of her body, as if she was nothing more than a feeling, a building force of excitement. His fingers joined his tongue, pumping in and out of her body in a rhythm the beating of her heart raced to match.