The Dark One Read Free Page B

Even though she knew he could not see her, she raised her chin. “I thought that I could count upon you. You—”
    His mouth suddenly found hers in the darkness. She’d been speaking, so her lips were parted. Rosalind tried to clamp them shut, but he captured her chin, holding her in a way that didn’t allow her to shut him out. He tasted like champagne and fresh strawberries.
    The kiss was punishing, as if to teach her the lesson he’d claimed she needed to learn. Rosalind’s natural instinct was to struggle. A small whimper of fear escaped into his open mouth. Suddenly he pulled back, staring down at her.
    â€œYou’re hurting me,” she whispered.
    He released his firm hold upon her chin. His fingertips grazed her cheek, as soft as the flutter of a butterfly’s wings. Slowly, his face bent toward her again. The brush of his lips against hers this time was gentle. She found the sudden contrast more disturbing than she had his brute force. Rosalind was accustomed to abuse. She was not schooled in seduction. But he obviously was.
    His tongue traced the line of her bottom lip, warm,moist, seeking. Some instinct uncurled within her and she opened wider to him. His tongue slipped into her mouth, teasing, exploring, evoking shocking sensations that she had never felt before.
    â€œGod, you’re sweet,” he said against her lips, and the husky timbre of his voice sent heat racing to her most private places.
    When he captured her lips again, she let him guide her, followed his example, and reveled in the way their lips merged perfectly together. Rosalind had only been kissed once—the gardener’s son when she was twelve. Her first kiss had been awkward and unimpressive. This was nothing like that. This was like nothing she’d ever experienced or even imagined.
    He slanted his mouth across hers and deepened the kiss, and her arms crept up around his neck, her fingers twining in his long, silky hair. She had trouble catching a normal breath, as did he, for the sound of their ragged breathing filled the silent carriage. She was suddenly hot all over and she didn’t mind what he did to her. She didn’t mind it at all.
    The carriage hit a rut and bounced them apart. Rosalind landed against the seat on her back, but he was there a second later, nearly on top of her. She couldn’t say why the sight of him looming over her, his face hidden by shadows, excited her. Only that it did. He’d unleashed something that had been slumbering inside of her for years, and she had no idea how to call sanity back. He bent toward her.
    His teeth grazed her neck, sending shivers down her spine. He paused against the strong pulse beating at the base of her throat. That he should do so momentarily alarmed her, she didn’t know why. Then he captured her mouth again, and all thoughts of fear fled.
    When he suddenly cupped her breasts, Rosalind regained a little of the good sense he’d stolen from her. Shenearly jerked away from him. A foolish response, she admitted a moment later. If she couldn’t allow him to touch her intimately, how in heaven’s name could she allow him to despoil her?
    Determined to see her reputation ruined, she kept still. He kissed her again—a long, languid kiss that almost made her forget where his hands rested . . . almost. His thumb dipped inside of her low-cut gown and grazed her nipple. She jerked automatically, but the response did not deter him. Slowly, his thumb circled her nipple until the crest hardened into a tight pebble. The sensation drew a soft moan from her lips. Her back arched, as if she could force herself more firmly against his hand.
    Her mind fogged by passion, she didn’t realize that he slid the straps of her gown off her shoulders until the night air caressed her fevered flesh. She immediately tried to raise her arms and cover her exposed breasts. He anticipated her reaction and captured her wrists, pulling them