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.Butbefore he could ascertain if he was imagining things, she had either looked away or lowered her gaze.Raj, who was standing behind Dominic, must have noticed his master's agitation, for he bent from atremendous height to whisper in his ear."Your bride awaits you, master.You should not drink too muchlest your performance lack luster.""I am but arming myself for battle, Raj," Dominic answered."Think you my frightened little bird willwelcome me in her bed?" He gave a rueful sigh."Rose is a timid soul, unlike my passionate Veronica.Ifear my cock will not rise to the occasion.""Perhaps you have not really looked at your bride," Raj ventured.Dominic gave a harsh laugh."I wanted a submissive wife and I got one.Rose is frightened of me.Hell,she is afraid of her own shadow.""Why did you not wed her sister?"Dominic sent Raj a look of utter astonishment."Surely you jest.I prefer having my cock frozen in Rose'scold sheath than to risk having it hacked off with the sharp edge of her sister's sword.There is too muchfire in the feisty one for my liking."Now it was Raj's turn to laugh, and he did so with gusto."Methinks you willlive to eat your words,master." He turned away."I wish you a pleasant night."Dominic frowned into his empty goblet, wondering whether he should fill it again or join Rose intheir 53marriage bed.He knew he should consummate the marriage as soon as possible, and that delaying thebedding would only prolong the ordeal, but he hated the thought of deflowering a frightened virgin.Heaving himself out of his chair, Dominic suddenly became the center of attention as his guardsmenoffered lewd advice concerning the bedding."May your lance find the path to victory!" toasted a tipsy knight."You mean the path to ecstasy," another laughed drunkenly."Here's to hot blood and a stiff cock," sang out another.Dominic had heard enough.Turning on his heel, he marched resolutely from the hall.Suddenly his bloodwas racing through his veins and his heart was pounding.Anticipation goaded him as he took the stairstwo at a time.The gallery seemed endless but he finally reached the solar.He strode through the sittingroom toward the bedchamber.Mayhap, if he was lucky, he could revive that spark he'd seen earlier inRose's eyes.Dominic considered himself a good lover; he knew it to be true, for Veronica and those before her hadoften praised his prowess.He could not count the times he had left his lovers swooning in their beds.How difficult could it be to arouse a virgin to passion? Dominic had never breached a virgin before, butwomen were women the world over, no matter their state of virginity.He would give Rose pleasure andleave her swooning despite her shyness and his own reluctance to bed a woman he did not want.To his surprise, Dominic found that he was nearly54running when he reached the bedchamber.Why was he so eager to bed a woman who did not appeal tohim?Dominic grasped the door handle and pushed inward; the door wouldn't budge.He tried again.The doorwas latched from the inside.How dare she lock him out of her bedchamber! She was his wife, he washerlord; she could not say him nay.She could not!He rattled the latch."Rose.Unlatch the door."Her voice was muffled by the thickness of the door."Find another chamber, my lord.I have no intentionof sharing my bed with you tonight.I need time to mourn my father.""Are you denying me?" Dominic roared through the panel."Indeed.""You cannot.I demand entrance.""You demanded that I wed you, and so I did.""I will not beg for what is rightfully mine," Dominic bit out."Are you going to open the door?""Nay, my lord."Dominic stared at the door in disbelief.The determined woman behind the door did not sound at all likethe shy little Rose he had just wed.Had her sister's warrior spirit found its way into Rose's timid soul? Ahorrifying thought suddenly occurred to him.Had he been duped into wedding the sharp-tongued twin? If so, he would have the last laugh, for themarriage would not be legal.He had married a submissive maiden named Rose and would accept noother.His face set in determined lines, Dominic spun on55his heel and returned to the great hall, where merrymaking was still in progress.He spied Sir Braden andstalked toward him."A word with you, Sir Braden."Sir Braden gave him a puzzled look."What is amiss, my lord?""A great deal," Dominic said tersely."You attended the wedding, did you not?""Aye, my lord [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]