Taken by Moonlight by Dorothy McFalls Read Free Book Online Page B

She liked hearing him speak it. “Lia tastes sweet on my tongue. The name suits you.”
     

CHAPTER FIVE
     
    “Dimitri?” Lia asked in the hazy twilight between wake and slumber as they lay in his large bed. She liked the taste of his name on her tongue, too.
    “Hmm?”
    “That’s a foreign name.” And he’d spoken foreign words. She lightly ran her fingertips down the fit planes of his stomach. “Carew’s family didn’t have any foreign branches.” She yawned. “That’s what the old viscount always claimed. ‘Pure English blood,’ he’d liked to say.”
    “Hmm.”
    “You’re not his heir,” she said drowsily. “Not really, are you?”
    “No.” Being so close to him, Lia could feel his body tighten ever so slightly. “Is that a problem?”
    She kissed his warm chest. “If you hadn’t stepped forward, the viscount’s widow would have lost everything. You did her a kindness. She spends most of the year at the country estate, does she not?”
    “Country estate?” He sighed. “It’s in Kent, not very rural. When in London, she makes use of this town house.”
    “Does she know the truth? About you, I mean?”
    “She’d exhausted all her resources. There was no heir. She knew that well.”
    “I see.”
    He was silent for so long, Lia imagined he’d fallen asleep.
    “Are you shocked?” he asked at long last.
    “You kidnapped me. Why should I be shocked to learn that you’re a lair as well as a criminal?”
    He sat up and brushed aside her gentle caresses. “I have hurt no one. The old viscount was careless with his money. Since I’ve taken over management of the estates, I’ve more than doubled its income. His widow and the estate’s employees are enjoying a better lifestyle thanks to me.”
    She kissed his chest again. “I meant no insult. Despite your hard edges, Dimitri, I suspect you have a kind heart hidden away in here. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have…” She bit her lower lip, shocked at what she had almost admitted.
    “You wouldn’t have what?” he asked. His mouth hardened the same way as it had when Aunt Lettie had confronted him, as if he were expecting a blow.
    Well, he could scowl all he wanted. She’d learned years ago that a man like Dimitri, a man with his confidence and standing in society, didn’t want or need a woman’s love.
    “Nothing,” she said. “You are a skilled lover, Dimitri.” She continued to press her lips to his bare chest, nipping and licking. He groaned when she worked her kisses lower.
    “No other man has ever touched you,” he ground out. “You have no means for judging my skills.”
    Her lips neared his jutting sex. She wondered if she’d be brave enough to kiss it. She enjoyed feeling his body tremble beneath her lips. She also enjoyed teasing him. “Are you suggesting I should invite other men into my bed so I can compare?”
    “Don’t you dare.” He grabbed her shoulders and had her on her back before she realized what he was doing. He nudged her legs apart and thrust his cock into her. “You are mine, Lia. No other man will ever touch you.”
     
    * * * * *
     
    It could have been minutes or hours that had passed after making love to Dimitri for a second time. Lia startled awake to a loud bang. Darkness still blanketed the room, and it took her several moments to realize she was still nestled in Dimitri’s protective embrace, his spent cock still buried deep within her.
    His arms tightened around her as the bedchamber’s wooden paneled door swung open with such force it cracked when it hit the plaster wall.
    A black wolf, large and imposing, leapt into the room. Its sleek fur stood up on its back. Long white teeth gleamed in the room’s candlelight. With its head held low, it growled as it approached the bed. Dimitri scrambled to put his vulnerable, naked body between Lia and the wolf, a move that would surely get him killed.
    “No!” Lia screamed. But it was too late.
    The wolf jumped onto the bed and attacked her