The Scandal You Started, page 34
A deep sound of satisfaction rumbled from his chest as he fit his shoulders between her thighs. “That’s it,” he moaned and pressed an open-mouthed kiss to the mound of her pubic bone.
She bit on her bottom lip, suffocating a desperate whimper.
He kissed lower. “Allow me to show you how good making love can feel.”
His possessed, dilated stare burned holes through her lungs as he swiped his tongue, slow but firm, over her clit. She clamped the back of her hand over her mouth to quieten the sound that wished to come out as a cry.
Dominic kept the bolts and sparks, and bullets and arrows firing through her, flattening his tongue, rolling it in circles, in waves, in flicks, moaning as he drank every drop of her gushing wetness, prodding his tongue between her pussy and licking inside her.
Slowly, all of it slowly. And yet Rayna couldn’t catch her breath, her sanity, her ability to think and function as anything other than a puddle of pleasure for even a second.
When she felt the stretch of two broad fingers slipping easily inside her, she knew it was all over. Knew there was no chance she’d last as he curled them and pumped up and down.
Her eyes rolled, her pelvis rose, her thighs locked around his head, a constant stream of quiet pants flooded out against the deep grooves her teeth had left on the back of her hand…
And then she drowned in her orgasm.
Suddenly, violently. Silently. Unknowingly being pushed overboard, a ten-tonne anchor dragging her down under, faster and deeper, sinking into oblivion, white light above her head, nothing but a choked gurgle of air coming from her.
It went on forever and ended too quickly. It left her shaking and gasping when oxygen finally found its way to her lungs, her legs kicking up and spreading as Dominic laid a series of sucking kisses to her sensitive clit.
But she still had the strength to open her arms to him when he crawled up over her.
He still painted the picture of a devious pirate king, even more so as he ran his tongue greedily over the glistening liquid covering his shadowed chin. But there was a deeper, warmer, tender, kinder, powerful emotion shining in his hooded eyes.
It hit her then. How stupidly blind she’d been.
That look in his eyes was so obviously love. How could she have ever mistaken it for anything less?
It wasn’t sending her running for the hills, though. Instead, Rayna was dragging him closer, cradling him as she handed her soul to him through a deep kiss. Tasting from his mouth and from her own what the future could be like if she just held on to him.
They broke apart when Dominic rubbed the head of his cock against her entrance.
“Dominic,” she croaked.
“Yes, my love?” he whispered, pinning her forehead under his.
“I…” She tightened her arms around him. “I like you.”
A sound somewhere between a chuckle and a sob fell from him. “I love you too, Rayna.”
He curled his thick arms under her shoulders and pressed his pelvis forward.
She felt every slow inch of him slide into her without pause.
They both let out strained breaths and melted—Rayna into the mattress, Dominic’s weight coming down on top of her. He had her crowded, sheltered, buried under his frame, and she’d never felt more cherished. Nor more relieved to be trapped on every side by a man.
With a whisper of his name, she kissed him, and he rocked forward.
She gasped. And he kept going in deep, slow thrusts. Never slipping more than halfway out of her. Never changing pace. Never lifting his weight. Never loosening his arm. But they went from kissing, to whispering, to licking each other’s necks, to staring into souls and speaking words only their bodies could convey.
They both grew a little frantic as pleasure tethered their pants and pulses and pending climaxes together. And when she bit Dominic’s shoulder and soared, and he hid his face in her neck and followed her over, Rayna knew without a doubt she would never be the same again.
The intense passion of making love to Dominic branded her.
There would be no going back to who she was before him.
There would be no forgetting what he’d done to her, how he’d changed her.
He’d permanently ruined her. For everyone but himself.
Some time later, after Rayna had let Dominic wipe the sweat and slickness off her skin, she lay in his arms, sleepy and satiated, with her cheek on his chest.
“Dominic,” she muttered, focusing on the beat of his heart under her palm.
“Hmm?” he hummed, brushing his prickly jaw against her hairline.
“I’m not saying this because I’ve changed my mind or anything like that, but…” She paused on a swallow. “I don’t think I’m ready to tell V about us just yet.”
“Then we shan’t, my love.” There was no hesitation from him. No doubt or hurt either.
Her heart swelled, and she raised a smile up to him. “Thank you.”
He brushed the back of his fingers across her cheek. “There is no need to thank me, Rayna. We will speak to him only when you are ready and no sooner.” His eyes danced. “In the meantime, I am quite content with compromising you in secret.”
Chapter 40
Rayna:
Hi
Don’t be alarmed don’t panic don’t ask me questions right now but after the opening exhibit there’s something I have to tell you
It’s going to complicate things so I want to talk to you properly
I just hope I don’t end up losing your trust because of it
V:
You will never lose my trust Rayna
Whatever it is, whatever happened, we’ll figure it out together I promise
Just come see me whenever you’re ready
Dominic
It was painfully unfair how quickly time passed when one was living in utter bliss. But two weeks spent with Rayna in a foretelling of what married life would be like with her vanished just so.
And they were the happiest two weeks of Dominic’s life.
They weren’t so different from how he’d spent the rest of his time in the future with her, and yet every moment was somehow so much more meaningful and enjoyable now that she was his.
Oh, they were still keeping it a secret, and Rayna had moments where doubt waned the happiness in her charcoal eyes, but she was affectionate with him. She initiated touches and kisses outside of sex, and he no longer had to downplay how much he loved her in return.
It was perfect.
All that was missing was his ring on her finger or locket around her neck, a few children running between them, and a way for his family to still be a part of his new life with Rayna.
None of the joy solved the impossibility of their relationship, but it made Dominic hopeful that they’d find a feasible way. It also made the dwindling time they had left easier to put to the back of his mind when the night of the Tregency exhibit’s opening gala finally came around.
“This is—” Matt cut off with a huff as he tried to loosen the white cravat around his neck with a single finger. “Much stiffer than I’d thought it’d be.”
Dominic chuckled and turned to him in the corridor they were lingering in, not far from the first-floor hall the evening event was being held in.
“May I?” he asked the shorter man.
Matt stretched his neck, allowing Dominic to carefully and neatly fold the stiff cotton so it wasn’t rubbing so high under the man’s chin.
Satisfied with the way it sat, Dominic straightened. “How is that now?”
Matt rolled his head around, testing his range of movement. “Better, thank you.” Then he shook his head with a dissatisfied smile as his brown gaze travelled the space around them. “I don’t know why the Events team wanted us to wear cravats too. What was wrong with just wearing tailcoats like last time?”
“I suppose it adds authenticity to our Tregency attire,” Dominic said with a chuckle, rotating on the smooth soles of his polished black slippers—“smart shoes” as Rayna had called them—to look around the lively corridor.
People he recognised from the Events team were rushing around in neckcloths and tailcoats or elegant evening dresses, sorting out last-minute details with the museum security or technicians wearing headphones—headsets. Cassie was fussing amongst them, her round, curvaceous figure wrapped in a wondrous red gown. Over all the quick chatter, a quadrille could be heard dully, played by the live orchestra rehearsing in the hall.
Missing were Rayna and Hania, who they were waiting for, so that the five of them could head around to the hall’s main entrance on the opposite side of the floor and welcome the first attendees of the gala soon to start arriving.
As Dominic shuffled to face Matt again, his attention caught on a gilded mirror on the dark, painted wall. He did a double-take, caught off guard again by seeing himself dressed so.
The white cravat, shirt, and waistcoat, black tailcoat, and crisp suit trousers weren’t an exact replica of what he wore in his own time. But the style of the clothing and the feel of the stiff fabric around his neck were enough to awaken an odd jumble of emotions inside him.
Comfort in the familiarity of the garments. A wistful longing to see his family and live part of the life he’d always known. A thoughtful comparison of the clothing he’d spent the last three months wearing. Recognition of who he was, his family name and his position.
There was a whisper of doubt there too, because even though he hadn’t worn a neckcloth in months, it felt natural, like a second layer of skin. It made him question whether he could really fit into the future when he’d only ever known the past.
Only for a second. Because it wasn’t his only layer of skin anymore. He had chinos and T-shirts and trainers and boxers now too.
They were both him. Two sides of the same coin, and he didn’t want to erase either version.
“Oh, they’re here.”
Dominic blinked upon hearing Matt’s voice and gave his reflection one last curious glance over before searching in the direction of the other man’s attention. When he found the they in question—no, when he found his future walking towards him—he…froze. Solid.
Suddenly, Dominic was standing in his quarantine room at the POTeM lab again, his heart ricochetting so hard it punched the air out of his lungs, as he stared at Rayna.
Like he was seeing her for the first time again. Like, for a moment, he’d forgotten how mind-bogglingly beautiful she was, and he’d only just been reminded of it. Impossible, because he realised it every day, yet the vision she painted was like nothing he’d ever seen before.
In a dark green silk dress, she looked…like the queen of the forest.
The queen of his heart. His happiness. His life. His home.
The bodice was pleated horizontally across the slightly curved neckline, covering her generous breasts, while down her ribs and waist, the pleats were vertical, creating the illusion of a corset. It gently hugged her lavish hips before cascading to the floor. And every step she took flashed a teasing, tempting glimpse of the shape of her legs that a man could write a whole book of poetry on without having a single poetic bone in him.
Two-inch straps of the same folded material went across her upper arms, leaving her shoulders bare. A gold necklace with a teardrop pendant hung around her neck and matching earrings dangled from her lobes, the waves of her rosewood-red hair dancing around them. Her cheeks were painted with a lovely rouge, her lips with a duller pink, her lashes in black, and as she laughed with Hania, the shimmer on her eyes and cheekbones glowed even brighter.
But his favourite part, other than her, was the ivory silk gloves that ended above her elbows.
They ruined him. Nearly brought him to his knees, quaking and whimpering.
Sobbing like no man should.
Not just because they filled his head with all the erotic things he wanted to do with her in those gloves, but they also created the image of her walking into a Season ball on his arm.
As his wife. In his time. Meant to be.
It was her other side of the same coin. A hopeful possibility.
Entirely unwilling to release the wonderstruck delight floating through his chest, Dominic held his breath until Rayna’s glittering gaze collided with his. His lungs deflated as her laughter fizzled out into a bright grin that made his cheeks feel fuzzy.
Her lashes dipped in perusal, lazy and lingering, pausing somewhere below his chin.
He shifted as he tugged sharply at the ends of his sleeves, not exactly feeling shy or conscious but gosh did he hope she liked the way he looked. He received his answer when she pinned him under the heavy glow of her stare, and his chest puffed with pride like a damned male bird.
She and Hania stopped to collect Cassie from the man with a headset she was waving her hand around to, then the three of them came towards him and Matt. Dominic’s feet automatically moved him too, eager to be close to Rayna quickly. Matt followed suit.
“Okay,” Cassie said, grinning in a look of both stress and amusement. “I think this lot are sick of me telling them to double-check everything, so now that we’re all here and ready, should we head off to welcome in the guests?”
Dominic was listening to Cassie. He hummed his agreement as the others verbalised theirs. He just couldn’t take his eyes off Rayna, even when she flicked him a quick warning to focus. Up close, he realised she’d grown a few inches in height, likely because of some heeled slippers, and all he could think about was—
“Mr Dominic Thorne.”
He blinked and whipped his head around. Cassie, Matt, and Hania were grinning teasingly, while Rayna looked playfully disgruntled.
“I know Rayna looks absolutely stunning,” Cassie said with laughter lacing her words. “But try to focus on the guests until everyone’s seated at least.”
A guilty smile tugged at his mouth as his cheeks heated. He cleared his throat and straightened, clasping his hands behind his back. “Certainly,” he said with a nod.
Hania threw her head back and cackled, while Cassie shook her head, and Matt’s shoulders bounced with laughter. Then the older woman led the way, Matt and Hania followed, and Dominic slunk beside Rayna.
Unable to deny the chivalrous urge, or rather the possessive need to claim her, he offered her his elbow. Surprisingly, she took it, but he hated that his clothes prevented him from being able to feel her gloved fingers caressing his skin to gooseflesh.
“Everything you were thinking was written on your face, Dominic,” she grumbled quietly, a reluctant smile playing hide-and-seek on her mouth.
“I apologise, sweetheart,” he whispered, drinking her into his soul. “But you look lovely in silk. Exquisitely breathtaking. And I was not prepared to witness it.”
She rolled her eyes, her grin widening, and though it was hard to tell over her makeup, her ear warmed to a delightful shade of pink.
Rayna
By the time the hall doors were closed behind the last of the gala guests, all twenty-three round tables that seated ten each were nearly full. Black and navy tailored suits and gorgeous evening gowns of every colour stood out against the pale-gold cloths dressing the tables, the white candle and flower arrangements, and the dark cream curtains hanging over all the windows.
The large chandeliers above were dimmed for Cassie, the design manager, and the museum director’s presentation on the new exhibit. At the end of which, Rayna, Dominic, Matt, Hania, the other assistant curators around their table, and the exhibit designers at another, all stood to receive an applause for their support on the project.
From the table behind, Rayna could hear Kelly and Erin hooting loudly. She threw them a playful side-eye over her shoulder and was met with a round of grins and laughter from everyone else occupying the dark wood, cushioned chairs—Monty and his wife, River, Jake and his sister, Serena, and the museum receptionist, Maleeka, and her wife.
Then, in groups of thirty, quick tours were given around the new exhibit, led by the Events team and Rayna, Dominic, and the other curators in turn.
Of course, one of the groups Rayna, Dominic, and Cassie led ended up consisting of the table of people they knew. And once everyone dispersed to look around after a short explanation on the letters and other artefacts that had come out of the archives for the first time, Monty, River, and Kelly gathered around the three of them.
“I didn’t realise there were this many letters,” Kelly said, her arms looped around River’s elbow as she glanced around the glass display cases in the wood-panelled room.
“This isn’t even all of them,” Cassie said with a huff. “We wouldn’t have been able to include the other archive pieces if we’d displayed all the letters. But they’ll be divided between some of the other big museums once some of the local historians who have requested to further study them are done, so none of them will get buried in the archives for quite some time.”
“Wow,” Kelly whispered with the awe of a child, even though in actuality, she didn’t have much of an interest in history itself.
Cassie grinned between Rayna and Dominic. “I honestly don’t know if we would have gotten them all catalogued or pieced the story together on time without the help of these two. So thank you. For all your support.”
“Not at all,” Dominic replied politely.
“We had fun doing it,” Rayna added.
Cassie then turned the same smile to Monty. “And thank you for finding Dominic with his big, beautiful brain and for lending us Rayna again.”
Rayna scoffed at the “big, beautiful brain” comment, Kelly laughed, but Dominic looked rather chuffed about it.
“I’m glad to hear they were of great assistance,” Monty said, beaming proudly. “They did an excellent job working with River on a report for another client too.”
