Wishes In The Wind Part 17

Nicole averted her gaze. "I suppose I wanted to look like a woman, for once." The slightest of pauses. "For you."

"Thank you." Dustin's voice was husky. "I'm honored."

"Where are we going?" she blurted, noting the remoteness of this section of woods, now blocking the tenants' cottages from view.

"You'll see."

Staring at her slippered feet, Nicole contemplated what she should say next, and how in G.o.d's name she could speak past the lump in her throat.

"There." Dustin paused, pointing. "That's where we're going."

Her head came up, her brows drawing together as curiosity temporarily supplanted anxiety. "A cabin." She gazed questioningly up at Dustin. "Who lives there?"

"No one. At least not permanently." Looping an arm about her waist, Dustin urged her forward. "Come. Your father allocated one hour to this walk. I don't want to waste a moment of it."

Reaching the door, he eased it open, leading Nicole inside. Rather than lighting a lamp, he crossed over and threw open the wooden shutters, waiting as moonlight drenched the spa.r.s.ely furnished room. "For you," he announced, beckoning her over. "A gift I've never shared with another. And, in our case, one I believe will mean far more than diamonds or sapphires."

Nicole walked over to stand beside him, staring, first out at the rapid descent of the trees, then upward to the starlit skies, her view of the heavens unmarred by so much as an oak or a church spire. "How beautiful," she breathed. "The moon and the stars. Brilliant diamonds cast across a sapphire sea. No jewels could compare."

"I agree." Silently, Dustin followed her gaze. "I built this cabin several years ago."

"You built it?"

"Um-hum. My father was an architect-a brilliant one-as is my brother Trenton. I dabbled alongside them. And while I cannot boast their genius, I absorbed enough knowledge to design a structure or two. This one is my favorite, simple though it might be. It's my own personal sanctuary."

"From what?" Nicole whispered.

"From the elaborate life you think I value so highly. You know-the lavish b.a.l.l.s, the countless women, the frivolous parties." Moonlight drifted over his magnificently handsome features. "Here there are no b.a.l.l.s, no vapid conversations, or meaningless liaisons. There's just me, my thoughts, and the night." He turned to her, his expression tender. "And now you."

Emotion constricted Nicole's throat as she savored the full extent of his offering. "I've judged you unfairly, haven't I?" she asked in a small, shaky voice. "There's so much more to Dustin Kingsley than the marquis of Tyreham." A breath of a pause. "Tell me about him."

"What would you like to know?"

"Whatever you'll share with me."

His knuckles caressed her cheek. "I'll share anything with you, Derby."

Nicole felt her insides melt. "Trenton-is he your only brother?"

"My only sibling. He's two years my senior." A twinkle. "The eminent duke of Broddington."

"An architect and a duke?"

"Um-hum. Also a dedicated, faithful husband who's hopelessly in love with his wife, and one h.e.l.l of a good father. See? The Kingsleys follow paths of their own making, not those paved by the n.o.bility."

Nicole flushed. "I suppose I deserved that."

"I meant to enlighten, not hurt, you. I'm demonstrating how little t.i.tles mean. Trent's the same fine man he was eight years ago, when Father died and bequeathed him a dukedom."

"And you? From whom did you inherit your t.i.tle?"

"I didn't. It was bestowed upon me by Queen Victoria."

"Really?" Nicole leaned forward, fascinated. "When? Why?"

"About a decade ago. My father was a close friend of Her Majesty and the prince consort. Trenton and I often accompanied Father on his summer visits to Balmoral and Osborne House. During one of our trips to Balmoral, there was an attempt made on the queen's life. I was in the right place at the right time, and interceded. Her Majesty insisted on rewarding my efforts. She knew how I felt about Tyreham. Father designed this estate with me in mind. Accordingly, she named me the first marquis of Tyreham. End of story." Dustin studied Nicole's wide-eyed astonishment, and grinned. "Have I finally impressed you?"

"You saved the queen's life?"

"I gave her a very ungentlemanly shove as she alit from her carriage, then knocked down the culprit who was waving a pistol at her head. The man was clearly insane. He was seized by Her Majesty's guards and permanently confined to a madhouse."

"No wonder she was grateful."

"Ironically, she had occasion to be grateful again, only this time not to me but to Trenton. Two years ago he rescued Princess Beatrice from drowning in Osborne Bay."

"How did the queen reward him? He was already a duke."

A perceptive smile. "She gave him something far more valuable than a t.i.tle. She gave him Ariana."

"His wife?"

Dustin nodded. "It's a long story, steeped in a lifetime of vengeance. Suffice it to say that my brother was ostracized for a crime he didn't commit-one that was orchestrated by a very twisted mind. Trent spent six years plotting his revenge. The man it was aimed at was Ariana's brother. So, when the queen offered Trent anything for sparing her youngest daughter's life, he asked for a royal decree commanding Ariana to marry him."

"He wed her just to punish her brother?"

"He thought so." A grin. "The truth is he fell in love with her the moment they met."

Nicole reacted to the obvious affection in Dustin's tone. "You love them both very much."

"I do. And their tyrant of a son, as well."

"They have a child?" Nicole's face lit up. "How old is he?"

"Eight months, and aging us all fast. His antics are enough to bring the British army to its knees. He crawls faster than I walk, and thinks of more things to destroy than I can count." Dustin's voice grew soft. "And I hope I have a houseful just like him some day."

Tears welled up in Nicole's eyes, and it was all she could do not to blurt out that she wanted those children to be hers.

"Now let's talk about you." Dustin changed the subject abruptly.

"What about me?" she managed.

"Well, I already know you began riding at the age of two, spoke French fluently by ten, and loathed needlepoint almost as much as you did sketching."

Realization made Nicole wince. "Sully," she muttered. "Lord, what else did he tell you?"

"Oh, a mult.i.tude of things, but he spent most of his time instructing me."

"Instructing you? Is that what you meant when you said he was offering advice?"

"Indeed. He wanted to be certain I realized how special you are, how well you should be treated. He grilled me thoroughly on my feelings for you and my intentions with regard to your future. The whole conversation was very enlightening."

Nicole wanted to drop through the floor-almost as much as she wanted to know what Dustin's answers to Sully had been.

"Then again, that's how I knew to bring you here," Dustin added, lifting her chin with his forefinger. "Sullivan told me how much you love stargazing. Stargazing and twilight." He caressed her cheek. "Next time we'll share twilight, but tonight I wanted you to see where I do my stargazing. I hoped you'd savor it as much as I do." His gaze fell to her mouth. "Tell me, Derby, is that what you were doing the night we met? Sitting along the Thames and stargazing?"

"Star wis.h.i.+ng," Nicole breathed. She brought up her hand, fingers enveloping the locket that dangled about her throat. Solemnly, she held it out for Dustin to see.

"It's lovely," he murmured, leaning forward to inspect the delicate piece of silver.

"My mother gave it to me when I was five. According to her, it's a wis.h.i.+ng locket."

"Is it?" Rather than amused, Dustin looked intrigued. "In what way?"

"Mama had a wondrous, fanciful mind. She believed that all the wishes I ever made would be stored inside this locket. After which, fate would decide when to make each wish a reality."

"What a remarkable thought." Dustin touched the clasp but made no move to open it. "Your mother sounds like an extraordinary woman."

"She was." Nicole's voice quavered. "That's who I was thinking of when you came upon me that night along the Thames. She gave me so much, and I miss her every day."

Dustin's fingers sifted through Nicole's hair, caressed her nape in warm, comforting strokes. "How long has she been gone?"

"Seven years." A sigh. "When you were describing Ariana's effect on Trenton, I couldn't help but think of Mama's effect on Papa. The way he tells it, he never did much wis.h.i.+ng before she came into his life. Racing was his only pa.s.sion and his only dream. He says Mama was his own priceless miracle." Teardrops glistened on Nicole's lashes. "I suppose once you've been given a miracle, it's far easier to believe they exist."

"That's true," Dustin concurred softly. "I'm discovering as much myself. Right here, right now."

Their gazes locked.

"My beautiful miracle." Dustin drew her against him, his muscles taut with emotion. "Let me hold you. Let me feel you in my arms." He covered her mouth with his. "G.o.d, how could anything be more right?"

Nothing could, Nicole thought silently, entwining her arms about his neck. She leaned into him, meeting his kiss with her own, parting her lips in silent invitation. Apprehension vanished, reservations scattered like leaves in the wind. At that instant, Dustin ceased to be a n.o.bleman and she a commoner. He was a man, and for the first time in her life, Nicole felt very much a woman.

Whispering Dustin's name, she pressed closer, immersing herself deeper in his sensual spell. She s.h.i.+vered as his tongue possessed her mouth, swept her into a world of heady sensation and drugged desire. He lifted her off the floor, molded her body to his, and devoured her with a pa.s.sion that was as tangible as it was consuming.

"Nicole ..." He raised his head, his breath coming as hard and fast as hers, his magnificent eyes smoky with desire-a desire rooted in something far more profound than l.u.s.t. His lips traced her neck, the curve of her shoulder, the pulse at her throat. When he seized her mouth again, there was a new urgency in his kiss, one he tried valiantly to control, but which Nicole felt nonetheless.

"Dustin, I want this," she breathed fervently. "I ..." She struggled to form a coherent sentence. "I'm not afraid."

A harsh groan ripped from his chest, and he dragged his mouth away, shaking his head. "Nicole, this is not what I had planned. I didn't bring you here to seduce you."

"We're only kissing. You're not seducing me."

"Aren't I?" He set her feet on the floor, his expression stark with self-censure. "I want you so much I can't think. And, despite my best intentions, I seem to be using every technique I know to make you want me just as much."

"Is this wanting?" Nicole murmured, light-headed with sensation. "It feels wonderful." She drew his mouth back down to hers.

"Nicole, listen to me." Dustin buried his hands in her hair, tugged her head back to meet his gaze. "I meant what I said yesterday. I want more than tonight, more than this. I want you. All of you. Today. Tomorrow ... and after."

"So do I," she said dreamily. "But right now I want to savor the dizziness that besieges me when you hold me, the ache I feel when we kiss." She gave him a quizzical look. "Is that wrong?"

"No, darling, it's not wrong. It's very, very right."

"When we touch, it's like there's a tiny flame inside me that flares higher with each pa.s.sing moment. Is that a result of the technique you just described?"

An agonized sound. "G.o.d, I hope not." Instinctively, he bent to resume the kiss, then checked himself.

Nicole caressed his nape, realizing in some distant part of her mind that he was trying to protect her, flagrantly aware that at this precise minute, she wanted no part of that protection. Her fingers crept around to his jaw, caressed the warmth of his skin, feathered down his neck.

Dustin's muscles went rigid.

"Stop." He captured her hand, his own shaking violently.

"Why?"

"Because I'm at the b.l.o.o.d.y edge of my control." His expression was a combination of wonder and amazement. "And you've barely even touched me." He kissed her palm, hesitated, then moved to her wrist, the inside of her forearm-waging an internal battle Nicole could actually feel. "You're so perfect," he muttered, capturing her other arm and repeating his caresses. "Soft. Warm. Intoxicating." He pulled her against him. "I can almost feel you under me." He buried his lips in hers.

Desire slammed through Nicole along with a loud, unheeded warning. "Dustin." She breathed his name, wrapping her arms about his neck. "Don't stop-not yet."

He tore his mouth away, but only to burn a blazing trail of kisses down her throat, the upper swell of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. He descended further, his open mouth tracing the edge of her bodice. "The timing's all wrong," he rasped. "I have to bring you home."

"Just a few minutes then." Her hands slid beneath his coat, uncertain what to do, unwilling to forego doing it. "Show me," she breathed. "Please."

Something inside Dustin seemed to snap.

With relentless purpose, his fingers swept down the front of her gown, dispensing with the b.u.t.tons in a few lightning-quick seconds, tugging the sides apart. He anch.o.r.ed one arm about her waist, leaning her backwards to give him greater access to her heated skin.

"Oh ... G.o.d." Nicole's knees buckled when his lips surrounded her nipple, tugging it through the confines of her chemise. Flames shot through her, liquid fire pooling at her loins, and she scarcely heard Dustin's hoa.r.s.e groan over her own whimper of pleasure.

But she felt him, oh, she felt him. Touching her, caressing her-his solid strength taking her weight, keeping her from collapsing to the floor. Trembling as violently as she, he shoved her bodice down to her waist and pushed aside her chemise, eliminating a portion of the intolerable barrier that separated them.

His greedy eyes devoured her.

"You're beautiful." He caressed her breast as if it were a priceless treasure, sending shards of pleasure shooting through her. "How could you bind down such beauty?"

Nicole's answer was a moan, as Dustin bent and claimed her with his mouth.

Had she thought his caress devastating before? If so, then now, without even a thin sc.r.a.p of material between them, it was unendurable.

She cried out as his lips enveloped her nipple in velvet heat, tugged it into the damp haven of his mouth. Shrugging out of his coat, he paused only to cast it to the floor before lowering her onto it, following her down. Half covering her with himself, he bent to her other breast, laved it with his tongue.

And seared his mark on her soul.

As if from faraway, Nicole saw herself reach between them, unb.u.t.toning his s.h.i.+rt and waistcoat, shoving the sides apart. Her palms glided over the hair-roughened surface of his chest to the broad width of his shoulders. "Let me feel your skin against mine," she managed.

Dustin complied, lowering his torso to hers.

The first contact was electrifying.

Dustin threw back his head, emitting a harsh growl of. excruciating pleasure. "Derby ... I ..." He moved against her, dragging his chest across her nipples, s.h.i.+fting her legs so he lay between them, nestled in the cradle of her thighs. He seized her mouth, cupping the back of her head to fuse their lips more totally, his thumb tracing erotic circles on her breast.