Free Forever Mine by Monica Burns

her tongue teasing his lips apart until it danced with his. The growl reverberating in his chest sent a frisson tingling through her as she pressed her body into his. God, her knees were actually rubbery from his kiss. None of the other men she’d dated had ever made her feel wobbly like this.
    Warm hands pushed the sleeves of her gown downward until she heard a soft ripping sound. The sleeves fell away from her arms, and the gown’s bodice fell to her waist. A low moan rose in her throat as his hand caressed the top of one shoulder before he wrapped his arms around her to pull her tight against him. Their kiss deepened as his tongue mated with hers in a furious dance of desire.
    Victoria murmured a protest as his lips slid away from hers to glide down the side of her neck to her shoulder. Lost in the fire of his touch, she didn’t realize he’d undone the laces of her corset until his mouth caught the tip of her breast in his mouth. She shuddered as he sucked on her nipple then gently bit down on it before swirling his hot tongue around the hard peak.
    An ache latched itself to her insides, and she realized she was wet between her thighs. The heat melting through her tugged another moan from her, and her hands slid through the black thickness of his hair. Oh God, she wanted him. She wanted him now. On the floor, on the bed, she didn’t care, as long as he eased the intense longing clutching the lower half of her body.
    He’d not changed out of his riding clothes, and her hand slid downward across his chest to his erection. It was hard and thick beneath his breeches. A dark rumble sounded in his throat as she stroked him through the fawn-colored material. Trembling with a frightening need for him, Victoria uttered a soft cry as a shudder rippled through her, and she recognized it for the small climax it was.
    If the man could make her have an orgasm with only a kiss, heaven help her when he actually entered her. Lost in the heated pleasure of the moment she vaguely heard the knock at the door. The knock sounded again, and with a sharp movement, Nicholas released her. Quickly stepping away from her, he tugged her corset and dress up before he issued an authoritative command to enter. As a young woman entered the room, Nicholas was already heading toward the connecting door between their room.
    “Molly, see to it that the countess is downstairs in the salon within the hour,” he ordered brusquely over his shoulder then disappeared from the room.
    Denied what her body craved, Victoria experienced a strong wave of disappointment. She immediately drew in a swift breath as she realized what had almost happened. Simply because everyone thought they were married didn’t make it right. The real countess could return at any moment. Sharp and abrupt, a dark certainty swept through her. The Countess of Guildford wasn’t coming back because the woman was dead. Victoria didn’t know how she knew it, but her body reacted to the knowledge with a violent wave of nausea.
    Ice coated her skin, and she fell forward into a dark pit. The hard ground rose up to meet her as she stared up into a dark abyss. Tiny pinpricks of light pierced the darkness, and she realized they were stars. Dark forms suddenly blocked out the star-filled sky. The insidious sound of a shovel slicing into dirt with a sharp scraping sound echoed loudly in her ears before dirt landed on top of her.
    Fear slithered through her veins as her body remained stiff and unmoving no matter how hard she tried to take control of her limbs. More dirt splattered across her face. Desperately, she struggled to breathe as the earth clogged her nose and mouth. Fire filled her lungs, while the rest of her body was cold as ice.
    She wanted to sob from the pain, but couldn’t. Suddenly, the pain disappeared as a white mist surrounded her. A peaceful quiet filled the fog and soothed her. Voices echoed from a distance, and a whisper she’d heard once before filled her ears.
    “Fight,