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William straightened and made his way around the side of the bed, sitting next to her. Gently, he took her hand in his. “What is it? Why do you always shy away from me? Do you not trust me?”
“No!” she answered quickly. “No, it isn’t that. I simply...I simply do not want you to see me without my nightgown.”
“Why?”
The softness of his tone broke her into pieces. She wanted to trust him, to show him every part of her. She wanted to continue what they’d started and truly give herself to him. But she could not deal with the possibility that he would turn away from her, that he would see her scars and deem her to be ugly. An English lady should never bear the sort of scars she had but her smooth skin was marred by the past she could not put behind her. Elizabeth didn’t know if William could accept that—and she was afraid to find out.
“I’m here, Elizabeth,” he murmured. “You can tell me anything. I promise you.”
How can I know if he’ll accept me if I do not try? I have to do this.
Elizabeth closed her eyes briefly, steeling her resolve. Then, she looked him in the eyes. “Do you recall when I’d told you about the day I’d been attacked by a thief?”
He nodded slowly, his green eyes dark with an unnamed emotion. “I do.”
“The scars on my wrist are not the only ones he inflicted.” Taking a deep breath, Elizabeth stood and tugged the nightgown over her head. Pimples rose to her bare skin as cool air wafted over it. Elizabeth held her breath, not looking away from William’s face for a second. It was not the fact that she stood naked before him that made her heart pound with such nervousness, but the fact that he could see her other scars in full view.
Slowly, he stood, his eyes running up to the scar that lay on her upper arm. He raised a finger, tracing the outline of the puffy skin before moving it over to the one that lay on her collarbone. His silence stretched on even as he dipped his gaze to the worst scar of them all—the one that laid on her side.
“The physicians that saw me did the best that they could,” she tried to explain, her anxiety rising. “But my skin could not heal properly. Rather than smooth scars, I was left with this puckered skin. I…I did not know what you would think of me if you were to see them. I was afraid that you might—”
She didn’t get the chance to finish when he cupped her chin and captured her lips with his. It was a gentle kiss, one that served to quiet her words and her thoughts at the same time. When he pulled away, his eyes were filled with nothing but tenderness.
“You are still the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on,” he whispered, as if they were the only two people in the world. “Scars or no scars, I love you all the same.”
And then he kissed her again, this time with far more intensity than before. He cupped her backside, drawing her into him as their tongues tangled. Elizabeth hardly had any time to feel relief at his words, taken as she was by the hand that was slowly coming around to the thatch of hair that lay between her thighs.
He slid his hand between the lips, finding her slick and ready. He smiled against her lips, gently pulling her back down to the bed without removing his hand. Elizabeth was grateful for the support, knowing very well that her legs could no longer keep her standing while his hand continued its slow torture.
A lone finger slid over the sensitive nubbin, making her squirm underneath him. Even though she could not keep herself still, he continued to swirl his finger around, continued to leave biting kisses against her cheek and neck as he incited desperate hunger within her. She craved more of his touch, craved more of his kisses, even though she could feel a tension building within her with every move of his finger.
“William...” she panted but he didn’t stop. He kept moving his finger, quicker and quicker as her squirms grew more desperate. Matching her move for move, William didn’t stop until the tension broke and her body exploded into nothing but pleasure.
The room spun. For those too brief moments, her soul felt as if it had left her body and when it settled back into place, Elizabeth remembered where she was and what had just happened.
“William, what...” She couldn’t get the words out, sated yet still filled with longing as she was. She managed to sit up, watching as the man who’d inflicted such pleasure grinned from ear to ear.
