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I frowned. “You do not think she saw me?”
“Despite how long and intensely you were observing?” he teased. My eyes narrowed to a point on his face. “No. I do not believe she saw you. I believe she was far too taken away to notice any of the world around her.”
“Really?” I glanced back as the young lady was looking around the shop with her mama. She looked to be even younger than I in the light of day.
“Are you sure it is her?”
“I have seen her face too many times in my dreams to be mistaken.”
“Is that so?”
The gaze of his brown eyes shifted. And it felt as if he were pulling me in, and I could not look away.
“Yes,” I finally managed to answer.
He inhaled through his nose and glanced away from my face, looking to the sky. “I swear. Aphrodite…”
“You swear what?”
He swallowed hard but said nothing.
“Do not become reticent. Speak your thoughts.”
“I cannot.”
“Why not?”
“Because my thoughts are beastly,” he replied, finally looking at me. “And I fear you are not afraid of beasts.”
“Is that not a good thing?” I whispered. “To not be afraid.”
“No, for it makes the beasts even more hungry,” he whispered back. “It takes them to the point of starvation until they can no longer remain gentlemanly and find themselves in the shrubbery.”
A warmth spread over me…as it had at night while I remembered what I saw in the gardens. My breathing felt heavier. “Does it hurt…being taken to the shrubbery?”
He glanced down, flexing his fist. “Aphrodite, I beg of you, let us speak of something else…”
“Does it hurt?” I repeated my question.
He said nothing, again inhaling through his nose before looking at me. “The first time for a lady, it may, depending on her partner. Truthfully, it always depends on her partner whether it is a painful or pleasurable experience.”
My heart quickened, and my chest tightened. “The one in there had a pleasurable experience?”
“I did not see well enough, but I would assume so.”
Finally. Answers.
“Aroused?” I stepped closer to ask.
“Yes.”
“Yes, what?” I asked, not understanding.
“You asked me if I was aroused, did you not?” he asked, head tilted to the side as he looked into my eyes. “Or do you still think it merely means to arise from slumber?”
“How can I know any other meaning when no one tells me?” I questioned. “So tell me.”
“It is hard to explain…for it is a feeling.”
