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She was hiswife.
“I know you mean to take care of me,” she said. “But now that we’re married, I get to take care of you, too. You’re not sleeping on the floor.” She touched his wrist. “Besides, it’s cold. I don’t want to be alone.”
Very well. She had him there.
And in that negligee, she had him hard as granite.
This would be a very long night.
“You go ahead and get in the bed,” he said. “Take the side nearest the kitchen. It will be warmest. I’ll join you in a minute.”
He waited until he heard her slip beneath the quilt before disrobing hastily and draping his wet clothing over two chairs near the fire. As he crept into the bedchamber, he tried to stay in the shadows. Not out of modesty, but so she wouldn’t be alarmed. He was a rather hulking fellow, big in all sorts of ways. Experienced women seemed to like his body just fine, but he wasn’t certain how a virgin would react.
He stretched out beside her on the bed, crossed his arms over his chest, and closed his eyes.
She nestled up against him.
He wriggled a few inches away.
She snuggled close again. “Hold me. You’re so warm. And I can’t stop shivering.”
With a heavy sigh, he draped one arm around her shoulders, still careful to keep their bodies apart from the navel down. “I don’t want to crush you.”
“How could you crush me? You’re next to me, not atop me.”
He groaned.Don’t give me ideas.
“You’re inching away again,” she accused. “Am I so objectionable?”
“The furthest thing from it.”
“Then what’s the matter?”
Fine. Don’t say you didn’t ask for it.
He rolled onto his side to face her, pulled her close, and thrust his rampant arousal against her belly. “There. I hope that answers your question.”
She swallowed hard. “Oh. Were you wanting to—”
“Engage in politely phrased activities? No.” He released her. “Not at all.”
“You don’t have to be so vehement about it.”
“A man’s body has a mind of its own. Especially when the man in question is naked and in bed with a beautiful woman. One clad in nothing but a wisp of lace, who keeps wriggling her body against his.” He exhaled heavily. “But I don’t want you to be anxious. We’ll wait until you’re ready. Whether that means weeks, months, even years. I won’t rush you.”
She was silent for a moment. And then she started to laugh.
“What?”
“You won’t rush me?” The bed quaked with her laughter. “This from the man who kidnapped me in the morning, married me in the afternoon, and installed me in his remote seaside cottage by evening. But you won’trushme. Oh, Sebastian. That is too much.”
He didn’t know what to say.
“Look at that furrow in your brow.” She rubbed the space between his eyebrows, as though attempting to iron it flat. “Don’t look so stern. I’m only teasing you. But perhaps you’re not ready to be teased. I won’t rush you, either.”
Without thinking, he reached out to stroke her hair.
She laid her head on his chest. “I’ve worried about you in the past year. You’re too stubborn to let on, but I know you’ve been hurting. Whether it’s Henry or the war, or something I can’t even comprehend. Even when we’re in the same room, you’ve seemed so far away.”
