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“I’ll say.”
“There are some quite lovely and fragrant-sounding ones.”
“Uh-huh.” Nick wasn’t convinced. He was still attempting to scrub his mind free from the mental image of rubbing his cock with insect bristles. Whatever that meant.
Although the oil part hadn’t sounded that bad. He’d been known to rub himself with oil from time to time.
Alice stacked her pages with precision. “This is only a fragment of a much larger work entitled the Kama Sutra. Kama means desire and sutra, taken literally, is sort of a thread that holds things together.”
“So you’ve been translating a dirty book. I must say I’m shocked, Dimples.”
“And awed?” she joked.
“Well, I did rather assume that it was my kiss that had kindled your latent libidinousness. Now I find that it was this dirty book all along. Rather pricks a gentleman’s pride.”
“It’s not dirty; it’s an important and illuminating glimpse into the minds of an ancient culture.”
“More like a glimpse into the bedrooms. I mean... the yawning position?”
“The prurient sections will ensure the work finds a wide audience. But the Kama Sutra is also a philosophical meditation on spiritual and physical fulfillment, as well as a guide to virtuous and gracious living.”
“Is this why you asked me for instruction in the art of sexual congress? Are you... are you using me? Am I merely the most convenient cock to practice with and nothing more?”
She stroked his arm. “You’re the best, Nick. That’s why I chose you, remember?”
He didn’t know why any of this should bother him. After all, wasn’t this what he was to every woman who passed through his bedchamber? A pleasure ride and nothing more?
But this was Alice.
Not just any woman.
He’d been so proud and smug, believing that his masterful powers of seduction had awakened her sensuality, when her curiosity had been sparked by a book.
Why did he feel so disappointed? And why was this moment complicated in a way that his relationships were never complicated? Because they were married?
She’d be gone in a month’s time, for Christ’s sake.
“I wonder if you’ve thought that contributing to the translation of such a scandalous work of literature could have consequences for your family’s reputation, even if it’s published under Fred’s name and not yours?” he asked.
“Oh, I’m sure if he requested anonymity they’d grant him that. This is the missing portion of a much longer work. The Sanskrit professors I’ve been corresponding with think that with my chapters, they’ll be able to compile a complete manuscript.”
“So you’re doing all of this not for glory but merely for the love of literature?”
“I suppose so. Someday I believe the Kama Sutra will be widely read. I think it could be very educational for naïve young ladies who are kept in ignorance of the workings of their bodies and the particulars of sexual congress.”
“I’ve been forced to revise my opinions and preconceived ideas about young ladies several times since I met you, Alice.”
“Is that a compliment?”
He smiled and touched her cheek. “It is. Of course, the fact remains that you’re using me for scandalous scholarly research purposes. And I’m not sure how I feel about that.”
“Oh please. Isn’t the pursuit of pleasure your reason for living?”
“Well, yes.”
“You’re certainly not the first gentleman to make a lifelong study of sensual fulfillment. And we British didn’t invent sexual congress, you know,” she said with a purse of her full lips that for some reason drove him nearly mad with lust and made him forget all about his disappointment.
“No. But we’re about to perfect it,” he growled, hauling her from her chair, lifting her into his arms, and stalking toward his bedchamber.
