Page 54 of A Scandal at Stonecliffe

Nathan’s eyes widened in alarm, and he said hastily, “No, God, no, not sorry for this—this was beautiful. Wonderful.” He sat up, reaching for her arm, but she jerked away from him. He groaned, pushing his hands back into his disordered hair. “Why do I always say the wrong thing to you?”

“Because sometimes you blurt out the truth before you can manufacture a polite lie?” This was better, she thought. She always preferred blunt speech. She would appreciate that...later.

“No. It’s not a polite lie that what we just had was...was...the devil!” Nathan cursed. “I can’t think of anything adequate to express what it’s like to be with you. To be in you, to taste you, to feel you. Surely you cannot think that I did not enjoy making love to you.”

“I don’t know what else I’m supposed to think when the first words out of your mouth were that you regretted it.” Still, Verity softened a little inside at his words.

“But I didn’t. I didn’t regret it. Not for a moment. I was apologizing to you because it was reprehensible of me to pull you to the floor in the middle of the drawing room as if you were a...”

Verity stared. “You mean you’re apologizing because you weren’t gentlemanly enough?” She was swept with relief. Her eyes began to dance, her lips curving up.

“Dammit, now you’re laughing at me.”

“No. Never.” Verity leaned over, looping her arms loosely around his neck, and kissed him lightly. She sat back, bracing her hands behind her and crossing her ankles, as if settling in for a friendly chat. It gave her a little thrill that his eyes went to her naked breasts. She no longer felt shy at all.

“I would never want to be disrespectful to you.” Nathan’s jaw tightened.

“You weren’t disrespectful. I rather liked your...eagerness. Though I will admit my bed is more comfortable. We’ll have to try that next time.”

“Next time.” He wiped his hands over his face. “Verity, no. We can’t do this again.”

Verity sighed. She should have known. Nathan’s noble nature was rearing its head. “Now you’re going to turn saintly on me?”

“No, of course not. Trust me, I feel anything but saintly.” He reached for his clothes and began to dress. “What I’d like to do right now is try that bed out.”

“That sounds like an excellent idea to me.” Verity smiled up at him. Even as he stood and pulled on his breeches, he couldn’t keep his eyes off her body, and whatever his mouth said, the noticeable bulge in his breeches was telling a different story.

“Verity, would you please get dressed? I’m trying to have a reasonable discussion here.”

Verity blew out a sigh and picked up her chemise. She pulled it on, leaving the top ribbon untied, and stepped into her petticoat. She turned and faced him, crossing her arms. “There. Satisfied?”

He looked anything but satisfied, and his gaze went to her underpants, still lying where she’d thrown them earlier. “You’re not...” He stopped and cleared his throat. “Verity, I was in a weak moment, and I let myself be carried away. I had promised to give you time to think about things, to decide whether you wanted to go any further down this path. But I didn’t give you a chance to consider all the ramifications.”

Verity rolled her eyes. “Nathan, for pity’s sake, it’s not as if your advances were unwanted. As I remember, I was the one who pulled you down to the floor and kissed you.”

“Yes, you were.” A faint smile touched his lips, his eyes warming. “But that’s not the point. The point is that there’s your reputation to consider, and you deserve more than being someone’s mistress. And what if...what if you became pregnant? You couldn’t—I would of course—but marrying would be wrong. I have nothing to offer. No prospects, no estate, hell, I don’t even have my name anymore.”

It shouldn’t hurt that he dismissed so easily the idea of marrying her. He was right, of course; she knew as well as he that marriage was out of the question. How could she be offended when she had as little desire to marry as he did? How could she argue against it?

But neither was she going to let him get away with using that as an excuse. “Nathan, if you don’t want to have an affair with me, just say so. But don’t tell me you’re doing this because it’s better for me. I decide what’s better for me. I decide who I let in my bed. I’m not some fragile flower. I know how to protect myself in every way. I have my own name and my own prospects. And I have no intention of getting married—to you or anyone else.” She planted her fists on her hips, her eyes flashing. “For whatever bizarre reason, I want you in my bed. So the only question is, do you want to be there?”

Nathan’s eyebrows shot up and then, surprisingly, he began to laugh. “Only you could be so bellicose in saying you want someone.”

“Not someone. You.”

“Yes. I understand.” He moved toward her, smiling. “And I am very glad of that.” He stopped in front of her and gazed down into her eyes. “To answer your question, yes, I want to be in your bed.” Reaching up, he began to idly play with a loose strand of her hair. “And you look very beddable right now.”

Verity smiled and said teasingly, “Again? Already?”

“Yes, again. Already.” He leaned down and kissed her lightly on the lips. “And every time you’ll have me.” The kiss that followed was longer, and when he lifted his head, his eyes were heated.

“Then I suggest it’s time we go upstairs.” She took his hand and led him from the room.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

NATHAN AWOKE, disoriented at first. He blinked and glanced around, and everything that had happened last night came flooding back into his mind, with the result that he was immediately hard. Again? Really? Not that he minded. A faint smiled touched his lips.

He was in Verity’s bed. He couldn’t remember ever awakening in a woman’s bed. He’d never kept a mistress. He hadn’t had the money to pay for another household, let alone all the expected jewels and dresses and so on that his acquaintances had complained about. Besides, he had pined for Annabeth, however unlikely it was that she would marry him, and no other woman had ever been more than a flirtation to him.