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“You are angry,” she said, fighting to get her sleeves back in place.

“No. I’m not angry. A certain part of me is…disappointed, but I understand.”

“Perhaps, if you explained to me exactly what you want. What you expect from me, I can…prepare myself.”

“I want you, all of you.”

“But that is not possible. You said we could do things that would not cause me to lose my virginity.”

“Ah, so I did.”

She sat up straighter on his lap, the movement causing pleasure and pain.

“What are those things?”

“Well.” Yes, well, how to explain. Would it horrify or intrigue her? “I could kiss you, lick you, down there,” he said, pointing to her mons veneris. “I understand it is an exquisite pleasure for a woman, and men also enjoy the taste of a woman.”

She looked shocked for a moment. “The…oh.”

“I can also put my fingers inside you without breaking your maidenhead. Where I can also bring you pleasure.”

“What about you? How would I pleasure you?”

He paused for a moment, considering how to put it delicately, but there was not really any way to pretty it up. “You can put your hand around my cock and stroke it. Some women enjoy putting it in their mouths, caressing and licking it.” Her eyes were as big as two moons. “I do not want you to do anything you do not wish to. It is meant to be pleasurable to both.”

“And this is normal behavior for lovers?”

He thought about his very few bouts of lovemaking with Victoria. She was not interested in any sort of love play. Had only wanted him to hurry up about it. “In most cases,” he replied. Rose was different from his departed wife. Rose was smart, inquisitive, passionate, if not cautious. Despite his wanting to take her in front of the fire in every position, he knew if she agreed to this liaison, he would have to be happy with what she was comfortable with.

“May I think on it?”

“Of course,” he said with a nod.

“What if I wish to stay with kisses only?”

“Then that is what we shall do.” He pulled her back down so her head was on his chest, holding and stroking her. He found it comforting just to have her in his arms.

“Lucinda said you were fierce like a lion, but inside you were a pussy cat. Is she right? The others all laughed at her, but I see a side of you that the others do not.”

“Did she now? Cheeky baggage. I am not sure I can be totally tamed. Would you prefer me to be a lazy tabby cat?”

“I do not think it is in your nature to be lazy. I also do not think you are completely wild. You can be reasonable…when you want to be.”

He laughed. “Whatever you do, Rose, do not let the others know. They will have expectations I may not want to fulfill.”

“They have unacceptably high expectations of you as it is. Perhaps this is why they are disappointed when you reveal you are but a man who makes mistakes.”

“Is that how you see me? As a man who has made mistakes?”

“I see you as a man who is not perfect but is often expected to be. To solve the problems of the world all while standing on your head. It is not sustainable,” she said, running her fingers up and down his arm. “But in a way, you have made them believe that you can just because you will it.” She kissed him. “I understand that you have power and influence. It goes with your title, but when you are dealing with family, perhaps you could just be…Edward.”

“You say that like it is an easy thing to do. Edward and the duke are not compatible. I cannot be both.”

“Of course you can. You have only to will it for it to be so. Isn’t that the way it is done?” She hopped off his lap and straightened her clothes.

“You are leaving me?”

“I cannot dally with you in this room all afternoon. Or I may never leave.”