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And suddenly he was all business. He swept an arm out, indicating the chairs facing the hearth. She went to them on trembling legs, gratefully sinking down into the plush seat. He sat facing her, his attention fixed on her as he patiently waited.
For a single, torturous moment worry surged that he had been able to so completely turn off his desires. Mayhap he didn’t want her as desperately as she wanted him. But one look at his face and those doubts vanished. His eyes fairly devoured her. The heat in his eyes, barely leashed, so much hotter than the blaze in the hearth, made her shiver with longing.
Desperate to rein in her quickly spiraling thoughts, she cleared her throat and straightened. “As I said, there are some things we need to discuss.”
He nodded.
Once more she cleared her throat. “I mentioned this morning, of course, that this is to be merely physical.”
“Physical,” he murmured in agreement. Yet the way his tongue worked at the single word made it sound positively indecent. Once more she shivered, but with a burning heat that had her shifting in her chair.
But she had to keep her head if they were to get through this. She nearly cleared her throat again, then thought better of it. The man would think her growing ill if she kept this up. “Yes, physical, and nothing further. As I also stated, this will be a onetime affair, based on mutual respect.”
“I respect you, Margery.”
Which she should have expected, of course. Any man in the position he was in, forced to listen to a person rambling on and on with demands before they were able to do the deed, would promise to all sorts of things to get on with it.
Yet she felt the sincerity of his words down to the very marrow of her bones.
Once more her heart lurched in her chest, though this time with a softening that should have had alarm bells pealing through her. But in that moment she didn’t care for caution. “And I respect you, Daniel.”
His gaze gentled. “Then we are in agreement. There will be nothing expected from either of us. This is a union of purely physical desires.”
Oh, so many physical desires, Margery thought hazily, her gaze fastening on his full bottom lip. Needing to clear her head, she shook it sharply, then quickly said, lest he think she was disagreeing with him, “Precisely.”
But there was still something more they must be in accord on. “As well, I would like to take every precaution against a child being conceived.” When he merely stared at her in silence, she expelled a sharp breath and continued. “Which would, of course, require you to—ahem—not come to…completion. Inside me.”
For a moment he appeared utterly confused. Had she not been clear enough? She really didn’t know how she could have been any clearer, save for spouting a lengthy description of the deed itself.
Finally, however, understanding dawned in his face. “Ah, yes. I see. You may be assured, I will do everything in my power to prevent a child.”
Relief flooded her, and she just stopped herself from thanking him profusely. She nodded instead. Then, not knowing what else to say, she made to rise. “Shall we?”
Ah, God, if the floor had opened up in that moment she would have jumped in headfirst.Shall we?That’s how she wished to start this, as if they were at a garden party?
He must think her mad as well, for his expression suddenly altered, turning to a sharp uncertainty. Face flaming, she opened her mouth to mend the breach. He spoke, however, before the words—whatever they might have been—could leave her lips.
“I have my own requirements.”
She blinked. Well, she hadn’t expected that. But she should not have been surprised, she supposed. She nodded and eased herself back in her seat, her eyes on his face the whole while. Was this how things were done with affairs then? For while this whole situation was uncomfortable in the extreme, and seemed incredibly odd, he did not seem even a bit surprised by how things were proceeding. Mentally shrugging, she waited for him to begin.
However, it took him much longer to start than she had expected. As the seconds ticked by, every one of her insecurities came roaring back to horrible life, a deafening barrage of uncertainty parading through her mind: she was deluded to think this would work; he could not want her as she wanted him; she was not at all alluring. Finally, blessedly, he continued.
“We have already talked of our respect for one another, of course,” he said, his eyes seeming to fix somewhere over her left shoulder, “and that we’ll mutually end this affair after tonight, with no expectations. But I would have your promise that, should you grow even the least bit uncomfortable tonight, you will tell me immediately.”
She blinked, for there was something incredibly intense about him in that moment. “Of course,” she said, thinking that would be the end of it. But he frowned and shook his head.
“You don’t understand, Margery.” He let out a sharp breath, looking down to his lap. His hand, she noticed, had fisted and was pressed into his thigh.
And suddenly she knew. She knew just what he was trying to say. She leaned forward, ducking her head, trying to catch his eye. “You needn’t worry about your injury, Daniel.”
His gaze shot up and snagged on hers then. And her breath stalled in her chest at the agony in his eyes.
“It’s not pretty, Margery,” he rasped. “The other scars are not, either, of course. And there are many. My leg, however…”
His voice trailed off, and he swallowed, hard. Her heart twisted, for she understood the truth hidden in his words: that he had been hurt, and deeply, because of the appearance of his leg.
She had guessed as much earlier. But it was only now, with the specters of a very specific tragedy haunting the beautiful rich blue-gray of his eyes, that she knew her premonitions had been correct. Was this pain due to his ex-fiancée? Or was it something—or someone—else?
