Gerald closed his eyes briefly, the better to savor the explosive orgasm he’d just experienced. She was little better than a virgin, his Annie. If he wasn’t mistaken, she’d never come with a man inside her before.
The notion made him proud, in a puffed-up rooster kind of way. Curving a hand around her flushed cheek, he dropped a kiss on her mouth before swinging his legs off the bed and heading for the washstand. The water he’d brought up earlier was almost cold now, but he rinsed a cloth in it and brought it back to clean her.
The first pang of orgasm had come when he was inside her. It had been reflex more than rationality that had made him pull out of her.
“If you fall pregnant,” he said, pleased that his voice quavered only a little. “You will tell me.”
“I do not think I will fall.” Her voice was feather-soft, so different from Annie’s usual firm, no-nonsense tones. “I should have my courses by the end of the week.”
A touch of regret nudged him before he quelled it. He couldn’t imagine why he would feel that way. They had agreed—one night. Annie was not mistress material.
He smiled when he imagined her in fine silks and satins, waiting around all day in case her lover should call. Oh no, not Annie. She’d have made herself busy. Before he knew it, she’d be selling hand made baby clothes to her neighbors.
“Why are you smiling?”
He tossed the cloth aside and leaned his elbow on the mattress, propping his head on his hand. “Why do you think?”
Unable to resist, he cupped the breast nearest to him; her left, although the right was just as peachy. Casually, he thumbed her nipple and smiled at her reaction, when she caught a sharp breath. “You were—” He choked back the words he meant to say. Glorious, perfect, the best he’d ever known. They were all true, but they sounded like forever, and he could not give that to her.
Much though he wanted to.
His fingers stilled on her breast. Where had that thought come from? They’d agreed on a night for themselves. If he found his romantic heart yearning for her, that would make his alliance with Elizabeth much more difficult. God knew he was finding it hard enough already.
“You...what?” she prompted.
“I am enjoying this even more than I thought I would.” His words gave away too much, but he would be nothing but honest with her. They had shed their status and their aspirations with their clothes. Now they were left with what they were. Not what they would become.
Lord, he was getting philosophical! “This is difficult for me.”
“I did not think any of this was difficult.”
Smiling, he resumed his caresses. “Everything but this, I meant. The earldom, facing my responsibilities...” He lifted his gaze to her face. “Let us be the other’s confessor tonight on the understanding that nothing goes out of this door.”
With a deep sigh, she nodded. “That sounds marvelous. I have to hold so much back.” She made a sound deep in her throat, like a purr. “You first.”
With the luxury of a whole night ahead of them, he could explore, and learn her, and also maybe learn something about himself. “Up until the day I inherited the title, I went about my life believing it would remain the same. I was wealthy enough to feel comfortable about the futures of my sisters and myself, but not prosperous or high enough in status to attract fortune-hunters. My sisters are passionate about their interests. I had no title I was responsible for. One day I might have married, but there was no pressure for me to do so.”
“But you were lonely.”
“How in the devil could you know that?” At his heart, he’d always felt the lack of a companion, someone he could call his own.
She touched his face, brushed the backs of her fingers down his cheek, making him want to move closer. But he would wait. They had all night. “A lucky guess, based on what I know about you.”
His eyes opened fractionally wider. “You’re a perceptive woman. What do you know about me?”
“That you lost your parents early. You have a reputation for an even temper and sliding from one situation to another. Society must regard you as easy prey, but I think not. You have made your sisters a priority, as I have my sons, and they are, by all accounts, happy. You moved to London to please them.”
“Except for Dorcas, who would prefer to be in the country.” He grimaced. “I was considering finding her a companion, so she could move back to the estate and work on her yellow roses.” Catching her gaze, he laughed. “That is at the heart of her passion. She is looking forward to working on the remodeling of the main estate, but I have deterred her by the move to London. I don’t want her too invested in the project, otherwise she will miss her opportunities to have a life and husband of her own.”
“You see, you know them well, and you’re doing your best with the minimum of fuss.”