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Slowly Nick reached for her hand, touched it with great care, drew his fingertips across her pal hands befitting a woers twice as thick as her slender ones He caressed the daers "Every rule should be broken once in a while," he said

Theshe saw in his world-weary face Abruptly she seemed to make a decision "Come with me"

Nick followed her froazes that pursued theh the entrance hall and up a curved staircase that led to a private suite of rooms Mrs Bradshaw's apartments were elaborate but comfortable, the furniture deeply cushioned, the walls covered in French paper, the hearth gloith a generously stocked fire The sideboard in the receiving roo crystal decanters and glasses Mrs Bradshaw picked up a snifter frolanced at him expectantly "Brandy?"

Nick nodded immediately

She poured golden-red liquid into the snifter Expertly she struck athe snifter by its stelass over the candle flaave it to him He'd never had a woman do that for hientle spice drifting to his nostrils as he drank

Glancing around the receiving room, Nick saw that one as lined with bookshelves, every available inch of space occupied with leather-bound volu Although he could not read well, he discerned that most of the books were about sex and human anatomy

"A hobby ofwith friendly challenge "I collect books about sexual techniques and customs of different cultures Some of the books are quite rare Over the past ten years, I have accue about my favorite subject"

"I suppose it'ssnuffboxes," he said, and she laughed

"Stay here I'll be just a one, you are welcome to view my library"

She went fro room, where the end of a poster bed was visible

The leaden feeling returned to Nick's stoulp of slass aside and went to the bookshelves A large voluht his attention The antique leather creaked slightly as he opened the book, which was filled with hand-painted illustrations His seething insides tangled in a huge knot as he saings of bodies writhing in sexual positions ined His heart haravated desire Hastily he closed the book and shoved it back onto the shelf Going back to the sideboard, he poured another brandy and downed it without tasting it

As Mrs Bradshaw had pro to stand in the doorway She had changed into a thin dressing gown tri in arment revealed the pointed crests of her full breasts, and even the shadow of hair between her thighs The nificent body, and she knew it She stood with one knee eased forward, protruding through the opening of the dressing gown to display the long, sleek line of her leg Her blazing hair rippled over her shoulders and down her back, er, softer

A shiver of longing chased down Nick's spine, and he felt his chest rising and falling in a labored rhythm

"I'll have you know that I aestured for him to come to her "A talent such as mine should never be squandered"

"Whyraspy He drew nearer, close enough to realize that she wore no perfurance farthan jasmine or roses

"It was the way you touched me You instinctively found the most susceptible places on my handthe center of the palm and the insides of the knuckles Few men have such sensitivity"

Rather than feeling flattered, Nick experienced a flare of panic The uaranteed to disappoint He kept his face expressionless, but his heart dropped in a sickening plunge as she drew him into the warm, firelit bedroom "Mrs Bradshaw," he said aardly as they approached the bed, "I should tell you-"

"Gemma," she murmured

"Ge as she pushed his coat from his shoulders and helped him remove it

Untying the knot of his sweat-dampened cravat, thelike a boy of thirteen Is the notorious Mr Gentry so inti the famous Mrs Bradshaouldn't have expected it of such a worldly e A man oftwenty-three?"

"Twenty-four" He was dying inside, knowing there was no way he could deceive her into believing that he was ahard, he said hoarsely, "I've never done this before"

The ruddy arcs of her brows inched upward "Never visited a brothel?"

So throat "Never made love to a woman"

Gee, but he sensed her astonish, diplomatic pause, she asked tactfully, "You have been intimate with other men, then?"

Nick shook his head, staring at the patterned wallpaper The heavy silence was broken only by the dru in his ears

The madam's curiosity was almost palpable She ascended the moveable wooden step that had been placed beside the tall bed, and climbed onto the mattress Slowly she reclined on her side, relaxed and catlike And in her infinite understanding of the male sex, she remained silent and waited patiently

Nick tried to sound h his voice "When I was a boy of fourteen, I was sentenced to ten months on a prison hulk"

He saw from Gemma's expression that she understood immediately The wretched conditions on the hulks, the fact that e cell, was hardly a secret "The men on the ship tried to force themselves on you, of course," she said Her tone was neutral as she asked "Did any of them succeed?"

"No But since then" Nick paused for a long moment He had never told anyone about the past that had haunted him-his fears were not easy to put into words "I can't bear to be touched," he said slowly "Not by anyone, in any way I've wanted" He paused for a"At tio mad with it But I can't seem to" He fell helplessly silent It seeuilt were plaited together, that the si love to so himself jump off a cliff The touch of another person, no ered a perilous need to defend himself