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Just like that, he was hard again God, he would never get enough of this woh of hi currents of pleasure through him with each clever tilt She stroked his back, her touch feather-light and cool against his skin

"Sweet" Heher where their bodies joined "I swear I’ll take care of you I’ll make you happy" He prayed it was the truth

"Mmmm," she moaned "Oh, yes"

Once, twice, a dozen tih He loved her slowly, relentlessly, until she panted and sighed the words, "yes,"

"Gray," and "God" so many times they felt like sacred vows Then he watched her sleep curled up beside hi strokes of light He’d made love to her four times now, he realized, but this was his first chance to truly look upon her body She was every inch as lovely as he’d i he’d chastised her for sketching his likeness, when he’d been conjuring an ihtly for weeks The only difference was, he hadn’t committed his fantasies to paper It would take a Renaissance master to capture this beauty Her hair spilled across the pillow and his outstretched arm, a million threads of the finest silk floss When she woke, he vowed, he would brush it until it gleamed He admired the smooth disc of her areola, relaxed in sleep Then he blew surreptitiously across it, until it ruched to a tight rosette His gaze wandered lower, to where her navel rose and fell with each breath, like a tiny cork afloat on her slightly rounded belly An irregular birthmark stood out on the crest of her hip, like a splash of wine on snow He touched a finger to it, and she stirred

"Don’t look at that," shesleep from her eyes "I know it’s horrid"

"Horrid?" Despite the pained expression on her face, he had to laugh

"Sweetheart, I can honestly say that there is nothing about you that’s horrid in the least"

"My painting ree"

The bitter taste of envy filled his mouth "Do you know, that Frenchman of yours had better hope I never meet with him"

"Oh, no," she said quickly "Not Gervais Never Gervais My paintingcalled Mr Turklethwaite"

Gray’s bafflement must have been obvious

She went on, "There was never any Gervais I mean, you know that I’d never taken a man to my bed, but you must understand … I’ve never allowed another man into my heart, either" She kissed his brow, then his lips "I love you, only you"

God How brave she was Tossing those words about as though they were feathers Could she possibly suspect how they landed in his chest like cannonballs, detonating deep in his heart?

Struggling for equani hed "He didn’t But I painted so like it once, on a portrait of Venus I told hiht it lent her an air of reality Oh, how he scoldedlook "He would not apply the term ‘artist’ to a female, you see"

"I see"

"A lady who paints, he said, should approach the art as she would any other genteel accooal is to create an example of refinement A true lady would not paint an imperfection, he said, any more than she would strike a false note in a sonata Beauty is not real, and reality is not beautiful"

Gray shook his head "Re master even ht it possible"

She rose up on her elbows, her expression suddenly anxious "Gray, how can you wish to ly indeed"

"I know you are ers with his "I e I made to you aboard the Aphrodite You are safe with me, and I will never leave you I came to you with honorable intentions eno ht now I may not know your history, but I trust that I know your heart"

"Better than anyone" A little s gently at her upper lip, then savoring the plumpness of its counterpart below

"And do you trustYou do believe that?"

"Yes, certainly And I will tell you everything" A hint of uncertainty flashed in her eyes, however, and she bit her lip "In time"

Her reluctance wounded hi her further ht yield answers, but not trust He wanted to earn both "Very well In time"

She toyed with a lock of his hair "There’s so in"

"Well then Let us begin with essentials Are you free to marry me?" He exhaled slowly, in a pointed effort not to hold his breath

"Of course When I coe, that is"

"Tell me your birthday"

She s day" He traced the shape of the birthmark on her hip "Very convenient for me, for your birthday and our anniversary to coincide I’ll be more likely to re ly I hate it"

He tilted his head, surprised "I quite adore it It reminds me that you are imperfectly perfect and entirely mine" He slid down her body and bent to kiss theno one else has seen it"