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He gave a little huff of laughter that turned into a groan as she sought out the falls of his trousers "I thought we discussed the fact that ers fu her own inexperience, and he cursed, stopping her ood idea for us to--"

"I do," she said, surprising herself with her bravery "I think it’sher "More mine than yours, it seems"

She smiled "We’ll see"

He leaned down and took her lips in a wild kiss, releasing her after a long moment to whisper, "You are unbearably perfect"

She blushed, then found her courage "Trousers, please," she whispered "I’ve wanted theht--in leather breeches, standing tall on your curricle"

"You liked those?" He laughed, and lifted himself from the bed to remove them

She remembered the way the leather of his breeches had revealed the thick rey wool slid to the floor, revealing long, s, and she realized that the leather had not done hi and thick and brutal, white with years of healing, it ran nearly the full length of his left thigh She couldn’t help but gasp at it, at the pain it must have caused hiet that it is there," he said

It was a lie, of course No one could forget such a thing "What happened?"

"The carriage accident"

The one that killed his love

No Not his love The one that killed the woman who betrayed him

The woman who made him swear off love The wo she desired

She reached for hier to will away the pain fro that he would take any more attention to the scar as pity And he would deny her the rest Instead, she e of the bed, where he stood, one hand covering the aze fall to that mysterious place "I wish to see you"

He watched her for a long th of hiaze did not waver, not even when she said the only thing that cahed and reached for her "I shall take that as a coes of her dressing gown over her shoulders and down her arms until she, too, was naked

"I don’t suppose you would lie down forout on his back and lifting her to straddle him, her knees on either side of his hips

She stared down at hi in his sheer masculine beauty "You are" She trailed off

He reached up to cup her breasts, playing at the hard tips until she sighed and rocked against hiet her exploration this way She clasped his hands "Stop It’s my turn"

He raised a brow "You don’t want me to touch you?"

"Of course I do But I wish to touch you raveled before he stretched his ar them beneath his head "I am yours to explore, my lady"

And he allowed it, allowed her to stroke and discover, over his ar over to kiss the corded muscles of his shoulders, to suck at the skin of his neck, to kiss down the slope of his chest until his breath caroaned her name "You’re the worst kind of tease," he whispered "I can feel you there, hot and wet abovein him, hard and hot "Does it hurt?"

"Yes," he said "In the best kind of way"

"How?"