Her eyes flew open as that wayward thought jolted through her mind. She loved Jasper. And it was true, as much a fact as the others she had noted a moment ago. She loved him and she had loved him from the first terrible moment her father had introduced the man to her and her sisters and declared he would be for Anne.

She had loved him then, secretly and furtively, filled with guilt and regret. She had loved him when she pretended to be Anne and fitted herself into the place as his bride first as a lie and then in truth. And she loved him now as he drew away and stared at her with concern on his face.

“You look frightened…shocked,” he said softly.

She shook her head. As much as she knew the truth of her heart, this was not the time to share it. Not yet. Not if she wanted what would happen next to contain no awkwardness or pity. And she didn’t. She just wanted the passion, the connection.

“I’m not afraid,” she said. “I’m just ready.”

He chuckled, the vibration of the sound seeming to pluck all her sensitive nerves as much as his touch did. “Not quite,” he said. “But you will be.”

He leaned in and pressed another kiss to her lips, but this time it was brief. He didn’t linger but began to nibble his way lower, down her throat, across her collarbone, down the trail between her breasts. He paused there, drawing his mouth to her right breast and languidly licking her nipple. She shuddered at the sensation, one she had been dreaming of for days since he touched her last.

She lifted into him, dragging her fingers into his hair and holding him there as he licked and sucked until her entire body felt weightless with pleasure. He smiled against her skin and moved to the opposite breast. He repeated every action there, in the same order. She lolled her head against the pillows and whispered his name.

He lifted his eyes as he swirled his tongue over her. “Is that you begging, my lady?”

She found herself smiling at his teasing and the easy way he made her comfortable in this moment of highest tension. “Is that what you want? To make me beg?”

His pupils dilated, erasing the brown almost entirely, and that wickedness he tried to hide in good company flashed to the surface. “Most definitely.”

“Then please, please,” she said, ignoring the shock of her own wantonness that he had discovered. “Don’t stop.”

He lowered his head and sucked her one last time before he drew farther down, caressing the swell of her stomach, the curve of her hip. His lips traced the line where the two met and then he settled between her legs.

She stared down at him, perched between them, and drew in a shaky breath. There was something so infinitely sinful about seeing him there, inches from her most private of places. She didn’t know his intentions, but she wanted to see them through.