He let his breath out in a long sigh. “She only reminded me that I must be very clear in my intentions. And she isn’t wrong. You and I have an intense physical connection. That is something more powerful than I thought could be.”

“Yes,” she agreed with a tiny shiver that made his cock twitch. “I couldn’t have pictured that I would…I would want you so much. I like the wanting.”

He fought for focus when she was so innocently seducing him. “But a deep connection that comes from physical pleasure can easily be misconstrued. It can be misleading.”

“How so?”

God’s teeth, how he hated this conversation. Hated how she watched him so carefully, read him so thoroughly. He saw the glimmer of something he could not desire, couldn’t take, in her eyes. He wanted it more than he should.

He cleared his throat. “You and I discussed what the limits of our marriage would likely be before we said our vows. Those have not changed, Thomasina. If you want something else, I may not be able to give it to you. And I don’t want you confused by the passion between us.”

She folded her arms and that spark in her stare grew hotter. “You don’t know what I want, Jasper. Neither does my sister. Neither does anyone, truth be told, because no one ever asks me. She assumes I am a fool and will mistake what happens in our bed for a deeper connection. So do you, even though you have lectured me more than once on the fact that you could not love me.”

He caught his breath, for that wasn’t what he’d said or even meant. “It is a general—”

She spun away from him with a huff of breath. “Please do not start this tedious conversation over again, husband. I shall go mad from it and run screaming from the room. You do not love me. I…” She trailed off and her shoulders rolled forward just a fraction. “I accept that,” she finished, softer now. “What we have is enough. It will be enough. And I would appreciate it if we did not have to rehash this argument again. I will tell my sister the same thing.”

He caught his breath as he stared at her, a goddess of fire in that brief moment. But perhaps a goddess who lied. Because even though she demanded what she wanted and he liked that, he feared that it wasn’t truly enough for her. That he would hurt her.

And he didn’t want to do that.

But for now, he would not press the subject. For now, he had other matters to attend to, and his wife was making demands he would respect.

“Very well,” he said. “You know, you are very pretty when you are telling me what to do without apology. You ought to do it more often.”

The heat in her stare faded a fraction and she bent her head with a shy smile. “I do not have much practice in doing anything but whatever is asked of me. Did I go too far?”