He paused to glare down fiercely at her. ‘I don’t care how tired you are, I intend to make love to you tonight.’

He was going too fast. She felt panic rising. ‘Ben, I don’t…’

His mouth smothered the rest of the sentence and as her dress fell to the ground, he dragged off the elaborate bedspread in one swift movement and tossed it aside, then turned to her, his eyes gleaming. ‘Not ready yet? You’re behaving like a virgin about to be ravished,’ he teased.

‘I… um, I am a virgin.’

He had been about to pull her down with him onto the bed, but at that remark, he suddenly grabbed her shoulders and held her away from him. ‘What did you say?’

She could feel herself going even redder and buried her face in the nearest thing, which happened to be his chest.

‘Megan – we never talked about it – but are you really a virgin?’

She nodded, still avoiding his eyes.

His arms slackened for a moment. ‘I never even gave the possibility a thought!’

‘Does it matter?’

‘Of course it matters!’ Hell, he couldn’t remember ever making love to a virgin. It put upon him the responsibility to make love to her even more carefully, to ensure that she was ripe and ready before he gained his own satisfaction.

And the idea of being the first filled him with an aching tenderness that seemed to intensify every feeling and response.

He stared at her unhappy, flushed face and pulled her back into his arms. ‘Come here, you idiot, and kiss me again!’ Holding her close, he murmured in her ear, ‘There’s nothing at all wrong with being a virgin, Megan. I was just surprised, that’s all. In this day and age one doesn’t expect such a precious gift from one’s wife.’

Precious gift! Relief surged through her. He didn’t mind, then. ‘I hope I – I won’t disappoint you,’ she whispered, raising one hand hesitantly to stroke his face, then run it over his firm skin.

‘I don’t think you could disappoint me, Megan.’

Afterwards, she lay in his arms, drowsy but happy. ‘I didn’t know it could be like that. It was wonderful.’

He chuckled.

She was glad, now, that she had waited, though her virginity had been a secret cause of shame for years, forcing her to pretend an understanding of sex she didn’t have when her cousin Sarah’s conversations grew too confidential.

Megan had read books about making love, of course she had, but to know what happened between a man and a woman was one thing, to experience it quite another, she decided happily.

Ben’s arms were loosening.

‘I’m exhausted, wench. It’s hard work ravishing virgins. You’ll have to let me sleep now.’