“WHY THE HELL ARE YOU STARING AT MY CROTCH LIKE THAT?”

Charlotte jumped at the bellow, her gaze snapping up to meet infuriated blue eyes. “I was waiting to see if you twitched,” she explained. The man certainly had a lot to learn about marriage if he didn’t know all the specifics about bedding his wife. Everyone knew there had to be twitching before the bedding could begin.

Dare certainly looked a bit deranged as he ran a hand through his hair again, his eyes blazing, his broad, manly chest rising and falling with quick breaths. She wondered if she should comfort him again.

“Twitched? Did you say twitched? Do I understand you correctly? You are watching my crotch to see if my…er…twitches?”

Regretfully, Charlotte decided that now was not the time to comfort by physical touch. Instead, she would contrive to comfort him from where she stood. She smiled a calm, gentle smile that radiated soothing thoughts. “Yes. It’s very simple, really. Would you like me to explain it to you?”

Disbelief, amusement, and resignation paraded across his face. “Yes,” he replied, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning one hip up against the machine. “Please. Enlighten me.”

Charlotte had a hard time swallowing at the sight of all those muscles bunched, but she made an effort. She was, after all, supposed to be comforting him. The poor man was obviously clueless about how things worked in a marriage. As the wiser, more experienced partner, it was up to her to fill him in on the fine details.

“The harlot I consulted in Italy was most specific about what was necessary for a bedding,” she began.

“Harlot?” Dare blinked a couple of times at her. “You consulted a harlot?”

“Yes, for Antonio. His manly instrument didn’t work correctly, and so I went to a harlot to see what I could do to help it. Her advice was sound, I’m sure, so you needn’t worry that just because it did not work on Antonio, it won’t work on you—”

“One moment.” Dare held up a hand to stop her. She clutched her hands tighter and made an effort to send calming rays of comfort toward him. “Are you telling me that your husband couldn’t…er…couldn’t maintain an erection?”

“Erection!” Charlotte beamed at him. “What a very good word that is. Apropos, too. Erection. I like that. Yes, the answer to your question is no, Antonio’s manly instrument refused to erect for me.”

Dare rubbed a hand over his face. His voice sounded as if it were stretched as thin as taffy. “You’re a virgin?”

A faint blush made its way up her cheeks, but she ignored it. This was her husband she was speaking to. Such discussions as virginity and the erections of manly instruments were allowed with him. She shook her head.

“So he consummated your marriage?”

She nodded, happy that he understood. “Yes, the night we were wed.”

“Just…er…just the once? He never gave you pleasure any other time?”