She wasn’t surprised. She’d noted the protective bent of his nature, perhaps had even unconsciously sought to take advantage of it. Instinctively she knew if he got her with child, he would keep a watch over his offspring to ensure no harm would ever come to him or her—even if he did it from a distance. The guilt gnawed at her because if they managed to work out a way for him to participate in the child’s life publicly, he would never be able to acknowledge him or her. She was being exceedingly unfair to Aiden. She’d assumed a great majority of men would not care. She’d loved her own father, but he had given her very little attention. It seemed matters were always calling to him, although at the moment she thought if he’d truly been seeing to his estates as she’d always assumed, his death would not have left it in shambles.

“There is a goodness to you that I’d not expected. People assume those born in sin are destined to sin.”

“I’ve done my fair share of sinning.” He said it as though he took great pride in his misbehavior, but if not for it, they wouldn’t be here now. It was one of the reasons she’d chosen him. That and the way he appealed to her on a more primal level.

He hadn’t worn gloves. She wondered if he even owned a pair. Although she thought it would be a shame to cover those bare hands that rested on his thighs. Hands with roughened palms that titillated her when they skimmed over her flesh. Capable hands. Strong yet amazingly gentle. Perhaps she should give up her quest for a child and simply take him as a lover. Never to marry but to live out the remainder of her life blissfully in his arms.

The sun was suddenly far too bright, fairly filling the conveyance with warmth, threatening to broil her on the spot. She needed to distract herself from thoughts of what his hands could do to her, of how tempting it was to invite him over to her side of the carriage and let him have his way with her. As though he followed the direction of her thoughts, his hands clamped his thighs, the muscles and tendons bulging, and she wondered if another aspect of him bulged as well. “Have you traveled beyond London before?”

His eyes slowly closed, opened, and his penetrating stare through half-lowered lids told her that he knew precisely what she was about. Why was she not surprised? They were far too attuned with each other, especially now that he knew all her secrets.

“When I was younger, I would save my coins until I could afford a trip on the railway, just to see what lay beyond what I knew.”

“You’ve a curious nature.”