Slowly she gave freedom to her buttons, noting the way his eyes tracked the path of her fingers. When the last one was free of its mooring, she eased the soft linen off her left shoulder, then her right, and gave a little wiggle, sending the cotton on its journey to the floor. Although he’d seen her bared before, still she heard the hitch of his breath, as though he’d been waiting the entire length of his life for this moment.

Her steps were silent, her toes sinking into the thick weave of the carpet, as she glided over to him. “I’m glad you came to me. If you hadn’t, I’d have come to you.” Reaching up, she cupped his shadowed jaw, not at all bothered that he was in need of a shave, having refused earlier to use Lushing’s razor. “I want you in my bed tonight.”

“I haven’t any sheaths.”

So he had decided against spilling his seed into her. She was surprised the disappointment was less than she’d expected. But then she respected the thought he’d given his decision, that he struggled with his obligation to do what was right, that he didn’t see her as simply a woman to be plowed. Because she’d come to see him as more than a possible sire for her child. She desired this man, craved the feel of him between her thighs. Admired all that he was. He who had been born with nothing had risen above it all and achieved success. He who had been unfairly treated did not blame others for his circumstances. He took responsibility for himself, his actions. And it was that devotion that would see him not giving her the child she sought.

But she found no fault with it. Instead it made her love him just a little bit more.

And she did love him. She wasn’t certain when the realization came upon her. But she wouldn’t burden him with that truth because there was no future for them. She did not have the freedom that Lady Aslyn or Lady Lavinia had to marry without considering Societal rank or privilege. They did not have siblings dependent upon them. She could not risk being shunned by Society. A direct cut to her would have ramifications for her sisters.

She glided her hand down to his shirt and flicked the first secured button through its opening. “You can leave me, spill your seed elsewhere. You once told me that I warranted a scandalous and thorough seduction. Consider me thoroughly seduced.”

His feral growl was in direct contrast to the gentleness with which he claimed her mouth. Even as she fell into the wonder of it, of how each kiss was unlike any other, she continued on with her task of freeing his buttons.