There was no staring at his face. Even as handsome as it was, such a thing was impossible. His very erect manhood jutted out from between his legs. Of course she could look nowhere else.

Saliva flooded her mouth. Her lips parted and she worked her jaw, searching for something to say, but it did no good. Words were insignificant. Her mouth was watering as though she’d just scented a nine-course feast replete with all her favorite foods.

She may be a maid still, but when one worked in the business of healing, one observed a multitude of unclothed bodies—even in this era of moral correctness.

Working alongside Papa, she had seen plenty of naked bodies and observed more than one man’s phallus. And yet no body had ever affected her like this.

No man’s member had ever looked like this. To begin with, they had all been flaccid. This was a far cry from that.

His rod was . . . large, dark plum in color, the head swollen and angry-looking, ravenous for its release. His hand shot there, gripping it, seizing it in a punishing grip. The sight should have made her cringe, but she felt only a violent tug low in her belly in response. She had the mad urge to brush his hand aside and replace it with her own—to wrap her fingers around him and learn his texture for herself.

She suddenly felt as though she were afflicted with a fever, all of her overly warm, parts of her strangely achy.

She took several halting steps toward the bed.

His liquid dark eyes went wide. “What are you doing? Get out!” Clearly he had thought the sight of him like this would send her fleeing . . . as it would have done for any other gently bred female.

She knew what this was. She’d witnessed her sister Charlotte at its peak, lost to the agony of desire. She knew it would get only worse. Unless he reached his release.

“Are you in a great deal of . . . discomfort?”

He made a choking sound. “Your sister was not exaggerating its power.”

“But I cut the dose in half.”

Dear heavens . . . what had her sister endured?

As though he read her mind, he choked out, “I pity how your sister must have felt for this is misery.”

Or perhaps it worked differently on a man if half a dose resulted in this? Or perhaps it varied simply per individual?

He arched his neck on the bed with a moan and tightened his grip around his manhood. The swollen head went darker and she felt another tug low in her belly, deeper than before. Deeper and pulsing, begging for the pressure to be assuaged.