Her mouth fell open.

“The longing moves through a man like lightning,” he said as if he were describing a sprained ankle. “I throb whenever you laugh, or eat a bite of food, or glance at me. I watch your lips move, and I can’t think of anything else.”

Yasmin couldn’t stop herself from glancing below his waist again. The sight made her oddly proud and mortified at the same time. “That sounds like a most uncomfortable condition. As well as embarrassing.”

“Why have you changed your mind about marrying me, Yasmin?” Giles asked.

“I can only describe what happened in the drawing room yesterday as a fit of madness. In truth, I’m frightfully prudish.”

Had she thought he didn’t have a sense of humor? Apparently, it only made an appearance when she was trying to speak from the heart, because he was clearly amused. Yasmin felt a stab of resentment.

“I did not enjoy our encounter,” she said defiantly. “It led me to decide not to marry you.”

Amusement disappeared from his face as if it had never been.

“I apologize for misleading you,” she continued. “I understand that you believed me a far more interesting woman than I am. That French letter was not mine.”

He raised an eyebrow.

“I have decided not to marry,” she added, before he could ask any questions.

“Never?”

“I expect not,” she admitted, peaceful with that decision. “I am enormously fond of my grandfather, and I shall live with him until he passes away. Luckily for me, I have no need for a husband’s support, as my mother and grandmother both endowed me with funds.”

“You enjoyed kissing me.”

Her eyes flashed to his face, but he didn’t look annoyed, just inquisitive, as if they were discussing a preference for Ceylon over Assam tea. She cleared her throat. “Kissing you is pleasant.”

“For me—” Giles stopped and started again. “For me, kissing you is one of the most sensual experiences of my life. In fact, it is probably the most erotic thing I have ever experienced.”

“If I were inclined to further intimacies, I would—” She ran out of words. The right words. “But I am not.”

Giles took her hand and turned it over, tracing a circle in her palm with his forefinger. “You might choose me under certain circumstances?”

“Kisses are not sufficient for marriage.”

His lips curled into a faint smile. “They could be.”

Yasmin blinked at him. “What are you saying?”

“I would happily just kiss you, if that is all you would allow.”

Her palm was tingling, so she pulled her hand away. “Nonsense! You need an heir for your title and all the rest of it. I am not a fool. A woman has no choice in such matters within the bonds of marriage.”

The look in his eyes made her falter. “You think that I would force you—would force any woman?”

“No!”

He raised an eyebrow. “Then?”

“You could talk your wife into doing something she didn’t want to do.” She didn’t know how to explain that a mere look at him made her melt, as if she wouldn’t mind leaning backward on this settee, just as she had yesterday—but no.