There had been a little awkwardness at the start when he struggled to undo his straining codpiece, but Kate had known what to do and with nimble fingers loosed the ties, impatiently allowing him to enter her. The pleasure was exquisite but short-lived as the climax was alarmingly swift. The coupling had lasted mere seconds, he was sure, but even so he felt unusually drained of energy as well as filled with amazement. When he turned to look at Kate’s perfect profile and make sure the pleasure had been as extraordinary for her as it had been for him, he was horrified to see her tears.

“Did I hurt you, Kate? You cried out, and I was selfish…”

She smiled then. “Nay, you did nothing wrong. My silly tears are happy ones.” She hesitated, but her joy could not be hidden. “May I confide in you, my lord? You did think I was experienced, a twice-married woman.”

Aye, and thus no virgin, Richard had supposed. He was astonished when she told him about her first marriage at thirteen to an old man unable to bed her as he had dearly desired, and who, in fact, died trying. Her second husband, George Haute, she revealed with a mixture of sadness and anger, preferred his own gender. “And so, Richard, this, too, was my first time,” she told him with a rueful smile.

A wave of relief washed over Richard. Although they had known their mutual desire would lead to adultery, Kate had assured Richard before they gave in to their passion that the blame would be hers as she was the married partner. Guiltily, Richard had not protested too much; he found the urge to lie with her had quelled all rational thought.

Now he understood. Although in the eyes of the church she was guilty of adultery, Kate’s two marriages had not been consummated. Hard for her to prove and thus outwardly she was culpable, but here was an instance when Richard refused to let worry take control.

“In neither case have you been truly married, sweetheart.” Where had that endearment come from? The word had never before come out of his mouth. But with Kate, it seemed perfectly natural. “God will forgive us, if we confess.”

Kate laughed and ran her hands over his chest and shoulders. He caught his breath; for the first time in their nakedness he thought of his misshapen back. Had Kate noticed? She must not have or she would have surely turned away in disgust. He drove the thought from his mind and succumbed to her caress.

“And so,” she answered slyly, “if we do confess later, what is the harm in doing it again?”

“And again, and again…” Richard whispered, surprised at how soon his body was able to respond to her touch. “But let us not rush it this time, if ’tis possible.”