Page 63 of One Perfect Dance
“I am not accustomed to…” She tossed her hands up in frustration. “I know nothing about such affairs. I do not think I am cut out for them.”
It was a stab to the heart.Faint heart never won fair lady.“Not an affair, Ginny. Not on my part. Did I not say I wished to court you? I hope for marriage.”
She was staring at him, her mouth open. Not the reaction he was hoping for. He made his last cast of the dice. “I love you,” he admitted. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you by my side.”
The tension went out of her, and her smile broadened. “You do?” she asked.
“Didn’t you know?” He was a little hurt. He thought he’d been wearing his heart on his sleeve. Certainly, Rex thought so.
She shook her head. “I hoped, but I didn’t know. You said you love me, but I know men say such things to women they would never marry.” She crossed the room to take the hand he held out to her. “I have no experience, Elijah. None at all. I lived isolated for more than a decade, and before and since made many mistakes about what motivated men.” She looked at their joint hands rather than into his eyes. “I love you, too.”
She glanced up through her lashes and her smile turned teasing. “When you actually propose to me, I might even consider accepting.”
Ash could take a hint. “Regina Paddimore, Ginny, delight of my heart, would you do me the very great honor of bestowing this lovely hand in marriage on me, your unworthy but devoted knight?” He kissed said hand.
“Yes,” she said, instantly, and pulled their hands away from his lips to cover his mouth with her own.
*
Regina wanted—something. This,then, was lust. This urgent hunger to touch Elijah everywhere, to be touched, everywhere. Especially on her breasts, which ached for his fingers, and lower, where—according to her purely academic understanding of the matter—he would insert his male organ.
The idea had never sounded in the least appealing, though Gideon had said she would change her mind if she tried it. Gideon had been right about most things, and it seemed her body knew more than she, for that part of her also felt hollow and warm and needy.
It would have to go unsatisfied tonight. Elijah was hurt. Remembering, she gentled the kiss and lifted her head, thrilled when his mouth followed her up until he could lift his head no further.
“We have to be careful,” she reminded him. “You are injured.”
“I am well enough to kiss my betrothed.” He grinned, that wicked look back in his eye. “In interesting places, too, if you co-operate. May I undo your buttons, Ginny?”
She hesitated. She should tell him. She couldn’t find the words.
“You do not need to be shy, Ginny. Not with me.”
She was, but she would try to be braver. That was, after all, why she had worn a morning gown that buttoned down the front, with nothing beneath it but her chemise and front-lacing stays. She nodded and moved closer so he could reach the buttons with one hand, while his other traced feather-light patterns on the flesh of her neck. She could not keep herself from trembling.
“You are tense, my love. How long has it been for you?”
That was the pertinent question, though Elijah tossed it off without a thought.
When she didn’t answer, he looked up into her eyes, his fingers pausing on her buttons. “Since Gideon died? Surely not ever since his accident?”
“N-n-never.” She stammered the truth in a whisper.
His eyes widened. His hand fell away from the half-open bodice of her dress. The other cupped the side of her face, keeping her from ducking her head away. “Never, Ginny? Not at all?”
“I…” Her voice came out in a squeak. That would not do. She took a breath and tried again, and this time managed to speak out loud. “I am a virgin. There. I’ve said it.”
His mouth twitched before he could impose a solemn expression on it.
“It is not funny,” she scolded, attempting to pull away.
His hand on her nape coaxed her to stay. “Not at all funny. How angry you sounded struck me as just a little amusing. I am sorry I offended you.”
“I am not angry,” she protested. “I am embarrassed.”
She started to do up her buttons, but he covered her hands with his. “Please? You do not need to be afraid, Ginny. Or embarrassed. I will do nothing you do not want and will stop whenever you say.”
“I have a birthday present for you,” she blurted, darting her eyes to the box she had abandoned when she first came in.
