“They told me to wait there, and then I watched from the window as the servants were taken away. I was left in the house, forgotten about.” She shrugged her shoulders, as if it was something that didn’t matter, yet it did. “I was locked in my chamber all night, so young that I couldn’t light a candle. I screamed into the darkness, terrified of it.”
Rafe raised a hand over his face, covering his mouth in shock.
“I was just five years old,” she whispered.
A curse escaped Rafe’s lips, muffled by his hand.
“When my uncle and aunt realized they’d forgotten me the next day, they burst into the house. By which time I was shaking like a leaf and terrified of every dark corner. That is why I cannot stand the darkness.” She leaned forward to the edge of the bed. “Please, Rafe. Do not tell anyone that. I have never spoken those words to anyone before.”
He reached up and took her hands.
“Believe me, Evie, I will keep that secret for you. God, to think what you went through.” He cursed, shaking his head. “No wonder you’re afraid of the dark. Anyone would be after what you had to go through.” His hand tightened through hers.
“Is it my turn now? To make a command of you?” She smiled, trying to dispel the tense air between them.
“Any command, you may have,” he assured her.
She looked down, tempted to ask him to remove his towel, but she chose something else first.
“Come and sit with me on the bed, instead of being so far down there.”
He chuckled and did as she asked, coming to sit on the bed beside her. He wrapped one arm easily around her waist and pulled her to his side. They fitted together perfectly, with her long legs curled up beside his own.
“My turn,” he said playfully. “Remove the gown, Evie. I intend to distract you from any bad thoughts tonight.”
Smiling, she moved to her knees and held her arms in the air, showing she was happy for him to do the removing part. He promptly did so, taking the hem of her night rail and lifting it over her head, revealing her body completely.
There was no chill in the air tonight, for the fire in the grate nearby roared, the flames licking the stones around them. Even without that heat, she wouldn’t have been cold when sat so near to Rafe.
“My turn,” she said, sitting close to him once more. “Remove the towel.”
He smiled broadly, his head tilting toward hers.
“Why did you ever need lessons in seduction, Evie?”
“I am inexperienced,” she whispered, reaching toward his towel. He lifted his hand from the covering, giving her free reign to remove it.
“You know precisely what to do, in my eyes.”
She pulled at the edge of the towel, revealing his length. He was hard, and certainly bigger than she had been expecting. Gasping, she looked down at him, wondering how it was even supposed to fit inside a woman.
“How the…”
“Ha! You should see your face.” He reached for her and kissed her suddenly. Caught up in the kiss, she moved her lips against his own, angling her head, with her hands reaching for his shoulders, yet she had to soon pull away and look down again. “Evie,” he whispered, his voice deep. “My turn, look at me.”
“I am looking at you,” she pointed out. He laughed even more now.
“I meant, look at my face.”
She did as he asked, looking him in the eye.
“Trust me,” he murmured. “There may come a time when you’re glad I am hardly the smallest of men in that regard.”
“Oh, I see.” Evelyn understood the connotation. It was supposed to be more pleasurable.
An image entered her head. She pictured him laying her back down on the covers now, spreading her legs, and entering her with that length. Would she feel full? Would the pleasure be like it had been before? Or would it somehow be more intense?
“My turn.” She considered asking him to show her everything, to make love to her completely, yet her body shook with nerves just at the thought of it. For now, she wanted to learn more. “You said there were other things you could show me. Other ways… other places to kiss.”
