"Is this what women want? The way Rafe was with Helena?"
"Some," she offered. She was working on my shoulders now, and I hooked my arm around her waist. "But women aren't a monolith. One woman might want to be bossed around and manhandled. Another might want to be the one doing the manhandling."
"And which do you want?" I asked. "I've been wondering about this all day, you know. Whether you gave me this book as an instructional manual. Whether you wanted me tearing your clothes off and taking you up against the wall, like Rafe did in the barn. Or spreading you out and worshipping every inch of your body until you were desperate and begging, like the night Rafe found Helena in his bedchamber." I traced the line of her clavicle and followed it up to her neck, over her lips. "What do you want, April?"
Her throat was bobbing under my fingers, and she swallowed hard. "We're all finished," she said. "How are you feeling?"
I smiled up at her. "I'm good," I admitted. "A little tired, but good. I'd like to hear more of your thoughts on all the ways the duke took Helena."
Her eyebrows lifted as she grinned. "Let me take you to bed."
"No sweeter words have I heard," I said, accepting her assistance as I sat up.
April took my hand and led me to her bed, the one that wasn't big enough and creaked incessantly and was my new favorite hideout. I leaned back against the pillows, and gestured for her to join me.
"What about the time in the library?" I asked. "When he was on the chaise, and she was on his lap?"
"I liked that part," she admitted, curling up beside me. "Helena was in charge and she was taking what she needed from him, but that didn't minimize any of his dominance or strength. I think she finally realized that she was allowed to have needs, and there was nothing wrong with wanting them met." She tilted her head to the side as if seeing the novel—or our thinly disguised talk of desires—from a new perspective. "And there was nothing wrong with wanting Rafe to be the one meeting those needs."
I studied the line of her jaw and cheeks while she spoke, and then touched my thumb to her bottom lip because I adored the plump feel against my skin. "That's what you want?" I asked. "To acknowledge your needs?"
April shook her head and pushed up, straddling my lap. "I don't need any help identifying my needs," she said, her voice laced with humor. "But I'd like to try out that library scene with you."
