He rubbed his hand over her back, and Felicity nudged closer, pressing the front of her body to the side of his.
He cleared his throat. “Flick?”
“Yes?”
“When you say you’re scared to become a wife, what are you afraid of?”
Felicity closed her eyes as her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. “I’m afraiditwill hurt.”
“It doesn’t have to hurt. When two people care about and trust each other, physical intimacy feels good.”
“That’s what Lucia said.”
He snorted softly. “You talked with Lucia?”
“She had bruises on her neck, and I was worried. She said they were love bites and that she liked them. I just don’t understand how those things can feel good. Only things that hurt make a bruise. Was she lying? Trying to spare me from worrying?”
He sighed, the motion lifting her on his chest and she smiled. Shecould hear his heartbeat, she realized, and it was getting faster.
“No. The ladies here are protected. The gentlemen know to treat them, or the wolf pack will dispose of them. What she is talking about is when a... partner is kissing the other partner’s neck, the light sucking can make a small bruise, but it feels good. It doesn’t hurt at all.”
Heat washed over her cheeks, her stomach fluttering. She opened her eyes and tilted her head up enough to see his chin. “You’ve done this?”
He winced. “Yes.”
“You didn’t like it?”
“No, I just don’t talk about my past romantic interests with... women.”
Oh, he meant her. He didn’t want to talk about it with her. “I understand.”
“Did you enjoy our kiss?” he asked.
Now both their hearts were pounding. “Yes,” she whispered. “Very much.”
“I can show you the kind of kiss Lucia was talking about. I can show you whatever you like if you want. I can help you. I want to help you overcome these fears.”
Felicity pushed herself up to look at him. “Are you certain?”
“I don’t want you to live your life in fear. I don’t want Chadwick Revere to ruin what could be a wonderful life for you. A marriage that brings you peace and comfort. I can introduce you to the many ways men and women please each other. But it is your choice. You will always be in control.”
“You’d do that for me?” she asked, flabbergasted. Licks of heat flickered across her skin. He’d kiss her again? Show her anything she wanted?
“I’d do anything for you.”
“But we, but I...” Felicity bit her lip. She didn’t know what to say. “It’s wrong, isn’t it? I must marry someone with enough power and privilege to protect me.”
“And I am not that someone.”
Felicity sat up and looked at him. She hadn’t intended to insult him. “That isn’t what I meant. What I mean is, I shouldn’t be lying in beds with and kissing men who can’t marry me.”
“I know. I’m just stating a fact. You need someone who can leverage their power to force your father to release your inheritance. I think we both need to understand what this is and be clear about our intentions.”
Felicity looked down at the hand he held to his stomach. How comfortable this was. Not strange or scary at all. She was sharing a bed with a man, their bodies touching intimately, at least for her, and all she felt was... warmth, delight, an exhilarating curiosity. She liked him. He was handsome. That was never in question, but it was more than his pretty eyes and bulging arms. He steadied something in her, whether he knew it or not. She’d grown lonely over the years, but it wasn’t as though her village had many people her age to remind her that she wasn’t being courted or wooed like other girls. Her father vilified temptation and lust in his sermons, but she never understood the meaning of those words. She’d never experienced such intense feelings like what Tristan made her feel.
Chadwick had called her a cold, dried-out spinster when she refused him after the attack. As if she should have enjoyed and wanted his violent attention. For a while after, she’d thought he might have been right and there was something wrong with her. And since coming here, her opinion of men hadn’t greatly improved. Her newfound fear of men had altered everything she thought and felt.
Until Tristan.
