“Is it necessary?”
“I’d like to know.” She turned and presented her back. There was a line of tiny buttons.
He sighed and began to work the small closures speedily. “There.”
“Sit down, Tristan.”
“Why?”
Lord, but he was being a petulant child. Didn’t he understand that now was not the time to pull back, but to hurry? Their time together was running out and she couldn’t face her future if she didn’t feel like they had finished this... whatever this was. She was afraid to think too heavily on the matter.
“I need to talk to you about tonight,” she pleaded.
He sighed and sat on the edge of the bed.
“You know who Lord Hugstead is?”
He folded his arms. “We met a time or two when we both served in the military. And he’s the person I delivered the package to this morning. I have a feeling the incentive she gave him was you.”
Felicity shrugged her shoulders, and her bodice sagged. His focusswitched to her bosom with predatory focus.
“Flick.”
“I can’t be given to anyone.” Felicity pulled her arms from the sleeves and pushed the dress down to her hips. All she wore now was her chemise and short stays.
He leaned back on his hands, unabashedly watching her.
“What are you doing, Flick?”
“I’m trying to seduce you.”
That got a smile out of him. “Trying? You’re succeeding.”
“Good, then you’ll stop being so grumpy and finish undressing me. I know this night was hard for you. It wasn’t easy for me, either. I couldn’t have done it without you. I don’t know where I’d be without you, Tristan.”
His gaze hardened as he stood. He approached her, the space between them swallowed in two steps in her tiny room.
“I don’t deserve you.”
She raised a brow. “I’ll be the judge of that.”
“Are you sure you want to continue down this path? I think we both know what happened tonight. Lord Hugstead is a good match for you. As much as I hate him right now, he’s a man of solid character.”
“I haven’t agreed to anything.”
“But you know, don’t you?” He set his hands on her hips and pushed the dress down. “You will.”
“Not tonight. The only man I will allow to claim my body tonight is you.”
He drew in a slow breath. “Flick, you don’t know what you do to me.”
“Then show me.”
“No, this has always been about you and your pleasure. Healing the wounds you carry so that you can—”
“Heal me, Tristan. I need you tonight and no one else.”
He closed his eyes and dropped his forehead to hers. “Flick...”
