“I ruined it. I am so sorry! I will try to find you another—”
“Stop.”
Amelia blinked, mustering her courage before looking up at him.
They both knew this was not just about the book. The life he had left behind in London hung over them like a dark cloud.
“These secrets I keep for your benefit,” he whispered, edging closer to her. “But should you wish to know—”
“Who wasshe?” Amelia asked.
“The wife of the lord who sought to duel me as a result,” Nicholas admitted in one breath.
Amelia started at his pained expression.
A rake like him could not feel remorse like that.
He sighed, then said, “But it wasnot… She was miserable in her marriage. That is no excuse, I know. But that is why I could not agree to the duel under any circumstances.”
“Do you love her still?”
Nicholas laughed breathlessly. His brow furrowed.
“Love?” he asked. “It was not love, Amelia.”
She hated that she liked hearing that. She should not have cared.
“Then, what?” she asked.
His lips parted softly, and she stared at them. His eyes searched the dark space behind them as he constructed his answer, his body glowing in the firelight. She waited desperately for hisresponse, eyes trailing down his neck to his chest, a hunger for more than answers growing inside her until she felt she could burst.
Dark thoughts crossed her mind—a desire to press her wet body into his and feel his warmth, to press her lips against his skin and taste him.
“Surely you must know…” he purred, looking down at her. “You are innocent, but not stupid, Amelia.”
Warmth bloomed between her legs at the sound of his voice, low and tempting. She stood, motionless, as he reached his hand toward her shoulder, his thumb pulling back the fabric of her chemise to expose her collarbone. The feeling of his fingers on her skin made her moan quietly, and she blushed at the sound.
His thumb continued its journey downward—her arms falling limp to admit him—as he stroked her hardened nipple over the fabric of her nightclothes.
“Youknow,” he murmured seductively. “And so, you must understand why I am the way I am.”
“Perhaps…” she whispered, unsure of anything anymore, only wanting him closer. She stepped toward him and seized her courage. “I told you earlier I wanted to learn more—”
“You do not know what you are asking when you say that.”
“But what if I do?”
“Is that true? It cannot be.”
She answered him with resolved silence—and she did not move away.
His head tilted, his eyes growing heavy with what she perceived to be desire, fire flickering in his irises…
Was that desire forher, she wondered, or simply for her exposed and aroused female form?
He pinched her nipple softly as if to reply, taking her by surprise. She felt that warm, pulsing space between her legs become wet with the evidence of her longing.
His hand was moving then in pursuit of more. He cupped the side of her neck, thumbing the space beneath her ear, before he lowered his mouth to hers with an immediacy that made her gasp in shock and satisfaction.
