“I was confused.”
“Because I kissed you?”
“No. Because I enjoyed it.”
He had not misunderstood. If Lavinia had not previously experienced passion in a kiss, then it was likely…Good God, no wonder there were unpleasant emotions associated with her title.
“As did I,” he assured her since Lavinia showed signs of insecurity, something he had never witnessed in her before.
She stared at him for a moment, studying his eyes and Demetrius was not certain what she was going to say next.
“If you must know, that was the first kiss I have ever enjoyed.”
Had Lavinia never known pleasure? Had her husband’s visits to her bed been nothing but duty?
He wanted to show her pleasure and passion. Take her to the heights of a blinding release, but he also knew that Lavinia would never allow such. She may be here because she wanted something for herself, but she was too proper to consider taking a lover.
No doubt her talk of him being a rake and her not minding that he was had come about because she had indulged in so much wine.
Though, he had hoped that as a widow she might be hinting that she wanted a lover, but Lavinia had given no indication that it was what she would want to pursue.
And, if she had never found pleasure in the marriage bed, why should she want one?
“Have you found a maid of all work?”
He blinked at her change of topic. “No. I have not.”
“Then there is no one to cook for you.”
“I had thought to go into town and have dinner at the tavern.”
She bit her upper lip and nodded.
Did he dare ask? Did he overstep?
He also did not care if he did. “Unless you wish to take pity on me again.”
The corner of her mouth twitched. “Well, it is to my benefit that you remain healthy, therefore you shall dine with me until you have hired someone.”
He may just stop looking for a servant if it gave him the excuse to be with Lavinia each night. “I look forward to this evening.” He nodded, then turned away, taking Max with him. He also allowed himself to smile.
If she was asking him to dinner, and she had enjoyed their kiss, and given she was a widow…Maybe there was hope, after all.
Chapter
Twelve
When Demetrius had admitted to desiring her, especially for so long, Lavinia had not known how to respond, nor did she know what to make of the little flip in her stomach, or heated pulse and the ache in her nether regions. That had begun last night and had not truly gone away. Not that it was painful but nagging and unsettled, and she had no idea how to make it go away.
The sensations were so foreign that she was not certain what to make of them, but needed to know, which was why she had asked him to dine with her again. Perhaps the more that she was in Demetrius’ presence the more she would come to understand why her body reacted to him in such an odd and foreign manner.
She needed to know if that was desire, though she suspected that it was, which made her more determined to experience intimacy with him.
Oh, if only she knew how to go about seducing a man, but she had no idea, and she certainly could not come out and ask.
What if he declined her request?
Lavinia pulled dress after dress from her wardrobe. Maybe she had something that he would think was alluring and then attempt to seduce her.
