Page 52

They’d not spoken of it openly yet, and as Cait sat up and complied with his request, he found himself holding his breath as he awaited her response.

Covered finally, she turned toward him.

“I did not realize . . .”

It pleased him that she was at a lack for words.

“’Twas but a taste of the pleasures we will find together,” he said, pulling her back toward him. They moved into the now-familiar position of Cait tucked into him, and despite his longing, the need for her that had nearly killed him, Conrad was somehow able to find peace.

“I did not know,” she repeated.

Conrad smiled against her neck. “’Twould not be the same with any other man.”

He didn’t know if she believed him or not, but Conrad spoke the truth. He’d been with other women, but love had never entered into any of those arrangements. It felt so different to touch Cait, to pleasure her. Which was why he prayed for strength. Knowing Cait, she’d not relent, even after this night. But if he had restrained himself with her hand on his . . . with the taste of her on his lips.

There was nothing she could do to convince him otherwise.

She would arrive in London a virgin.

And then, they would be married after he received Terric’s blessing.

Aye, that is precisely how they would proceed.