Page 60 of How to Love a Duke in Ten Days

“Iwon’tchange my mind,” she insisted.

Something in her voice must have brooked no response, though his expression was equally skeptical and amenable. “You’ve given this entirely too much thought.”

“I had to,” she breathed. “That is how I… it’s what I do.”

She’d have backed away from his careful approach if his features hadn’t softened into something so tender and fond, it rooted her feet to the ground.

“So I am beginning to gather.” He kept his hands clasped behind him, a gesture both unthreatening and self-possessed as he made a great show of peeking at her list. “How many more of these conditions are there? I’m worried I won’t be allowed to touch you by the time you’re through.”

“Just one,” she whispered, distracted by the scent of him. By the way the soft fire gilded skin already darkened by the sun.

“Thank God.”

“Perhaps we—” She had to swallow once again. Could she be hungry? Had she eaten anything at dinner? She couldn’t remember. But something about his scent, that particular blend of clove, brandywine, and leather affected her in the same manner as would a succulent meal. She even felt it in her stomach.

And lower.

“Perhaps what?” he prompted mildly.

Gathering her courage, she glanced away. Staring at her list and seeing nothing. “Perhaps when you’re… when we’re… conducting the act, you could move slowly? Gently? So as to cause less trauma to the cervical tissues—”

“Good God, Doctor, put that away,” he begged, his shoulders trembling with barely suppressed mirth. “I have to say this must be the most peculiar seduction in history.”

Was it?She didn’t have to ask as she watched his lips twitch as he valiantly fought his laughter.

She’d bungled it.

Deflating, she tried to puzzle out how to salvage the evening. “Which part did you find most peculiar?”

“Well, for starters, I’ve never heard tell of a woman demanding a man not use his tongue.”

That hadn’t been what she’d expected. “Really?”

He let his hands drop to his sides, and for a moment, she thought he might reach for her. Instead, he said, “Darling, it’s the part of the anatomy most requested by ladies, all told.”

“More often than the…” Unable to say the word, she pointed in the general direction of his hips, trying not to notice that the appendage in question had become noticeably larger.

“Categorically.”

She made a face. “Why? It’s so… wet and slippery.”

“That’s rather the point.” He chuckled, the color in his cheeks a little higher than she’d previously seen.

Was he… blushing? Did men do that?

“I can’t imagine how—”

“We can readdress that later.” He held his hand up as though he could take no more, finally reaching for her. His finger slid beneath her chin, tilting it up. His face was a bemusing mask of ferocity and tenderness. “Don’t fret. You’ve seduced me, utterly.”

“I did?”

“And you need not fear what we’re about to do. Only a beast wouldn’t be gentle with you,” he whispered earnestly. “Especially the first time.”

To her horror, tears ached in the back of her throat. “Didn’t you say all men are beasts?”

“Of course we are.” His knuckle caressed her cheek. “It’s why we need a beauty like you to temper us. To tame us. To teach us how to appreciate something delicate.”

“Oh.” She couldn’t think of a single thing to say to that as her heart fluttered behind her ribs like a trapped sparrow.