Page 68 of The Virtues of Christmas

He felt the heat of a blush rise over her skin. “It means the apothecary on the corner is a gossip, among other things. Can’t you… wait?”

Dougal kissed her nape. “Withdraw, you mean?”

“Is that the term for when you don’t spend?”

Her blush would have scorched the entire West End. “Coitus interruptusgets the notion across as well. The idea is to prevent conception. I’ll withdraw.”

He paused between kisses in case she had any other comments, questions, or pithy observations to offer, but the lady had gone quiet. Dougal acquainted his lips with the soft skin below her ear and the pulse beating beneath that.

The simple act of kissing her neck had him aroused. He slid a hand down over her derriere and gave her a gentle shove in the direction of the privacy screen.

“Use my tooth powder, and I’ll heat you some wash water.”

Patience moved off to the privacy screen on a soft rustle of fabric, her braid swinging gently above her fundament.

Dougal went into the front room, opened a window, and breathed in a half-dozen lungfuls of frigid air. He was considering whether arctic air wafting over his open falls might aid his flagging self-restraint whenGod Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemenfloated from the bedroom on a soft hum.

He warmed an ewer of water from the steaming kettle on the pot swing, sent up a prayer for fortitude, then brought Patience her wash water.

“Will you undress, Dougal?” she called from behind the screen.

He passed her his nightshirt over the top of the screen. “In a moment.”Will you become my wife?

Tonight, he would become her lover. For now, that was Christmas gift enough. By morning, he had every intention of becoming her fiancé.

Though for that to happen, she’d have to say yes to his proposal, wouldn’t she?