This Duchess of Mine(79)
“You win,” she repeated. Then she reached up deliberately and pulled off her blindfold.
Only to meet Elijah’s dark, smiling eyes.
Chapter Nineteen
“You’re not blindfolded!” she gasped.
“I cheated.” He rolled off her body and sat up.
Jemma pulled herself to a seated position as well.
“You—You cheated?” She couldn’t believe it. Not only had Elijah the Perfect Paragon cheated by untying his blindfold, but he didn’t seem in the least repentant.
“Why did you remove your scarf? Wait! I’ve been running my fingers through your hair! I should have known—”
He was laughing outright. “You must have been distracted.”
“But why?”
“I don’t want to win.” He leaned forward to brush his lips across hers. “I took my blindfold off the moment we began the game. I didn’t want to miss even a moment of watching you.”
She scowled at him. “You should have told me!”
The look in his eyes was tender and rough at the same time. “You’re so beautiful,” he said. “I never really saw you when we made love before. You were always under the blankets.”
“I watched you,” she said. “I used to lie very quietly and pretend to be asleep while you dressed. Remember? We would sleep in the master chamber then.”
He glanced indifferently at the walls of her chamber. “No difference.”
“The difference is that you’ve come to me.”
“I’ll come to you anywhere,” he promised.
“Just come, and I’ll be happy,” she said, giggling.
But he didn’t laugh with her. “I don’t remember you coming, all those years ago.”
Jemma was torn between the delicious feeling in her body and a small tingle of embarrassment. “I didn’t.”
“Tonight, will you tell exactly what you like?”
She felt a blush starting. “Well…”
“Do you mean to tell me that the reputation of Frenchmen is exaggerated?”
It was embarrassing to admit. “Perhaps.” She might as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb. “I never—I didn’t stay long enough—I—”
His mouth twitched and she realized he was laughing. Laughing! “I’m trying to tell you something important!” she protested, giving him a little push.
“I should have known it. I was in England, suffering the tortures of the damned because I was so convinced you had discovered far better lovers than I.”
“I didn’t drop them because our intimacies were unsatisfactory,” she said, shaking her head. “It was because of you.”
“Of me!”
“I always felt that I was betraying you. I would decide, in the most cold-blooded way, to have an affaire, but it never seemed to work. They were so tedious, and the bedding wasn’t terribly interesting.”
“We were fools, Jemma.”
“Was there something you learned from your mistress that you would like me to try?” she said, clearing her throat.
His eyes were serious now. “There are things I’d like to try, but none of them came from poor Sarah. I think perhaps we need to talk about her, since we keep circling the subject.”
She bit her lip, but she wanted to know.
“A mistress appears with her private parts oiled, Jemma. Did you know that?”
She could feel her eyes widening. “So that a man—”
“Precisely. Before we were married, I did try to give her some pleasure. I would touch her breasts. She was a good woman, and I was fond of her. But after I married you, I lost all enjoyment in it. I used to simply take her. With few words, and with all possible speed.”
Jemma bit her lip. Her body felt suddenly cold. “We both made some terrible mistakes. I should have fought for you. Instead I simply ran away.”
They stayed silent a moment. “Would you like to just—sleep tonight?” he asked, finally. “This has undoubtedly made you feel rather ill.” His eyes were black with self-recrimination, somber.
“Are you going to sit there and feel bad about a woman who was paid a fortune to make love to a man who had one of the most beautiful bodies in England,” Jemma asked, “or are you going to make love to your wife?”
His mouth softened, but still he just looked at her, as if there were something more she had to say.
So she slid down onto her back and said, “Of course, we still need to talk.”
He nodded.
“I’ll tell what I learned in France.” Elijah frowned, and she added hastily, “Not from my two lovers. I’m afraid those encounters were less than inspiring, which was undoubtedly my fault since I was both cold and apathetic.”