Chapter Fifteen

Henry relaxed onto the daybed. The seductive touch of Sophie, her kisses down his neck, and her nimble fingers on his body left him grappling for purchase. He'd never been touched by a woman in such a way, and not because he had not wanted to, but because he chose not to be like so many titled men in London. Like his own errant father had been.

Sophie deserved to know he was not the rogue he pretended to be and was as innocent as she. "Sophie," he said, clasping her hand against his chest and pulling her back to lay beside him. "There is something that you must know before we do anything further. A secret I've kept from others but one I do not wish to keep from you."

She settled next to him, giving him her full attention, and he knew he could not back down now. The truth needed to be told, and he was certain she would only be pleased by what he conveyed.

"What is it?" she asked him as he fumbled to find the words.

"Well, as you know, many rumors circulate around town about me. The most common that I'm a rogue, a rake with a different woman in my bed every week. Shamefully I've allowed those rumors to circulate and thrive, never doing anything to stem the lies. But I wanted you to know that they are untruths and that I'm nothing like I'm depicted."

She leaned up on her elbow, a small frown between her brows. "Truly? But why is such a thing said about you if you say they are not what is happening? Surely such rumors started from some truth?"

He hated that she did not believe him, that the ton and their wayward tittering always made people out worse than what they were. "I'm not a rake, far from it. I can only assume the slur was placed upon me because my father was far from exemplary. He had many mistresses during his marriage to my mother, and the ton, I suppose, think the apple does not fall far from the tree. But I'm not like my father, and although during my first Season in town, I drank and danced and followed quite a wild bunch of men about the city, I never once felt the need, the desire to go any further than a few stolen kisses with the lasses ... until now that is."

Her mouth opened as if she were going to say something before she closed it with a snap. "Are you trying to tell me you've never been with a woman before, Henry?"

The horror that twisted her features made his stomach churn. Did she think him so green that he would not know how to satisfy her in such a way? He nodded, not wanting any secrets between them. "I am, yes. Until I met you, I had not wanted to be with a woman so intimately, but just being in your presence, catching a glimpse of you across a ballroom floor, and I'm done. I am yours, Sophie. I want you in my bed, as my wife, and only you."

Her eyes went wide, and he wondered what she was thinking. At times she was so hard to read that he was never sure what went on in that smart mind of hers.

"Henry …" She blew out a muddled breath. "How can this be?" She shook her head, clearly unable to acknowledge what he was telling her. He supposed it would be hard to consider such a truth. Especially since so many women gossiped about him as if they had been lovers with him themselves.

He had not missed some of the triumphant looks from married ladies, the sly glances and whispered words when he had danced with them at a previous ball that seemed to permit them to, in their own silly minds, say they had become lovers.

All untrue and fabricated, and he should have stopped such fanciful rumors, but he had not. They protected him from having to explain why he had not rutted his way around London.

Not until he had seen Sophie had he thanked God he had not succumbed, because he only wanted to surrender to her.

"On my life, I swear it is true. You are the only woman I want, and upon meeting you, I knew we would one day be here. I'm in love with you, and I want only you. I do not need any other to warm my bed."

She bit her lip, leaning forward before kissing him. He clasped her cheek, deepening the kiss and showing her without words what she meant to him.

Everything.

Sophie fought to settle her mind, to stop her stomach from twisting into nervous knots.

Henry was a virgin!

How was that possible? Well, she knew how it was, he had explained it to her, but still, it did not seem real. A virile, handsome, sweet man like he was could not have not succumbed to women.

The thought that he had never been with anyone else, nor did he want to until her ... Satisfaction thrummed through her that he was hers, truly and in all ways. No one else had lain with him, been so intimate of the body with him.

Pity you could not say the same, Sophie.

She cast the horrid thought aside. In her mind, she was still a young woman, full of dreams and hopes. Not bruised and battered from her one horrible night with Lord Carr. She would not allow the past to dampen what a glorious future she could have with Henry.

He need never know her shame, and to replace the memory that she carried with something extraordinary, warm, and full of love was a temptation too strong to ignore. She would be with him, marry him, and be his lover, his wife, and never look back to dwell on the cold, horrid past.

But that was not honest, and no marriage should start on a bed of untruths. But how to tell Holland of her past without ruining her future?

"It is the same for me," she fibbed, torn between keeping the truth hidden from him or laying herself bare. She slid her hand over his chest. His heart beat fast under her palm, but she did not relent. He gifted her so much pleasure at the theater the other evening. It was only fair she did the same for him.

Her hand left his taut stomach and slipped over his hardened manhood. So large and jutting through his breeches. She stroked him through the soft cloth, tightening her fingers around his girth.

He sucked in a breath, closing his eyes in satisfaction. His enjoyment sparked a desire to do more.

She flicked open the buttons on his falls, his manhood breaking free of his breeches. She clasped him, holding his wide girth, and stroked him as he had stroked her. She had never been so bold with a man or touched a man so freely, but she wanted to with Henry.

She wanted to give him everything. Make him feel as wonderful as he made her, not just in pleasure but when they were alone, just as they were now.

He pressed into her hand, and she stroked his rigid flesh. She glanced down at him in her hand, his manhood so soft but with a rod of iron running through it.

She marveled at him, wondering what he would feel like within her. Fear curdled in her stomach at the thought, but she pushed it away. Henry was not Lord Carr. He was nothing like that satyr of a man.

She stroked him and cupped his baubles before taking him in hand yet again. She reveled in his sighs of delight, his glassy, heavy-lidded eyes that watched her every touch.

"Do you like that, Your Grace?" she cooed, leaning over him so she could kiss him.

He nodded, reaching for her. They came together, their mouths fused, their tongues twisting in delight as she played with him. He groaned in her mouth, the most erotic moment of her life, and heat pooled at her core.

She ached for his touch, wanting to feel as incredible as he now did.

His hand covered hers, guiding her, tightening on his cock, and she grinned. "Next time, I'll know what you like."

"I like you and your hand more than anything." The breath of his words tickled her cheek, and she giggled.

"God, Sophie," he moaned as hot liquid spilled over her hand and his shirt. "I want you so much."

"I want you too, but not here, not this night. Tonight I wanted you to have the pleasure you afforded me. But there will be more nights, Henry. Many more."

He nodded, pulling her against his side. "I have a meeting with Kemsley tomorrow, and I'll be asking for your hand, and after the banns are called, you shall be mine within a month."

She snuggled into his warm, virile body. "The month cannot end soon enough. I love you if I have not said it before."

He glanced down at her, affection filling his brown eyes. "You had not said it before, and it pleases me that you do. I love you too," he said before kissing her senseless yet again.

She could well get used to such affection.