Free Simply Sinful by Kate Pearce Page B

their play.
    Peter’s cock rose at the thought of Sara’s lush body, and he cupped his groin. A tap on the door that led into James’s room made him swing around, his hand still cradling his balls. Abigail stood there, her hair braided in one thick plait that hung over her shoulder. She glanced at his groin and looked away.
    Slowly Peter dropped his hand to his side. What had James done to make her react like an untried virgin to the slightest sign of sexual intimacy?
    “My lady? Is something wrong?”
    He watched her gather her courage and sent her a quick smile of approval.
    “Nothing is wrong.” She cleared her throat, her fingers clasped around the end of her braid. “I just thought it would be interesting to…” She waved her hand vaguely toward him.
    “Interesting to…?”
    Color flushed her cheeks and her chin went up. “To come and talk to you like I do to James after we have dined, to become more intimate with you. Isn’t that what this is all about?”
    He turned back to the mirror, his movements slow and un-hurried. “Of course it is, and you are most welcome. If you wish to talk to me, I’ll finish undressing and we can be comfortable.”
    He shook out the folds of his cravat and tossed it over the back of the chair. He was pleased to see Abigail decide to stay and settle in a chair. Keeping his back to her, he undid his cuff links and placed them on the dressing table.
    “Will you fetch my dressing gown? It’s on the bed.”
    She brought it to him, her gaze fastened firmly on his chest. He remained still as she hesitated in front of him. He held his breath as she reached out and touched his shirt.
    “Surely you will be too warm if you keep this on under your dressing gown.”
    His nipples hardened as she continued to pet the fine lawn of his shirt.
    “You’re right. I’ll take it off.” He smiled down at her. “It’s not as if you’ve never seen a man’s chest before, is it?”
    Her palm flattened against his shirt. “James always wears a nightshirt.”
    He laid his fingers over hers and trapped them against him. “Always?”
    She sighed. “He doesn’t want to be with me, remember? He doesn’t like me to touch him in bed at all.”
    Peter guided her back to her seat and sank to his knees in front of her. “I think you are right, we should talk. Tell me all of it. Tell me about James.”
    “Why?”
    She sat on the very edge of the wing chair, her hands clasped together on her lap, her gaze anywhere but on him.
    “Because if I don’t understand what happened to make you so afraid, how can I help you?”
    “I’m not afraid.”
    “Abigail, you can’t bear to look at me and I haven’t even taken off my shirt yet.”
    She glared at him then. “As far as I understand it, all you need to do is unbutton your breeches and shove yourself inside me. Why should I worry about you taking off your shirt?”
    Peter sat back on his heels. “If you think that is what making love is about, then you are truly ignorant.”
    “I’m a woman; I’m supposed to be ignorant about such matters.”
    “Is that what you want?”
    She brushed surreptitiously at a tear. “I don’t understand you.”
    He handed her his handkerchief. “Is that how you want to remain, ignorant and unsatisfied? Do you think that is what James wants for you?”
    “James wants me to be happy.”
    Peter nodded. “Yes, and I can help you with that, but I need to understand what happened between you to see if I can resolve your problems.” He waited as she screwed up the handkerchief between her hands. “Abigail, I want to help.”
    She raised her head and her gaze settled on the fire.
    “I adored James; he was like the brother I never had. On the eve of my sixteenth birthday, his parents told me I was to be married. But I didn’t find out until the ceremony that I was to marry James.”
    She sighed. “I thought to refuse, but when I saw what they had done to him, I remembered his kindness toward me, the way he