Free A Desperate Wager by Em Taylor Page A

it peak as if she was cold, and it was her turn to groan. That feeling had returned. Down there. She had some feeling below the waist but she had never felt anything quite like this. She wanted to press her fist against it to relieve the pressure.
    A wood pigeon hooted in a nearby tree, seemingly bringing Nathaniel to his senses. For a moment he buried his head in her shoulder and groaned—a noise of sheer frustration.
    “I apologise.” His words reverberated off the skin as his hand dropped onto his own thigh. He pulled himself into a sitting position and gave her a repentant smile. “I had intended to kiss you chastely then to discuss a few more intimate matters. Things it may be useful to know about your injury before we marry.”
    She gave him the most unperturbed smile she could muster. Thank goodness he had stopped , because she was not sure she could have put an end to the sweet torture of his explorations. And how had she never realised how sensitive her breasts were?
    “ I think it is wise that we have a discussion about our marriage, considering the fact I am a cripple. I am, as you would expect, an innocent. I know very little of the marriage bed and do not know if I can please you in that respect. Therefore, I have given it much thought, and I need you to know you are at liberty to take a mistress if you so desire.” There, she had said it.
    “ I am?” He raised an eyebrow. “Do you want me to take a mistress?” Good God, of course she did not want that. She wanted him to love her and pledge fidelity to her. She wanted to know she was the only woman who ever carried his child.
    “ I want whatever pleases you, Your Grace.”
    “ And what about you, Sarah. What pleases you? Did my kiss please you?”
    Heat crept up her neck. “Yes.”
    “ How did it make you feel?”
    “ Good.”
    He sighed. “Physically. How did it make you feel in your body? Were there… sensations you had not expected?” Well he had not been telling untruths when he had said he wanted to talk about intimate things. She nodded, sure she heard him grind his teeth. “Where did you feel these strange sensations?”
    “ In my bosom, and in my belly and…” She could not say it. She had been brought up to be a lady. She could not discuss such parts of her body, even if he would be her husband in five days. She pressed her fist just under her belly so he would get the general idea. He smiled broadly at that. She had no idea why but the information seemed to have pleased him.
    “ This is very impertinent, but has it made you… umm… damp between your legs?”
    Between her legs? Impertinent was not the word for it. She opened her mouth to give him a set down and then remembered that he would be her husband. She knew little of what would happen in less than a week , and he would have a lot of experience. Besides, it would not be the first time she’d had embarrassing discussions with men. Though usually the men were surgeons or apothecaries, not her husband-to-be.
    “ I am in control of when I need to use the privy. I understand that many with back injuries are not, but I am like anyone else in that regard.” His smile was tight and he frowned as if trying to puzzle something out.
    “ That is not what I meant. When a lady is aroused, there is a different kind of dampness around the…” He waved a hand as if trying to think of a polite word. “Where the consummation takes place. It makes things easier.”
    “ Oh. I do not know if that has happened.” Now she felt terribly stupid. He must think her dreadfully naïve. She had no mother to describe such things, and her father had simply told her to lie back and let her husband do all the work. “The sensations from my waist down are not strong usually. It is like…” How could she describe it? “Have you ever fallen asleep with your head on your arm and woken up with your arm limp and unfeeling?” He nodded. “After a few minutes, feeling starts to come back into your