Nathan stared at her. “Horrible?” he choked on the word. He made a slashing movement with his hand. “Horrible doesn’t begin to cover it. I very nearly accepted another man’s wife in exchange for a meaningless political purpose!”
“But you didn’t.” Her voice was matter of fact.
“What?”
“You didn’t accept the bribe. You very nearly did, but did not. Other bribes you did accept, but this one you did not and it has changed you. It has made you stronger and a better man.”
Nathan stared at her as though she had three heads and ten tits. “You make no sense, woman.”
She looked at him, her gray gaze clear and direct. “You were tempted, Nathan.”
“Yes.”
“Even our Savior was tempted. For forty days he withstood the temptations the Devil laid out before him. Are you saying that you are such a better man than He that you should not experience temptation at all?”
He was flummoxed.
“The sin is not in the temptation, but how we react to it. If you had accepted that bribe,” she couldn’t bring herself to say the actual inducement, “then it would have been a sin. But you did not. Would it have been better for you to offer aid to the woman? Indubitably. But we cannot have too high of expectations on a man who is just learning how to change for the better.”
“But I am not changing for the better,” he croaked, barely able to get his voice around his incredulity. She could not be serious.
Sara smiled at him. “That may be what you think, but there is evidence to the contrary.”
“How so?”
“I have not seen you foxed since that afternoon in your library. You have made the effort to be more cordial in my presence, even if it wasn’t always successful. You carefully planned this week with the protection of my reputation in mind. Even then, you have made it clear that I can end this at any time with no shame or repercussions. After our first night here, you have not pressed any unwanted attentions on me, instead respecting my hesitations. You, sir, are more honorable than you believe yourself to be.”
Nathan stalked toward the bed, his steps intent, his brow lowered, his limp offering little hindrance. He needed to end this charade of hers, needed to see the truth about him. “You think all that proves me honorable, proves me noble? All it proves is that I am doing things for my own benefit. What purpose does it serve to be a sodden drunk when it makes my judgment unsound? Being cordial has benefitted me as I now find myself in a bedroom alone with a woman I greatly desire. It is not your reputation that I desire to protect, but my own bachelorhood; I have no wish to be wed. And allowing you to end this at any time or not forcing unwanted attentions on you? Well, that just means that I am not a rapist.”
He was now at the foot of the bed. Grasping the bedcovers, he pulled them out of her grasp and down off her body. Her ankles now exposed, he wrapped his hands around them and pulled her down until she was on her back. Sara gave out a little shriek of surprise at the motion, her shift rising up slightly, caught between her body and the bed. His hands, firm and warm, slid up her calves as he knelt on the bed and settled between her legs.
His voice was gravelly when he spoke. “And I highly doubt my attentions are unwanted.”
With that, Nathan pushed her shift up to her waist. Before she had a chance to react, he separated her knees with his shoulders and kissed her at her most intimate place. Sara gasped, sitting up and trying to squirm away, but his arm came up around her abdomen and anchored her to the bed. “Nathan,” she managed to get out, the sensation of his tongue against her womanhood warring with the shock that he was actually putting his mouth there.
His only response was a grunt that sent vibrations up from her nub and into her bloodstream. Her eyes fluttering, she lay back against the bed, acceding to his wishes. His tongue traveled the length of her before settling around that spot again, paying it close attention. Small grunts of pleasure, coming up from deep in his chest, echoed inside of her, tingling up her spine. Sara instinctively opened her legs more, giving him greater access. She closed her eyes, losing herself in the sensation of being kissed so intimately. Never had she considered experiencing such a thing; never had she felt so wonderful, so desired.