Chapter 5
Now that she had been had, Catherine did not know what to do next. She laid on the massive mattress, staring up at the canopy of the four-poster bed. Uncertain, she laced her fingers together and tapped her toes along the linen cover.
She did not know him at all.
There was little to converse about. The awkwardness began to stretch around her.
“What now?” she asked bluntly.
“Well, if you were a courtesan,” he observed with a playful smile, “no doubt you would compliment me, or at least show that you had enjoyed it greatly.”
“Oh, I did enjoy it greatly,” she said, then paused as she struggled to describe how she felt. “I am quite surprised. I had heard that it is not the most pleasant of affairs.”
“Truly?” he asked. “Who did you hear that from?”
She thought back, trying to recall what little she’d heard about such things or her body. The truth was she was almost wholly ignorant. “Well, my governess. And the companion that I had during my first Season did try to insinuate that I would have to tolerate the act between a man and a woman because it was necessary to have an heir.”
She thought of the shocking waves of pleasure that had rippled through her and felt her cheeks burning. “There was nothing to tolerate aboutthat, aside from a moment of pain. The rest of it was really quite marvelous.”
He smiled. “There, you’ve done it. You’ve made me feel quite good about myself. Well done. I am glad that it was, as you say,marvelous.”
He reached towards her and gently stroked a lock of hair back from her face, tucking it behind her ear. She rolled onto her side and propped herself up on her elbow.
“But this is very strange,” she confessed, gesturing to the space between them. “We don’t know each other at all, and yet we’ve just done this incredibly intimate thing. Now what shall we do?”
He laughed. “Well, it depends on the relationship between the man and the woman. A typical gentleman might stay the evening and have breakfast with a courtesan, or he might slip out in the early hours and return back to his family. It depends.”
He hesitated and then asked, “What do you prefer we do?”
“My preference probably will not matter,” she said with a shrug, surprised she was still naked with nothing but a thin sheet splayed over her. She felt at ease with him. More at ease than she’d felt her whole life, despite the awkward search for conversation.
“That is likely true,” he agreed. “But there are things that you can do to induce him to stay, to increase his loyalty to you.”
“Oh, truly?” She queried, wishing she could take notes.
“Oh, yes,” he said.
“And you’ll teach them to me?”
He nodded. “If you like.”
She nibbled her lower lip, then rushed, “I want you to teach me as much as possible about men, and how they behave, and what I can expect.”
“Men are as varied as the stars in heaven, Cat,” he replied softly.
She snorted. “Surely not.”
He laughed at her response, his beautiful eyes dancing with amusement. “Well, there is one thing that is true. They are all made of fire. At least, so I think. Fire for food, bed play, and power.”
“That’s very Shakespearean of you,” she observed, surprised he would say such a thing.
“Thank you. I’ll take that as the highest of compliments.”
She smiled, trying to make sense of him. “I have found something that you like.”
“Yes, I do like Shakespeare,” he admitted, tracing his fingertips over her shoulder and down her arm. “And the Greek myths. I love books.”
“As do I.” Cat’s breath increased at the soft touch along her delicate skin.