He leaned over the edge of the bed and snatched her chemise off the floor. The garment was light as cobwebs in his hand. He spread the fabric over her thighs, and she held still, just watched him with attentive eyes. He put his mouth back on her, but now there was a thin layer of cotton between his tongue and her tender nub. His next lick created friction. She rewarded him with a breathy moan. When he tried a gentle suck, her fingers curled in his hair, tightening instinctively to hold him in place.
“Yes,” he murmured, a glowing sensation spreading in his chest. “Show me what feels good for you.”
After, she lay boneless in the sheets and a glow seemed to emanate off her skin. At last, she gave a languorous stretch and smiled up at him so widely, his heart gave a curious twinge.
“I think every woman ought to have a birder for a lover,” she said. “You observe everything so closely. You seem to miss nothing.”
He could have told her that every man who truly cared about a woman would observe her closely, but her ears might not be open to it.
He stretched himself out alongside her, deciding to take care of himself in a moment.
“Have you had many lovers?” she asked.
His face heated. “I don’t like this conversation, my heart,” he said. “It lowers us.”
She brushed her hand over the blanket, embarrassed. “I’m not jealous,” she said. “Just curious.”
With a sigh, he rolled onto his back. “One,” he said. “In Lyon.”
She sat up and looked down at him. “One?”
Her puzzled face amused him. She looked so surprised at things he considered banal but wouldn’t blink at something outlandish or complicated. “Have you heard of the free love movement?”
She squinted. “I don’t think so.”
“I thought you might have, since you’re an activist.”
“Our activism puts us under such scrutiny that we are a little less free in some respects.”
“It’s an idea from America, but I think the French bohemians practiced it already and the Americans just gave it a slogan.”
“Well, they are an economical bunch.” Said with a small smile.
“The idea is that people ought to choose their lovers freely,” he explained. “Legal or religious blessings shouldn’t be necessary to sleep together. Sharing a bed should end when the love is gone, not when a government decree grants it.”
“Ah,” she said. “Yes, I know it. We call this the Shelleyan way of cohabitation. It caused some trouble for some of our suffragists.”
“My friend in Lyon likes these ideas.”
“How interesting.” Her tone was neutral, but her face looked as though she was of a mind to bite someone.
He lifted a hand and stroked her overwarm cheek with his finger. “See. You shouldn’t have asked.”
She leaned back, out of his reach. “It sounds as though only your friend’s convictions prevented a marriage between the two of you.”
He dropped his hand back onto the mattress. “You have stories in your head,” he said mildly. “Her convictions made our arrangement possible. I don’t pay for a woman’s company and I had no plans to marry at the time.”
In truth, he hadn’t even planned on taking a lover. He had grown up thinking he’d share his body only with his wife. Then he had lost his mind over Nayla and after emerging from the stupor, he had decided that regular release and a habit of talking to pretty women who weren’t kin would keep him from turning into an idiot again should the next pair of gazelle eyes glance his way. So how has that worked out for you, mocked a little voice as he eyed the bewitching naked Scotswoman next to him in the sheets.
“But you stayed faithful to her,” she said softly, as if to herself.
He put a hand over his eyes. “I’m always places in between, Catriona. I live and work in two, three different countries, I keep changing between different clothes, cuisines, languages . . . I liked having one part of life in just one place.”
Her face softened. “Right,” she said. “I gather you won’t follow this free movement with your wife, then,” she added in a teasing tone.
His lips twitched, as though she had said something endearingly na?ve. “No,” he said. “My wife will be mine. And I hers. Until the end.”
His words seemed to freeze her in place; her whole body went still as though he had triggered two equally strong but directly opposing emotions in her. Well. In the presence of a flighty creature, he just had to refrain from making loud noises and sudden movements to keep them from taking off.