LITMIR.BIZ

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shrugged. “It doesn’t matter.”

      Then he would choose. “I like your full name. It suits you. You have an innate elegance that I find pleasing. Well, then, Sophia, we are to be close. You will be the mother of my heirs. Of our heirs.” She had a considerable fortune of her own, thanks to her father.

      Blinking, she said, “Does it take long to make heirs?”

      That naiveté shocked him and forced a laugh out of him. He’d never considered intimate relations with anyone other than ladies of the night or willing widows looking for a dalliance. Certainly not inexperienced women.

      Even females paid to act as innocent virgins for the delectation of their clientele weren’t this jumpy. “It takes as long as it takes. Some women fall pregnant the first time, and with others, it takes years.”

      He pulled gently on her hands. Silk rustled when she moved closer. This was like taming a wild animal, drawing it closer with kindness. No sudden moves. “The act can be extremely pleasurable.”

      “No!” She said it quickly, as if unconsidered. Too fast, a visceral response.

      He frowned. Did she know? Should he ask about the incident with John Hayes?

      If he did he might receive information he didn’t want to know. Like she was no longer a virgin. Was she in fact fond of the man her father had caught her with?

      “Is there someone else you would rather marry?” he asked. “I won’t wed a woman who is thinking of someone else in the marriage bed. I am no man’s substitute.” That, at least, he was sure of.

      Vigorously, she shook her head. “No, no, truly.” At least her hands had stopped trembling. “There is no one.”

      He’d had enough. He wanted her close, badly. Her scent, the feel of her hands in his, and her charming figure had had its predictable effect on him. While his agile mind tried to process the information, his body was rising to the occasion. He couldn’t reason this need away.

      Why had he never noticed her in this way before? Because she had never spoken to him directly, or because she had avoided attracting his attention? He had no idea, but he certainly noticed her now.

      When he drew her even closer, she came, so he could release her hands and hold her waist instead. “Put your hands on my shoulders.”

      Eyes wide—they were brown—she did so. “You will not—”

      Whatever she was about to say he muffled with his mouth.

      Her lips were soft, with an underlying firmness that pleased him. Although she’d been speaking, when he touched her she clamped her lips together. He was in no mind to force her.

      Her body stiffened so much, he felt it under the unforgiving bones of her stays, but he wanted to taste her. Sweet, so sweet, that even a closed-mouth kiss pushed his arousal up another notch.

      On Monday, he would have her. Anything else was unthinkable. He finished the kiss, but kept her close. Her breath came in fast pants, making her bosom swell enticingly in an erratic fashion. He would do that again.

      But her hands lay unmoving on his shoulders, her body still but rigid. Shyness, or something else?

      If she were concealing a lover and wasn’t a virgin, Max didn’t care as much as he should. As long as she wasn’t pregnant. But if she had lost her virginity to violence, he’d hunt down the man who did it and personally run him through with his sword. Several times.

      He moved his mouth over hers, touching her lips with his tongue, tracing the lines with the tip.

      With a sigh, she opened very slightly, enough for him to slip his tongue between her teeth and enter her mouth.

      She jerked away, covering her rosy lips with her hand, her eyes wide with shock. “I—I’m sorry.”

      He wasn’t. “Has nobody done that before?”

      “No.”

      The man who’d approached her before, Hayes, had frightened her, because not even a reticent maiden would be this skittish. She wouldn’t have come to visit him, risked her reputation three days before the wedding were she not very disturbed by the notion of marriage.

      Unfortunately, he needed to make sure of his suspicion. She would hardly allow him to lift her skirts and discover it for himself, not after that travesty of a kiss.

      He stepped back, smiled at her, giving her a moment to collect herself. Only one more thing remained.

      He was hard and aching, but he couldn’t allow that to control what he must ask her. “I’m sorry, but I have to know. Are you pregnant?” Did the scene with John Hayes have more consequences than her father had imagined?

      The possibility nagged at him. However much he wanted her, he couldn’t allow that to happen. He couldn’t pass his title and estate on to another man’s child. Although he didn’t hold either in high esteem, he owed his ancestors that much. “Be sure that if you are, I swear not to tell anyone. And I’ll render all the help I can, but I can’t marry you in those circumstances.”

      “No!” Coloring, she snatched up her hat. “How could you think such a thing?”

      “Forgive me. But your father has stressed haste in this. He said that his dispute with a former employee had caused the man to spread rumors about you that could prove extremely damaging both to you and your business.”

      “But I didn’t! It didn’t go that far, I swear!” Her eyes glistened with unshed tears and her face was so red she looked as if he’d slapped her.

      Regret swept away his other concerns. She didn’t manufacture that look, but he had considered that she had come to tell him and didn’t know how to say it. “Hush, be still. I’m sorry.” And he would take her at her word. “I believe you.” He would accept it. After all, what did it matter who fathered a child? Some of his compatriots, titleholders, were not the biological children of their parents. He’d asked, and he’d abide by his decision now.

      Abruptly, he turned away and picked up her cloak. “Come, you must go.” He held it open for her to put on.

      She turned her back to him, and he wrapped her securely in the folds. Surprised by a powerful urge to enclose her in his arms and keep her safe, he nevertheless kept his touch light.

      “I will see you tomorrow at the solicitor’s office.” Deliberately he bent and touched his mouth to the spot beneath her ear where most women were sensitive.

      She shuddered, but was it reticence or suppressed desire? He would find out. “On Monday we marry, and on Monday night I’ll come to your room. Don’t try to stop me. We need to do that, to make the marriage complete.” And he wanted her. Of course divorce and annulment weren’t possible. Non-consummation was not fair grounds for divorce, and a marriage was valid whether the couple had engaged in intimate relations or not. But he wanted that heir, and he would ensure she didn’t start building walls between them from the start.

      He had to trust his own judgment on this and make the commitment, but if he discovered anything amiss, he’d have the truth out of her. “After that, we’ll see.”

      Suspicions were the very devil. If left, they would fester and multiply. Rather than that, he’d do what he had to and take the consequences.

      Chapter 4

      Sophia reached home before her father and destroyed the note she’d left for him. If the servants didn’t talk, she’d be fine. If they did, she’d tell him where she’d gone and suffer his opprobrium. He wouldn’t be too harsh on her, because she was about to accede to his will.

      She told him as soon as he came home. He embraced her warmly.

      “He’s a good man,” he said. “The marquess will be an excellent husband for you.”

      Sophia wondered about that. His very

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