Page 20 of The Duke of Ruin
“She is not,” Romsey whispered. “I can assure you, she isnot.”
“Then what’s wrong with her?”
Romsey took a deep breath, his gaze never leaving hers. “Have you no idea what goes on between a man and a woman?” He kept his voice low so that she had to strain to hear.
“Yes, of course I do.” Her mother had told her in painstaking detail how a man would put his…memberbetween Diana’s legs, and it would hurt. He would grunt and pant and deposit his seed, and she would be grateful. It sounded awful, and her mother had simply shrugged and said that all women must endure it. But then she’d also described kissing as a horrid activity akin to having one’s skin peeled off. Diana knew that to be patently false and now wondered if the rest of her mother’s descriptions had been lies as well. Although, it did sound as if Mrs. Ogden were being put on the rack…
Something entered Romsey’s eyes, and they narrowed slightly. “You think it’s unpleasant.” He shook his head. “It’s not. At least, not when it’s done right. In fact, you can take pleasure all on your own—you don’t need a man. Did you know that?”
Struck speechless yet again, she simply stared at him.
“I see,” he murmured.
She could give herself pleasure? Where she cried out like Mrs. Ogden? She wasn’t sure she wanted that, and yet judging from the chorus of “yes,” coming from the bed, perhaps she ought to reserve judgment.
She recalled her earlier thoughts, about how she’d never been able to choose anything. This was something she could choose. As long as she was rebelling, she might as well make it memorable.
Diana turned toward him, anticipation curling through her. “Would you show me?”
His nostrils flared, and his eyes darkened until they were nearly obsidian, save the gold flecks that gleamed in the firelight. “Diana, do you have any idea what you’re asking me?”
The shock of her audacity gave her a moment’s pause, but only a moment. This was beyond the pale, and she should be overcome with shame. Except she wasn’t. Nor did she want to be. “Not really. That’s why I need you to show me. Unless you can’t. Perhaps I should ask another woman?”
“No, no.” His voice was tight, strained. “I can show you. Or guide you.” He took a deep breath and let it out, then propped his head onto his hand, settling his elbow into the pallet. “It’s best if you roll to your back.”
She did that, and suddenly, the sound of the bed violently hitting the wall filled the room. Her jaw dropped, and Romsey leaned over her, his finger coming to his lips.
“It’s all right,” he whispered. “I don’t expect it will be long now.”
Diana had no idea what he meant. “Until what?”
“Until they finish.”
“How can you tell?”
“There’s a progression…an intensifying of sensations…a build-up of pleasure that reaches a climax.”
Diana thought she understood. “Ah, that’s when he leaves his seed inside her.”
“Yes, but more importantly, that’s when the pleasure is at its most spectacular.”
Her limbs felt lighter suddenly, her breasts heavier. These changes to her body were strange but not unpleasant. “Does this happen to women? We don’t have any seed.”
“No, you don’t, and yes, it does happen to women, although if a man doesn’t know what he’s doing and a woman doesn’t know her body well enough to understand what she wants, it’s possible, naylikely, she won’t achieve the same pleasure. It’s called an orgasm.”
This was all so intriguing. Diana nearly forgot about the sounds coming from the bed. “Is that what you’re going to show me how to do? Have an orgasm?”
“Yes.” His voice sounded strained again, as ifhewere on the rack.
“Is this going to be a problem for you? You don’t sound very enthused,” she said. Too bad, because she was warming to the idea of learning what an orgasm felt like.
His mouth curved into a small but seductively charming smile. “I’m plenty enthused, actually. Shall we begin?”
Before she could answer, the sounds from the bed intensified. Mrs. Ogden let out a high wail while her husband grunted, then moaned loudly. Then the bed stopped hitting the wall.
“Are they finished?” Diana whispered.
“I think so.”
