Page 84 of Heartbreaker of the Ton
When Etty woke,the fire was almost out. Andrew still lay on top of her, their bodies molded into one.
How joyous to have him hold her and cherish her, rather than merely take his pleasure and leave without a backward glance. How different he was to…
No—donotthink of him!
She stiffened, and he lifted his head. His eyes had darkened to a deep mahogany, with sparks of light in their depths, glistening with moisture.
“D-did I hurt you?” he asked.
She lifted a hand to his cheek and brushed away the moisture there. “No, my love,” she said. “It would be impossible for you to hurt me.”
“It was what I feared the most—hurting the woman I loved when I…”
He colored and eased himself off her, then crossed the floor to the pile of clothes on the rug. Etty relished the sight of him—his lithe body glowing in the firelight, which cast shadows across the planes of his muscles.
He pulled his breeches on, then stood, buttoning his shirt.
“Robert told me that a woman’s first time was always painful,” he said. “I could never understand why a woman must feel pain, when a man…”
Her cheeks warmed and she reached for her undergarments. “Forgive me,” she said, slipping on her chemise.
“What for?”
“For not being a maiden. For another taking me first.”
“Oh, sweet love!” He caught her hand. “Do you think that matters? I care not abouthim. He wanted neither you nor Gabriel, and that is his greatest misfortune. Let us never think of him again.”
“He’s the Duke of Dunton,” she said quietly.
He pulled her close and claimed her mouth. “I care not whether he’s the regent himself,” he said. “I care nothing for him. He has no claim on you—or on that sweet child. You are what matters, Etty, my love. What happened in your past is exactly that—your past. There are no secrets between us now. Let us therefore forget the past, move on, and build our future. Together.”
He kneeled before her and took her hands. Then he lifted his head, his eyes filled with love and trust.
There are no secrets between us now.
“Let me, at last, voice the question I have wanted to ask you almost from the moment I set eyes on you in the back of my church.”
“Andrew…”
“No, my darling Etty, I must ask you properly.”
“I know, my love, but you must permit me to make my final confession.”
“Your final…?”
“There must be no secrets between us.”
“And there are none,” he said, then gave a wry smile. “Unless the man Mrs. Fulford saw here was not your father after all—but I am more inclined to believe you than her.”
“He is my father,” she said.
“Then what secret do you carry still?”
She dipped her head and kissed his hands. “Have you never wondered what Etty was short for?”
“Henrietta, I presume?”
She shook her head. “No,” she said quietly. “It’s Juliette.”
