arms, whose surrender drives me to fresh heights of madness. You need never worry whether I am disappointed. I’m quite far from that particular emotion when it comes to you.”
Letty smiled, and Adam’s heart fluttered as it never had before. It wouldn’t have surprised him to realize he was in very real danger of falling in love with his wife. He was not complaining about it either.
“Now, will you permit me a similar question?” Adam asked.
Letty looked like a doomed criminal on a scaffold. “I suppose I must.”
“How many men caught your eye before you married me? Any former beaux who might track me down and challenge me to a duel for you?” he asked.
She relaxed. “Only a few, but I doubt any would challenge you to a duel.” She nibbled her bottom lip in a way that reminded him of their glorious moment of passion in the woods.
“Tell me about these men.”
“There was Silas Wilson, the son of a doctor near our country estate. He was three years older than me. I thought him quite handsome.” She shook her head. “He never looked my way. I was but thirteen, a child to him. I caught him in the stables with a maid from our house. They were kissing quite seriously. It hurt to see him like that. I remember running back up to the house, and I tripped, skinning both my knees. The doctor was seeing to our mother, and he took a moment to patch me up, asking what had caused a young lady to run so frantically as to trip. I remember just wanting to die of embarrassment. I couldn’t tell him about his son. I still have the scars.” She raised her skirts to show her knees, unfastened the ribbons holding one stocking up, and rolled the stocking down. She seemed entirely unaware of what she’d done at first, then gasped and flung her skirts back down.
“Heavens, I don’t know why I did that.”
Adam moved closer and put his palm on the bright-green gown covering her knee. “We are becoming more comfortable together. There is nothing embarrassing about that.” He removed his cravat and pulled part of his shirt down to expose his throat. He traced a raised line near his collarbone.“You see this scar?”
She leaned forward, tracing the scar with her gentle fingers. “How did you get it?”
“I was determined to improve my fencing skills while at university. We had been practicing with protective-tipped foils. Another boy challenged me to fight with an unguarded blade. Thinking that the danger would heighten my senses and reflexes, I agreed. My presumption was very wrong. The other boy caught me with a thrust, and I bled quite terribly. One boy even fainted, much to the embarrassment of our fencing master, who returned in time to see this happen. We were both tossed out of fencing school. My father had to hire a private fencing master to teach me.”
“Oh heavens, it is a fierce scar,” she agreed, still tracing the spot. Adam caught her wrist in his hands, holding her close to him.
“Are you less shy of me now?” he asked, smiling.
She smiled back and nodded.“Yes. I keep thinking of what happened in the woods as well. I fear I get a little silly whenever you touch me.”
“I like hearing that,” he said as he pulled her onto his lap. She gasped and wobbled until she settled across his thighs, her hands gripping his shoulders.
“The beauty of being so close in this boat means we can do whatever we please.”
He dipped his head to steal a kiss. Her petal-soft lips parted beneath his, and he thrust his tongue boldly against hers. She was shy at first as she learned to match him and his actions. The need to have her, to dip her back in the boat and toss up her skirts, was strong enough that it made his hands shake. But her first time was not going to be here in a boat. He would control himself . . . eventually.
A sudden clattering disrupted their kiss, and they turned to see Letty’s fishing pole tilting over the side as something tugged sharply on the line.
“Oh no!” She flung herself off Adam’s lap and lunged forward to catch the pole before it went over.
“Letty, wait!” Adam shouted. The boat rocked sharply, and both the pole and his wife tumbled into the water.
There was a heartbeat where he froze, expecting her to come sputtering back up to the surface. When