energy. He was so much stronger than she was, and she couldn’t believe he intended to hurt her.
“Women, of course, are unequipped with the necessary equipment to complete the act of love. So they employ alternatives. Some use equipment they can strap on that makes them appear masculine.”
Elinor squirmed on the seat.
“Others use their mouths, as men and women do with each other. I imagine you’ve seen something of that, living as you have.”
“Yes,” she said in a strangled voice.
“But the simplest thing, particularly in a semipublic occasion, is to use their hands upon each other.” He was still stroking her palm, and then his fingers moved up, carefully curling all but her two middle fingers down. “You know about this, don’t you, my pet? How to pleasure yourself?”
She didn’t…couldn’t say a word. The thought of willingly engaging in anything that resembled coupling, even on one’s own, seemed the height of madness.
“No?” he whispered, moving her hand down. “This is how it’s done.” And he put her hand between her legs.
She fought him then, shocked, but her efforts made her legs part, and he moved her hand closer to the center of her, holding her fingers steady. “You touch,” he whispered, “just lightly as first. Delicately, like a butterfly. Pleasure can’t be forced, it must be coaxed.” He pushed her hand a little farther into her skirts, so that her fingertips touched that center core of herself, and she felt an odd shiver of reaction, one that frightened her.
“Please, don’t…” she protested, but he simply ignored her.
“Now, my love, you mustn’t be shy,” he whispered in admonishment. “If you knew how to do this by yourself I’d leave you alone. Trust me, you’ll thank me once you master the trick of it. It makes many a long night more engaging, and it will help if you decide to turn to women for comfort.”
He pushed her hand again, so that it rubbed between her legs, and this time the jolt was stronger, and oddly enough she could feel her breasts tingle. Again, he pushed, and it seemed to have nothing to do with her. It was simply his hand, moving hers, as strange feelings began to build inside her, and she squirmed, moving her legs farther apart, and he laughed softly, increasing the pressure.
“After a while you can be more forceful,” he whispered against the side of her neck. “What first you wooed must now be mastered, or it might escape completely, leaving you restless and distraught.” He pushed harder, much harder, and she made a small, whimpering noise, not of pain. “Just as you feel it will never happen, the first blush of pleasure sweeps over you…”
She had stopped thinking, as a small, exquisite jolt stirred her body.
“And then you push it farther…” His mouth was hot against her skin. “And deeper…” She could feel something dark and terrible approaching, and she tried to pull back in sudden fear. “And you don’t let anything stop you.”
With his other hand he pressed her face against his greatcoat, and he moved her hand with sudden force and speed, and the dark place opened and pulled her in, and he muffled her cry against his shoulder as wave after wave of exquisite pleasure washed over her.
Finally he drew her shaking hand back from between her legs. He brought it to his mouth and kissed it, then put it on her lap. He still held her face against his shoulder, his arm around her, and as the wicked jerks of pleasure faded, shame flooded in around it.
When she yanked herself away he let her go, and she stumbled as she landed on the opposite seat, her face red, her breath coming far too quickly. “You animal!” she said in low fury. “How dare you!”
“How dare I what, my precious?” he said in an entirely equable tone of voice. “I did nothing. It was your hand.”
She wanted to scream at him. To cry bitter tears and rage at him. But the time for that was many years past. She cleared her throat. “Clearly you have some great need to debauch everyone who comes within your circle, my lord. You may consider yourself the victor.”
“I didn’t take your virginity, little one,” he murmured. “And self-pleasure is hardly debauchery. It’s in the Bible.”
She couldn’t bring herself to look at him. The flame of color still rode high in her cheeks, and she couldn’t think how he’d managed to do that, to take her distrustful self and make