“Are you still willing to give me an heir?” he asked.
“I am.”
He brought his glass to his lips and stared at her over the rim. “You know what that involves, do you?”
“Of course, I do.”
“All right. I have a test. If you pass it, you’ll become the Duchess of Fallon.”
She lifted her chin. “I can pass any test.”
He chuckled but without mirth. “You’re sure of that?”
“Try me.”
“All right.” He gestured to his footman. “Tom, have a bedroom made up. The way we discussed. And then, bring us our dessert.”
When the man bowed and left the room, the duke turned his attention back on her. “When you leave this table, Tom will lead you to your room. Take off every stitch of your clothing. Put on the night rail laid out there—nothing underneath—and lie on the bed.”
“And then?”
“I’ll visit you.”
“But you can’t,” she said. “We’re not married yet.”
“I won’t ruin you. You’ll have your virginity when I’ve done.” He set down his glass. “But I will touch you.”
“That’s a test?”
“I want to watch you spend,” he said.
“Spend?” she repeated.
“Spend, climax. I want to witness your orgasm. Will you let me do that?”
“Do I have a choice?”
“You can go home to your father,” he said. “I’ll send you in my carriage.”
Back to her father and to a different choice—either the man who’d offered more for her than the duke or to be put out into the street.
“I’ll take your test, Your Grace.”
“Good.” He leaned back against his chair. His expression might have been carved of stone.
The footman reappeared carrying a tray.
“Enjoy your dessert,” the duke said.
* * *
A queen might have occupied the bedroom Fallon had ordered for her. The huge four-poster could have slept three, and it stood so high she’d have to use the stool by its side to climb onto it. The canopy disappeared into the shadows. She wouldn’t even know the fabric until the morning.
After removing her shoes and stockings, she took off her dress and hung it on a hook in the wardrobe. A ghostlike reflection of herself in the oval mirror nearby looked on as she got out of her other clothing. She had to struggle to unlace her stays without help, and she likely wouldn’t be able to get the corset back on at all without help. Finally, she stood nude and couldn’t help but stare at her image in the glass.
A very unremarkable woman looked back. No great beauty and with the yoke of a known gambler of a father, she’d gone through three seasons with no prospects of marriage. Who could have imagined a duke would take an interest in her at her age?
If Fallon hadn’t come along, her father would have sold her off to Lord Tewksbury, and he would have yet, if she hadn’t taken matters into her own hands. The old bastard had lusted after her for years, even before his wife had died. Now, with the lady’s inheritance in his firm control, he’d bid for her again, and she’d find herself sharing the bed with a man older than her father.
No, she’d done the right thing, even if she’d have to endure a stranger’s touch to rescue herself. She just prayed the duke was a man of his word and would marry her if she pleased him.
Only, how could she do that? She knew nothing about sexual congress except that a man had some part of his body that he put inside her and the woman allowed him to do it to conceive his child.
Fallon would touch her so that he could watch her climax. She’d climaxed before through her own explorations, but always in secret so no one else knew of her shame. Could he actually want her to repeat that in front of him? And would she manage to do it? How utterly humiliating if she did and worse if she couldn’t.
She went to the bed, her bare feet sinking into the carpet. Using the stool, she climbed on top of the coverlet and lay on her back to stare up into the darkness. Calm. She’d remain calm. Relax as best she could.
Breathing evenly, she let her mind wander to her favorite fantasy. A green valley, nestled between towering mountains. The nearby waterfall sent jewels of spray into the air. Emerald, ruby, sapphire, all falling into the pool at the base of the mountain. She walked naked through the grass to the water.
Her stranger always met her here, never showing his face, but always giving her pleasure so intense it must have been sin. Usually, he surprised her from behind, catching her breasts in his hands while he pressed kisses along her neck and shoulders.
He didn’t come now, and why should he? She wasn’t in her bed at home. She lay in a guest room of a manor house as big as a palace. Waiting for the lord to come and test her. And waiting and waiting.
The door opened, finally, and light preceded Fallon into the room. He’d brought an entire candelabra. He did plan to watch her and not miss a detail. He set it on the table next to the bed and stared down at her for a moment.
Shadows hid his eyes, and she could only conjure their color out of memory. Blue like the heavens—so unlike the rest of him.
“Did you find everything you need?” he asked as he removed his jacket and waistcoat and laid them on a chair.
She couldn’t help but laugh. “Is there anything beside this night rail you wanted me to have?”
“I meant for the morning.” He removed his cuff buttons and put them onto the dressing table. Then he rolled up his sleeves.
Of course, she hadn’t thought past this night, not even past the next few minutes. “I’m sure everything’s fine.”
“Good.” He walked around the bed and sat on the far side and then bent to remove his shoes. The huge mattress hardly sagged despite his considerable size. When he stretched out next to her, the light made the white of his shirt dazzle.
“I won’t hurt you,” he said as he reached toward the top button of her gown. “Do you trust me?”
“I have to.”
Each button yielded to his fingers, and soon, he’d unfastened the gown all the way past her waist. She kept breathing slowly. Inhale, exhale. It had little effect on the hammering of her heart.
When he dipped his hand under the cotton, his fingers splayed over her belly, nearly spanning the space between her hip.
“Nice,” he whispered. “Good for childbearing.”
Oh, God. She really was a brood mare to him. Not a human being at all. She bit her lip and turned her head. She would not let him see her cry.
Paying her no heed, he continued with the buttons until he had the ends of the fabric parted to midthigh. He’d touch her now, and she couldn’t resist. He only had to put his fingers between her legs to do it.
Instead, he wrapped his arm around her ribs and put his mouth to her ear. “I won’t hurt you.”
She gasped softly, both in surprise and also at the pleasure of his breath in her ear. Who would have thought that something so simple could reach inside her and awaken all her senses?
“You might even like this,” he said.
When she turned her head to face him, she met the fierce blue of his gaze. The bird of prey had spotted his conquest and would soon swoop into claim