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semblance of control. “Did you want something?”
    His face puddled up as he thought, and then he remembered.
“Yes. Tay is stuck in the tree now. You need to come and help him down.”
    “Oh Hamish,” she sighed. “Again? Perhaps you should find a
smaller tree.”
    The boy grabbed her hand and tugged. “Come along, Kaitlin.”
    In the end they all went, and Edward climbed up through the
thick branches and found Tay, clinging to a bough, and carried him down. They
all traipsed to the house together, but Kaitlin slipped away while Edward was
tending to a scraped knee. He watched her disappear with only a tiny flash of
regret.
    The moment had passed, scuttled by riotous guffaws.
    He couldn’t think of a better way to lose an opportunity.
There would be other moments. Other opportunities.
    She was here beneath his roof.
    She was extraordinarily sensuous.
    She was not a virgin.
    That was all that mattered.

Chapter Four
     
    Mercy.
    Kaitlin collapsed on her bed and stared up at the ceiling.
    What had he done?
    It had started as a kiss, a small, meaningless kiss—although
she suspected it had never been meaningless—and went so quickly to something
else. The duke— Edward —had stroked and plucked and molded her breasts and
delight had shot through her. Her sanity had fled.
    She’d lost her mind.
    Yes.
    That was it. She’d lost her mind.
    It was the only explanation.
    Dougal had kissed her, and many boys before him. She’d never
once felt like that .
    And then, when Edward had slipped his hand between her legs
and fondled her, heavens, it had been wonderful and warm and—wet.
    She couldn’t even think on the sensations that had rocked
her when he pushed his fingers inside. Even now it made her tremble, made her
temperature rise.
    Pleasure. Pure, unadulterated, scalding pleasure.
    What had he done?
    It hadn’t been like that with Dougal. It hadn’t been anything like that with Dougal. Oh, it had been pleasant enough, the kisses, the
caresses. But then Dougal had pressed her down in the moss and raised her
skirts and pushed himself inside her. The pain had been excruciating; he’d made
her bleed.
    Fortunately, the torture hadn’t lasted long. A few seconds.
Then he’d collapsed on her, wheezing and drooling a little.
    It hadn’t lasted long, but it had been enough to ruin her
chances at marriage—because then Dougal had gone and shared the news of his
conquest with all and sundry.
    No, the pleasure had definitely not been worth the cost.
She’d made a bad bargain there.
    But this—Holy Mother.
    This had been worth any cost. And more.
    What on earth had he done?
    Her encounter with Dougal had left her dreading any further
entanglements with men.
    Edward left her panting for more.
    She was sure there was more. She couldn’t imagine what would
have happened if Hamish had not interrupted their tryst.
    Well. Perhaps she could.
    Oh. What would that have been like? She shuddered.
    A thought speared her and she sat bolt upright. She grabbed
the book on the nightstand. The book he’d given her.
    What kind of book could it be? “Read it when you’re
alone,” he’d said. “Think of me,” he’d said.
    She tipped the slim volume on its side and read the title. The
Instruction by Lord Hedon. An odd title.
    She leaned back against the headboard and opened the book
and began to read.
    It did not take long for her to realize this was no ordinary
book.
    It was also not for decent eyes. Thank heaven she was a
fallen woman—twice now, or nearly so—because the book was stimulating. It was
very well written. Amusing and clever and it drew her in. She was well into the
first chapter before the penny dropped. And when it did, she couldn’t stop
reading. She was mesmerized.
    The Instruction was the tale of a young harem girl,
Asha, who had been sold to a wealthy sheik. Kaitlin could certainly identify
with that plot. The sheik had very particular tastes , the girl was told,
and she must be trained to please