He didn’t smile.
There was another little silence.
“You should not have simply left like that, Angelique.” He said this evenly.
“Why? Isn’t it the done thing? You ought to know how I feel about the word ‘should’ by now, Lucien.”
He pressed his lips together. “I won’t ask if it was any good for you. I literally saw stars, and you bit me. Given those two things, it seems rather evident that it was very, very good.”
She was silent. Then:
“Stars?” she whispered.
“I nearly lost consciousness,” he confirmed tersely. Almost accusingly. “White lights burst in my head. I believe I may have briefly met God, which will likely be both the first and last time I do. He sends His regards. Angels did not sing, unless one considers that little sighing sound you made when my tongue was in your ear. I havenever...felt such pleasure.” Every bit of this sounded so much like an indictment that she nearly smiled.
“I suppose I did bite you a little. Are you very injured?”
“My shoulder is not injured.” He said this in a way that implied that, nevertheless, he was not entirely unscathed by the encounter.
He cleared his throat and lowered his voice. “About that... is... biting something you enjoy or...”
“I believe it’s the first time I’ve done such a thing. It’s just that otherwise I might have screamed as I... when I, and so I...”
His eyes widened. And then he closed them slowly, and squeezed them a bit, looking like a man in agony.
“What,” he said hoarsely, “are you trying to do to me, Angelique?”
“It’s... unwise, Lucien. What we did. We can’t. We just can’t.”
“What on earth doeswisdomhave to do with what we did last night? I do not bet on horse races for thewisdomof it. One does not eat blancmange for thewisdomof it. Wisdom is the very opposite of pleasure.”
“Actually—”
He was exasperated. “Indulge me. You take my point.”
“Tell me, should you never make love to me again, can you imagine making love to other women?”
The question clearly startled and unnerved him.
“Of course. In the same way that if I’m denied a roast goose I shall inevitably eat hardtack if it’s the only sustenance available.”
“H-hardtack, is it? Sustenance, is it? Sweet Mary mother of...” Her voice had gone faint.
She gave her head a shake.
“What on earth did you expect me to say, Angelique? I am the last person to join a monastery.”
“Appetites are fleeting, Lucien. One endures them until they pass. You’ve endured greater trials. You’ll endure this one, trust me.”
“What if I told you I knew untold ways to give pleasure, and all I want to do is show you all of them?”
“Oh, honestly. Untold?”
“It’s very difficult to seduce a woman who refuses to admire my hyperbole. And it took me years to perfect it.”
“And I imagine dozens of women to hone it once it was perfected.”
He was still. “For God’s—notdozens. What do you take me for?” And now he sounded surprised, bordering on genuinely angry, which surprisedher.