“Oh yes,” he pulled back and looked at her with glowing eyes. “I'm
impressed you commented back there. You spoke up in front of everyone. You're
doing so much better than I expected, love. Your courage is… very arousing.”
“I'm glad you find it so,” she said, batting her eyelashes flirtatiously at him.
Then she turned serious. “I wasn't trying to be brave, you know. It just bothers
me how people try to ignore things because the thoughts are unpleasant while others are suffering and even dying around them. Bravo to Mr. Browning for making us look and think.”
“That's how I feel too. Before I read the poems, I must confess, such things
didn't occupy my mind as much as they do now.” He told her more clearly what
he meant by kissing her again. “Sweet lady,” he mumbled against her soft lips.
“I'm so very glad I married you.”
“Oh, so am I. You're a marvelous husband, Christopher.”
“Thank you. It's so nice having a wife; someone I can talk to and kiss and make love to whenever we want.” He nipped her lower lip.
She moaned softly. “It's all so good. Better than I ever expected.”
He seemed to take her words as an invitation and tongued the edge of her teeth, eliciting another soft sound.
“Kat,” he said, pulling away as though a sudden thought occurred to him.
Though the loss of his kiss made her want to pout, she focused on his words.
“Yes?”
“Um, have you ever heard any of the other matrons talking about marriage?”
He stroked one hand over her hip as he spoke, clearly trying to keep the mood on
their intimacy.
I wonder where he's headed with this. “A bit, why?”
“There's kind of a ridiculous attitude about marital intimacy circling about these days, and I wanted to be sure you weren't confused by it.”
“What would that be?” Get to the point, love, so you can kiss me again.
“Well…” he paused as though considering his words before continuing. “A
small number of people are making everyone nervous by saying—or implying—
that a decent woman ought not to enjoy making love at all, not even with her husband.”
Katerina raised her eyebrows. “Is there any truth to it?”
He shook his head. “None that I know of. I mean, if men want to enjoy passionate relations with women, and adultery is a sin, what option does that leave?”
“Obviously the best one; a happy marriage.” She trailed her fingers over his
jaw, enjoying the prickle of the day's growth of whiskers. “And as you once reminded me, the scriptures are not shy about extolling the virtues of passionate,
married love.”
He smiled, teeth flashing in the darkness, and she could see she'd given the
answer he wanted. “Exactly. I suspect some families, in an attempt to prevent their daughters from being seduced, teach them to fear intimacy altogether, or perhaps even be disgusted by it.”
“That's possible,” she said, pondering. “Also, having barely-willing wives
gives dishonest men the excuse they want in order to be unfaithful.”
His lips twisted. “Perhaps. Well, at any rate, it's not true, and I didn't want you to be swayed by it.”
“You needn't worry about me, Christopher,” she replied, touching her lips to
his forehead. “Even if it were true, I care more for you than I do for the opinions
of those who would best be served to mind their own business. I would rather sin
with you—if it is a sin—than be virtuous.”
