"How wonderful that you have this book. Look, the pictures in it are amazing, and I'm sure should you study them, you may learn the ways of a woman. Become a wonderful lover."
He cleared his throat, stupefied at the image she studied. A man and woman, entwined, but not head to head, it was head to toe, except they were not suckling each other's feet, but their genitals.
He'd seen the book, had looked at it before his first season, and had thought it marvelous, not that he'd had the ability to become rakish as the men in the book depicted.
"It was my father's. He's had it since he was a young man."
"What do you think they're doing here?" she asked, turning the book this way and that.
"Having sex without intercourse," he said bluntly. She looked at him, the light in her eyes curious, and he willed himself not to ask her if she'd like to do such things with him. Had she never experimented with her husband? Possibly not, since the fool found comfort in everyone else’s bed except his wife.
Damn, he would adore to have her so.
He ought to study the book more and learn the way of a woman's body and know what to do with his mouth and cock when the time came. The idea of leaving a woman unsatisfied was almost as bad as not knowing his own name.
She turned the page, and the image made her gasp, a sweet sound that went directly to his throbbing cock. The man, this time, was going down on a woman, her legs spread wide, her face contorted into a vision of pleasure. Her arms clenching the bedding, maddening even to look at visually.
"Well, I say," she whispered, shifting a little on the settee. "What do you think the woman gets out of such interactions with her lover?"
Albert had taken himself in hand, knew pleasure, even if he had never found it with a woman. "She would climax from his kiss there. He would suckle and kiss her with his lips and tongue, bring her to a peak of pleasure that is one of life's greatest gifts."
"Married as I was, I still did not know any of this was possible." She stared at him, her tongue darting out to lick her lips. "Have you ever found such gratification in this way with a woman?"
He closed his eyes, willing himself for strength. "No."
She narrowed her eyes. "With yourself then?”
He nodded, unsure how much he should tell her. The conversation was already scandalous, and should her brother even hear of them speaking so, widow or not, they would be before a priest before the crack of dawn.
Which, in Albert's opinion, would not be so bad. As for Victoria, she would feel managed, pressured, and would hate him for it. If she were to marry him, it had to be of her own fruition.
"Yes, it's possible for both men and women."
Her gasp of breath was just audible, and his stomach clenched, the need to taste her lips, suckle her mouth as much as he wanted to do such things to other parts of her body burned through him. As a man, surely it would not be so difficult to learn how to seduce a woman. He was comfortable with Victoria, hell, they had already shared a kiss, and that seemed as natural as breathing.
He wanted more of the same. But how to make her see that he was more than just a friend one could be honest and open with. The man for her, if only she would see him.
Victoria turned her attention back to the book, flipping the page over to a new drawing. Albert swallowed hard. The image was of a woman, on her knees and hands, the man thrusting into her from behind.
Again the woman's face was contorted into one of pleasure, the man's also, showing enjoyment.
"You cannot tell me that this is a position that a couple would partake in." Victoria studied the image, turning the book this way and that. "I do not think this would feel very enjoyable."
She was literally killing him. As a man who had never laid with a woman, to want one as much as he wanted Victoria and have her speak of sex, studying images of the act was torture.
His cock was erect, weeping, and damn it, he wanted her to touch him. He wanted to bend her over the settee where they now sat and take her in such a way until they both found release.
"From what I understand, that act is possible and enjoyable for both."
She glanced up at him, her eyes widened. "You speak as if you are unsure." She stared at him, her eyes narrowing. "Are you a virgin, Albert?"
Should he tell her the truth? Something told him that Victoria held the truth in high regard, and it would do him little favor if he were to lie to her. And there was no shame in being a virgin. If anything, he ought to pride himself on the fact that he hadn't squirted his seed all over London with abandonment.
"I am indeed a virgin. Does that shock you?"
She bit her lip yet again, and his attention snapped to her lips. They were so close on the settee he could feel the heat of her body, the sweet, flowery scent of her hair. He wanted to run his fingers through it. Hell, he wanted to do a lot of things. Kiss her soft, supple skin along her back while he took her just as the image before them depicted.
"No," she said, shaking her head. "I like it that you are."
Albert leaned forward, needing to taste her, wanting her with a
