Hawk's Way Grooms: Hawk's Way: The Virgin Groom

He grabbed the bottom edge of it, anxious to get it out of his way, and brushed her thigh with his fingertips. Just her thigh. She tensed slightly but didn’t pull away. He managed not to heave a sigh of relief.

It’s going to be all right. I’ll be able to do this for her.

But he was overeager and excited, worried about whether he would be able to satisfy her, and a moment later his hand accidentally brushed against the soft mound between her legs.

She jerked away from him with a cry of alarm. But he still had hold of the nightgown, and the fragile material tore. He let go, but it was too late. She was already rolled up in a tight, fetal ball with her back to him.

“Jewel—”

“I can’t!” she cried. “I can’t.”

He laid a hand on her shoulder, and she cringed away.

“Please don’t touch me,” she whispered.

He lay staring at her in shock. He should have known better than to try this. He should have known he didn’t have the experience to do it right. “What can I do?”

She turned to him, her eyes awash in despair. “I’m sorry, Mac.”

“Aw, Jewel.”

“I thought it would be all right. Because it was you,” she sobbed. “Because you’re my friend.”

He would have to confess the truth. He owed her that much. “It isn’t you, Jewel, it’s me,” he said flatly.

“You’re just saying that to make me feel better,” she said.

“No. I’m not.” He forced himself to continue as she stared up at him. “You mustn’t be discouraged by what happened here tonight. I’m sure another man, a more experienced man, could have managed things better. I lost control and frightened you.”

“But I trust you,” she protested.

“All the more reason I should have kept my hands off of you.” He huffed out a breath of air and shoved a hand through his hair in agitation.

“When you find a man you love,” he said earnestly, “a man who loves you enough to take his time and do things right, I’m sure you’ll be able to get past what happened to you.”

She sat up slowly, her chin sunk to her chest, her hands knotted in front of her knees, which were clutched to her chest. She swallowed hard. “What you’re saying is that you’re not that man.”

“No. I’m not.”

“I see.”

Evidently not. Evidently he hadn’t hinted broadly enough at his inexperience for her to realize the truth.

Now it was too late. In the heat of the moment he might have confessed his virginity. But as his passion cooled, he felt appalled at how close he had come to exposing himself to her laughter.

And she would laugh. It would be gentle laughter, kind laughter, an effervescent bubble of disbelief. But he couldn’t bear to hear it.

“If you won’t do this for me, I don’t know where to turn,” she said at last.

“There are lots of men out there who’d be attracted to you, if you’d let them see your charms.”

She shot him a twisted smile. “You mean my Enormous Endowments?”

“I wouldn’t call them that,” he protested with a startled laugh.