When I’m with You (Because You Are Mine #2)(21)
Author: Beth Kery

“Not at all,” the doctor reassured. “Lots of women are choosing to wait these days.”

“But can you do an exam if I’ve never had intercourse?”

“Certainly. It’s good that you told me, though. I’ll use a smaller speculum. The vaginal muscles will be tight, but the chances of you actually having an intact hymen at age twenty-four are rare. You’re in very good condition. Are you an athlete?”

“I run. I used to ride almost every day, even though I haven’t had access to a mount for a year or so.”

“More than likely, the hymen was ruptured long ago if you’ve ridden that long. We’ll take a look.”

“If the hymen is broken, then the man would never know, would he? That I was a virgin?”

Dr. Sheridan hesitated. “Is that important to you?” she asked quietly.

“Yes.”

“Probably not. Not many men are all that experienced in gauging the subtleties. But I would encourage you to talk to your partner if you do become sexually active. It would be better if he could be as gentle as possible.”

She nodded. Dr. Sheridan must have noticed her anxiety as she flipped back the cover on the tray that held the instruments for the exam. “Don’t worry. I’ll tell you everything I’m going to do beforehand.”

The exam was slightly uncomfortable, but nowhere near as bad as she’d worried. According to the doctor, her regular horseback riding or some other activity had indeed long ago ruptured her hymen. Elise was relieved to hear it.

When the doctor had finished and told her to dress, Elise grasped for her courage. Lucien had arranged this appointment and was paying for it, after all.

“What I told you about not being with a man before, that’s . . . that’s confidential, right?”

The physician looked nonplussed. “Absolutely. I’ll supply you with your records, and whom you choose to share them with is your business. But there won’t be anything in the record but pertinent testing data.”

She gave a heartfelt thanks and the doctor left the room.

Elise’d had her share of men and exchanged sexual pleasure with some of them. But she wouldn’t make herself vulnerable. The simple fact was, she was one of the wealthiest women in Europe. Men had tried to ingratiate themselves sexually and emotionally with her since she was fifteen years old. She didn’t trust that there weren’t males out there who would use her body against her. They might strive to impregnate and use a child as an excuse to marry. That had happened to one of her acquaintances, a girl named Lucinda Seacon. After Lucinda had gotten pregnant at seventeen by a worthless combination of skirt chaser and fortune hunter, Elise’s mother had given her a pack of birth-control pills. For once, Elise had followed her mother’s advice and taken them.

Better safe than sorry.

But a man might simply use intimacy to emotionally manipulate and gain the upper hand. In addition to all that, she had the example of her mother when it came to sex—not an example to follow, but an example to guard against. Any handsome man of any age was fair game to Madeline Martin, including many of Elise’s boyfriends. Elise flatly refused to sleep with a man who had shared a bed with her mother. Sometimes that seemed like half the men in Europe. Her mother had even had the nerve to come on to her friend Michael Trent when she’d drug him along for a visit to Cannes, begging him for support during a compulsory weekend spent with the sharks.

It hadn’t even mattered to her mother that Elise had told her Michael was gay, she recalled disgustedly. Her mother thought so much of her beauty and allure, she’d believed she could lure a gay man to heterosexuality. It hadn’t worked in the case of her husband, but that seemed to make Madeline all the more determined to try.

Classic Madeline.

For a variety of reasons, Elise had never felt secure or confident in romantic or sexual relationships. So she had been the one to maintain control. She grew skilled at giving a man what he wanted, of satisfying him sexually, while maintaining a safe distance. She hadn’t planned to still be a virgin at age twenty-four, but she’d never encountered anyone in her adult years with whom she was willing to take the risk.

Until now.

Not only was she majorly in lust with Lucien, but she cared about him. She probably always would, after that summer they’d spent together. She’d believed him when he’d told her in his office that he cared about her as well. Some sort of invisible bond had been forged between them that summer, and it warmed her heart to know he felt that connection, too. She may frustrate him and she may infuriate him, but he cared.

Besides, Lucien had no reason to angle for her money. He had his own, and what’s more, he was supremely aloof when it came to monetary greed.

Wasn’t he?

There was that odd obsession he seemed to have with Ian Noble. But no, she scolded herself irritably, Lucien wouldn’t do anything sleazy for financial gain. How many other people on the planet would abstain from a massive fortune that was their birthright?

No, Lucien was the one. She trusted him with her body and her well-being, despite all this bewildering domination business, not to mention her unprecedented sexual reaction to it.

Even though she’d agreed to this thing with him, she didn’t want him to know about her vulnerability . . . her relative naïveté. Especially since he’d proposed such a sophisticated sexual arrangement. First of all, he’d never believe her, given all the hyped-up press about her. His disdain would hurt. Second of all, the idea of giving herself wholly when he knew of her weakness made her feel too raw. Too exposed.

Lucien had his secrets. It was only fair that she have one of her own.

Lucien stalked through the empty, hushed interior of Fusion, feeling particularly energized at the prospect of his upcoming meeting. A switch had been flipped in him recently. He’d discovered a newfound purpose here in Chicago, and it had nothing to do with Ian Noble.

He was considering buying a lovely vintage building ideally located in the South Loop near the once venerable, still atmospheric Prairie Avenue District. The location would make it the perfect spot for a restaurant and elegant boutique hotel. It was unusual for him not to have several new business ventures going at once. He’d restrained himself in the past year, however, unsure how long his business in Chicago would take. He still had several restaurants in Paris and one in Monte Carlo, along with four thriving European luxury resort hotels. He’d learned the hotel business firsthand from his father years ago. Each of the businesses he owned today had been acquired and cultivated completely on his own, however, without his father’s money or assistance. The only debt he owed his father was the excellent training Adrien had provided by allowing him to manage several of his hotels. Lucien figured he’d repaid that debt amply in hard work and lucrative business decisions. Elise may have called him an heir the other night, but in truth Lucien had never touched a cent of his inheritance. He’d built a respectable fortune of his own, and he’d be damned if he ever pocketed dirty money.