"He managed a genuine smile then. They broke her
heart freshly every time, his smiles. And then he flung
open his wardrobe and found another shirt, one with-
out any bloodstains, slid his arms into it, and deftly
buttoned it up. She watched with regret as all of that
masculine gloriousness disappeared under linen.
"It occurred to her that if she'd been able to spend
her life with him she would see this sort of thing all
the time. The buttoning of shirts. Shaving. All the less
erotic things, nonetheless cherished. The acts of inti-
macy that knit lives together. She wanted to soothe his
wounds and share his burdens and make his life easier,
more spontaneous, more passionate.
"It hurt."
[from How the Marquess was Won, by Julie Anne Long]
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