Emerald Desire (Emerald Trilogy) by Lynette Vinet

a man you see now. No, once I was robust and women found pleasure with me. Then I married Elvina. She was a good woman, but too saintly for my tastes, and she frowned upon the marriage bed and made me feel like a fiend for wishing to make love to her. When she realized there would be no children, she gave up sleeping with me. Any other man would have sought physical joy elsewhere, but I have always considered myself an honorable man. I couldn't renege on my marriage vows. Besides, it was too late by then. Elvina had ruined me with her pitiful cries and saintly ways. Then I saw you, and for the first time in years, I wanted to be a man again."
    Tears clouded his green eyes, and Dera felt some tenderness for him. The great lord, the man whom Quint hated so much, was to be pitied. He had wealth and position, but could not be a man in the true sense. She reached out and stroked his cheek. "Perhaps we could try again, my lord."
    His eyes brightened, but he shook his head. "That is very generous of you, very kind. But it is too late for me. I shall never have the child I long for; and you, the woman I love, and I do love you in my own way, cannot help me." He still clasped her hand to his chest. Then he relinquished his hold and donned his dressing gown. When he had finished, he sat on the bed. "Dera, you are my wife and I will treat you well. I shall give you everything a woman could desire if you agree to promise me one thing."
    "What, my lord?"
    "I want your promise to remain faithful to me, that you will not sleep with other men. I couldn't abide the humiliation." He looked pleadingly at her. "Have I your word?"
    "Yes," she said simply.
    "Good. I won't break my word to you or to your uncle. Now get some rest, my dear." He kissed her lips.
    She waited until after he had left her room before slipping out of bed. As much as she had dreaded sleeping with Avery at first, she now wished she had. She had glimpsed another side of him and was just beginning to learn about this complex man. She would never love him as a wife, but she could love him as a friend. And as a friend, she would keep her promise.
    Keeping her word would be easy since the man she loved no longer loved her.
    Dera walked to the window and parted the drapes. The glow of the moonlight bathed her naked skin with a silvery hue. Instinctively, her eyes traveled the length of the estate and rested on the spot where she knew Quint's cottage lay. It upset her to think that Peg McConnell was probably sleeping with him at that very moment.
    She blew out the candle by the bedside; then with passion, she hurled it across the room.
     
     
    Quint waited some minutes after she extinguished the candle. The night was cold, but the rain had ceased, and the skies grew clear. He had been waiting in the bushes from the moment the candles were lit in Dera's room, hoping for a glimpse of her, some picture of her to hold in his mind's eye. He had never expected to see her, standing before the window, naked and incredibly beautiful.
     
    His body ached with renewed desire for her. He imagined himself bounding up the stairs to her room and carrying her away from Lord Fairfax. He would spirit her away to a secret hiding place where he'd make constant love to her until she was spent. Then he would ignite her passion again and make her beg for him. Yes, beg for him! He wanted her to suffer as he had been suffering.
    In the darkness, Quint clenched his teeth, imagining the woman he loved mating with that English dog. Visions of her body entwining around Fairfax's, her slender arms eagerly grasping for him, filled his mind and made him wild with jealousy. God, he wanted to hate her and he would hate her! He resolved to do so.
    Quint returned to his cottage where he found Peg asleep upon the rushes, a thin blanket covered her.
    Like a man possessed by an inner demon, he pulled off his pants and yanked the cover from Peg's naked form. She woke up, her eyes full of sleep. "Quint, you're