Lucien had patients first thing the next morning. He had a bit of trouble concentrating on treating Jimmy Watson's rubella, his mind was so full of his plans for later in the day. He had put a lot of thought into Jean's second lesson. Their second lesson, really. He'd been learning all about her as she learned about herself and all that they could do together.

That first lesson had gone so far beyond what he'd anticipated. Lucien loved her no matter what, loved her more than he could say, would love her no matter what their sex life ended up being. He wanted her so desperately, and he wanted for her to enjoy their love life, certainly. But the degree of her openness and eagerness, even despite her doubts and concerns, had left him woefully unprepared during their first encounter.

He'd told her to tell him what to do. But he had no idea that she would want so much or that she would come around to being able to tell him so quickly. His heart raced as he wrote the prescription for Mrs. Watson and bid them farewell.

Jean walked the Watsons out and then stepped in to the surgery. "Lucien?"

"Yes?"

She was blushing slightly. "That was your last appointment for the day."

He nodded. "Yes, I know," he replied.

Jean bit her bottom lip slightly. "Matthew phoned that he won't be coming home for lunch.

His eyes widened. "Oh did he?"

"We'll be alone till dinner. Would you like to have lunch and then I can meet you in the study?" she asked him shyly. But Jean, bless her, was standing tall and proud, her wonderful way of fighting past her nerves.

Lucien smiled. "I think perhaps we should skip lunch, if it's all the same to you."

"Aren't you hungry?"

His smile widened. "Oh yes. But I'm not hungry for food."

"You're hungry for…?

"You."

Jean swallowed hard and a shiver passed through her. Lucien was looking at her like he was quite hungry for her. It was astounding, really, to see him not even attempt to hide his amorous attentions. And Jean hadn't realized until that moment that he must have been hiding his feelings quite a lot before. Or perhaps it was just their first lesson that had enticed him so. Yes, that was probably it. He probably hadn't wanted her as much the first time.

But now he'd seen her and felt her and made her come apart in his hand, quite literally, and perhaps now he wanted her as a result. And wasn't that a rather pleasing thought? That he'd seen her and felt her and not found her wanting?

In spite of herself, Jean smiled rather proudly. "I see. Straight to the study, then? Would you like me to change my clothes this time?"

"Not the study, no." He frowned, just then, as though a distressing thought had just occurred to him.

"What's wrong?" she asked quickly, trying to prevent her heart from sinking in her chest too much.

"Well I can't quite decide. So perhaps I'll ask you when we get started. Since these lessons are for you. And I need to do a better job of remembering that," Lucien replied.

"Alright," Jean replied, not quite fully understanding what he was talking about.

He sighed lightly, refocusing his attention on her. "Right, would you like to begin, or shall we start later?"

"Oh! Well, now is fine," she answered. It just hit her in that moment that they would be doing…things. And all of her nerves returned. After all, she had no idea what to expect. Lucien seemed to have a plan of some kind, but being kept out of the loop was never something Jean had been very good at accepting.

But Lucien, as always, treated her so very kindly. He crossed the surgery and reached for her hand. "Shall we?"

Jean took hold of his hand and felt very comforted by his affectionate squeeze. She followed him through the house, not to his study, but to his bedroom. Her breath caught in her throat, and she did her best not to audibly gasp. She had expected this in the first lesson, expected him to make love to her in the manner she was used to, allowing her to get used to things. But he had taken a completely different—albeit completely wonderful—approach. And she had just assumed that the second lesson would be more of the same. Clearly, Lucien had something else in mind.

Lucien immediately noticed her falter, though she did a good job of hiding it. "Is this alright? I thought we'd need more space than just the sofa in the study could provide, and we can lock the door here, just in case. But we can go somewhere else, if you'd like."

"No, this is fine," she replied, convincing herself as much as she was answering him.

"Good." He took her into his bedroom and locked the door behind them. "Now then, this second lesson is going to be about understanding your body better. And it builds on the last lesson. Communication is key to this, I think, which is why I wanted to work on that first. I want you to explore what feels good to you, Jean, to be able to tell me what you want, once you learn what that is."

She willed her racing heart to calm. "And how are we going to do that?" she asked.

He couldn't help but chuckle. Always so practical, his Jean. Always wanting to focus on the heart of the matter. "Well first I think you'll need to be bare. And that's the part I was thinking about earlier."

"Oh were you?" she fired back with a smirk.

"Mmm, yes, but not like that," he replied with a smile of his own. "No, I thought I'd ask you if you'd like to undress yourself or if you'd like me to do it for you."

"Well, how considerate."

Her sarcasm made him laugh again. She was so much more comfortable now than she'd been last week when they'd had their first lesson. And he was so glad. He'd hoped things would only get easier for her, that she'd be able to learn and enjoy more if she was comfortable.

Despite her snide response, Jean was put at ease with his thought of giving her a choice. He'd given her a delicious sort of power last time, as difficult as it had been for her, to force her into telling him precisely what she wanted. By giving her this small choice now, he was ensuring her autonomy once again. She'd honestly never even dreamed that such a thing was at all possible. And even though she was still quite uneducated in such things, Jean had to believe that the things Lucien was doing were not just to educate her, but to show his care in a way that not many other men would bother with. He was a good man, this man of hers, and she was immensely proud and unbelievably lucky to love him.

"If you'd like to undress yourself, I don't have to watch you, if you'd rather I didn't," he offered, when she took a moment to reply.

Such a thought hadn't even occurred to Jean. But there was something quite enticing about the prospect. "I think I will undress myself," she finally told him. But I would like you to watch."