( that gets a laugh from him, and he relaxes back in the chair -- elizabeth still in his lap and ivan dragging her down to lay partly on his chest. )

Nervous as hell. First time having sex, too, when I was fifteen. Every boy likes to pretend they know what they're doing, even when they don't. She was older than me, one of my great uncle's stable hands. ( he considers this, remembers the times his uncle had to call him off from swiving the serving girls in his mother's house and coughs slightly. ) It, uh, might have set a trend for a few years.

( this is nice, though, and he lets out a sigh as his eyes drift shut, hands still running up and down elizabeth's sides and back. )