Asher sits down on the end of his bed, giving Nathaniel the courtesy of holding his gaze, though he's ashamed that he ran away from Nathaniel, that he cannot truly say he regrets bedding Anita and Jean-Claude.

"I cannot speak for Jean-Claude, but yes, I was glad to share his bed." Asher's voice turns a little darker, a little more bitter. "But for as little as I was allowed to touch him, it would have made no difference had I been alone with Anita. I lay in Jean-Claude's arms, I kissed his neck, shared his ardeur...but we did not touch, caress, the way we would have done in years past. Anita would not permit it." He knew the taste of Jean-Claude's skin, renewed, but not his mouth. Not the weight of his sex in Asher's hand.