Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 89331 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 447(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 298(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89331 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 447(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 298(@300wpm)
Torin heard not an ounce of doubt in her words. She was sure of his ability to keep her safe even from a ghost and that delighted him more than he expected.
Flora found herself far too interested in his lips, recalling how they felt when he kissed her and thinking how she would not mind if he kissed her again. The unusual thought struck some sense back into her. This was not the time to desire a kiss.
Desire.
Was it desire and not curiosity that had brought the thought to mind? Had his kiss sparked her dormant desire and left her longing for him?
Whatever was the matter with her? She had far more important things on her mind than a kiss. Why then did it refuse to leave her thoughts?
She forced herself to ask a question which disturbed her even more since questions came so naturally to her. “One thing that puzzles me is why wasn’t the sound heard earlier on, though the stones could have shifted in the chimneys over time, or the wind may have grown in intensity.”
Torin listened to his wife ask and answer her questions as he finished wiping her face clean, which he had done several minutes ago. He continued running the cloth over her face as an excuse to keep hold of her chin, so he could gaze closely on her. Her beauty could not be denied. She possessed the most flawless skin, not a mark or blemished marred it and there was a silky softness to it that he needed no touch to feel. Her dark eyebrows arched perfectly above her dark eyes and the edges of her long dark lashes had the slightest curve to them and framed her eyes beautifully. But it was her lips that captivated him the most since he had an unrelenting ache to kiss her. It was an ache that never seemed to dissipate. It lingered in him, and he feared it might never leave him. But was that so bad? She was his wife, and he could kiss her any time he liked.
He caught a brief flare of desire spark in her eyes, surprising him since it was mostly curiosity he saw there, but not this, not curiosity. It was a flash of passion he saw. Could she truly want him to kiss her? There was only one way to find out and only one way to silence his wife’s endless chatter.
He lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her, not a soft, simple kiss, but a hardy, meaningful one.
Flora hurried her arms around his neck, his commanding kiss leaving her a bit soft on her feet and she instinctively leaned against him. She returned his kiss with equal fervor, enjoying it and the fact that he had wanted to kiss her just as she wanted him to.
After their lips fed hungrily on each other, not coming close to satisfying the relentless thirst that Torin feared might never be quenched, he slowed their kiss reluctantly. When her arms fell away from around his neck, he cupped her face and showered her lips with light kisses.
Her eyes fluttered open, though she did not recall closing them and when his lips drifted off hers and his hands fell away from her face, she smiled. “I truly enjoy your kisses.”
“And I truly enjoy kissing you,” he admitted, brushing his lips over hers one last time.
She sighed with a pleasure that was new to her. “Is it permissible for me to kiss you, not a peck on the cheek, but a kiss like we just shared, and not wait for you to kiss me?”
“You have my permission to do just that any time you’d like,” he said hastily. “And I do not mind pecks either.”
Flora pressed her hand on his chest. “I know I have mentioned this before, but a reminder always helps. This is all very new to me, and I am eager to learn all I can.”
“And I have plans to teach you,” he reminded as well.
“I love gaining knowledge. I believe it feeds the mind and soul, which reminds me we must go speak with Hadwin, then I can return with the servants to the keep so they will see there is nothing to fear.” She glanced at her hand on his chest and grimaced as she moved it off him. “I got soot on you.”
“My shirt can be washed, worry not,” he said, having liked that she had not simply rested her hand upon his chest, but had pressed it firmly. His heart already had been beating strongly from their kiss, her simple touch had made it pound and he had wondered if she could feel it.
Flora hurried to wash her hands, then gave her hair a good brushing after her husband reminded her that it had been sprinkled with soot. She braided it quickly, then washed her hands again.