“You were holding your breath, weren’t you?”
She nodded and pressed her lips together.
“Your hands are cold,” he said, squeezing them lightly.
“Mm-hmm.”
He started to release her, but she slipped her hands under his and held on.
“No,” she said. “It’s good like this.”
Roen folded his hands around hers a second time and then he raised them and pressed them to his chest. She’d be able to feel his heartbeat, feel the furnace that was his skin through his clothes. A sound escaped her lips; a hum of pleasure, he thought, and because she did not appear embarrassed, he decided she hadn’t heard or hadn’t realized it had come from her.
When she closed her eyes, he bent his head and placed his mouth against hers again. She stirred, surprised, but stayed exactly as she was. Her lips parted on the same sweet breath she had taken before, only this time she breathed out as well. Roen stole that breath.
He took care to see that the kiss was brief, that it remained chaste, and that she wasn’t merely suffering his touch. When he lifted his head, her eyes were still closed, her face stayed tilted toward him, and the imprint of his kiss lingered in the shape of her mouth.
A small shudder shook Lily’s slender frame. She tipped forward and rested her forehead against Roen’s shoulder. “I wish you hadn’t done that,” she whispered. “You didn’t ask if you could.”
His chin rested against her hair. “Was it against your will?”
She was a long time in answering. Finally, “No.”
“But you would have liked a moment to prepare, is that it?”
“Yes.”
“To steel yourself.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Lily ducked out from under his chin and tugged on her hands to free them from his grasp. He let her go easily, but she didn’t go far. Her back was to the table. She curled her fingers around the edge. “Must you have a reason? Isn’t it enough that I don’t want to be surprised?”
Roen considered this. It was a half-truth at best. “It’s enough,” he said at length. “For now.”
Lily stared after him as he left the room and continued to stare at the vacant doorway. It felt like a long time later that she extinguished the lamp and followed in Roen’s wake. She had provided him with an explanation, hadn’t she? It had to be enough. For always.
•••
Hannah and Clay eventually tired of their waiting game. Playing cards had only ever been an excuse to stay up as long as possible and keep Lily and Roen in their sights. Some of the pleasure they derived from that was taken away when Lily suggested that they play cards as a foursome, and after she and Roen won the first three games, they surrendered to their yawns and trudged off to bed.
“You cheated,” Roen said, gathering the cards.
“Shh. They’ll hear you.”
“You cheated,” he whispered. He got up from the floor and held out a hand to Lily. “I haven’t played cards on the floor since I was eight. The next time you have this idea, we move the game to a table.”
“Agreed.” She put her hand in his and let him assist her to her feet. “Why do you say I cheated?”
“Because I watched you deal from the bottom of the deck and tuck cards you didn’t like up your sleeve.”
“Oh.”
“Don’t try that if we’re on opposite teams. I’ll call you out and your children will learn how they’ve been duped.”
She tried to judge how serious he was, but his features were inscrutable. “Oh, very well,” she said uncharitably.
