We leaned back, resting on the soft moss, letting our hands explore each other.He caressed the small of my back in broad strokes, just barely dipping his fingers under the waistband of my trousers.I ran my hand down his neck, across his strong shoulders, feeling the strength in his arms.I grazed his armpit, and he giggled into my mouth.
“Sorry,” I said.
“No, I like it.”
“You do, huh?”With that encouragement, I raised his arm by the wrist, then pressed my nose into the tender skin under the shoulder.Darion gasped, a mix of surprise and pleasure.And wow, that sound he made flipped a switch in me.Suddenly all I could think about was ripping his clothes off.The image of him in his wet drawers at the pond flashed in my mind.
Somewhere deep in the cavern, a rock shifted.We both sat up, instantly alert.We were, after all, in a cave in the Underworld.Obscure as it was, it wasn’t exactly a private space.
I wasn’t sure how to broach the subject of what came next.We couldn’t go back to my place with Elena there, and I didn’t even know where Darion lived.
I looked into his eyes.“So…”
“So,” he echoed.
But the mood had shifted.I could sense it.
“Can I come by your cart tomorrow?”Darion asked.“I thought maybe I could bring us lunch and we could have another picnic.But maybe one with more kissing.”
“More kissing sounds great,” I said.“And maybe more than just kissing.”
The longing in Darion’s eyes nearly bored holes into my chest and straight through my heart.“Muchmore than kissing,” he said.
Chapter fifteen
Rotten Apples
Ihadsleptsome.Maybenot enough.But knowing Darion was alive and safe had lifted such a weight off of me that even with yesterday’s whiplash of emotions, I still felt like I was floating on air.
“You look much better today,” was the first thing Elena said when she saw me coming down from the loft.Then her eyes went wide.“You found Darion, didn’t you?”
“I did.”I could almost cry, seeing the relief in her eyes.
She hugged me.“I’m so glad.”
“So am I.You have no idea.”
“What happened to him?”
“He had a run-in with the Royal Guards.He didn’t really tell me much more than that.”
“Why do men think they need to keep all these secrets?”she asked nobody in particular.“When will you see him again?”
“He’s stopping by the cart around midday.”
Elena rolled her eyes.“Yes, I’ll watch the cart again.”
I kissed her cheek.
As I helped patrons throughout the morning, my mind drifted to Darion again and again.Why had this man, of all the men in Analon, captured my interest?What was so special about him?The answer to my question presented itself quickly when Darion walked up to me with a blazing smile that made the last three days of dread melt away like snow in the hot sun.
He didn’t say a word.He simply came up, wrapped his arms around me, and kissed me without a care for what anybody else thought.Even with my jubilant mood, I was still taken aback by his public affection.
Still holding me in his arms, he said, “Hello.”
“I like how you say hello,” I said with a smile.
Elena watched all of this with an incredulous expression, her eyebrows high and her mouth a crooked smile.
