CHAPTER 76
There was a part of her that was quite nervous—she had never done this before after all. “Kallias, you’ve never done this before, have you?”
“No.”
“Me neither. We might not be good at it.”
He shrugged. “Then we try again until we are. But are you sure you want to tonight?” he asked, stroking her face. “You look so tired.”
She imagined a lot of that had to do with Mr. Runington, and she did not want to think about him now.
She pushed him down—to his complete shock—and straddled him, smiling triumphantly.
“Daria!” he cried, going red, suddenly looking like the most modest of ladies.
All that kissing he had done down her throat, well, now it was his turn. She kissed him, first his face, then his jaw, his neck, his chest, his abs. She could feel his body tensing, arching up to meet her lips.
“Daria, please,” he murmured. “If I…if I get any more excited, I’m not going to be able to stop.”
“Good. I don’t want you to stop.”
She laughed. His expression was adorable, like a shy bride on her wedding night.
“But honestly, what if…what if it…what if we…?”
She silenced him with a kiss. “We’ll stop if we have to stop.”
It was true; there were valid concerns. He probably weighed more than a man, his tail probably made him longer than one too, and who knew what else was different?
“Would you be more comfortable in water?” she asked.
“Maybe a little,” he admitted. “To move better. Maybe just to the lapping shore.”
Then sitting up and spinning, he pulled her to him.
Her back fell against his chest, and he began running his lips down her neck.
She wasn’t sure how such an innocuous gesture could set her soul on fire, but it did—like his lips could create literal sparks under her skin, like he could possess and consume her with just a touch.
And it was so gentle a touch, so loving, so caring that it was as if he was speaking through bodies not words, like he never needed to learn a common language at all to understand her completely too, and for the first time, she asked him for something in his language.
“Tell me how to say ‘I love you’ in your language.”
She could feel his smile against her skin. “Amorare ite.”
She turned her head to meet him and kissed his lips. “Amorare ite.”