“Nay, the stockings would annoy me. The only thing I wear to bed is my nightdress.”
He did not need to be reminded of that. He had realized it the first night he had slept beside her, and it had not been easy to ignore. The garment would bunch up around her thighs and he would wake to find his bare legs entangled with her naked ones. He loved the feel of them soft and warm against him, but bloody hell if it didn’t arouse him.
Another yawn from her had him shaking his head. He realized how exhausted she was, and his ardor cooled. She needed to sleep.
He dropped down in front of her again, only this time it was to remove her stockings. He made quick work of it, though he would have preferred to linger, her soft skin begging him to do just that.
“I love your touch,” she whispered, not able to ignore the way his fingers brushed along her calves and sent a lovely sensation running through her.
He raised his head and their eyes met, and he knew he was in trouble. “You are tired.”
“Not too tired for a kiss,” Flora said softly and leaned forward, her lips reaching for his.
It was just a kiss. One simple kiss, he told himself and brought his lips to hers.
It may have been a simple kiss, but it shot a jolt of passion through him that hit him hard, an intense passion that he had never known before now here with her. It was as if he had never genuinely enjoyed a kiss, never genuinely enjoyed touching a woman, never genuinely wanted a woman as much as he wanted his wife.
His hand went to rest at her back while his lips took command of the kiss, demanding more from her, from them both. Her hand slipped around the back of his neck to hold tight, to keep him there and not let him go. It flared his passion even more and he feared the kiss would not be enough for either of them.
She leaned forward, pressed her chest against his and his hand slipped down her back to her waist just above her hip and gripped there.
Flora tore her mouth off his, a sharp gasp escaping her, and squeezed her eyes shut tight against the pain.
Torin cursed himself a thousand times over, having been so caught up in their kiss that he had forgotten all about her injury.
“Forgive me, Flora, I forgot,” he said, angry that he had caused her pain.
She rested her brow to his as the pain subsided. “There is nothing to forgive, husband.” She chuckled. “It is the fault of the kiss. It was so magnificent that it made us both lose all common sense, and I did not mind it at all.”
There went another poke at his heart. How the woman could make him feel good when he had caused her pain amazed him.
“I agree with you there, wife. I have never known kisses as magnificent as the ones I share with you,” he said.
Flora raised her head. “Truly. I do well at kissing?”
“Exceptionally so.”
“I thought I would have to practice more.”
Torin was about to tell her that she could still do that when she went right on talking.
“But it never hurts to keep practicing, become even more proficient.”
“Aye. Aye,” he agreed, nodding.
“We can practice often.”
Torin went right on agreeing. “Aye. Aye.”
A yawn rushed out of her. “I want to keep kissing you.” Her hand reached out to rest against his chest. “And touch you. I don’t know why but I have this need to touch you, Torin.”
“And I want to touch you, Flora. I want to roam your naked body with my hands and my lips and get to know every part of you intimately,” he said softly and brushed his lips over hers. “But another night when you are not tired and in pain.”
Flora contained the sensitive shudder that his remark had sent through her and flamed the small ache that had settled between her legs. She felt a bit breathless but managed to say, “I can do the same to you.”
Torin kept hold of the groan that rushed to his lips, but he could not prevent a bit of it from slipping out.
Not trusting the rest from spewing out, he nodded, until the groan dissipated in his chest, then said, “Aye, you can touch and kiss my body whenever you want.”