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And then I admit, “That was my second.”

“And your first kiss, was it like that one?”

“Aye. ’Twas pleasant enough.”

He has the same look as Warin did when he escorted me here. As if he knows something I do not. Except I know my brother’s secret and I do not know what Erik hides from me. His smile is as amused as it is suddenly playful.

“Pleasant. Nice.”

“Aye.”

“Hmmm.”

I have no time to interpret the sound before he lowers his head again. When his lips meet mine this time, his tongue is there as well, gliding along the folds of my mouth.

“Open for me, Reyne.”

I am unsure what he means. Fara’s books spoke of passion and desire, and even of kissing, but they make no mention of how it is done.

I open my mouth to ask Erik for further instruction, but before I am able, his tongue glides inside and touches my own. At first the shock eclipses all other feelings, but then I start to wonder what, precisely, I should do. Fortunately, there is no need. Erik shows me.

And when I touch my tongue fully to his, he groans.

His mouth completely covers mine as he tilts his head to the side. Taking his lead, I kiss him back, until much later, breathless, Erik pulls away. I stare at his mouth and lips in wonder. So the books weren’t stuff and nonsense after all. How could he have aroused such feelings in me this quickly?

“Your tongue,” I say, only then realizing how ridiculous that sounds. “I did not know.”

“That, my dear Reyne, was your first kiss. The other was nothing more than a touching of our lips. A greeting.”

I laugh. “I have greeted many people before, Erik, and can assure you, I do not do so with my lips.”

He is so handsome when he smiles.

“A proper kiss cannot be described with words such as nice. Or pleasant. A proper kiss makes you crave more.”

“If that is so, then aye, that was my first kiss.” Because I most certainly do crave more.

For a moment I think he will kiss me again. Instead, Erik releases me and runs his hand through his hair.

“If we stay here, I will show you what else my tongue can do, dear Reyne. And that will not do.”

In fact, I think it would do nicely. But I don’t say so aloud, because he still has not answered my question. Does he love another?

Unwilling to ruin this moment, I choose not to ask again. But I will, soon.

Mayhap after I learn what else, precisely, he can do with his tongue.

16

Erik

“You can taste the bitterness, on the tip of your tongue,” I say to the men sitting around the fire. Each night Gille, Bradyn, and I have come here to the Moray tents. Reyne and I continue to dance around our mutual desire, our eyes meeting more than once.

Mentioning my tongue in conversation has become a private jest between us these past three days. And although my attention should be fixed on Lord Rawlins and the threat he poses, I find this seduction of Reyne has captured too much of it.

“Do they teach ya at the capital how to taste ale?” a man named John asks.

I resist looking toward Reyne, whose father and brother are sitting with us, after all. Instead, I answer his question with a smile. Meant for her.