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A step closer to his dream of becoming a knight. And yet, Alden was clearly flawed too. The very chivalric code he would live by would prevent him from holding out his hand, as he did now.
Elara looked at it.
Then up at him.
Do not allow fear or doubt hold you back, son.
He had both in equal measure as the moment stretched on. She would deny him, but Alden could not regret his question, mostly because . . . he already knew the answer. But would Elara admit as much to him?
She pushed her chair back.
Stood.
Took his hand.
Alden pulled his instructor to him and grasped the back of her head with both hands, weaving his fingers through her hair. Groaning at the silkiness of it, at her scent, at the look she gave him as Alden’s head descended toward hers, it hit him.
He was about to kiss her.
Lady Elara Wycliff. His instructor. The woman he’d thought of like this, in his arms, since the moment they met.
Nay, he was not going to simply kiss her.
She is mine, from this moment on.
Their lips crashed together, and though he did not know how much experience she had in kissing, Alden was determined to consume her anyway. His tongue ran across the crease of her lips, demanding entry.
Elara opened for him, and he took advantage. Holding her head still, his lips moved over hers, his tongue demanding more than she’d likely been prepared to give him. If she had never kissed this way before, Elara was a quick learner.
When she touched her tongue to his, Alden did not even attempt to stop the sound that escaped, a groan filled with such longing that there was no mistaking how he felt about this kiss.
Her hands lay on his shoulders, more tentative than he’d expected from Elara.
Breaking the kiss momentarily, he looked down, into her eyes. “You’ve yet to answer my question,” he said, aware she’d done so by taking his hand.
But Alden wanted more.
Needed more.
“Possessed. ’Tis a strong word.”
“Aye. Lest there be no doubt, I mean to completely captivate you. I want you to think of me when you wake, and before you sleep, as I do you. This is not simply a kiss, Elara.”
“What is it, then?”
Was it wise to push aside the consequences of them being discovered? Nay. But he did so anyway.
“A claiming.”
Her nose flared.
This was no ordinary woman, nor one who wished to be controlled. Neither would Alden wish to do so, but he did want Elara to understand that she possessed him just as completely.
“If we are caught—”
“We cannot be.”
“By its very definition, the word implies very little control over such a consequence.”
