AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He grinned at her.
She smiled shyly at him and escaped to her blanket to dream of that kiss once more.
Claw Hand never kissed her like that. He always pecked her on the cheek. She tried to compare Claw Hand to Aiden, but they didn't compare. Claw Hand was a sweet, and unassuming man. He never took anything from her, but always gave.
But Aiden had matured, and he was worldlier than she realized. He could manipulate her any way he wanted, and he knew it. And yet his kisses were as gentle as a soft rain.
When he saw her staring, he smiled. "Goodnight sweetheart."
Why did he say such beautiful things to her? Things that made her heart leap, her mind reach out for him.
She drifted off to sleep before she realized it.
The next morning Aiden was up and checking the weather from the barrel he'd drove into the entrance wall.
"It's stopped snowing, but we'll have to dig out of here when we leave."
"Are we leaving today?" she asked making the coffee.
"No, not yet. The temperature hasn't risen enough yet. We aren't in any rush, none of us. I don't see any reason to try to leave yet. It's still very cold out there, probably below any scale. Too easy to get frostbite. We'll hold up a bit longer. We've plenty of food, and supplies."
"You're the boss." She shrugged.
"Is it getting to you?"
"What?" she glanced at him.
Bad choice, he looked devastatingly handsome this morning.
"Staying inside?"
"No, I'm fine." She told him.
"You forget I know you too well," he came up and kissed her on the ear. "You've got the cabin fever. But it will only be a few more days."
"Days?" she protested.
He smiled beguilingly at her. "Days."
She put some fatback in the small pan and began to cook it.
The smell rousted the others.
Aiden fed and watered the horses.
Lucy realized she thought differently of Aiden now. She had to find a way to act normal around him. She couldn't be swooning every time he walked into a room, although her heartbeat always quickened when she looked at him.
His mastery of the kiss made her way too aware of him. She wished on one hand he'd never kissed her, and on the other that he'd take her and make her his.
But maybe now that he knew what had happened, he wouldn't want her. She'd heard that men no longer wanted women who'd been tainted like that.
It was nonsense, her mind seemed to slap her back to reality. Aiden wasn't a man to take a woman. He had control, something she lacked.
Was he romancing her to get her to comply with the army? No, he wouldn’t do that. But he couldn't possibly have feelings for her, could he?
No, that was her dream, not his! And she had to remember that.
Aiden had always flirted with her, it was his way. But now that she had grown up, she was taking it seriously. She couldn't do that. He'd always been charming to her, sweet. She just let herself dream a bit too much was all.
