Take a little RED MAGIC to keep out the cold:
"Why are you
doing this? I don't need a tutor; I need
time to ride the manor. I know how farm
things should be. And," she ended,
meeting his eyes, "haven't I‑‑done my duty?"
"Splendidly." His arms
crossed around her waist and touched his lips to her shoulder. "But tutoring is not punishment. Learning should not be confined
to childhood."
He was so close, a bit whiskery and
dusty from the road, but the smell of him, the touch of his hand, rekindled all
kinds of memories, not only of the mountain, but of the tenderness between
them on the morning he'd gone away. When
he came to a kiss, she let him and promptly felt a thrill at the touch of his mouth.
"There, there, my cat woman,
please stop scratching. I was thinking
about your sweet backside every other minute I was away."
"You must excuse me, Herr
Graf," Cat muttered, head close against his great chest, "but I'm
really getting cold and my arm hurts."
"My poor Caterina," he said,
shifting to a warm rubbing of her long back.
"Damn Heidelburg. Is it
deep?"
"Herr Goran says I'll live."
"Well, then, you will. He kept telling me that last year when I
thought I was dying, swelled up and covered with pus and leeches and attacked
every other hour by surgeons with sharp knives." He pushed back the sleeve
of the morning gown to look at her bandage again. "We'll undo his bandage before you go to
bed and I'll look at it again. I've grown to be a pretty fair surgeon
myself."
With as much dignity as she could
muster, Cat started to rise.
"I would like another kiss before you go," Christoph said.
"I would like another kiss before you go," Christoph said.
"You shouldn't have got the
first! You did--what you did--before you
left and then you come back and treat me like a child ! Why do you want to waste my days so that I
won't be able to ride and watch over your land as I should?" Frustration built with every word until she
shouted: "I hate this dreary snow
pile and I hate you."
He did not let go. Because the hand he held was attached to her
throbbing arm, she couldn't bring herself to jerk that away, either.
"I think I'm right about
bringing Stocke here and I hope that in time you will understand why. Come on, dear little Cat. Just for a minute pull in those claws."
She found herself against his chest
again, cradled in his arms, her mouth repeatedly and softly kissed.
"I've been on fire for more of
those sweets I stole on the mountain.
Why can’t you believe I'm in love with you?"
"Because you say it too
easily." Nevertheless in the next instant she was kissing him back with
answering warmth.
Not only did it feel good, but Cat was
beginning to understand that his wanting bestowed upon her a kind of power...
"Our marriage is in its seventh
month. Must we go into the New Year
quarreling?"
"Yes." In spite of his words, in spite of the warm
excitement she experienced in his arms, she still felt cross with him.
"By God," he chuckled
softly, "the next time we see your Papa I'm going to tell him this is no
red filly he's married me to, but a tough little red mule."
~~ Juliet Waldron
RED MAGIC
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http://connievines.blogspot.com.au/ Connie Vines
