Forged in Stone by Alyssa Rose Ivy Page A

happened to you. They are the ones that should hide. Not you.” I took her chin in my hand. “You should never hide.”
    Our eyes locked, and I didn’t think. I leaned in and brushed my lips against hers. She didn’t respond at first, but then she started to move her lips against mine. I sped up the kiss, and she put a hand on my shoulder, pulling me in. I pushed my way into her mouth, wrapping my arms around her waist as I eagerly explored her mouth. I was out of control, I could not think straight. All I was aware of was her sweet taste, and the way her fingers were tangled in my hair. I wanted to devour her, experience everything she had to offer, explore the places that no one had explored before. But I couldn’t. Not yet. I forced myself to break the kiss. I stepped back.
    She watched me, breathless, and with wide eyes. “You kissed me.”
    “You kissed me back.” I smiled. I was as affected as her, but she was not doing a very good job at hiding her reaction.
    “I did. I kissed you back, and since we are all about being honest, I want to kiss you again.”
    “You can.”
    “Now?”
    I laughed. “That eager?”
    “You ended it too soon.”
    “I ended it before I moved things too fast.”
    “I thought you liked things fast.”
    “Not this. Not with you.” I had to be careful with her.
    “Not with me?”
    “I need to show you Bellgard first… before I take things further.”
    “Why?”
    “Because I am trying to be a good man. I am trying to fight against the nature I was born with. I know that I am not going to be able to let you go once I have you, and you need to know who I really am, where I really come from before that happens.”
    “I asked for another kiss, not a lifetime of commitment.” She grinned.
    “But I want more than another kiss. I want to take you downstairs into bed and show you exactly what intimacy means to me, but as I said I will not be able to let you go after that. I know it. I finally understand.”
    “Understand what?”
    “Get some sleep. Go to work. We can talk about everything after that.” I could not share everything with her yet. I refused to scare her away, and I needed to figure things out myself first.
    “But I don’t want to wait.”
    “Trust me, neither do I, but we have to think things through. I cannot be reckless.”
    “I want to be reckless.” She raked her teeth over her bottom lip.
    I smiled. “Coming to Bellgard with me will be reckless enough. We might as well plan things out.” I picked up the crib. “Ready to go downstairs?”
    “Are you going to go to sleep too?”
    “I should probably get some sleep. It is going to be a busy day tomorrow.”
    “Wait.” She froze. “Not busy because you expect me to go to your hometown tomorrow, right?”
    “No. I don’t expect you to drop your life like that. Besides, I assume you want to get to know me better first.”
    “But you won’t kiss me again until we go.”
    “I will kiss you again… just not late at night right above your bedroom.”
    “I like the no kissing rule actually.”
    “Changed your mind so fast?” I started the walk back to the door.
    “I need it. If I still want to go after a few days of no physical contact, then I’ll go.”
    “No physical contact?”
    “If we’re not kissing what else is there?”
    “You really do need a lesson on what to expect from a man.” I held out my free hand to her. “And I plan to be the one to show you.”
    “Oh yeah? You going to play teacher?” She accepted my hand.
    “Why do you manage to make everything sound dirty?”
    She laughed. “I don’t mean to.”
    “‘I will show you mine if you show me yours?’ Play teacher? Get your mind out of the gutter.”
    “That would require getting my mind off of you.”
    “You have no clean thoughts about me?”
    “Do you have clean ones about me?”
    “Yes, but with dirty ones mixed in.” I waggled an eyebrow.
    “Were you serious about me borrowing your car?”
    “Yes. I’ll leave