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She looked back at hiht in his throat at such an expression He did not think he would get used to her beauty and how ita ss, huh?"

He s, for his fingers were now s the silk of her blouse in a line up to her neck, beneath the wavy fall of chestnut hair until he found skin He stroked the nape of her neck slowly

"Oui Many things I will not lie to you I a many of those activities here?"

He shook his head "Here? No, Fiona Jaht you intoleft her lovely face, and he leaned close He drifted a kiss over the line of her cheek "I never wanted anyone here, not until I saw you in Toulouse"

She blinked and looked down, a n that the old horribleup Toulouse Had he lost all his skill? All his finesse? Merde Toulouse here that monster, Rith, had taken her and the other blood slaves when the Warriors of the Blood had rescued Parisa from the Burma facility

He decided to simply shove the conversation in a different direction entirely

"Come," he said He stepped away from her but took her hand at the saht of the front door "I wish to show you so"

She followed and did not protest

He opened the door for her "Be careful The steps are a little steep" Much of the house was built on a slope and there were ression of the house, some up, some down

The smell of wood and her scent flowed over him The room beloas cool and dark He touched one of the switches to his right as he descended the stairs

Inset ceiling lights just around the perilow

"Oh …shop and could not quite understand what she meant

She turned back to him "Don’t you see, Warrior? You are not a siht I was?"

She shook her head slowly back and forth "I have not seen past the battling you do But this--" She turned in a circle "Every tool is hung on the wall in a specific place And there anized"

"It keeps the process very simple, to knohere one’s tools are kept"

She walked to the table in the center of the room and ran her hands over the top She touched the place he worked and he washi She spoke with her actions more than her words, perhaps more than any woman he had ever known before

She stood next to the table now and turned to him "I want you here," she said She rested her palm on the table and tilted her head just so

Surrender is only a beginning

--Collected Proverbs, Beatrice of Fourth

Chapter 6

Jean-Pierre’s chest expanded at the sight of Fiona with her hand on his worktable, the place he had laid each timber of the house: h with her words and the things she did, she kept breathing life into his heart, almost more than he could bear

He did not refuse this invitation He did not reh not dirty, was not clean, either He did not suggest his bed or even the soft couch in his living rooht in a way his soul could understand even if his ested other places to take this step on their journey

He had built his house with his hands and noould put his hands on her, and build so in front of her He touched her face, her skin soft beneath his callused warrior hands She turned her face into his hand and kissed the toughened ridges, shaped by the leather-wrapped grip of his sword for two centuries

"You honor me," he whispered

Her lips were swollen now and her scent filled the room, buttery pastries He kneould happen as he leaned toward her Little puffs of air left her roan met his lips as he kissed her

Jean-Pierre, she sent You will ue between her lips She cried out and he bored deeply She clutched his arain until she could barely stand He slid his arh so that he could look at her flushed cheeks and liquid eyes

"How do you do that?"