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I kissed her, her red lips soft and warazed down at her through the intricate silverup at n

Leaning in, she breathed over?” she teased

I gasped as she fisted ht now other than to see her butt-assed naked, except for that mask on her head

I grinned, nibbling her botto me off of you”

E her hand off me, so she could wrap her arms around my neck

“I love you so ht?”

I nodded “But you can still work hard to prove it”

“I will” She kissedwith me first”

We spun, theup to the second-floor balcony where we danced, the cold and snow seeping through to our bones, but she was s so much, I wasn’t about to stop whatever she wanted

She laid her head onme close

I loved it when she did that All the ti she didn’t need me, and now I knew she did

She didn’t hold me She held on to me

We stared out at the forest, most of the trees bare of leaves, and the Bell Tower’s lantern visible through the branches

“Where is her grave?” Emmy asked

I didn’t have to ask who she was talking about, the eternal fla in the belfry in the distance

It was strange that she’d waited so long to ask that question, but no stranger that no one else ever had

When I didn’t answer, she asked, “Did your grandfather love her?”

I tightened my arms around her “I’ve never asked him”

It was a subject of which I was eternally curious, but I could never bring it up with hi than ination

Maybe I was afraid the ansould change how I loved him