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Chapter 1—Tenderly Nurture

For the secondin a row, I awakened to warm arms wrapped around me and the slow, steady heartbeat of my husband under my cheek

With his hand, he stroked slowly from the top of my head all the way down my hair and almost to ain He strokedme back into slumber In contrast to the tuht, I found waking in Branford’s ar and quite pleasant He ar with my head on his chest was so comfortable, I felt at ease and couldn’t help but smile a little to myself

I layto collect ht flooded back into arden, to my continued concern over our lack of consuentle touches Branford left on the tops of e and unfa overover my skin so close to an intimate area of my body made my heart beat faster

Feeling Branford’s lips touch the top of ainst hts back to the present Deciding there was no real point in delaying, I tilted ht smile

“Good , my wife,” Branford said

“Good , Branford,” I replied and then quickly looked away, feeling shy and blushing when I looked into his eyes It ain, war through the cracks in the shutters, so I kneell into theIt had been very late by the time I had slumbered, for it had taken soh to relax into sleep “It’s late”

“Yes” Branford’s shoulders moved up and down casually I looked back at hih, and I do like waking with you in my arms”

“Have you been awake long?” I asked, hoping my words would divert focus from my almost permanently pink cheeks

“A while,” Branford said with another shrug “I’ve been thinking about you”

“You have?” Again, I looked away fro what the specifics of his thoughts ht have done either last night or during my sleep

“Yes”

“Did I do so?”

“No!” Branford sat up and pulledbeside him on the bed with his hands on my shoulders “Why would you think that?”

I took a deep breath Why did I think that? Because everything I had done thus far had been wrong, that’s why I had angered and eo to another woe because I couldn’t bring myself to lie back and smile while he clai thing could cost me my life—if not in one way, then in another

“Because I haven’t done anything right,” I finally said “Because I’m…inadequate”

“Inadequate?” Branford scoffed “Alexandra, I have no idea why you would say such a thing”

“I haven’t…we haven’t yet…” I stopped and took a deep breath Branford found my chin with his hand, and he looked deep into my eyes

“We talked about this last night,” Branford said “You offered yourself to me, and I made the decision to wait”