las p

f topic, " Then we should go,", she retort

ste of the perfect sliced vegetables with herbs on my tongue. Normally, I cooked for myself and Xenia. But sometimes when she i

head like some bird, confusingly glancing between me and the pile of documents those I settled in front of her, " And you will do this

hy.

training yesterday...", I coun

r in the tower at night with some kids dressed up as ghouls, it's a cruel thing for a priest to do but I am doing this as her father...because Xenia needed to learn how to use her fighting ski

a single day in France...And one day, she have to go t

's because I couldn't sleep that night...Sister Lagartha's words wer

e leaving a god's place without any comfort as if there were literally no one in the world who loved you...or cared about you. I shouldn't have done that, I sh

ing her, I wanted to take that pain away, not because I felt something towards her...but because she was in pain, and like any other god's child I wi

ut then, Xenia smiled...her blue eyes gleamed at me, lips slightly tugged upward, showing her two little teeth, which glinted at the orange flic

s, " It's just sometimes you...you know something is wrong, but you do it anyway, keep doing it until you reali

s love...or he even loves me back, what if everyth

pling up from her hand, on the way that my touch would send shudders crawling up her arm. I hadn’t counted on how perfect

t go. I sho

rom saying, “Maybe that person didn't deserv

red rosy lips and a brain built to rule the empires? Of course, this might be about that French king Aldrich, the person Xenia was betrothed to. They

ain. “Maybe you’re r

orgiven—I slowly ran a thumb along the underside of her wrist, feeling her soft smooth skin, a mot

er pulse point, right before I tied her with my belt. In fact, I got as far as gliding my fi

fuck wa

s, standing abruptly. “Forgive me. taking abo

u,” she said, peering up at me. “ And you’re

myself that it was okay, it was fine, I had just comforted her, I had basically done nothing more

as f

packed up. “Can I walk with you back to our home?” she asked. “ I already hel

rse, w

l and not like a priest trying to rest

arrow streets, we finally entered our tower. After taking baths, we promptly had dinner and sto

e other to speak. The silence between us felt odd, laden with whatever strange moment had just happened in

ed just one more glimpse of those red lips, one more word in that breathy voice before I

any help, I can hel

g alone with her, all night in the sam

ach constricted at the sensation. Because Xenia was beautiful

e to talk to merchants too, we could split up the work...yes, I will definitely need hel

r smile and her suddenly lively eyes,

her soft lips press against my jaw. I froze every fragment, every sensation engraving itself

breath near my neck, and then she bit her lip

r twenty-minute of bathe...thi