of her impish nose, before moving his calloused thumb along the curving fullness of her lower lip. “Well honey, what do you need for this to seem easier?”
She drew away from his light touch, uncertain about the flames of need his fingers fanned whenever his skin made the slightest contact with hers. Taking a step backwards, she stated weakly, “I want to wait.”
If it were solely his decision he'd keep her as she now stood before him until she grew comfortable within the marriage but their joining was a collaboration of a far-reaching nature, which made them duty bound. “Naw darlin', this marriage must be consummated during the midnight hour as set down by the elders or the union is void and another petition can't be made for several years. Do you want to wait that long?”
A bit of cayenne was dashed in her tone, “No. No I don't. But if I can't have my say why did you ask?”
He smiled; there was his sweet, honeyed chipotle pepper. “Precious this is your say. You wanted this union, didn't object during the ceremony though you were given three separate occasions to do so. It's clear you're changed in some ways but you still retain that knowledge, you weren't forced into this marriage.”
Blushing, she embarrassedly admitted, “I don’t remember the ceremony, except for saying ‘I do’ three different times.”
Dylan nodded his understanding of her plight but couldn't halt what needed to happen. Instead, he worked to lay her fears to rest in his relaxed southern way, “Woman, I darn near plucked the planets from the sky getting ya what's been forever in your heart.” He placed his hands on her shoulders reassuringly, given them a little squeeze. “Gal, ya wanted a bond, a legal marriage for life.”
She blinked and nodded, then straightened her spine, a tender seedling beneath the mild warmth of spring sunshine. “Yes I did.”
He kissed her tenderly, fleetingly, because he could no longer resist the temptation of her innocence accepting that at this point he had no right to linger longer. For a few moments, he hummed to her, willing her to calm and accept. Tenderheartedly he advised, “Then don't fear what's done. You're loved