spirit. Slowly he moved forward, not wanting to frighten her and saw her pupils growing bigger, darker, until the blackness overtook the unique Connemara green. As he reached out and clasped her hand, helping her to her feet, he smokily assured, “This will be perfect; everything you’ve hoped and prayed for.”
Timidly she attempted to extract her fingers from his hold pleading, “I'd like to wait, need Clover or one of the other matrons to explain again what's to happen, how it works, and then I won't be worried I'll be a disappointment.”
Holding her steady he anxiously gritted out, “The matrons and other women are all busy with universal business dealings, loving their husbands, or watching over the babes and children. You spent a good amount of time with them earlier; nothing has changed in the hours since. What are your instincts telling you?”
She met his eyes and confessed, “They've deserted me.”
Unable to resist, he pulled her a bit closer, inhaling the fresh spicy-sweet scent wafting from her pores and drawled, “How 'bout the fay girls, Fire and Meadow, the ones that are part of you. Can't they give you counsel?”
She throbbed below the waist, high between her thighs, at the thought that they’d previously known each other carnally and she informed him in a quavering voice, “The matrons told me Fire and Meadow are only permitted to come forth after my maiden state is claimed. Then Fire and Meadow may act as home, nurse and bed helpers to me so that I may be an excellent wife, companion, lover and mother, while allowing me to further my career, contribute wealth to our family and this vast clan so that it knows boundless prosperity.”
With one calloused finger, he tapped the tip 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