Page 30 of These Violent Delights

Kiss

Zelda was suspiciousof everyone.She didn't trust him and she didn't trust the unspoken thing that vibrated between them.

He studied her for a while, as if deciding which track to take.She braced herself, ready to argue.She wasn't going to be browbeaten in her own home.

“Have you ever been kissed?”

That stunned her.Of all the things they could fight about, he wanted to know that?“What?What kind of...”

He took advantage of her open mouth.He kissed her and...

...she stopped thinking.Everything stopped.

He raised his head and looked at her, his eyes alight.And then he walked away.

She grabbed the wall, her head swimming, and leaned against it like a drunken auntie.Wow.That was a hell of an argument.

“My lady?Are you alright?”a maid asked with concern when she saw her lady slumped, looking dazed.

“Just thinking,” Zelda said.She straightened up.Suddenly the million things she had to do were no longer important.She went to her room to have a good think.

Alpha Dogs

They were fightingwhen she got up the next day.

Zelda looked down from a balcony into the inner courtyard.It had probably started out as a practice session.Unfortunately, it had gotten serious.

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