Page 55 of Dark Shaman: Love Found
"That I don't know the rules, and that's okay." She looked at him. "We can make our own."
"We could do that, but your mother might have something to say about that."
Arezoo chuckled. "She sure will, but then I'll remind her how awful our old ways were. My father was ready to sell me—literally sell me—to whoever offered the best price. I'm not going to respect traditions that didn't respect me."
"Then we make our own way."
"Exactly." She smiled. "I like your courtship idea, actually. It's old-fashioned but in a good way. Like we're choosing to honor each other instead of following rules someone else made."
"I want to do this right," Ruvon said. "Whatever that means for you. For us. You make the rules, Arezoo."
"It's simple. Respect, honesty, patience." She paused and tilted her head. "And maybe more kisses. Fenella did predict lots and lots of kisses."
"Did she?" His voice came out a little rough.
"Mmm. And her visions are never wrong."
She was looking at his mouth, and he was definitely lookingat hers, and the space between them seemed to shrink without either of them moving.
"Arezoo," he said.
"Yes?"
"I would very much like to kiss you."
"Finally," she breathed, and then her lips were on his.
This kiss was different from the others. Less tentative, more certain. She tasted like coffee and cardamom, and when her hand came up to rest against his chest, he was pretty sure his heart might explode.
When they parted, both breathing hard, she smiled. "We are getting better at this."
"Practice makes perfect?"
"Then we should practice more." But she settled against his side instead, her head on his shoulder. "Tell me something about yourself that I don't know."
"Like what?"
"Anything. A dream. A fear. A secret."
He thought for a moment, his arm coming around her automatically. "I want to build something. Not just maintain other people's security systems but create something of my own."
"What kind of something?"
"I don't know yet. Maybe a tech school for kids who'veescaped bad situations and need to learn a craft, a skill." He felt embarrassed suddenly. "It's just an idea."
"It's beautiful." She tilted her head to look at him. "You'd be good at that. Patient. Understanding. You know what it's like to need a second chance."
"Maybe someday."
"My turn," she said. "I want to go to university. Study literature or maybe psychology. Understand how words work, how minds work. How people heal."
"You'd be brilliant at either."
"Vrog says I should start at a community college. They are much easier to get into and not as intimidating as universities."
"You'd do well in either. You're one of the smartest people I know."
She laughed. "You need to get to know more people."
