Page 88 of The Warrior Priest
“Show off.” He flashed a grin. It was precisely what I needed to see. I’d not seen him smile like that since before he became master. “I’m sure, Jac.” His voice purred, and his gaze melted me.
Now that I wanted him to come to me, he stayed still. “The brothers must be devastated,” I said.
“I’ve made many sacrifices for the order,” he went on. “Now it’s time they make the sacrifice and let me go.”
“They’ll blame me.”
“I’ve explained that I want to leave. This is my choice. You recall when I told you the order was the right place for me, that I wanted to be there.”
I nodded, even though it wasn’t a question. He knew I remembered.
“That was true then, but it’s no longer true. Now it feels right to leave. Do you remember what I said outside the temple gates earlier, when I resigned?”
“When you resigned as master?”
“When I resigned from theorder.”
I thought back to his announcement, trying to pinpoint how I’d misunderstood his full intention. “You said ‘You need to know that I’m resigning.’ The brothers all spoke among themselves, then asked you who should be master. You told them it was up to them to vote but you endorsed Rufus. You rattled off a number of qualities he possessed that?—”
He closed the gap between us and placed a finger to my lips. “Not that part.” He caressed my top lip with his thumb. My skin responded with a rush of tingles as it always did when he touched me. “The part about not having the right temperament,” he murmured.
Being so close to him wasn’t very helpful for my concentration, but my excellent memory wouldn’t allow me to forget.
“You said you didn’t have the right temperament to be master.”
“Not master. To be a priest. I was resigning from Merdu’s Guards because being a priest is not for me. There are too many restrictions. I needed the order when I was younger. It was my home. The brothers were my family. They still are and always will be. But it is time for me to leave home and begin a new life with someone else.” He cupped my jaw and searched my face. “With you, Jac. If you’ll still have me.”
“Ohhh,” I said on a breath. It seemed to be all I could manage.
His hand dropped away. “I’ve changed. I’m not the man I used to be when we first met. I’m not as easygoing?—”
It was my turn to stop him with a finger to his lips. “I’ve changed too, Rhys, and this version of me loves this version of you even more.”
His chest swelled. His lips twitched with a tentative smile.
I stroked them with my thumb, as he’d done mine. “I’m glad to see your smiles again. I’ve missed them.”
“I love you, Jac.”
“I love you too, Rhys.”
He kissed me. It was not like the drunken kiss we’d shared a lifetime ago. It was tender and honest, and filled with the sweetness of longing we’d both tried to suppress.
The kiss soon changed, however. It became earnest. I wasn’t sure which one of us deepened the kiss, but it didn’t matter. We tugged at and untied each other’s clothes. My fingers fumbled, but I managed to get his tunic and shirt over his head, while he was a little gentler with me, careful of my injured shoulder and the cuts and bruises. It was frustratingly slow.
It became even more frustrating when he stepped away, out of my reach. He dragged his hand through his hair and cursed under his breath.
My gaze lowered to his magnificent chest, rising and falling with his ragged breaths. It was bare, without bandaging. “Is it the wounds on your back? Do they pain you?”
He shook his head.
“Then…have you forgotten how to…you know?”
It was meant as a joke, but he didn’t smile. “I won’t take your virtue, Jac. Not until we’re married.”
I ground my back teeth together to stop myself snapping at him in frustration. “Very well. What about when we’re engaged?”
He considered it, then nodded. “All right.”
