It was only her hair, but she felt wild and unbound, no man beyond her brothers, and not even them since she had entered her late teens, had seen her like this, her hair not neatly arranged, and no man had ever seen her flushed with passion, chest heaving, and lips slight swollen and pink from kissing. Her clothing, her very skin felt too tight and she wanted to press herself closer against the heat radiating from his chest through his shirt.

He broke their kiss, and she couldn’t help the small noise of disappointment that bubbled up in her throat, but exceptionally pleased that he hadn’t pulled back altogether. Her own hands pressed against his chest as she allowed him to hold her close to him.

The warmth in his words surprised her a little, inspire of their very activity she had not expected anything amounting to tenderness. She knew well enough that a man’s lusts took much less encouragement than his ardour, but what she perceived as tenderness in his words gave her pause in her own and she leaned back a little to smile up at him with tenderness of her own. ’and I you’, she went up on tip toe and pressed another kiss to his lips ’and I’m sure I shall find some way to make good my rent account’

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