Page 111 of An Inconvenient Vow

She reached up to feel it. “No, for in this humidity, twill soon be dry enough.”

He fetched a comb and hesitated next to the trunk where they had unpacked her clothes. “Do you want a shift?” he asked.

Sabina lifted her eyes to meet Jeffree’s own heated gaze. He wanted her to sit there naked, she realized while he dressed her hair. “Will you be wearing anything?” she asked boldly, letting her gaze travel over his nude body. He had been aroused since the tub when she had blurted out her confession of love.

“I won’t if you won’t,” he answered, a glint in his eye.

Sabina laughed softly. “Very well. It is so very warm, after all,”

Jeffree shivered slightly and Sabina hid her smile for she did not think he was remotely cold. She sat up, back straight as Jeffree brushed her hair a hundred times and then separated it into two sections on either side of her head.

He began the first braid with scrupulously deliberate passes of his hands, tugging each time in order to ensure the woven strands were secure. His progress was slow and steady, and he did not utter a single word.

Sabina could not see his face, but she imagined he was frowning in total concentration. “Is it looking rope-like?” she joked. He grunted distractedly, and Sabina thought she had better give him silence to work by. Once he had fastened the first, he tossed it over her shoulder and turned to the next.

For some reason, the second braid gave him problems and he had to start again twice, re-brushing it out and muttering under his breath.

“Do you want—?”

“I can do it,” he cut her off. “I’m just getting a little distracted.”

“Oh. Shall I put on my shift?” she asked, smiling to herself, but again, she just got the disgruntled noise.

“I want to put my mouth between your legs.”

“What?” Her voice was practically a squeak.

“You heard me. Hendry never did that for you, did he?”

Sabina shook her head after a moment of stunned silence. “No… er… no,” she repeated, her face aflame. He seemed satisfied with her answer.

“Good.”

“But Jeffree,” she asked as he secured the second braid, “what if I do not like it, or you do not?”

He considered this. “Then we tell the other, and we stop.”

Sabina thought about this. “Very well.” She nodded, and suddenly he was on the bed in front of her, his gaze roaming over her face.

“Such a pretty blush,” he whispered, staring at her mouth. “Gods,” he muttered, “that mole.”

“My mole?” Her hand flew to touch the small black spot above her upper lip. What about it?

“You’re so lovely,” he groaned. “I can’t believe you’re mine.” And with that he drew Sabina into his arms and kissed her so thoroughly that she melted right into him, any insecurities about her nudity entirely forgotten. Lovely?

“Tell me again.” This time she knew exactly what he wanted her to say.

“I love you, Jeffree de Crecy.” As before, she could not keep a slight note of wonderment out of her voice.

He gave a low, rumbling sound from his chest and lowered his head to kiss down her neck. “You have the most perfect bosom in Karadok,” he murmured.

Sabina tangled her fingers in his hair. “Do you really think so? You are getting very good at the talking,” she marveled. “Oh!” She arched her back as he sucked first one, then her other nipple into his mouth.

“I spent a disgraceful amount of time wondering about their color,” he admitted, before running his tongue around the hardened peaks.

“Jeffree!” she whimpered as he kissed down her stomach, gently cupping her mound.

“Open your legs for me, sweeting.”