When he returned he had fresh linens and a wooden bowl filled with steaming water. He sat it down on the small table beside the bed and took one of the small square pieces of linen and dipped it into the water. "I have to clean this." He told her.Flossina was feeling a myriad of emotions at the moment and really didn't want Marlon fussing over her bruises. They did hurt like hell. She didn't want him to think she was being weak or difficult. She had already caused quite enough trouble in this man’s life. If she wanted him to help her she had to begin to show him that he could trust her. She sat quietly, holding her small frame as still as she could while he tended to the wounds on her face, arms, and hands. She was still surprised at how gentle he was with her. The contrast to his persona intrigued her

"It isn't difficult. You kissed me." She felt her face growing warm at her blunt conversation. "And I would like you to kiss me again."He was trying damned hard to control himself, but she wasn't taKing ‘no’ for an answer. Ever since their first kiss he couldn't get her off of his mind in that way. Kissing her was all he thought about lately."Princess-" He was about to continue but she caught him off guard and kissed him on the lips.It caught him by surprise at first, but once he got the taste of her he felt his control slipping away as he enveloped her in his muscular arms, and kissed her back with all the pent up passion he felt for her.Flossina lost track of what they were talking about, so hot was the kiss between her and Marlon. She felt herself wrap

She recalled falling asleep in Marlon’s arms late last night but she did not recall him bundling her up and flying them back to his home, Moeina, or being placed inside his bedchamber. She saw no trace of him when she awoke. She was trying to quiet the voices of defeat and grief that seemed to be replaying over and over again in her mind as the events that took place over the past days flooded her. She put on a brown cotton dress that was sitting atop the bed at the foot. She wondered where Marlon had gone to. She opened the bedchamber door to go in search of him. She was halted by a  young boy, who looked no more than sixteen summers, standing guard at Marlon’s chamber door. She wondered who he was. He was staring at her like he had never seen another person before.It almost became awkward. He spoke to her then.

She smiled as she held the weapon in her hand. “And what of this one?” She asked him.“This one was payment..”“Payment? What services did you provide? Holistic?”“No, I killed a man.” He watched her face to see her reaction.She only smiled and rolled her eyes, and it made him smirk. Next, he picked up a double edged sword.“I borrowed this from a soldier I had to incapacitate. I needed his armour for a disguise.”“Yes, I see, much like you did at MeadowBrooke.”

She drank him. Her touch was light as she made a trail along his chest to his well defined abdomen. He felt like living marble to her. She looked at him. He was watching her intently. “Undo them.” He commanded referring to his pants.She smiled at him. She had to work up the courage to do it. She had never noticed it until now, and now she was really noticing it. She began to untie the thin leather strips at his groin when there was a loud knock on the door. It startled Flossina and she instinctively covered herself with her hands. He pulled the top of her dress up and she got back under the covers.He quickly located his shirt and put it on. Then he walked to the door and opened it. She watched as he opened it and went outside. She wondered what the young guard must think.