Free Legend of the Touched by JF Jenkins Page A

around his neck, enjoying the
feeling of him holding her so close. He leaned down, their lips
met, and he hoisted her up into his arms. All of the candles went
out in the house outside of one standing next to them on the
kitchen counter. As he carried her through from the room, the light
moved from one wick to another until they were back in the bedroom.
A candle on either side of the bed was lit.
    Kissing her over and over again, his hands caressed
her body firmly and with a new kind of confidence she'd never felt
in him before. Definitely sexy and intriguing all at once. It
wasn't long until his hands were under her shirt, running over her
bare skin. The warmth sent shivers of anticipation down her spine.
Was this it? Their moment? Don't think or you're going to psych
yourself out, and that will make him do the same. The last thing we
need is another awkward mess.
    "I'm not sure yet what's going to happen," he
whispered in her ear, almost as if he could read her mind. She knew
he couldn't, not yet. After they made love for the first time he
would be able to, another thing she was excited and afraid for.
She'd heard stories from him and the other Dragon Lord wives about
the phenomena. In some ways, it would make things easier. But her
privacy was nice too. The fact that he knew her so well made her
more solid in the decision they were right.
    She kissed him before he could say any more. The
gears were turning in his head. He had his all too familiar
thoughtful frown on his brow. "We're past words now."
    "The only point I wanted to make was that I still
want you."
    "Then kiss me, and let your lips do the explaining
that way instead of with your yapping. Whatever happens does."
    Instead of speaking again, he moved to kiss her
collarbone while his hands pulled her shirt up. When he stared down
at her, she became very aware of her body then, and wrapped her
arms over her stomach shyly. Air blew out of his lips as though he
was blowing out a candle, and then the whole room went dark.

Chapter Seventeen
    The Oceina
     
    For a while Darien was having the same reoccurring
nightmare. Sleep was hard enough to come by, and adding that on top
of the mix wasn't helping him at all. He wanted to blame it all on
nerves. Another Dragon council was coming up in a handful of weeks
to continue tying up all of the loose ends left over from the
summer meeting. Once Orion died, everything fell into chaos and
Darien still had a lot to catch up on.
    The dream only added more stress. He didn't know what
it meant, but to have it so often there had to be some kind of
reason.
    Groaning, he wandered into his kitchen for some more
coffee. He was living on the stuff. It probably didn't do him any
good anymore, but it was fast becoming one of his small comforts.
Hopefully Tony would be up soon. He had a knack for dream
interpretation. His eldest brother Brian was in the kitchen though,
and that was unexpected.
    "What are you doing here?" Darien asked as he started
preparing the coffee pot.
    "Leena lost our pizza cutter. I was looking for
yours."
    "In the middle of the night?"
    "She's pregnant. Cravings are common at weird times
of the day."
    Darien shrugged. Tai had yet to want anything during
the ungodly early hours of the morning, but she wasn't almost due
to deliver. Not to mention she was too busy sleeping to do much
else. Still, why did Brian pick his kitchen to borrow utensils
from? Wouldn't one of his other brothers be easier?
    "Why are you looking at me like I grew an extra
head?" Brian asked, stopping his digging through the drawers.
    Darien shrugged again. "It's inconvenient for you to
be down here. Asher is closer to your floor. You hate my guts. Why
would you come here?"
    With a roll of his eyes, his brother scoffed. "I
don't hate your guts. Why do you always have to be so over
dramatic? I would phrase it as: we don't get along. But if you want
to know why, it's because sometimes I come down here to get things
because I want to see Dad."
    "Makes