Free A Minute to Smile by Ruth Wind, Barbara Samuel

You can leave yours on.”
    But he’d already bent to remove them, shedding his socks as well. At the sight of his naked white toes, Esther felt a surge of orange hunger race through her body. She stared at his feet for an instant, taking in the high graceful arches and tapering shape, wondering with some dimly logical portion of her brain why bare feet should create such a reaction. Flustered, she let her eyes travel over his legs and chest, finally reaching his face, which was aglow with amusement. “Didn’t expect that, did you?”
    “No.” She smiled softly. “You often surprise me.”
    “Good.” He lifted that devilish eyebrow.
    There was nothing much to say to that, so Esther turned and led the way over a narrow path through beds of apple-scented chamomile and heady sweet marjoram. “Herbs aren’t showy,” she said. Bending over, she plucked a spray of thyme, its stem dotted with tiny pale flowers, and handed it to him. “But they have their rewards. Smell.”
    He obligingly held the spray to his nose. “Mmm—spaghetti.”
    She rolled her eyes. “How romantic of you.” But she laughed and led him farther down the paths that circled the dense stands of herbs.
    “This,” she said, stopping before a round bed filled with small, dense shrubs of silvery green, “is my pride and joy.”
    Alexander paused, still twirling the thyme between his fingers. “And what is it?”
    Esther bent in the gathering twilight, feeling a magical mood overtake her. Surrounded with gray light and the mingled perfumes of her herbs, she felt suddenly a little tipsy in spite of the fact that she’d only drunk a single glass of wine.
    Kneeling in the cool earth by the plants, she reached out and gently bruised a stalk of lavender between her palms, covering her hands with the precious aromatic oil. She stood up again.
    With a slow smile at Alexander, she rubbed her open palms over her neck and chest. “Lavender,” she said quietly. She tilted her head, and feeling dizzy at her boldness, added huskily, “Smell.”
    His eyes darkened and he stepped forward, one hand settling around her waist in a light touch. Esther felt her breath quicken as he bent his curly head over her shoulder. His nose touched her skin just below her ear. “Mmm,” he rumbled. “It smells of night.”
    She felt his beard move over the curve of her shoulder, and his lips touched her neck lightly. Esther sucked in a breath, feeling a tingle travel through her breasts and belly and loins. She reached up to grasp his arm as he continued his exploration, his mouth traveling downward along her neck to land on her collarbone. “It smells like stars,” he whispered, and moved against her, his body lean and hard against her softer curves.
    Esther felt suspended in time as the gray light of evening deepened. A hush settled over the garden. She was aware only of Alexander’s teasing lips and the gentle scratch of his beard along her flesh. She felt deliciously aroused and yet perfectly safe.
    But then he opened his mouth and settled his hot tongue in the hollow of her throat. At the same instant, his bared foot brushed over hers. She gripped his muscled arm fiercely.
    The kiss the night before had been one of gentle exploration, a kiss of lips and introduction. This was nothing like that. Alexander pulled her roughly against him, pressing their bodies hard together as his mouth found hers, taking it with fervor. His tongue sizzled along the edges of her mouth, teasing and flicking to gain entrance to the heated cavern of her mouth. With a small, helpless moan, Esther opened to him, her hips going weak as he slanted his mouth over hers.
    And yet for all the passion of this kiss, his skill was no less exacting now than it had been the night before. He suckled her lips and teased the tip of her tongue with the tip of his before plunging. Then he retreated and began again. His hands traveled over her back, skimming the upper rise of her hips, then explored her