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The following day, he awoke first.  As the early rays of the morning sun were silently invading his bedchamber.  He rolled to his side to study the woman lying next to him.  Her pale brow was exposed to the gentle shafts of the bright star that was just waking to illuminate their world with its glory.  Those glowing streams seemed to become caught in the snowy strands of her long locks.  Captured by those flowing tresses, they lent her their radiance, increasing her otherworldly beauty. 

His eyes traveled down the smooth slope of her piquant nose.  And across her alabaster cheeks.  Before traveling down to her temptingly pink lips.  The only place that color dared to reveal itself in her countenance.  Other than through her intriguing eyes.  And in her frequent blushes.  He smiled as he remembered several. 

His gaze continued to trace those delicious lips of hers.  How he wanted to brush his own mouth across them!  But he was waiting for her to want that kiss too.  Still, he had to resist the impulse mightily right now. 

But then she twitched, drawing his attention elsewhere.  Her fingers were clinging to his.  His face melted in his tenderness for her.  His heart released several pangs as his eyes slid along the curve of those soft fingers.  She had reached for him in the middle of the night.  That had to mean something.  Didn’t it?

Finally, after several minutes spent gazing upon the woman he had grown to love, he heaved a sigh and slowly released her hand before reluctantly climbing from his bed.  He had much business ahead of him today.  Several meetings with Seon Woo and his council.  Affairs foreign and domestic kept popping up now that a bona fide king was sitting on the throne.  It seemed that everyone wanted a piece of him.  People were coming out of the woodwork to find him. 

Jin Heung groaned.  All he really wanted was to crawl back into that bed with that beautiful woman. 

Today was testing his beliefs.  He had once asserted that a kingdom and its people should be at peace while its king suffered.  This king was suffering, all right.  He was laying down his own desires to bless the citizens of his land.  He sure hoped that they appreciated it.

Still, even knowing that others awaited his attention, he took his time dressing before he slipped out of his room.  At the very last moment, withdrawing his eyes from her winsome countenance.

––

That afternoon, he came to visit her in the middle of the day.  He entered his office to find her, once again, seated at his desk.  She was dipping her quill in the black ink floating in her dish as he stepped into the room.  “What are you doing, Sookie?”

She glanced up at him in surprise.  There was that name again.  A verbal caress.  She felt like he kissed her every time those syllables left his lips.  But even though he’d uttered them several times now, they still startled her.  No man had ever spoken to her with such affection vibrating his vocal cords.

“Penning another story,” she murmured as a pleasing blush infused her whole face with color.

He noticed and was moved to kiss that glowing countenance.  He didn’t resist the urge.  He crossed the room and bent to pull her chair back.  “Come here,” he murmured as she glanced up in surprise at his action.

Her flush deepened as she stood up with a questioning expression flooding her face with confusion.

He leaned towards her as his hands came up to rest on the edges of her shoulders and draw her close to him.  His lips brushed her cheek tenderly before contacting her other cheek in a brief caress too.  She was now certain that she looked like an overripe tomato. 

“I can’t stay,” he sighed sadly into her temple before he kissed the tip of her nose and drew away from her, releasing her shoulders simultaneously.  “But I will be back tonight.  It may be quite late.  So…if you’re tired, take a nap.  I want to see you when I return.”  Then he sent her the sweetest smile.

It bent her heart towards him in ways she couldn’t fathom.  And scared her spitless at the same time.  Had she any venom, he would have stolen it all from her with that one look.  No man should have that kind of power over a woman.  Not at any time.  As he closed the door behind him, she shook her head. 

She really had to get control of her own heart.  Living here became more dangerous for her with each passing second.  But she still owed him three more weeks per their bargain.  And, truthfully, she had absolutely no desire to leave him.  Ever. 

The man was a prince among men.