Blog

“Jung Sook?  What’s wrong, my love?”

She chuckled anxiously.  “Your sister asked me if I was nervous today.”

“Did she?”  He drew her hand up to his mouth, and his lips lingered on her skin.  Sending a shiver down her spine.  “And are you?”

“At first, I told her I wasn’t.  Because I wasn’t.  Not about our wedding ceremony, at least.  I didn’t fear speaking my vows to you.”

He stilled.  And his eyes met hers.  “What do you fear, Jung Sook?”

“It’s silly really.  After all I’ve been through.”

“What is?”

“The nerves.”

He brushed his lips delicately across the back of her hand again.  “Is it?”

She quirked one lovely eyebrow at him.  “What?”

“I don’t think it’s silly to fear the unknown.”

She stared at him.

And his lips continued to minister his sweetness to her.  “But I hope you don’t fear me, my love.”

“Oh, no!  Soo Ho, I could never fear you.  You are…my hero,” she breathed as tears filled her eyes.

His gaze crashed into hers.  “Am I really?” he whispered in astonishment.

“Surely, that cannot come as a surprise to you!  You saved my life!  And Bo A’s.”

“Ah, yes.  I did.  But…”

“But what?”

“I am but a man, of course.”

“But what a wonderful man you are!  And you are the man who convinced me that some men are good.  And safe.  So I could never fear you, my love.”

“So, what do you fear?”

She crumpled her brow.  “I do not know.  The unknown.  Pain, perhaps.”

“Mmm.  You know that I would never hurt you, Jung Sook.  Not intentionally.  I know you’re going to experience some discomfort tonight.  But, hopefully, it will fade quickly.  And you can enjoy what I’m about to do with you.”

She bobbed her head.  Nervously.  She could feel that anxiety bubbling up from deep inside her.  Though she tried zealously to push it back down.  How she hated it!  She wanted to enjoy tonight.  To revel in her closeness to Soo Ho.

But she had another fear.  One that she hadn’t shared with anyone.  She was afraid that something tonight would remind her of her first wedding night.  And she didn’t want it casting a shadow on her relationship with Soo Ho.

He tugged gently on her hand then, drawing her towards him.  They were standing in the hallway outside their bedroom doors.  He bent his head and brushed his lips softly across hers.  Then he murmured a question.

“Which room, Jung Sook?”

She drew away.  Her brow furrowed.  “What?”

“Whose bed do you want to sleep in tonight?  Yours?  Or mine?”

She stared at him.  Soo Ho was giving her a choice.

This right here was the reason that she loved him so much.  No man had ever given her a choice.  Not until she’d met Soo Ho.

Her first husband had told her what she was going to do.  And when she was going to do it.  And how she was going to do it.  And if she failed to please him perfectly, then he was going to punish her.  Severely.  For her imperfections.  Just as her father had. 

Dong Nam had been cut of the exact same bolt of cloth as her appa.  They had both sought to control her every movement.  But Soo Ho had never done that to her.  He had never treated her like she was inferior to him. 

Rather, he had prized her.  And protected her.  And respected her. 

And here he was.  Doing it again.

So…the question was…

What was she going to choose?

If she welcomed him into her domain, would she feel like he was invading her space?  Trying to control what had been only hers? 

If she found herself uncomfortable in his presence, the memory would stain her inner sanctum.  Then where would she flee?

But weren’t these thoughts based solely on her fears from the past?

What if Soo Ho carried her into her place of refuge and made sweet love to her there?  And stilled all her fears?  And made her feel beautiful?  And loved?  And accepted?  In her own domain.  Then, wouldn’t that place become even sweeter?

She cleared her throat.  “I’m not sure which to choose,” she admitted finally.

He grinned at her.  “Perhaps we shall just have to use them both then.”

“Both?” she queried in surprise. 

“And make use of that door between our rooms.  The one which you have kept locked against me.”

“Locked?” she questioned, a frown now marring her smooth forehead.  “Soo Ho, I never locked the door between our rooms.”

Surprised, he quirked one midnight eyebrow.  “You didn’t?”

She shook her head.  “No.  It never even occurred to me.”

“You just assumed that it was already locked?”

“No.  I knew you would never open that door without my invitation.”

Stunned, he stared down at her.  “You trust me that much?” he breathed in awe.

She nodded.  “Of course.”

Then, she realized that she had just found the answer to her conundrum.  She smiled sweetly up at him.  Then beguilingly.  “Soo Ho,” she whispered, bending close to brush her lips temptingly along the beautiful bow of his mouth.  “Would you like to join me in my chamber?”

His face broke into a wide grin.  “That, my dear, is just the invitation that I have been waiting for….”

He bent then and scooped her up into his arms.  She squealed with delight as he strode forward and pushed the door to her room open.  A moment later, he was shutting it behind them.

“Now, my love, I think that we should start with a few kisses….”  He smiled down at her.  The light of his affection for her shining from his eyes.

“Ah, yes.  I believe that’s how this whole thing started, wasn’t it?  You, stealing kisses from innocent maidens.”

He flashed his gorgeous grin at her.  “You, my love, are my favorite maiden to steal them from.  And your kisses are the sweetest I’ve ever tasted.”  He bent his head and demonstrated the truth of his words for several satisfying moments.

“Soo Ho, what will you do when I am a maiden no longer?” she whispered teasingly.

“Revel in you, my darling,” he smiled as he kissed her tenderly again.  “But until then, I shall take my time enjoying you.  And making you comfortable with me.”

“Soo Ho,” she spoke his name with such affection that his heart bent towards her again.  “I am already comfortable with you.  You are the gentlest man I have ever known.  With the sweetest heart.”  Then she giggled.  “Even if your sister cannot see it.”

“Soo Yeon?  Who cares what that silly girl thinks?  She did, after all, choose to marry that arrogant Ban Ryu,” he replied teasingly.

“Arrogant?  Are you speaking of the noble man who stooped to step between you and the blade of a sword?  And nearly died saving your life?”

He instantly grumbled begrudgingly, “All right.  I guess Soo Yeon’s taste isn’t that bad after all.”

Jung Sook snickered.  “Indeed, not.  I am most grateful to that arrogant gentleman for loving you nearly as much as I do.”

She leaned towards him again as her smile met his in another sweet kiss.  But then Soo Ho joyfully deepened that kiss, reveling in the bliss of her moist mouth, before laying his bride down on her bed.  He crawled onto that soft surface after her and then balanced on his elbow to hover over her. 

“Would you like me to show you what a real kiss feels like, Jung Sook?” he queried with a twinkle in his eye.

“That wasn’t a real kiss?” she breathed in surprise.  Then as she noticed the lovely light in his eyes, she giggled, and that fine tutor remarked, “Yes, please.  I would love for you to teach me.”

So Soo Ho bent himself to the task of delighting his wife.  And teaching her that a man could be very tender, indeed.