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But after a few precious moments, she groaned against his lips.  Immediately, he withdrew from her.

“What’s wrong?”

“My back is spasming.”  She winced and fell forward onto him, flattening him into the mattress.

But he found that he liked the pressure of her weight on top of him.  He grinned at the novel yet sweet sensation before frowning at her apparent agony.

“Shall I tell you more of our story?” he asked in a bid to distract her from her pain.

She rested her cheek against his chest.  “Yes, please.”

“That girl was like a sunbeam.  She carried such joy with her.  For me, at least.”  He frowned.  “No, that’s not true.  For Han Sung too.  He would always get so excited when Appa announced you were coming to visit.  Or that we were traveling to see you.”

“He did?” she asked abruptly.

He nodded.  “He adored you.”  His lips twisted.  “Maybe not in the way you would have preferred.  But he did love you.”

He was sorry that he’d mentioned his brother.  She must be growing melancholier with his every mention of Han Sung.

He cleared his throat and began again.  “I remember that day like it was yesterday.  It was a bright spring day.  The gentle rays of the sun were sparking glints off your hair.”  He could feel her beginning to relax, so he continued, “But something else was striking anger off your countenance.

“I could tell that you were not happy to meet Han Sung.  Back then, you were taller than he was.  Which simply highlighted the fact that he was three years younger than you.  I suspected your father must have told you that you would have to wait for Han Sung to grow up before you could marry him.  Which meant that your friends would be married off years before you.  And how could a girl on the cusp of maturity be excited about someday marrying a little boy?”

He was right.  She had been furious.  And so disappointed.  Quite dismayed.  And absolutely powerless.

That had been the worst part.

“But, fairly soon, Han Sung revealed his sterling personality.  And he had you actively chasing butterflies with him.  The waves of your midnight hair were flowing behind you as you pursued your quarry throughout our grandfather’s gardens.”  His lips twitched upwards as he fondly remembered that golden day.

She glanced up at him and saw that smile.  And her heart turned over in her chest.  She found herself slightly breathless under the glow of that tender curve.

Even then, he’d wanted to slide his fingers down those gleaming strands.  He opened his eyes and reached out to touch one raven lock that was spilling across his chest.  She watched as his fingertips slid along that wave.  And she felt oddly moved again.

No man had ever played with her hair.  Or touched it with affection.  But she could tell that Dan Se was.  She peered up at his lips again.  They were still bent in a smile.  However, it was the light in his eyes that undid her.

After a few silent moments, his gaze left her lock of hair to slide across her countenance before meeting her eyes again.  And that sensation of breathlessness increased.  She was feeling drawn towards him again.  As though some invisible force were nudging her into his embrace.

Their eyes remained locked as she lifted her head to look up at him.  Suddenly, another tremor passed over her countenance, and instinctively he reached for her, his hand brushing over her shoulder.  She winced, and he drew his hand back.

“I’m sorry!” he ejaculated.  “I shouldn’t have touched you!”

And she burst into tears.

Because no one had wanted to touch her in kindness in so long.