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“Moonflower,” Yoongi’s lips played about her own as his fingers caressed her cheek one night a couple of weeks later.  “Do you feel safe with Taehyung?”

“Immensely.”  

Almost as safe as I feel in your arms.

He smiled against her lips.  “Good.”

His lips perused her own again.  He enjoyed holding her in his arms.  And inhaling her refreshing scent.  Completely unique.  Fresh earth, green foliage, and something indefinable that was born of her essence.  Yet, hauntingly familiar.  He had never smelled that fragrance on anyone else.  Not that he was in the habit of sniffing other girls.  Still, he doubted any of them smelled like Moonflower.

He would like to spend the rest of his life here with her.  In their garden.  This intimate place they’d created in the dark of night.  Known only to the two of them.

Well, and now, Taehyung.

But that was necessary.  To keep Yoongi’s most precious one safe.  

He sighed into her mouth.  Then, he slid his fingers into her hair.   At least, he tried to.  But she had pulled it back into a ponytail.

“Let your hair down,” he muttered against her lips.

She drew back and gazed, unseeing, up at him.  “What?”

“I want to run my fingers through your hair.  Will you let it down?”

She smiled and reached up to remove the ribbon that held her hair up.  As her midnight waves fell to cascade down her back, Yoongi grinned.  Had Moonflower been gifted with sight, she would have seen the swath of gums that his wide grin revealed along with two rows of stunning, white teeth.

In the next moment, his smile faded as his fingers slid into the gorgeous masses of her raven locks.

“So beautiful,” Yoongi breathed.  

He buried his face in her soft tresses.  And inhaled.  There was that tantalizing scent again.  

“What is that smell?” he muttered under his breath.

Moonflower laughed.  “Dirt, most likely.”

He shook his head.  “No.  You do smell like fresh soil and growing greenery – like this garden.  But there’s something else.  Under those scents.  Something subtle.  Just a hint of…”

“Cherry blossoms,” she whispered.

It had been her mother’s favorite scent.  So Moonflower had learned to make her own perfume a few years ago.  She always dabbed just a tiny bit behind her ears each day.  To honor her eomma’s memory.  Cherry blossoms could only be found during one month of the year.  They were precious. Which made her perfume a rare treat to enjoy too.

“Ah, yes!”  Yoongi rubbed his nose behind her ear.  He’d just discovered the spot she’d applied her perfume to.  “Now I can clearly define it.  It’s wonderful.  You smell amazing, Moonflower!  I wish to bring you into my chambers and fill them with your lovely aroma.”

She pulled away from him.  “But you cannot, Yoongi.  Someone would discover us.”

He sobered.  “And I wouldn’t want anyone to think you’re my mistress.”

His words stung for a moment.  Of course, he wouldn’t want anyone to know he was attracted to a blind girl.

“You deserve better than that, Moonflower.”

“What?” she asked, now confused.

“You will enter my bedchamber only when you can do so as my wife.  As my queen.  You deserve nothing less.”

Her eyes filled with tears.  Not for the first time she wished with all her might that she could see his precious face.  Just for a moment, even.  She would commit it to memory as she had the bright blue sky of long ago.  She wanted to gaze into the eyes that held the fabulous treasures of such a beautiful heart.

“Yoongi,” she whispered brokenly.  “No one wants a blind queen.”

“I do,” he declared softly as he reached up to wipe the tears off her cheeks.  “I would take you any way I could get you, Moonflower.”

“Then I’ll become your mistress.”  

She had just shocked herself.  But she had found that the more time she spent with Yoongi, the more she longed to live in his presence.  Was she now willing to lay down her standards – and her morals – for the love of her life?

Yoongi, for his part, was both startled and disappointed.  “Moonflower, you and I both know that you are more valuable than that. Why would you lower your standards for me?”

She sighed.  “We both know that no one would accept me as your queen.  I can have you no other way.”

“I will never marry if I cannot marry you,” he vowed.

“Yoongi!” she gasped.  “You cannot promise such a thing!  A king must have an heir!”

“This king,” he bent and breathed into her ear, tickling her skin with his breath as he did so, “must have you.”

She felt his words like a tremor that slid all the way into her bones.  How could she convince him that she loved him enough to lay down her expectations for him?  

She began to kiss him again, more passionately this time.  

But after a while, he drew away and rebuked her, “Moonflower, don’t kiss me like that.  You’re making me want to whisk you off to my bed.”

“Good,” she murmured and kissed him again.

But he pulled back.  “It is not good.  I would not dishonor our children by having them born into illegitimacy.  Your children deserve to be my heirs.”

A tear slid down her cheek.  “You are so good to me, Yoongi.  But you are terribly young.  As you get older, and sit upon that throne alone, you will begin to grow lonely, and the need to establish your legacy will loom larger.  You will build a glorious kingdom here established on justice and mercy.  And you will want children to ensure its continuance.  You will grow tired of playing with me.”

Yoongi’s face transformed into a mask of anger.  “You think too little of yourself, Moonflower!  I know you would never lower your standards for any but a king.  But what kind of a king would I be – how could I say I had established a rule based on justice and mercy – if I took you to my bed without first giving you my name and my protection?  I would be unjust and unmerciful to the one I loved most in my kingdom.”

She stilled.  He had just spoken of his love for her.  He had never said such words to her before.  She found herself breathless.

Yoongi stared at her beautiful face.  “Moonflower,” his voice broke on her name.  “I love you.”

Her eyes shifted towards his.  Still, she stared unseeing at him.  It still undid him.  Looking into fathomless eyes.  Eyes that couldn’t see him.  It was eerie; though, he tried to overcome the feeling.  He wanted to be able to see into her soul and have her do the same for him.  

But it was not Moonflower’s fault that she could not peer into his eyes.  Or see into his soul.  Actually, upon reflection, he realized she was amazingly good at doing the latter.  No matter what condition her physical eyes were in, the eyes of her heart seemed to see him unerringly.

“Yoongi,” her voice was a soft purr, “I love you too.  Enough to give you my future.”

He rested his forehead against hers.  He sighed.  He couldn’t see a way around their dilemma.  No matter how he tried.