Fearless The King Series Book One - By Tawdra Kandle Page 0,44

private here.”

“It is.” All of a sudden, the relaxation I had enjoyed while touring the nursery had dissipated, and I was having trouble maintaining my mind block.

“Tas… chill. Really. I can feel you tensing up. And I bet part of that is because you’re working hard to keep your wall up, isn’t it?”

I flushed. I wasn’t accustomed to being so easily read; usually I was the enigma who knew what the rest of the world was thinking.

“I thought so. Don’t try so hard. I told you before, I don’t think anything that I wouldn’t want you to hear.”

I swallowed over the lump in my throat. “This is all very new to me. Not only the… extra kind of sharing that I can do. But the whole—the dating thing.” I had dropped my head and couldn’t meet his eyes in my mortification.

“Hey.” Michael moved one hand to lift my chin. “Don’t be embarrassed about sharing that with me, about sharing anything with me. Okay?”

I nodded, but my eyes were still fastened firmly to his shirt, not his face.

“Tasmyn, remember, I’m new to this too. We’ll get through it together, but we have to be open with each other.” And then my wall totally slipped, and I could hear him continue. How do I convince her that I’m as nervous as she is? I’ve never kissed a girl before her. I’ve slow-danced a few times, but I’ve never touched a girl, in any other than a casual, friendly way. I want her to realize that… I cherish her, that I won’t do anything to lose her trust.

I realized that having listened in on his mind, I owed it to Michael to be at least as honest as he was.

“I’m sorry. I know it’s weird for a girl to be as old as me and not have any kind of—of experience.” Again my face flamed. “I know how I feel about you, and I trust how you feel about me. You have to understand that.” Finally I lifted my eyes to meet his, in an effort to underline my sincerity. “But I also know I’m not ready yet for any extreme level of-of physical relationship. I just wanted to be clear about that, so you didn’t feel like I was sending you the wrong message.” I took a deep breath. “Oh, and I just heard what you were thinking, too. Sorry.”

To my surprise, he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me flush against him, and I thought I felt his lips brush the top of my hair.

“Nothing to be sorry about. I told you that. And Tas, you don’t need to be embarrassed about being who you are. I’m happier than I can tell you that you’re not more—what did you say, experienced. I don’t have any practice there, either. We’re on a level playing field, okay?”

I smiled broadly against his chest and lifted my head slightly. “So we’re both freaks?”

“Well, not me. I’m just very, very selective.” With lightening speed, he moved his hands from around my back to under my ribs and tickled me until I was gasping with laughter. Before I could catch my breath, he had my face in his hands and was kissing me silly.

“I’m not pushing, Tas,” he murmured against my lips. “And I think we need to be very cautious about being in situations where we’re—well, let’s just say where there’s too much privacy. You are gorgeous, seeing you does make me crazy… and I don’t want to put too much temptation on my plate.” He kissed me again, this time a quick caress. “But I do want to say something, right now, while we’re alone. And I don’t say this lightly.” He smoothed his hands over my hair. “Tasmyn, I love you. You don’t have to say anything back. I’m not saying this to push you. But I think it’s important to be up front about how I feel. I have never said that to anyone other than my parents and my sister. And I mean it, with every fiber of my being.”

I was so completely overwhelmed that words were impossible. I could still hear Michael’s mind, but it was in essence repeating and confirming everything that he was saying out loud, so I didn’t listen very closely. The depth of the emotion emanating from him nearly knocked me from my feet.

I took a deep breath and tried to make some order of my thoughts. I knew how I felt; I’d known since Tuesday,