"Why must I forgive you?" Ophelia asked, confused by the sudden apology.
"Would you avoid if I kissed you now?" Dante asked, finding a bit of restraint inside himself. "That is all I want to do now."
"You may. You don’t need to ask," Ophelia replied, surprising even herself.
A kiss had crossed Ophelia’s mind due to their closeness. She was relieved that Dante shared the sa thought.
Ophelia felt Dante’s hand move slowly up her back as if he were teasing her. It stopped on her neck, keeping her still as Dante leaned forward for his lips to et her own.
Ophelia gripped the chair as she anticipated her first kiss with Dante. Her hand relaxed when their lips touched, and since she wasn’t used to kissing anyone intimately, Ophelia matched Dante’s actions.
The kiss started gently, with each side being shy with the other. They tested the waters, getting familiar with each other.
Dante’s mind was filled with not scaring Ophelia off because he wanted more from her, while Ophelia was fixed on kissing him right.
Their eyes closed as they gave in to what they had been yearning for as of late.
Dante’s left hand moved to hold Ophelia’s hand and entwined their fingers.
The little action pushed Ophelia to be daring.
A kiss was what Ophelia needed to further realise her feelings for Dante, and once that realisation settled in, the kiss turned from gentle to passionate.
It took Dante by surprise that Ophelia was the one to be more aggressive with the kiss, but he welcod her being more open with what she wanted.
Ophelia pressed her left hand to Dante’s chest, taking the chance to feel his body again. The rigidness beneath where she sat grew, but she ignored it.
It was Ophelia’s turn to be surprised when Dante slipped his tongue between her parted lips.
Ophelia leaned back, but Dante followed her, and with his hand still placed behind her neck, he brought Ophelia back to him.
Dante wasn’t satisfied just yet.
There was no denying that he was falling in love with the woman before him, and Ophelia couldn’t possibly deny her feelings.
Ophelia’s body relaxed again. She assud their tongues needed to act as they did now.
Ophelia’s hand started to move, caressing Dante’s body, and only stopped when she made a noise she had never made before.
This ti, the kiss was interrupted as Ophelia pulled away and Dante muttered a curse under his breath.
"Sorry," Ophelia apologised, believing it to be her fault.
"All that you did was excite , Ophelia. We should stop here before we move to my bed. You are lovely," Dante said, admiring Ophelia’s beauty. "I should hope to get to kiss you again soon."
"You are welco to do it when you wish," Ophelia allowed.
’So," Dante moved his hand from her neck to palm her face. "If I am leaving the castle and you are seeing off, am I allowed to kiss you goodbye?"
"Why must you do for the servants and knights to see? Can’t we keep it between us for now?" Ophelia asked, preferring their romance to be kept a secret.
"You want to only kiss you when we are alone? Why can’t it be shown that this marriage is working for us? I would like to show how much I care for you," Dante said, not wanting to be private.
"I thought it would be best until we sorted our feelings," Ophelia explained.
"Have we not sorted them out today? Have you not noticed the change between us? There is no denying it now. We are both falling in love with each other."
"I don’t an to hide it forever. Once the servants see, it will get out of the castle. I worry about what will follow from others knowing that we have grown closer. I don’t want others getting involved too soon while we are enjoying ourselves. Just a little bit more of peace, please," Ophelia pleaded.
Though Cecilia wasn’t welcod at the castle, she would create a storm outside of it. Even if it was just for a day or two, Ophelia didn’t want to hear of Cecilia or anyone else being upset by news of Dante truly loving her.
"So, to be secretive, you would have to co to my chamber. That is the only way you can make up for hiding what we have," Dante suggested.
Ophelia shook her head. "I knew you wouldn’t give up. I am not going to sleep here. I will have dinner and visit you for an hour or so before I return to my chamber. I will tell you of my day, and you can tell of your day."
"We can speak to each other during the day. Why waste an hour just speaking?"
Ophelia covered Dante’s mouth and said, "I will consider it to be the beast inside you that is making you act this way. You have made forget what I ca here for. We haven’t written the letter, and I have not shared my thoughts on how to help break your curse."
"To be fair, you are the one who started this with your ga. You must try to tease more often," said Dante.
"You annoy with how quickly you can unravel my plans. How much longer do you have until you must cage yourself away?" Ophelia asked.
"Less than a week. A full moon will soon be upon us. I can feel it," Dante answered.
"How can you feel it?"
"My hands tremble, and it starts to feel like I am losing control of myself. During the hunt in the capital, the scent of animal blood was driving mad. That, and my family has beco quite good at tracking the full moon. If Theo doesn’t co on ti, I might not be able to introduce myself for the first few days," Dante said, apologetic.
"I am confident we might be able to fix it by then, but if we do not succeed by then, I will tell Theo good stories about you so he has a good idea of you before you et. Why are you frowning? Are you against it?" Ophelia asked, puzzled by Dante’s reaction.
"I trust you with many things, but not with sharing stories about to your brother. You will make it sound as though I bother you."
"You do bother . Just today you bothered ," Ophelia pointed out.
"I did not bother you. I was being your thoughtful husband," Dante corrected Ophelia.
Ophelia shook her head. "I will allow you to fool yourself, but in the anti, I must get up. I cannot ignore what occurs beneath , and we must get back to writing the letter."
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