Theodora was left dizzy by Armand’s kiss, both by the passion and demand of his touch. Something had changed. She tasted urgency in his embrace as well as an unexpected joy. She could have let him seduce her again, but there were shades all around them.
And she still had preparations to make.
It was his gentleness, she decided, his compassion and understanding. It wound beneath her armor, weakening her conviction that the world was devoid of good, awakening a part of her that had been slumbering for too long.
Armand challenged her surety that every man worked only for his own benefit. He compromised her conviction that people had to act that way. He made her believe she could provide an impetus to change. She had a heady sense of what they might accomplish together, one that was shatter
