Hugh allowed Alana to gently run the cloth along his cheek. As she pulled the linen from his skin, he could see how much soot was coming off. They sat in silence for some time. Alana worked to clean the soot from Hugh, and Hugh allowed her to continue her kind gesture.
Alana cleaned most of Hugh's face as well as his arms. The bucket was now black as coal. Alana moved the bucket to sit next to the bed chamber door. When she turned back around, Hugh was standing right behind her. His naked chest level with her eyes. She had not heard him walk over to her. Her gaze traveled from his well muscled chest to his eyes. What she saw there made her arms instinctively wrap around his neck and pulled his lips to her.
Hugh sought solace in Alana's arms. He did not like to look weak in front of his
