*Hattie*
I don’t want to let go. His lips on mine, his arms around me, gently caressing my back—I want to stay this way forever. But gradually, we ease out of the deep kiss, savoring those last few seconds before parting.
His brown eyes glisten in the moonlight as he looks at me, his hands still resting gently on my waist. “Hattie,” he says with such reverence, his voice husky and soothing. He lifts a hand to run his palm along my cheek.
“Eric.” The weight of the war and his impending fate can’t reach me now. That dark cloud can wash over me later. Right now, it’s all been replaced by a sense of warmth enveloping me, pulsating deep below my skin.
He pulls his hand away from my body reluctantly but immediately takes my hand in his. “How did you have the courage to kiss me?”
“Didn’t y
