Page 30 of Love Letters & Lemon Drops

I laugh, realising that even if I don't have the answers, I actually feel a little better just from hearing him talk about this. "I want to watch that."

"It can be arranged."

I lean closer, feeling his breath fanning against my lips and feeling the desire to kiss him rise within me. My eyes flutter closed just as his lips brush against mine.

My whole body reacts in an instant, and I wrap my arms around him, pulling him closer and sinking into him. There's something unbelievably freeing about being able to do this where we are. When I set off from Someil, I thought Falhaven was going to be the same in so many respects. My mother spent years teaching me the proper etiquette for what's expected of a princess, and a future wife, but not all of that seems to apply here. It feels like in Falhaven, I can be true to my feelings rather than be stuck in the box my mother created.

I trail my hand over Arthur's arm, feeling the strength within them and marvelling at the care he's always showing when he touches me. I break away from the kiss, but don't pull back from him.

"How long has your sister given us in her kitchen?" I murmur.

"Not long," he admits, a hint of disappointment in his voice.

"We could always not make the lemon drops," I respond.

"Is that your way of saying you want to do something else?" he asks.

"Kissing you is fun," I say, placing my hand on his chest and feeling his heartbeat steadily.

"I'm glad you think so. I intend to keep kissing you for a long time to come."

"Other things are fun too." My voice drops even lower as I think about the other night, and how I'd like to experience that again.

His eyes darken and he looks as if he's about to say that we can forget all of this and run off somewhere to spend the afternoon alone. But I don't want to ruin the planning he's put into this.

I put my hand on his chest. "Maybe we should at leasttryto make the lemon drops," I say, reaching out and taking the recipe from him. It's been scrunched up a little bit. "Especially as you worked hard to get the recipe."

He chuckles, the sound vibrating through me pleasantly. "If you want."

"I do." I look at the list, surprised to find it's in my language and not Falhavien. "Can you read this?"

"Of course," he says.

"But we always wrote to each other in your language."

"Not at the beginning," he reminds me. "But then you told me that you wanted to write in Falhavien because you wanted to practice before you came to live here."

"Oh, I'd quite forgotten about that. I suppose I didn't realise you could speak my language this well."

"I learned," he responds. "I wanted to be able to speak to you in your native language if you preferred it." His accent is a little off, but the words are easy to make out, and they send a thrill through me. He learned how to say that forme.

"Thank you," I whisper, putting my hand on his chest.

He puts his own over it and smiles at me, a genuine look of adoration on his face.

"I know it isn't much..."

"You learned to speak my language for me," I counter. "It's a lot."

"You learned mine," he points out.

"Yes, but my parents would have made me regardless of what I wanted," I point out. "It isn't the same."

"My father was happy to hear that I was interested in learning," he promises. "He said that it would make diplomacy easier."

"Mmm, well, your diplomatic skills with this princess have been exemplary so far."

"And I hope they continue to be." He flashes me a charming smile. "So, what do we need?"

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