Page 172 of Swords of Soul and Shadow
“Now that’s an absolutely ridiculous nickname if I’ve ever heard one.”
She placed a finger on his lips. “Tell me about your other tattoo.”
He sighed. “The other one…” He kissed her finger before removing it with his other hand, kissing her knuckles instead. “It’s one I got after theEudoramission.”
“And?”
“It might be worse than the dragon one. I was feeling poetic.”
She laughed, imagining a floral pattern. “It’s something frilly, isn’t it?”
“Never.”
Hallie thought for a moment. What would he have? She doubted it was another dragon. Maybe something from a book?The Odyssey? But what would be embarrassing about that? “It’s my name.”
He rolled his eyes. “Yes, I was so enamored by the only woman who dared spurn me that I got her name tattooed right above my—”
“If you finish that sentence, I will slap you for a third time.”
Kase threw his head back and laughed again. Was that the third or fourth time that evening? She really liked this side of him. It was as if he’d finally let go. Whether that was from their honest discussion or the fact she’d told him she loved him, she didn’t know, nor did she care. She never wanted him to stop.
“When I got back,” he finally said, “I used reading as an escape for…everything. And a recent find of my mother’s was the complete works of J.R.R. Tolkien, a First Earth fantasy author.”
Oh no….oh no…surely not.
“So help me, if you have Tom Bombadil on your chest, I will never speak to you again.”
“And of course, I wouldn’t want that.” She hit him lightly on the shoulder again, and he smiled, almost shy. “It’s ‘aurë entuluva.’”
She stared at him for a minute. Oh, that wasn’t bad at all. “Day shall come again.”
His eyebrows rose. “Impressive, Miss Walker.”
“Tolkien created at least fifteen languages and dialects, including Quenya, so as a student of linguistics and etymology, I based one of my term papers on him.”
His eyes sparkled in the firelight. “As one does.”
“I got full marks.”
“Well, I would’ve never given you the time of day if you’d received anything less.”
He brushed a stray hair behind her ear. She leaned into his hand. “So only two?”
“Only two. The Elvish is on my upper inner arm.” His fingers brushing the line of her jaw. Hallie shivered.
“Why?”
“I needed to do something besides spiral, and a very wise but frustrating scholar once told me I had to learn to keep on living.”
“Quite pretty, too, I hear.”
“And humble.”
Hallie laughed. Kase pulled her even closer, the space between them almost nonexistent. He hooked his finger underneath her chin once more. She could feel the heat of his body, the smell of woodsmoke and leather filling her senses, and she was certain her heart was going to leap from her chest. Unfortunately, her father chose that moment to walk right past, leading her mother to a seat. Her mother glared at Kase. Heat pulsed in her core. Kase relaxed his grip, letting his finger fall and allowing more space than needed to come between them.
Why wouldn’t he just kiss her already?
“I’m beginning to think they’re doing that on purpose,” Kase said dryly.
