[Donovan] chuckled softly, allowing her to slip from his arms to continue her morning preparations. “Alright, I can get the chests down,” he stated. He turned to leave, but she caught his arm. He stopped and looked at her hand, then to her eyes. She smiled and handed him a mug with steaming liquid.
“Kavren,” she said. “To help with the spiralling thoughts.”
He took the mug from her, then smiled to her and kissed her forehead. “Thank you,” he said gently. “I appreciate how much you try to take care of me.”
Marleigh blushed slightly. “It is what I do,” she murmured, finding her fingernails particularly interesting very suddenly.
His lips tugged into a half-smile, and he reached a hand to her chin. Tilting her chin up, he stared into her eyes, then leaned down and kissed her again. “I know,” he whispered. “But, I still appreciate it.” He gave her a wink, then exited into the gathering room.
Marleigh waited until the door stopped swinging before nearly melting to the floor. Stars and ashes! Why did he have to be so void-damned charming? She drew in a deep breath, feeling her cheeks flush to her ears as she thought of him. Exhaling, she determinedly spun around and marched herself back to her preparations table and began punching down the loaf of bread. It was mocking her; it needed to be punished. Punished for him being so adorable. The bread did not fight her. It merely took the punching and settled softly into its cast-iron pan, awaiting the warm fires.
Donovan stopped just the other side of the swinging kitchen door. He waited for it to cease its movement, then nearly melted to the floor. Stars and ashes! Why did she have to be so void-damned beautiful? He drew a deep breath and closed his eyes. His thoughts quickly went to the two of them, alone, in his bed chamber. He felt his cheeks flush to his ears. He exhaled and shook out his head. He walked with determined step towards the storage room where the chests of tunics and britches were kept. He set his mug of kavren down, and he tried to focus on his task at hand, but thoughts of the two of them in somewhat compromising positions kept intruding into his mind. “Focus,” he hissed to himself. “Please, for the love of the Stars, focus!” He glanced over his shoulder, half-expecting Marleigh to be standing there, making a snide comment. He was only slightly disappointed when he found she was not.