Tara gave him a long look. “No. I guess you have them figured out perfectly. But tell me this, please: How am I to partake in the celebration without endangering myself?”
“If I knew that I wouldn’t have had to rack my brain so much these last few weeks”, Vincent gave back.
Tara chuckled. “Oh my poor, overwrought bodyguard”, she said and rand a hand through his hair, resting it on his cheek. “I know it can’t be easy, but I do appreciate your concerns for my safety, both as a servant, and as a man.”
Vincent looked up from his hands again and met her eyes, a twitch tugging at his lips. “I have to”, he said simply. “I have to, you are everything I have.”

Coming from any other man it might have sounded soppy, an exaggerated compliment, but Tara knew that for him, these words were nothing but the plain and simple truth. Yet it still made her stomach flutter.
With a soft smile she ran her thumb across his cheekbone and he turned his face to place a kiss on her fingertips.
“Vincent.” It was only a soft whisper, and he looked back at her face, a banked fire glowing in his eye. “I know that you just dressed yourself but...” She bit her lower lip and ran her finger along the line of his jaw. “But would you mind taking that armour off again?”
Vincent slowly cocked his head, but the tiny smile and the glow in his eye were still there. “Your wish is my command”, he said softly before he leaned forward to kiss her.


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