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have agreed aloud, but there was no need to rub salt into her wound. “I forgive you.”
    “And I forgive you for not believing me to be who I am.”
    “Brandywyn, let us not begin that argument again.”
    “But ‘tis true! Please believe me!”
    Tom thought ‘twould be bad for her did he do so. She could not behave like a spoiled princess. She needed to embrace her humble situation. Brandywyn especially needed to get control of her temper. Instead of giving in, he took her chin in his hand and tilted her face up. “Mayhap you are not royalty, but to me you are as precious as any princess in the world.” Tom gazed into her green eyes, falling into their leafy depths for a moment, then lowered his head to take her lips—her ruby lips, so soft, so tender.
    It was a gentle kiss at first. Tom did not wish to scare her, but as she slowly came to know his tenderness, she also came to find her passion. It showed in the movement of her lips on his. As he pressed her a bit more, holding her tight against him, she opened her mouth and he explored her teeth, her tongue. He tested her experience, and found her untried, hesitant, but with ardor growing.
    Brandywyn was breathless as he slowly withdrew from her. Her eyes opened, half-lidded with desire. “Aye, sweeting. That is how it is with us.”
    “I have never kissed before,” she admitted with a blush. “Can we do it again?”
    Tom chuckled, delighted. His answer was to bend his head and take her lips again, this time with greater force—not enough to scare her, but enough to prove his deep desire. Brandywyn hesitated only a moment before she became more aggressive. Her tongue played with his, her breath became his. He drank her up and she refilled his cup.
    Sliding his hands down her back, he cupped her rump gently. He knew she was still sore from her spanking, but he wanted the feel of her full behind in his hands. Rewarding him, she squirmed in his grasp. Tom wanted more. He snaked one hand between them and moved it up her chest, finally cupping her breast. Her nipple was hard, a nubbin against his palm and between his fingers. He worked it free of its confining garment, manipulated that tender nipple and fondled her breast.
    “Oh… oh, Tom…” she sighed.
    Bending further, he took the tip of her breast into his mouth and wound his tongue around it, coaxing it to greater hardness. He nipped her gently and she gasped, pressing her breast against his mouth to encourage him. If he did not cease, he would have her naked and in the bed soon. ‘Twas not the way to take a maid, all at once, without wooing. She was willing, though, and that was gratifying. Carefully, he withdrew, pulling her chemise and bodice back into place.
    “We must cease, love, else we shall do something regrettable.”
    Brandywyn touched his face gently, and he heard the rustle of his beard beneath her hand. “I would not regret it.”
    He smiled and retreated a bit. “I would. You deserve wooing, sweeting, not some rough tumble after a single kiss.”
    She frowned and took a step back. “As you wish. If I do not please you…”
    Taking her hand, he pressed a kiss to her palm. “You please me greatly. Too greatly.” Verily, it beset him to think of her leaving him. It was not something he cared to consider, so he pushed it to the back of his mind.

Chapter Five
     
     
    Parting from him, Brandywyn sat down in the single chair, her bottom aching on the hard wood. She was unsure about what to do. Tom certainly did not believe her, and yet, her story was true. It was very pigheaded of him to insist she was someone who was out of her head and making her identity up. However, she could not find her way back home, and so long as the villagers did not recognize her, she was without help. In time, if she persisted, Tom had to come around to believe her. He had to! If she confronted him time and again with her regal bearing and fine manners, she would certainly convince him.
    Tom’s kisses had been