A Kiss of Magic: A Kiss of Magic Book One by Jacquelyn Frank Page B

room full of soaring shelves, much of which could only be accessed by ladders. She exclaimed in delight, running from shelf to shelf to examine the titles on the bindings of the books.
    “ Murdo’s Practicum ! I have been looking for this! They say there’s only two copies.”
    “They are right.” He smiled. “You will find I have many hard to find volumes.”
    “I don’t doubt it. Look at them all!”
    Eventually he pulled her away from the library, though not without her arms being full of books she had found to read. He showed her the pool in the center of the solarium. It was protected from the elements and was a good four feet deep. The water was clean and clear, and he had it cleaned once a week by a Vendii majii who could manipulate the water and make it fresh again in concert with his servants who scrubbed the walls and floors of the pool thoroughly.
    “Oh, it’s beautiful,” she said, looking down at the colorful tile that made up the design of the floor of the pool.
    “You can try it any time you like,” he said.
    “But…what would I wear?”
    “Whatever you like,” he said with a smile, “Or nothing at all.”
    She blushed furiously at that and he laughed.
    “But there is a private bath for that,” he said, taking her upstairs to show her the private bath. It was a smaller pool, only six feet by seven feet and two feet deep.
    “I don’t know what I would do with so much room to bathe in.”
    “You and I are able to heat the water now,” he said in a whisper against her ear. “So long as we are touching.”
    To emphasize the point, he reached out and stroked a finger down the side of her neck. As he did so he concentrated on heating the water. Soon steam began to rise off the water. He found it to be very reflective of the heat he was feeling just by touching her in that small way.
    “Would you like a bath?” he asked her. He led her into the room that was becoming moist with damp heat. He showed her a stoppered bottle and taking the stopper out he held it under her nose.
    “Henno flowers!” she said. “It smells wonderful.”
    He dumped a healthy dollop of the mixture into the water and using his Aspano ability to move things with his mind, he made the water bubble and roll until a froth of bubbles appeared on the surface.
    “I didn’t know you could do that,” she said softly.
    “Moving water is a very tricky skill. Only the highest level Aspanos can manage it.”
    “And you are very much a high level Aspano,” she said.
    She sounded uncomfortable, so he moved them away from the topic.
    “Come. Let us put these books down somewhere safe and dry and then you can take a bath and wash the cares of the day away.”
    “It does sound lovely,” she said with longing. “But I shouldn’t really.”
    “Why shouldn’t you? You are a guest in my house. You should avail yourself of its every pleasure.”
    Before she could argue he took her to her room. He barely gave her time to register the sunny room with its large bed before he was taking the books out of her arms and resting them on the bedside table near the kerosene lamp.
    “A bit of reading before bedtime,” he said with a smile. Then he led her back into the bathing room and shut the door behind them. He came up behind her and picked up her hair, sweeping it forward over her shoulder, and began to unbutton her dress. She gasped and turned around, her hand on her chest as she met his eyes.
    “With you here?” she asked.
    He smiled again and reached for her hand. He pulled her closer and sought out her ear. With his lips brushing over the shell of it he whispered, “I’ve already seen you naked and wet.”
    She sucked in a sharp breath and he pulled back to gauge her expression. She looked a combination of shocked and aroused. Good. At least arousal was in there somewhere. He turned her around again and resumed his work on the buttons of her dress. As he exposed her spine, he could not resist the urge to kiss her on each