(nrpg: Barb, he's all yours :) Kris: Don't I wish *grin*)
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Sure she was disappointed. And yes, she admitted to herself, she did 
miss being with him. How could it  be that in such a very short amount 
of time, this one man could come to mean so much to her. 

He's just being friendly girl. Don't read anything more into it than 
that. Just because he tells you you're pretty, and sends your heart 
rate into over drive, doesn't mean that he feels the same way. So what 
if he flirts with you? Men often flirt with girls they think are pretty. 'He
thinks I'm beautiful !'  But she had been told that before, by the 
men in the town who were trying to get her into their beds. *Those* men made
her feel dirty and cheep, just because she was her mother's 
daughter. *He* made her feel cherished and more than a little giddy 
with just a look from 
those deep blue eyes.

Something must have come up. Warren business, she thought as she neared 
the door of the apartment Saul had found for her to use. He really 
didn't seem the type who would just bring her and her siblings all the 
way here and then just forget all about them. There had to be a good 
reason why she hadn't seen him after he'd dropped her off at the tailors
shop. Not that he owed her one, Shawnee chided herself as she entered 
into the living room. It was she who owed him. More than she could ever repay.

Seconds after closing the door behind her, Shawnee was startled by the sound
of someone knocking outside. When she opened the door and saw Saul standing
just outside, her disappointment vanished. 

"Good evening Sweet Shawnee. I had to come to apologize for not taking 
you to see the Warrenlady today as I 'd promised."

"I figured you were busy." she told him, as she stepped back into the 
room allowing him to enter behind her.

He nodded, "Yes, but that is no excuse for not having done what I 
should have. Please forgive me."

"I do, she smiled. Just as soon as I saw you on the other side of the 
door, she thought. This time making sure she didn't repeat the words a loud.
"It was good of you to come by and tell me."

"We do have some unfinished business to take care of." He said, his 
blue eyes twinkling.

"We do?" she couldn't think, couldn't move as he advanced towards her. 
She looked up into his eyes. And was lost.

"Well your young brother seems to think so." He grinned, taking the 
final step between them. 

Shawnee opened her mouth to ask what he had meant, but the words died 
on her lips. In the next moment, Saul drew her into his arms, and his 
lips descended to meet hers. 

The kiss started out slow, giving her the opportunity  to move away 
if she choose, just a soft brushing of cool, firm lips- first this way 
and then, angling his head, settling more firmly, with more demand.

Shawnee sighed, the sound absorbed in his mouth, as his breath mingled 
with hers. Her whole body hummed, as if coming alive for the first time. Her
arms moved upward to wrap themselves around his broad shoulders. Her heart
swelled. She forgot how to breathe, how to think, she could only 
feel as he deepened the kiss, tasting her, claiming her. One hand moved 
up under her white-blonde hair, holding her head firmly in place. The 
other slipped around her waist supporting her as her legs turned to 
jelly.

"So Sweet you are, Sweet Shawnee." she heard him whisper against her 
lips, the soft hairs of his neatly trimmed beard arousing her as they
brushed against her skin. "Kisses like wine, and eyes a man could drown 
in. What have you done to me, my lovely little thief." 

Then his lips were gone. Shawnee whimpered at their loss. Her eyes 
opened slowly to see him smiling warmly down at her.         

Sanity returned slowly, she turned her face away from him so he 
couldn't read what was there in her eyes, but he would have none of 
it. Reaching up to clasp her chin, he gently pulled her head around 
until her aqua eyes met his. "I'm sorry, I don't know why you have 
the affect on me that you do... " he paused, started to say something 
more but stopped, "Much as I'd like to continue, I'm not about to take
advantage of your trust like this. Not with everything else you've been
through lately" This time it was he who turned away and she who stopped him.

"Saul please," she said softly, stepping close enough to lay her 
palms against the warmth of is chest. "I wanted you to kiss me.
 I-I still want you to kiss me, but this is all new to me. I don't
understand what it is I'm feeling. But I know one thing." A half 
smile formed on lips swollen from his kisses.

"And what's that?" he asked, blue eyes narrowed, sensing her playfully tone.

Her grin spread wider across her face, "Why some women prefer kissing 
men with beards... not that I've kissed that many men before so I 
would know." her cheeks turned red.

"I know," Saul grinned, a twinkle appeared in his blue eyes. "Your 
brother told me, when he asked if I had kissed you yet."

Shawnee's head came up, her aqua eyes wide in surprise, but before she could
say anything Saul changed the subject and asked if she had eaten 
yet. When she shook her head confused at the switch, he reached for her hand
and led her towards the door. 

"Then allow me to escort you to the dining hall, Sweet Shawnee. Because 
if we stay here alone much longer, and lady don't think for a minute 
that I don't want too, I might be talked into letting you kiss me again, and
this time you might get more than you're ready for." 

"Who says I'm not ready now," she muttered under her breath as the door
closed behind them and they stepped hand in hand into the moon lit night.
Then allowed so that he could hear, she said, "Why, I'll have you know 
Saul of Whiteriver, I wasn't the one *doing* the kissing back there. I 
was the one *getting* kissed. There's a difference."

"Yes Ma'am, there surely is," he agreed a little to smugly, moving her 
hand so it laid on his arm. "I had your brother's permission."
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nrpg: Kris- I hope this is okay?

And Mia, I'm sorry I keep getting you and Glory confused where 
Terau is concerned......

******Submitted by:****************
Barbara
Shawnee and her Siblings
Whiteriver Warren
*****Submitted by:*********************
Barbara
Voices of:
Warrenlady Jayleigh & Queen Viktroy (Daere)
Tera & Sundellath (Telnor), 
Dan'yar & Shinner (Cleft) 
Shawnee (Whiteriver)

Daere Warren Home Page
(http://mail.reallink.com/~carolyn/index.html
(Barbara's Pern Question page)
<http://pubpages.unh.edu/~bscott/pern/questions.html>