He gazed after her in silence, feeling welled up in his heart. For a long time, he suddenly stretched out long arms across the nape of her neck, around her weak shoulders. Grace was so frightened that she curled up, afraid to move. He took her in his arms, and with his other hand he gently brushed the hair from her shoulders and kissed her earlobe and neck, tenderly and delicately...

A tingling, sour sensation swept over Grace, and she felt a strange sensation she had never had before. Her body was taut. She closed her eyes and tried to control her nervousness. "Stop it," she whispered, pretending to be...