He didn't know how this kept happening. He and Kahlan had been talking on their bedrolls, like always, trying their hardest to ignore Zedd's awful snoring, like always, and Richard had been captivated by her face, by her hair, the whorl of her ear, the little scar on her lip, by the way she unconsciously moved closer to the fire. Her perfect lips were chattering away in excitement, but Richard could feel the words going in one ear and out the next. His eyes flickered between the sprinkling of freckles on her nose to the adorable crinkle in her brow when she smiled in just the right way. He returned to her lips and he stared them down. He defied them to be more perfect, and then her tongue darted out to wet them. He thought of all the things he could do to those lips and his mouth went dry.
Kahlan stopped talking when she noticed Richard's lack of participation in their conversation. She saw the way he was intently gazing into her face. "What?" She asked him, suddenly self-conscious. She tucked her hair behind her ear and she returned his stare, except hers was one of confusion, not lust. "Do I have something on my face?" She asked again, only half joking.
It took Richard more that a second to process what she had said past the movement of her luscious lips.
"Hrmm," his throat choked out. All he wanted was to caress her face, tell her how beautiful she looks and then kiss her slowly and tenderly until they both can't stand it.
Instead, he raked his fingers through his hair in an attempt to cool the fire burning in his cheeks and averted his gaze up to the trees silhouetted in the darkness by the stars and the moon. The moon looked so white and radiant. He could see the individual craters and crests that make up the surface. "So beautiful," he softly whispered.
Kahlan could practically feel the desire dripping off him. She saw the gentle sheen of sweat that glazed his brow and the way he swallowed and clenched his eyes tight. She moved to straddle his thighs, just to get closer to him and so that she could run her own fingers through his hair.
She put her hands on the side of his face, to hold him in place. She wanted to make sure this was perfect, at least until her power stops them. She wound her fingers up into his hair and his mouth opened automatically. His eyes hovered between open and closed in desire and they breathed faster and faster until they both felt dizzy with anticipation.
His eyes settled on her lips once more and then he had to have them. He devoured them.
Richard feasted on her full lips, and the kiss deepened, until their teeth were clashing, their tongues were duelling and they were moaning into each other's mouths.
Before he was sure what was happening her hands were roaming across his hard back, pushing his shirt higher and higher. His fingers made quick work of the laces holding her confessor dress tight to her body and he unlaced her dress almost down to her belly button.
Suddenly a loud snore from Zedd and a pop from the fire reminded them of where they were, and the reason that they don't do this – can't do this.
Kahlan opened her eyes and Richard saw the stormy depths that those orbs contained.
"So close," Kahlan whispered. She silently shuffled back to her own bed roll and lay down for sleep, sure that the night would bring plenty of dreams of what could have been.