Chapter 63

A smile touched her mouth, though she tried to stop it.

“Shh,” he breathed against her throat as if he was afraid she was about to speak and spoil the moment.

But that was her very last intention; she felt too good, too at peace, too at one with this lover of hers who had given as much as he had taken. It was a beautiful knowledge. And just as beautiful to know from that lazy 'shh' that he was feeling the same way about it.

Eventually they moved, though, eventually with seemingly perfect sensory co-ordination he withdrew from her just as she reached the point where she needed to stretch her limbs to encourage them to recover some substance. With a lazy kiss pressed to her throat, he slid himself sideways, bent a knee across her thighs as if to make sure she didn't decide to stray, then came up on one elbow to look down on her gravely while gentle fingers carefully combed stray locks of her hair away from her face and throat and shoulders.

It wa