[For a moment he fears that when he opens his eyes, he will discover it was all just a dream. He’ll awaken in his bed, just as he has on so many lonely mornings before, slapped by the realization that she isn’t there at all.
Then the movement of her lips kindles a fresh spark of chroma, and this fear thaws. Contentment smooths the rough edges of his heart. Just to be certain, though, he pulls his hand from hers — so that he can wrap his arm around her waist and squeeze her against him. Nothing has ever felt more real than her body in his embrace, and at the same time nothing has ever been more unbelievable.
Really, he should have pulled away by now. But the thought doesn’t quite reach his muscles. Much stronger is the thought that, after he was so certain he’d lost her forever, he is now proven wrong once more.
So instead of pulling away, which would be the characteristically prudish thing to do, Matthias does something uncharacteristically bold. Following the example Nina sets, he swipes his tongue across the pout of her lower lip. He has much to atone for, but it seems that first he would try to make up for all the time they had lost.]
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Then the movement of her lips kindles a fresh spark of chroma, and this fear thaws. Contentment smooths the rough edges of his heart. Just to be certain, though, he pulls his hand from hers — so that he can wrap his arm around her waist and squeeze her against him. Nothing has ever felt more real than her body in his embrace, and at the same time nothing has ever been more unbelievable.
Really, he should have pulled away by now. But the thought doesn’t quite reach his muscles. Much stronger is the thought that, after he was so certain he’d lost her forever, he is now proven wrong once more.
So instead of pulling away, which would be the characteristically prudish thing to do, Matthias does something uncharacteristically bold. Following the example Nina sets, he swipes his tongue across the pout of her lower lip. He has much to atone for, but it seems that first he would try to make up for all the time they had lost.]