His eyes shot back up to hers as soon as her caress warmed through the skin underneath shirt; when her fingers touched and held his face, they widened.

And then she kissed him. And it stunned the thoughts out of his mind... and, at the same time, surprised him not at all... as a fact. But the sweetness that spread from her lips, soothing away tension and exhaustion and rigid control which had held for years, not knowing that there was an option... all of that swept through his body and mind with a force he couldn't have suspected can result from this soft a touch.

Instead of freezing, or pushing her away, his arm reached to encircle her shoulder, not quite pressing her closer but still holding them nearer.

We shouldn't, he probably ought to say. This isn't how things are, maybe.

Except here and now, he didn't care about the first, and the second...

It wasn't true.

Not that what they have discussed all the times before had been a lie, and she could see that it wasn't herself. But to deny that this was true, too...

He'd already concealed something important from her tonight. Lying on top of that - and for what? So he could slip away, hide behind obligations and duties and let something good and real go?

No.

He leaned nearer in turn, and kissed back. Not deep or forceful, but less hesitant than she had.

Doing so... felt right and wrong and right again anyway. Right because he wanted and she wanted. Wrong, because he couldn't remember doing this, not without pushing against walls he couldn't penetrate. Right, because... because...

Words didn't fit. Her lips did.