Love Her

Part 15

"Isn't it supposed to be like this?" she asked, and I grinned widely. "The glory of first love," she continued, "and all that. It's incredible, isn't it, the difference between reading about something, seeing it in the movies, and experiencing it?"

My lips turned up lightly and I nodded. If this was not love, I would like to know what it was. I had never felt so euphoric before. I moved my nose so it lightly caressed her jawline. I reached up to move her hair away from her neck with the lightest of touches. She trembled under my touch. I moved my lips to the hollow under her ear and kissed lightly.

She pulled away from me then. Instantly I was nervous I had done something perverse. I wanted to pull her back to me. I froze; worried I had done something incredibly wrong. I clenched my jaw in worry. She stared fixedly at me, her eyes cautious. I slowly and deliberately unclenched my teeth. What was the matter?

"You're still pretty unhappy, aren't you?"

I reached out and pulled her hand to my face, letting it warm my cheek.

The touch sent electricity through me like it always does when we touch. She needed to understand though, that it wasn't easy for me at all. I had been fighting with so many desires when I was around her I was unsure if I could constantly keep them all caged.

"What am I going to do with you?"

"I don't know," I admitted. "I really have been trying my hardest."

"I believe you."

It was silent.

Effortlessly, without a conscious command to the muscles around my lips, my answering smile spread across my face. "I wish you could stay here forever," I whispered.

My fingers lightly traced the shape of her lips. "I will stay with you tonight- isn't that enough?" She smiled gently under my fingertips.

"Enough for now," I said, frowning. For now, I scoffed.

She didn't move, but she was still snuggled securely against me. I waited for a few moments, no sound. I was worried instantly, then realized she might be asleep. "Did you fall asleep?" I whispered in her ear.

"No," she whispered back. Suddenly, she was yawning. I was keeping her awake, she needed to get to sleep. I brought my lips to her hair then. I took a deep breath of her heady scent. She was silent then, "Are you ready to sleep?"

"I'm not sure if I can."

"Try?"

When Rachel first fell asleep, she was quiet. I held her in my arms and kept my face close to her neck. I continued to breathe deeply while I hummed her lullaby very quietly in her ear. Even in her sleep, she trembled at my touch.