“Thank you,” she sighed into his mouth. He withdrew slightly, just enough to glower down at her.
“You are thanking me for kissing you?”
“Yes. Every time you do it, I’m afraid you will never do it again.”
“Why?” he asked, incredulous.
“I can’t explain it,” she whispered. “It isn’t something I see. It’s something I feel.”
“How can I make that feeling go away?”
“You must promise to never stop kissing me,” she said, her face solemn. “You must kiss me relentlessly and never cease.”
He nodded, every bit as solemn, and immediately obeyed.
“Sasha!”
She was trembling, her eyes open, but something about her gaze and the sounds in her throat convinced him she wasn’t awake.
He shook her gently, kneading her arms and stroking her hair.
“Sasha, wake.”
One moment she was somewhere else and th
