She had laid her feelings bare in her own way, and if I turned from it now, I would only be denying the truth we were both standing in.
So I stepped forward, closing the last sliver of distance, and pressed my mouth to hers.
Her lips were warm, unexpectedly soft, and the sensation unraveled something tight inside me. The contact was clumsy at first, almost reckless in the way I leaned into it, but the moment I felt her breathe against me, a deep, unspoken urge took over. I kissed her harder, not out of hunger alone, but from the sheer relief of no longer holding back.
Zarah stiffened in surprise, her body going taut beneath my hands, and for a fleeting moment I thought I had made a mistake. But then she exhaled, a sound half-caught between hesitation and surrender, and her lips pressed back against mine with deliberate weight.
