an abrupt kiss that you melt into after a moment of hesitation .
she is still impossibly difficult to touch, as if his hands have no right to linger over her body. he knows he is no better—just as sharp, just as inhospitable—but this doesn't bring him any peace.
still, as time has gone on, he has made more of an effort. has reached for her ungloved despite the thorns. for azura: he will be a good dog, and he will not bite.
well... not much, at least. and only when she wants it.
he lets his hands wander up her back as he draws her close, pressing his lips to her lips and thinking mine. mine. mine.
She is a shard of glass. Touch her, and you might bleed. She is near invisible beneath the waves, moving with the flow of the tide and never staying in one place too long. Transient thing, floating and reaching for the shore.
Niles is sharp and hard and all things an arrow should be, but he would never aim that at her. She knows this, and has long since stored her heart at the bottom of his quiver.
He holds her, and she lets herself collect in his hands. Her lips welcome his as she breathes in the smell of land and life and blood, an answer to his unspoken wish. Yours, yours, yours.