Every time he kissed her, Bert felt his craving for that sense of becoming one with her grow stronger—so strong that it was nearly slipping beyond his control. If one day he really couldn't hold back and ended up "devouring" her…
He raised a hand to tug at the tie around his neck, forcing himself to stop thinking about such intimate images. Otherwise, the one who would suffer was only himself.
There were even moments when he thought he might as well tell her to go register their marriage right away. Once they were married, he could do whatever he wanted without restraint. But he knew very well that a whirlwind marriage was something neither she nor her mother, given their personalities, would be able to accept. So he could only take things step by step—dating, getting to know each other properly—and wait until everything fell naturally into place before talking about marriage.
