"Akira," she whispered. "What are you thinking? Staring like that..."
"That you're the most honest person I know." He moved back over her, settling between her thighs, his clothed body brushing against her bare skin. The contrast made her shiver. "You feel everything so deeply: joy, pain, creation. That's not a weakness, Aoi. That's your strength. It's what makes your art alive, what makes you alive."
She bit her lip, fresh tears sliding down her temples into her hair. "I don't feel strong right now. I feel... exposed."
"Then let me remind you." He kissed her again, deeper this time, his tongue sliding against hers in a slow, sensual rhythm that mirrored the building heat between them.
She opened for him fully, her hands clutching at his shoulders, pulling him closer as if to merge their bodies.
