The moment he saw that her will could not be tamed, could not be broken and molded into whatever creation he desired, was the moment that Hannibal witnessed the truth; that this woman standing in front of him, with her innocent eyes burrowing straight into his heart, was the only thing that mattered in the world. In that moment the last of his efforts to keep his hands from touching her, exploring her body endlessly were beginning to fail, but he must touch her in order to keep himself grounded to the earth. All logic flew out the window and in those few seconds his hungry mouth descended onto her exposed breast and he tasted the skin there, passionately saturating whatever flesh his tongue could touch.
Her head tilted back slightly letting him gain more surface area for his tongue and lips to explore. Her hand softly rested in his hair. There was no urgency in her movements. She was the complete antithesis to Hannibal's hungry rapture.
He jerked her lithe body around and pushed her onto the large dining room table. Krendler had finally gone into shock and died after having pieces of his brain removed, and Hannibal was glad to finally have him shut up. He would never hurt Clarice again. He would never embarrass her or destroy the things she loved. Hannibal smiled at the thought of that, his mind at ease with the knowledge that his dear, sweet Clarice would no longer be bothered by such filth.
Hannibal ripped the top of the dress so he could touch more of Clarice's body. She touched his face lightly, brought his lips to hers and pressed them gently together. Hannibal pulled back and looked into her eyes. They were not her eyes. They were distant. Lacking depth. Hollow. He had been so caught up in changing her entire brain structure that he forgot why he had chosen this woman in the first place. He saw none of her light there in those eyes.
Ashamed, he pulled himself off from her and lifted her up by the arms off the table. He pulled the tatters of her dress back up to cover her bare chest.
"I'm sorry, Clarice."
"What's the matter, Doctor? You don't like me anymore?" Her voice was quiet, still child-like, lost and dulled from the drugs in her system.
"I cannot have you this way. I cannot thrust myself upon you. I may be a killer but I am not one to take advantage of people in this way. Go to sleep, Clarice. Come to me when the drugs wear off and you are yourself again."
Clarice's eyes lingered on him another second, then she walked past him towards the hallway leading to the room she had been sleeping in since being brought to Hannibal's apartment. He smelled her scent as her hair wafted behind her. Before stepping past the light from the dining room into the darkness beyond she stopped and over her shoulder said, "Maybe I've been myself for too long. Maybe that's how I ended up here."
Before Hannibal could reply she was enveloped in the darkness and out of sight.