His mouth was soft and liquid against hers.
They'd shared several kisses these last few weeks, but this one was different.
There was a new urgency in his touch tonight, an intensity that built slowly and caught her in its wake, drawing her in before she recognized it.
The world spun around her, and Leia didn't know or care whether it came from the wine.. the kiss.. or both. She could only lean back and lose herself in the dizzying rush of pleasure that washed over her.
He tasted of wine and spicy sauces and his hands were firm and strong as he held her against him. She was acutely aware of everything - the solid thump of his heartbeat against her breast, the scratch of his jaw as it brushed her cheek, the slick movement of his tongue along her own - and at the same time, she felt strangely detatched from herself.
It was curiously like watching a scene from a holodrama... like grasping at the fading remains of a dream from which you'd just been awakened.
She inahled deeply through her nostrils, and the scent of him filled her lungs. His presence surrounded her, anchoring her to reality, and she couldn't bear the thought of letting go. Not for a moment.
When he broke off the kiss at last, breathless, he guided her very gently back up to a sitting position, and she clutched at him without opening her eyes.
Oh, gods, no. Don't leave.
Pressing her face into the side of his neck, nuzzling at his throat, she was desperate to touch him again, and her trembling fingers found the open placket of his shirt and slid inside, tracing tiny circles in the wispy hairs she found there.
She leaned in and took another long, deep breath, resting her cheek against his sternum, and without planning it, she turned her face and kissed the warm flesh beneath her lips.
He arched his neck, inviting her to continue, and she stretched up in response, kissing her way along the hollow of his throat, tasting the prickly stubble that covered his jaw.
At last her mouth found his again, and this time there was no hestiation, no holding back. Shifting in his arms, she turned so that she was kneeling on the bench, straddling his lap and resting her hands on his shoulders for support, never breaking the kiss.
The tail of her shirt tugged free of her waistband, and for a moment, she felt cool air against the strip of bare skin that was briefly exposed. And then his warm hands slipped into the gap, his thumbs tracing the line of her vertebrae.
His wandering fingers found the bottom edge of her bra and paused there, for what seemed like an eternity, before trailing back down to her waist again and pulling her close. Solid and steady, he anchored her in place.
He was hard and hungry beneath her, and she found herself rocking slowly against the thick shape of his arousal. A strange and delicious warmth began to spread from her aching core all the way to her toes.
For weeks now, she'd been telling herself that getting close to this man was a bad idea. And she'd begun to beleive it.
But right now, all that mattered was how wonderful he made her feel.
He'd kissed her like this once before, in the circuitry bay. That day, she'd been confused and frightened and she'd turned around and fled.
But tonight it felt more right than anything she'd ever known, and she had no intention of running away.
