A first kiss is not all it's cracked up to be. Spur of the moment, hasty, lips meshing together and saliva mixing. It's raw and it's wet, but whoever told you it is romantic was lying.

A second kiss, now that's another story. After awkwardly saying goodbye and letting the elevator take me back down after our first encounter, I have time to reflect. Like an ecstasy flashback, the feeling of when I was with you will not leave me alone. You are like a drug running thorough my veins, and already I am going into withdrawal, though I have only been alone for five minutes. Already I am planning our second kiss.

This time when our eyes meet, the knowledge of what has previously passed between us hangs overhead, so large and ominous it cannot be ignored, though neither of us speak of its presence. Every word of our conversation has a footnote: when will we kiss again?

Finally we are alone. The evening has fallen so quickly you have not turned the lights on in your flat yet. Moonlight filters in and casts an unearthly glow over the paleness of your skin. Now is the perfect moment, but still we stand apart. A sickening fear washes over me as I wonder if there might not be a second kiss.

Your eyes show a soul so distant, so unreadable, I feel utterly alone. Why am I even here? You would have kissed me by now if you really wanted to. I feel foolish and long to flee, yet I linger under your intense gaze, unable to accept the fact that I will never again feel the exquisite paradise that descended as we kissed in the rising elevator. My disappointment condenses as tears gather to obscure my sight. I wish with all my heart I could understand you. I wish I could make you smile.

What is this you are saying? That I am the one you do not understand!

You are standing so close to me I can feel your breath caressing my skin. A gentle warmth that quickly spreads to a fierce burning in the very centre of my being. I am transported. My body has never felt so alive and yet I feel as if I am not even connected to it anymore. I close my eyes and the feeling intensifies.

You gently cup my face and brush my tears from my eyes. Silk is rough compared to the smoothness of your touch. I feel my body shudder slightly but it hardly registers. My passion is so strong you must be able to see it in my eyes. Of this I am certain.

With the force of my desire I will you to move closer, to break that barrier as invisible but strong as a spider's web. Heartbeats stretch into eternity. We have slipped into a new dimension of time where only we exist. The decision is yours alone but I can not stand this tension for much longer. Flickers of electrical attraction flash between our neurons. The pull you exude on me is almost unbearable.

Finally, infinitesimally slowly, you move closer.

I blink.

Or have you moved at all? My eyes are hazy with lust.

I blink again to clear them.

Now your lips are on mine, and I am dying. My anti-prince charming, you are killing me with your kiss.

How did my hands move up behind your neck? Slowly, tentatively, I reach up and tangle my fingers in your hair.

How can this be real? I clench harder, until you moan with pain against my mouth, but still I feel nothing.

You pull back to look at me and ask if I am alright. You say you can feel my heart beating against your chest.

Do I have a heart?

As the distance between us increases, the clouds in my mind disperse and I realize I am gasping for breath. My heart is indeed pounding so hard it is aching against my ribs. You are gazing at me with your honey brown eyes. Pools of gold that would make me melt if I wasn't already a puddle at your feet. You are waiting for my reaction. What am I supposed to say?

I open my mouth but the capacity for speech has left me long ago. Instead I dive down into your depths and submerge myself in your kiss once again. I am floating in a liquid paradise, surrounded on all sides by your essence. When we separate once again I feel as if I have been forced to the surface, pushed to the edges of heaven. The lights are too bright, the angles too harsh. I am disoriented, until I look back at you.

You are smiling.

Paradise regained.