A huge thanks to all my lovely reviewers: SRAS9, caseyedith, LimeGrass, Crau-san, Emi Violet, Rihannon, SeaSaltChocolate, kokoronagomu, Scarred Sword Heart, and especially geckohawaii, who caught a couple of typos! (Hate those things, will slay on sight. Should all be fixed now.)
Piquant
-adjective
Agreeably stimulating, interesting, or attractive.
He's just too cute.
With that lithely toned body, textured with scars and marks; his emotive eyes, changeable as the sea; his fiery corona of hair, so agreeably soft and silky against the calluses on her palm, he is practically perfect.
Kaoru sits and watches him dice carrots, his hands long and slim and confident of the short blade. He has lovely hands, she thinks, capable of great kindness and strength.
Unable to stand it anymore, she squeezes him hard around the waist, and is rewarded with the most attractive expression of all: A warm, heart-felt smile.