"Because he would have done the same thing for me," she said emphatically, a few hours later. And then shredded Gunther's heart all over again by adding, in a suddenly hesitant and terribly uncertain little voice, "at least, I… I think."
"Yes," he whispered, leaning in close, so that his lips moved against the skin of her temple.
"Yes, Jane, yes. A thousand times yes."
OOOOO
"I liked it."
He had been drowsing, but the words brought his head up with a start.
"What?" He blinked, looked around. It seemed to be the dead of night. The fire in the grate had burned low. Aside from Jane, only he and Adeline were in the room, and Adeline was fast asleep – or at least he fervently hoped she was, given what came next.
"I liked it," she repeated, her voice slow and drowsy. Dreamy. She wasn't awake, of course; not really, although her eyes were open, so dark a green that they looked nearly black in the dim light. She turned her head toward him and smiled, then let her eyes fall shut again. "The other night. Kissing you. Touching you. It felt good. You tasted good."
Gunther's jaw quite literally dropped. He shot a quick, frantic look at Adeline – dear God, if she is only resting her eyes – but the older woman didn't stir. Thank God. Thank God for that!
He returned his attention to Jane just as she declared quite matter-of-factly, "I would like to do that again." Then she sighed, and her breathing evened out, and in another few seconds she was deeply asleep once more, leaving Gunther as wide awake as he'd ever been in his life, absolutely reeling – and flushed right down to the roots of his hair.
OOOOO
(A/N: very short chapter, but fun... at least, I thought so! ;)