She broke the kiss as a cry was ripped out of her. Suddenly everything was far, far too intense. She'd been on the brink of sensory overload before – now she was fully immersed in it. As he was fully immersed in her.
He stopped, framed her face with his hands, whispered, "I am sorry." She felt his thumb skate across her overheated cheek; realized he was wiping tears away. She'd had no idea that she'd started to cry.
It made sense, though, she supposed, because oh dear sweet God, this hurt… and yet, it was the sweetest pain in the world. Because it meant they were linked together in a way that, as Gunther had said, could never be undone.
Nor was that all. As the pain began to subside a bit, as her body began to adjust, she became aware of something – some deep well of sensation – that was waiting right on the other side of that pain. It was going to hit her in a moment. And when it did…
More tears wanted to come. She sucked in a deep, hitching breath and blinked rapidly several times, trying to fight them back. She failed, but she was almost glad she did, because then Gunther was kissing them away and it was the most tender thing anyone had ever done for her.
His voice was ragged. "Should we –"
"No. No, do not stop. No, I just… just needed a moment to… it is alright. It is. Go."
But he stayed perfectly still. "Jane –"
Caught in a maelstrom of emotions, she very nearly laughed. "Gunther, I typically speak my mind, do I not?"
He actually did laugh a little at that. "I would say that is accurate, yes."
"So if I wanted to stop, I would say so. I want to go. Gunther – do not make me beg."
He didn't.
A second later he was moving again, and then she was burying her flushed face in his shoulder and moving with him, gasping and whimpering as pain gave way to pleasure, picking up on his rhythm and matching it, then building on it, climbing higher and higher and taking him with her, and then…
And then...
The whole world fell away.
OOOOO
They held each other afterward, drowsing. Jane had never felt so sated, so... complete. She'd almost fallen asleep when she realized that Gunther was tracing the scar on her shoulder with a fingertip. She blinked herself back to wakefulness and Gunther, realizing that she knew what he was doing, dipped his head and brushed the silvery scar with his lips.
She shivered – it was still a sensitive place.
"I would take that away from you if I could," he said, his voice hoarse with emotion. "I wish to God I could."
"I love you," she whispered, marveling that such a short while ago, she'd been worried that speaking those words to him had been among the worst mistakes of her life.
He tangled a hand in her hair and kissed her deeply, his other hand moving to cup her breast and Jane suddenly found that sleep had become the absolute farthest thing from her mind.