A sob escaped me as his soft kisses trailed down over my closed eyes, my cheeks, and to my chin, lingering. Every time those soft lips met mine, I caught the faint shudder hidden within them.
The sweetness of our memories drifted through my mind. Those beautiful fragments flooded, making me unable to hide my laughter. Even with tears falling, mixing with the stream of water on my face, I laughed in front of him.
“Hmm, I miss that too…” Zioh’s own laughter broke through, tender, joining mine. The first I’d heard in ten years sounded achingly beautiful.
I opened my eyes to find his soft, warm smile meeting me, his laughter glowing around us.
I knew this man.
“I hope the way Iseeyou in this moment…” His voice rumbled deep, and our eyelashes brushed together. “Last forever.”
He eased back, tilted my chin so I would meet his gaze. Our eyes locked, losing themselves in one another. Slowly, both his hands slid down to my waist.
His free hand guided mine onto his shoulder. Then, with his other hand still at my waist, he began to move, deliberate, leading me into motion with him.
I raised a questioning brow at him. But then I realized he asked me to follow the song’s rhythm, which pulsed between us.
I whispered. “Dance?”
Our movements were slow, our gazes unbroken. Zioh replied. “Just like we used to do,” the warmth in his voice was enough to steady me. “We can dance here, too.”
Water from the shower poured over us, soaking us to the skin. Yet I was lost in his eyes, as “Light” swayed us in a slow rhythm, guiding our bodies.
A shiver traced where his fingers rested, pulling a quiet sound from my lips. I leaned my head on his broad, solid chest as I let him hold my waist, guiding our movements. “Akh, what—” My startled cry broke into laughter as Zioh suddenly liftedme.
“Zioh—”
His hands gripped my waist, then slid down to hold my thighs, drawing me against him, and lifting me so my face leveled with his. “My Sophie...” His voice trembled. “You aremySophie,” he whispered, clutching me tighter.
His arms locked around me, pressing our bodies closer, his strength enclosing me in a desperate embrace. He spun us in a slow turn, moving with the music, as though he wanted to keep me safe and warm within his hold.
There was so much I wanted to say, ask, but I held it back. Just for a while, because if I had to wake up, I didn’t want to ruin this dream.
I wished, for a few seconds, that the time would stop right here.
My hands clutched his shoulders, and though we had been laughing moments ago, we both fell silent, savoring this moment.
Drawn into his gaze, I moved my head closer, inch by inch, until my forehead met his. An aching need to feel him more consumed me. “You are…” I whispered, searching for his eyes—I smiled. “My Zioh too.”
I kept holding onto him, felt him more deeply, let only my eyes speak the truths I buried far within. Zioh kept leading us. Every breath he took brushed against my chin, pulling me closer to him like a magnet until the corner of our lips met in a soft brush.
Thump. Thump. Thump. That touch sent a shiver down my spine, my heart racing. Yet my body burned with heat, as though the shower water cascading over me were boiling.
“Hhh…” I breathed out, shaking.
Catching his deep gaze, he murmured, right over my lips. “These lips, Tshabina.” His voice broke as his eyes fell to my mouth, drowning in it before he continued. “I used to want to see it rise and bloom in its perfection.” He smiled. “And you wear the same smile as Mum, and you—” He shook his head. His grip trembledon my thigh.
A faint tremor shook his eyes as he spoke, followed by a hard, heavy swallow. My mind stalled. With no words to offer, I simply let him finish.
“And I remember,” he breathed, finding my eyes again. “I never forgot how it tasted, not even after ten years, baby.” His voice cracked, sending fresh tears spilling down my cheeks.
I would never forget that night either.
“Not allowed to take it off.” “No. Not allowed to take it off.”
Our first kiss.
I couldn’t look away. His eyes darkened again, sinking to my lips, and then he parted his own.
