Throughout all they had undertaken and faced together, Delita had persistently done that which he hoped - made her feel immeasurably valued on a personal level, and in reward, her heart had opened its shell to him.

She gasped against his lips upon the bold initiative of his arms, but how fulfilling, how completely right the sensation felt, how daring. Thus she persisted, shifting between gentleness and the harder presses of sheer want. Breath could wait.