[Nanoseconds after acting, it had occurred to Pavel that it would be incredibly awkward if he'd read the situation wrong. Happily, Kitty seems very into it—more than he'd anticipated since he expects a certain amount of holding back on her part.
This is good. Maybe this is Kitty acting on what she wants, too.
He places his hands on her shoulders and, after another moment, breaks the kiss to gauge her reaction. There's only so much caution he's willing to throw out the window. He needs to know that she's here and doing what she wants, not just what she feels compelled to do.]