She flushed; this time the bright stain spread from her cheeks to the very tips of her ears, even creeping down the slender column of her throat. Her tongue slipped over her lips, catching the faint taste of honey he left in his wake. She swallowed hard, carefully considering her answer; it was not too late to dart toward the door, to be neatly in bed as expected when Fiona returned from her late-night shift. That was, of course, the safer option. But his offer proved too tempting to refuse, and grew only more so with every passing moment. Again her teeth worried at her lower lip, drawing a shallow line into that soft skin.
"Sean, I..." She willed her eyes to meet his own, to not let her burgeoning fear get the better of her. She had long believed honesty took precedence over all else; even now, with long shut-out emotion slowly overtaking her, she could not shut out that drive altogether. Embarrassed, she held his gaze and carried on. "It's been a while." A nervous laugh slipped free of her. But if this was not what she had come for, what had she intended? Somehow she steeled her resolve, turning in her chair to better face him. "If that's okay..." Her hand rose to his face, trembling, thin fingers tracing the hard line of his jaw. Leaning up, she kissed him again: hesitant at first, slowly gaining confidence with every moment he did not pull away.