His lips parted and immediately I covered them with my fingers. His words settled back onto his tongue and I relaxed. Softly, I stroked the pads of my fingers over his slightly chapped lips.

“Don’t say it. No ‘I love yous.’ Don’t ruin the moment,” I murmured. His serious blue eyes watched me and he swallowed, pushing the words down into his stomach. “I care for you deeply, but love…” I shook my head. “It’s such a terrible responsibility.”

His eyebrows shot up at that, but warm hands caressed my face and I sighed softly, leaning into the calloused digits and palms. This was perfection. Unspoken affection. Heat transferring from body to body. His eyes, my eyes – they say more than our bumbling mouths ever could.

“Love is supposed to be eternal. Ephemeral creatures such as us have no right to use such a word – to abuse it with our whims and fancies,” I whispered. “How can we know what love is – even if it is a human construct – it seems much too big for us – ”

“Shut up,” he told me gently, leaning up to kiss me, and I did.