[ the implication of his touch at her corset is enough, but her moving into him in this continued back-and-forth dance of bold forwardness and teasing has him coming forth to meet her without question. ]

And that's the command I was waiting for. [ he matches her grin against him, minding her expressions, intermixing sweet glazes with the playful friction between them and inevitably summoning a comfortable sheen of sweat. while the two of them have it, they can do nothing but leave behind the misery, the bitterness, the regrets of that game, if only for a while.

that too is valuable, a lifeline all its own.

turning his neck to accommodate her, he pulls her head against him and wraps an arm comfortably around her waist to hold her, to enjoy. ]

Some of them aren't so terrible, right? [ he follows up with a breathless little laugh, moving his thumb gently over her untidied hair. ] I trust the head of operations to shut down the really bad ones.

[ he finishes off with a gentle kiss to her forehead. ]