As if he knew I was standing on a precipice, his strokes slowed, becoming deeper, longer. And then he lifted his head to stare into my eyes. The genuine need for me in his own is what captured me in the end. I was lost in his silver gaze and the scent of berries when I heard myself say it. I leapt off the cliff, but I didn’t fall. I flew. “Yes.” My voice was lower than a whisper, but it rang loud in my heart.
