Wendy was speechless; for once in her life she was speechless. Her face was burning, and her heart fluttering. She continued to look into Irene as the flames from the fireplace up deliciously, flickering and playing in Irene’s eyes like a golden light show.

   In what seemed like and out of body experience, Wendy her lips and saw Irene stare down as she did so, at that moment Irene leaned closer.

   “I-I-I wish I could look at you staring at me like this for the rest of time,” stuttered Wendy.

   “And I wish I could stare at you like this for the rest of time, but I really want to kiss you,” said Irene.

   Wendy stared, wordless.

   “I really want to kiss you right now,” said Irene again, inching closer.

   Wendy found her voice, “But I forgot my lip gloss,” she joked, the moment still intense.

   “That’s okay, Wan-ah, I have some on right now, want to share?” Irene leaned the rest of the way in, closed her eyes, and softly touched her lips to Wendy’s.

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   Irene was in control of Wendy for the moment. Pressing their lips together in such a delicious way that Wendy didn’t know where one set of lips began and the other ended. Wendy was captivated by the firelight dancing along the walls, and Irene’s dark hair cascading around them.  One thought echoed around her brain, “What does this moment taste like? I must imprint it in my memory. “Mangoes, faint strawberries, and heat, sultry, sweet heat,” Wendy thought to herself.

   Irene cupped Wendy’s face so gently as though she were made of porcelain; the kiss was languid and honeyed.  Irene had decided that if she got a chance like this, she was going to savor it.

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   Wendy wanted to equal the playing field so she began to move her body closer to Irene’s which took Irene by surprise.

   “I thought you were in a trance,” said Irene.

   “I was, you put me under your spell. You’re overwhelming me,” said Wendy breathlessly.

   “I love you,” said Irene.

   “I love you too,” said Wendy, “now that you’ve kissed me mercilessly, Joohyun, let me return the favor.”

   Wendy pushed Irene and she began to lie down on the couch, “You’re wish, my command,” said Irene as she finished falling backward with Wendy finally getting a chance to turn the tables.

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   Wendy stared at Irene for a few moments mesmerized again by the atmosphere and unsure of where she should start, “Are you going to kiss me or what?” asked Irene playfully. Snapped out of her thoughts, Wendy answered slyly, “Sure.”

   Wendy took control, got up,  and sat astride Irene. She decided to begin at Irene’s ear. She leaned in and began kissing it, brushing it softly with her tongue and biting the lobe until she heard Irene whimper.

   “Am I doing this right?” Wendy asked smiling. Irene groaned a bit in reply and nodded her head yes. Wendy moved towards Irene’s neck and began to kiss it as well, she spent a long time at her neck grazing it softly with her lips and then moved on past Irene’s lips and to her nose.

   “I love your nose,” said Wendy, pecking it with her lips before moving upward, “and I love your eyes too,” she whispered, kissing them as well.

   “Is there anything else on my face that you love?” grumbled Irene, hoping her lips were next.

   “Your cheeks, I love them,” Wendy said grabbing them and squeezing them.

   Irene groaned again.

   “But your lips, I love them too, “ said Wendy. She leaned closer and began to pour herself onto Irene’s lips. A heated kiss like melted butter.

   This was more than a kiss. This was a love offering from Wendy.

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   Irene’s hands had been still for a very long time as the pair continued to kiss, and when she realized this, she began to make use of them. Irene slid her hands under Wendy’s sweater and caressed her back, slid them to the front and caressed her abs, and then back all the way to her bra. Irene could feel the warm skin and realized just how precious Seungwan was to her.

   The kiss was growing deeper and Wendy had begun to bite Irene’s lips as she continued to use her hands, the point of no return was clearly about to be crossed. Wendy knew she felt amazing, but her mind told her to stop, and so she interrupted the kiss and lifted slowly to look into Irene’s eyes. Irene looked back and saw the apprehension in Wendy’s eyes. “Do you think we should stop? Because I do.” Said Irene

   “Yes, l-l-let’s wait,” she said breathlessly, “ I-I-I don’t think I’m ready for that…you’re making me feel so good, baby, but I’m not ready.”

   “I agree,” said Irene who flashed a smile.

   A look of relief was written on Wendy’s face

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   “I love you….so so so much, but I’m not ready for that yet,” said Wendy standing up and pulling her sweater down., “I’m sorry if you think I’ve led you on…you were perfect, your lips, body, everything was perfect…nothing was wrong, I….”

   “You haven’t led me on,” said Irene,” It’s been 24 hours since we’ve even confessed, I don’t expect anything from you, we were having fun, we’re together, that’s all that matters to me. Besides, I finally got to kiss you like I’ve wanted to for months, you’re precious to me, being by your side is enough. I will never take making love with you for granted, it won’t be quick and it won’t be spur of the moment like it was about to be. Your body is not an object to me, it’s not something I just want to play with. You’re priceless, gentle, loving, and your spirit is even greater. You have will power. We’ll make love when we’re both ready. End of story.”

   “You turned me inside out, Irene. You were… you’re like magic to me, I’m not sure how we stopped…I was so when you started to rub my back, it was amazing…”

   “Well, we could have kept going but it wouldn’t have been right,” said Irene.

   “It will be right very soon,” said Wendy.

   “I know that,” said Irene, grabbing Wendy’s hand.

   “I’m never going to avoid you or our problems again,” Wendy said after she’d heard those words from Irene, “I’m not ready to go there yet, we’ve not even been on a date. I’m a little old-fashioned in that way,” Wendy admitted. “But I want you to know that even though we’ve stopped right now I want to make love to you very soon,” said Wendy.

   “Let’s promise tonight that we’ll always be honest with each other,” said Irene.

   “Agreed,” said Wendy.

   “Want to go to bed now? Let’s go upstairs,” said Wendy.

   “To sleep or what?” joked Irene.

   “Yes, to sleep!” said Wendy.

   “Sorry,” Irene laughed at the incredulous Wendy, “We’ve just agreed to be honest with each other.”

   “Well, even though we won’t be….you know….”Wendy whispered.

   “Making love?” said Irene smiling.

   “Yes!” Wendy shouted before calming down. “Even though we won’t be doing that tonight, you can still kiss me, I found out that you’re pretty good at that just a few moments ago,” said Wendy.

   “You’re a great kisser as well, but did you practice on a pillow? Where did you learn all your skills” Irene joked. The serious talk was making way to their usual banter.

   “No, why would you ask that?….No….Yes, I used to pretend that my pillow was you and practiced on it,” admitted Wendy,

   “I knew it,” shouted Irene.

   “Well, I’m headed up after that joke, are you going to join me or what?”

   “Alright, alright, I’m definitely joining you, but I’m calling an audible and taking the rest of the chocolate dipped strawberries with me to bed.”

   “Oh, going to romantically feed me?” Irene asked.

   “No,” said Irene jokingly, “they just taste good.”

   Wendy laughed and made her way to the stairs, “Anymore jokes and you better be careful you may just end up on the couch bed.”

   As Irene was almost to the kitchen she turned around stunned and said, “Wait that couch could be turned into a bed this whole time?”

   “Yes,” squeaked Wendy as she bounded up the stairs.