Orange Blossomed Kiss

The gentle sweeping motion of Mikan's flushed cheek into Ryoga's calloused palms captured her attention, a crystalline tear forming on the corner of her waterline as honeyed hues widened at the closing proximity between their faces as a tremble traversed across her seated figure. The air between them felt stagnant, the faintest chill on the breeze dancing across the brunette's exposed skin as the mirth harboring beneath his dark hues shifted, long replaced with a soft and glossy look she could only fathom to be described as love. Her heart jumped into her throat, moments ago bearing her annoyance at his insistence at asking her out only for it to melt at such intimacy between them.

"Is it impossible to believe that I adore you?" Ryoga questioned, tone hoarse and raw with vulnerability as his thumb ghosted across the curve of her flushed cheekbone, splattered crimson. "That I'm interested in only you?" The warm puff of breath tickled her nose, the faintest hint of orange lingering on the tip of his tongue.

A choked "yes" tangled in the back of her throat as lips trembled, tears blurring her vision as her cheek leaned into the coolness of his palm, soaking in the attention for as long as possible. The faintest brush of his nose against her own drew her attention back upwards as his lips ghosted across her own, drawing her body to his own as toned arms wound around her middle.

"I love you," Lips mumbled against hers, drawing them into a slow and hesitant kiss which ignited a fire in her butterfly filled belly, slim arms winding around Ryoga's broad shoulders and carding trembling fingers through thick teal tendrils. "I will until my dying breath."