“Don’t.”

I turn away from his face.

“You know we shouldn’t.”

He grabs my cheeks. He’s firm but gentle as he turns my face back to his. Still, he doesn’t speak. Just stares. Breathes. Tilts his chin until I can feel his stubble against my jaw. He looks at me from under shadowed lashes. A sliver and light from the moonlit window illuminates his ghostly-pale blue eyes. I lower my gaze: focusing on the folds of his cupid’s bow. He notices and bites his lip. Damn. Desire strikes inside me. I know I should run away. I should flee from the feelings surging beneath my skin. This is dangerous. I don’t know how much longer I can hold out. Images flicker before my mind. Images that make my knees buckle and my heart race. I close my eyes. Try to steady myself. I lean away but my back is met with the hardness of the wall. I sense him closing in: the heat of his body inches from mine. I brace myself for his touch. I ache for it. I worry about how much time we have, and I know once this moment ends, it will be gone forever. It was now or never.

“I need you to say it.”

Fuck. Why is he making this so hard? I remain silent. Frustrated by his demands. Desperate for his mouth to find me in the darkness.

He pushes up against me. I can feel him. How much he wants me. I begin to unravel at the seams.

“Say it.”

I can’t hold on anymore. I open my eyes and feel the intensity of my gaze. I am resolute and he knows what is about to come. His hand is on my neck, pulling me in. Our lips brush together and I hold myself there, soaking in the electricity firing between us. One last glance at those icy eyes and I’m lost. Kissing him is like plunging into an ocean. I can feel myself falling deeper and deeper into him. Losing myself. Pushing harder to plummet further down into the pit of my passion. My obsession. I can’t come up for air. To discover I’ve drifted too far from the shore to ever make it back home. Right now, with his fingers caressing my curves, his tongue colliding with mine, I don’t need ever to breathe again.

(Sepia sunlight oozes

through the smoke,

choked forest.

Silent in consumed anguish.)

You glow crimson at the last

(What once was green and lush,)

in a breaking of the haze.

So brief;

that final gasp of glory for

summer is done,

(eaten up with frost and fire.)

And yet you shine,

in passions of crimson and sunset,

audacious, unabashed.

(Adamant despite it all;)

I want to consume you

leaf by star-leaf

plucked with lovers care,

(imbue me with your passion!)

yet ravaged all the same

as the licking fingers of the blaze

(For I am empty,

uncomprehending your joy,

as the grey-wash snowfall

whispering in to quench the inferno.)

note: Anthocyanin is the chemical that causes leaves to change color. I struggle with titles constantly. If anyone has recommendations I would be thrilled to hear them.