Brotherly Comfort (w/ kckolbe)

[Zarina Quiakides]

There had been a time before her life became this. Kara knew that there was more to life than what she now endured in silence. When things went from bad to worse, the teen tried to focus on the good memories and take mind away from her body. Tried was the operative word, the pain tended to interfere with her focus. Tears of hopelessness slid unhampered down her cheeks, while her hands gripped the bed beneath her. Each brutal thrust caused her to cry out, feeling as though he was ripping her apart. His hand was rough in her hair, yanking her head back saying something that she didn’t really hear anymore. The first time he had done this, she had heard every humiliating word, every cruel barb, every sickening thought he shared. She tried to find something positive out of this, and the only thing she could latch onto was at least there wasn’t a risk of getting pregnant with him using her how he was.

When he was done, he would leave her there, his cum leaking from her rear and her butt cheeks both sporting imprints from his hand or his belt. It took her time to be able to move, her legs always felt weak and every step caused a painful twinge. While he left the house to go to the bar, she would shower and clean up, go back to her room and remove the dirty linen and put the clean bedding on. Tonight there was one difference, after she changed the bedding she drew on flannel pajama pants and a matching button up top but she couldn’t button it all the way. Instead, she sat cleaning the open wound that now marred her right breast an inch above her nipple where he had bitten her hard enough to make her bleed. She almost wished he would go back to how he had treated her months ago, before everything had worsened.

Kara could never tell her older brother what Hank, their step-father, was doing to her. She had to keep silent so Kenny stayed in college and got the education he wanted for his future. For just over three years she had hidden the bruises, the welts, and the pain. The best times were when her brother visited on the weekends; she had a reprieve from Hank when Kenny was home. Almost five months ago she would never have been seen wearing pants of any kind. She had always worn sundresses during the day and nightgowns at night, but when things changed, when Hank switched up from hitting her and slamming her against things to what he did now she had hoped wearing pants would stop him. Unfortunately it hadn’t but she took a small bit of pleasure in knowing that she wasn’t making it easy for him.

Hank had threatened her too, told her that if she ever told anyone they would take her so far away she would never see her brother again. Kara loved her brother; he was the only one she had left. Their father died before she even knew him, Kenny could tell her stories of him because when he died Kenny was nine, but all she had was this faint memory of how he looked. When Hank came into their lives she had thought it was a good thing, their mother was happy and at first Kara thought Hank was nice. Hank had fooled Kara quite well when she was a six year old but by the time she started to fill out, she was seeing him differently. When she was scared she always went to Kenny’s room and climbed into bed with him, he always comforted her, made her feel safe. When Hank caught her going into Kenny’s room the first time she got her first real hint that Hank wasn’t a good man and her first taste of his belt.

Until her brother went off to college that was all Hank had done and it was always for ‘punishment’. But, she had learned to sneak into Kenny’s room whenever she needed to be close to him, to feel his warmth and comfort. When he left for college she was ten and their mom had been so proud, so happy to see Kenny reaching for success. Kara had cried watching him leave but his promises to visit whenever he could gave her hope. After he was gone, once in a while if she didn’t listen to Hank right away, her step-father had struck her across the face but never in front of their mom. Then tragedy struck their family when their mom was heading back home from work crossing the street to go to the employee parking in the rain. A driver going too fast around a corner lost control and hit their mother, killing her instantly according to the reports they heard.

Hank got worse from there, started drinking more and taking everything out on Kara. If she didn’t have dinner on the table in time, if his work shirts weren’t ironed properly, if the house wasn’t spotless when he wanted it to be… He always had an excuse, even when Kara tried to do everything so he didn’t. She became adept at using makeup to cover up bruises that he ‘accidentally’ left in view. There had been times though that she was hurt bad enough she had to miss school a couple days until she could move around. She had deserved it though. She had burned his meal because she forgot to set a timer and was doing homework which distracted her from paying attention to the time. There were so many things she hid from Kenny during his visits but since she turned fifteen her secrets were even worse. She could never tell her beloved brother how Hank considered her free game from the moment Kenny left on Sundays until Thursdays because he never did anything to her on Friday or Saturday if her brother came home for the weekend.

Tonight was Thursday, she knew she had no school tomorrow but didn’t know if Kenny’s classes were closed too. If they were, she thought hopefully, maybe he would come home earlier in the day tomorrow and she could convince him to go to a movie that was playing in the local theater. She really wanted to watch the new Beauty and the Beast movie; she loved musicals and liked the main actress in the movie. Most teens would have friends to go with but Kara didn’t dare make friends because of Hank, afraid that one would come over and figure out what was happening and the threat Hank made would be real. She didn’t want to be taken far away from Kenny. Kenny was the only reason she never ran away, she wouldn’t be able to run to him because Hank would know and it would risk her brother learning what Hank was doing.

As she put a bandage over the wound, she sighed, glancing around her room, tears blurring her vision. Hank had broken two of her most precious items; anyone looking in would see clearly the broken globes had been on purpose, not accident. One had been a gift from her mother weeks before she died, the other Kenny gave her. Hank told her it was her fault, if she had kept her mouth shut and followed his directions he wouldn’t need to break things as a reminder. She had just threatened to tell her brother and Hank laughed, telling her that Kenny would know it was her fault too. It was always her fault, she asked for it. That’s how he justified the bruises, marks, everything but the one thing she knew she never asked for was what he did to her in places he shouldn’t touch.

Kara wished she could go back to the many nights she cuddled with her brother, not worrying about anything. She would love to go back to a time when she was completely innocent and didn’t know what was poking against her when she slept with her body pressed to her brothers, a time when she didn’t wake up in the middle of the night feeling panic if she was in bed with him and their positions changed. Any time their position changed since the worst of her torment from Hank began, she tensed and drew away from her brother or forced herself to turn over and face him so he wouldn’t realize something was wrong. She hated the power Hank had over her; he took something important from her and didn’t even realize he had done it. There had been a time that no matter how she lay, she was comfortable with her brother’s body pressed against her. Now, the most comfortable position for her was when she basically wrapped her body around Kenny, knowing that all this time even though she felt his erection poking against her, he never did anything to hurt her.

Kenny would never know how much of a hero he was to her because of those comforts. Now that she was finished with tending the wound, she let herself do as she always did when her step-father was done with her, she curled up in a fetal position, hugging her pillow against her chest and sobbed silently, her tears flowing. She would clean the mess from the snow globes later, when she was certain her hands wouldn’t shake and she wouldn’t risk more injury to herself.

 

[kckolbe]

It felt good to be a hero. Kara hadn't said much about their step-father, as neither he nor his sister preferred to talk about him, but Kenneth did know that Hank had tried to throw a lot of weight around when he'd come into their lives, and that Ken, then only 13 years old, had held him in check, and over the four-plus years they'd lived together, Hank had known there were lines that couldn't be crossed with impunity. He couldn't say that Hank had never pushed those lines. Hell, at times he did successfully cross them, especially at first, but as Kenny grew up into Kenneth, those instances started becoming a lot more rare. A chastising slap or a jerk on the arm were too quick to do anything about, but outright abuse soon stopped. Hank wasn't able to abuse them. All he was able to do was start a fight, and Kenneth had made sure to make those fights less and less desirable over the years.

It had been easier to draw that line with Kara. If Hank caught Ken off guard with a shove, slap, hit, or whatever else he felt the whim to do, then the younger one was at a disadvantage. If Hank tried those things with Kara, though, then Ken was at advantage to rush the occupied abuser and have the benefit of momentum. Nothing "decisive" had come of it, but there'd been a couple of times where he'd gotten his hands on the older man's throat, and he'd held on a good bit longer the second time, long enough to leave Hank panting aggressively, too busy catching his breath to pursue his advantage against Kenny from throwing him off. Kenny had just turned 16 when that happened. Very soon after, he'd gotten his license, and been allowed to borrow the car almost whenever he wanted. He may have still resided under Hank's roof, but Kenneth had his freedom, both to leave it and to stay there un-molested.

Kara seemed to know it, too, because the two of them had started becoming a lot closer once their mom had re-married, and even closer once he'd become more combative. She'd always been a sweet enough girl, but as time passed she'd only gotten more affectionate. At some point she'd stopped simply hugging him and started cuddling up against him in bed, sometimes in the day, but most notably at night. They made him feel good, like he was a hero who'd vanquished their step-dad the monster, and she was the grateful maiden he'd rescued. She'd even given him little kisses on the lips sometimes when they were alone. So even if she was clingy and sometimes a bit annoying, he'd not been one to deny her those hugs or cuddles.

One day he'd been watching something a bit arousing when Kara had come in for a cuddle. He'd pulled back a bit as he felt his bulge press against her, self-conscious as to how she'd react, but not only had she not seemed bothered by it, she had wrapped her legs around him to keep him from pulling away again, and pressed her center against his bulge, despite the fact that only his boxers and her panties separated them. He remembered how he'd placed his hand on the small of her back, holding their intimate areas together. She'd just been happy for the cuddle. Their affection had sometimes been a guilty pleasure of his after that, and the two of them spent even more time together.

College had changed that a bit, but he was at a nearby school, and he visited whenever he could. She was getting older and, according to their mom, starting to withdraw emotionally, but she was still all love for her hero brother. She'd started sneaking into his room for late-night cuddles and chat, and Kenneth had never turned her away. They both made a point to keep the cuddles secret, because Ken knew their mom would not approve.

When their mom had died, Ken had started being more overt about spending time with Kara. He would bring her into his room Friday night, lock the door, and the two would barely emerge until Sunday when it was time to leave. Hank had tried to forbid the behavior, but Ken had held firm, and now that he was fully grown, Hank was less keen on pressing his stance. She'd left her sundress and nightie phase behind and now wore some kind of pants whenever he saw her, which was a bit of a shame, but she'd not really lost any affection for him. Of course, she'd become more moody, though living alone with an asshole like Hank explained that, but on the trips where she was feeling cuddly, it seemed that they couldn't be pressed close enough together.

Maybe it was partly due to her wearing clothes that hugged her frame a bit more tightly, but Kenneth had definitely become more aware that Kara was filling out into a beautiful girl. He hadn't talked to her a whole lot about dating, but he suspected that there wasn't any. Still, he knew that there had to be quite a few boys who would kill to spend the kind of time that he did with her, and Ken certainly made the most of it.

Today was Thursday, with no classes the next day due to a school observance. He would get to enjoy a long weekend with Kara, and he'd enjoyed some pretty intense fantasies of how the trip could go. After all, he'd noticed that even when she wasn't in as affectionate a mood, she generally warmed up after a night or two. With three nights together, he would be able to feel every bit of her small, curvy body, and he was well past feeling guilty about it.

He let himself into the house quietly, as he had a key. Hank had changed the locks once, but Kara had gotten him a key. He liked to sneak up on her and make his arrival a surprise, even though she was generally waiting for him. When he entered the house today, she wasn't there to meet him, so he quietly made his way to her room, peeking in to see he curled up on the bed. He stalked over to her and began to lean over her, preparing to crawl on top of her, when he noticed the tears. "Kara!" he whispered excitedly. "What's wrong?"

 

[Zarina Quiakides]

Kara’s tears hadn’t stopped flowing, her young frame shook with the silent sobs that wracked her body. The emotional pain that ravaged through her caused her to be slow to recognize that she heard her name but for a moment she tensed holding herself entirely still until her mind caught up with the reality and she realized it was her beloved brother’s voice she heard. She still hurt, she didn’t want to move but she didn’t want her brother to know what was going on either. She moved hastily, regretting it instantly as pain shot through her and the whimper of pain escaped her lips before she could stop it. Her hands went to wipe away her tears and she couldn’t bring herself to look at her brother when she was sitting up, her ass protesting the action. “I just miss mom and I broke the globes you and mom gave me when I tripped earlier,” she lied, unaware that her shirt wasn’t buttoned enough to hide the edge of the bandage that covered the bite would Hank had left. In fact since the physical and sexual abuse had begun this was the most exposed she had been outside of the times when Kenny took her to the beach during a weekend visit.

She continued to wipe at her eyes, trying desperately to stop them from falling though now they fell out of frustration that her brother had seen them. She swallowed past the lump in her throat, licked her dry lips and finally looked at her brother through moist puffy eyes, “You don’t have classes tomorrow either?” She asked, hoping that she could distract him from how she looked. She knew she was pale as she always was after Hank used her, her hands trembled, she was sitting ramrod stiff with circles under her splotchy eyes.

She didn’t know that there was faint bruising in the shape of fingers just under her collarbone unaware that the pressure Hank had put there earlier had been enough to cause only the slightest bruising. Since she hadn’t paid attention to the location of the glass shards from the globes she had no way of knowing that it would be very clear that the globes had been thrown, not just knocked over. Not to mention the bases were much further away from the dresser where she had kept them then falling would have allowed.

It took Kara several moments to get to the point where she could bring herself to greet her brother the way she normally would have. She moved to wrap her arms around him in an embrace, pressing her lips lightly against his in her normal greeting and told him honestly, “I’m so glad you’re home, Kenny.”

At least she had been lucky enough that despite the abuse she suffered under Hank she had only had one major injury where she had used the ‘clumsy’ excuse to explain it. It had been shortly after their mom died, Hank was drunk and angry when he tossed her around and she landed with extreme force on her arm causing a fracture in her forearm. Kenny had been extremely busy with classes so hadn’t been able to come home for a few weeks but her arm had been in a cast for a while after the bone was reset. Hank had still abused her but hadn’t broken anymore bones since.

 

[kckolbe]

Having been leaning over her when he got her attention, he had to raise back on his knees as she sat up. Her modest cleavage was on display below his gaze, but he was far too focused on her face, specifically the eyes that seemed to still be welled up with tears. He hadn't seen her cry in years, and the sight of it shocked him a bit. He placed a hand on her upper arm, squeezing gently through the soft fabric of her pajamas, as she wiped the tears from her face and silently waited, his face only inches from hers.

When she explained, he bought it immediately. "It was an accident, Kara. Mom would know you didn't mean it. I'm not mad you broke the one I gave you, and I'll pick you up another so you'll still have one. I know it won't be the same, but it will still help you remember her." He went silent when she started pawing at her eyes again.

Once she asked if he had class the next day, he smiled a little. She'd gotten over the globes, even if she was still a little misty. He tapped her nose with his finger and nodded. When she didn't immediately respond, he prodded with "is that okay?" It was only then he got a kiss on the lips, which he met with the slightest of parts, and a light hug, the kind that indicated she might not be as affectionate as normal. He looked at her with practiced skepticism when she opened up emotionally and welcomed him.

"You sure you're glad? Normally you seem a lot happier to see me. I was starting to think that giving you one less day to miss me was a mistake. I hoped surprising you with coming a day early would make you even sweeter on me."

 

[Zarina Quiakides]

Kara sighed in relief when her brother bought her story with ease. Though she also felt guilty for lying, what would he think if he knew it wasn’t an accident, that she didn’t break them, that Hank had as part of her punishment. She wanted to tell Kenny that she didn’t want to be there alone anymore, that she was afraid that one day Hank would kill her. When he started talking about buying her another one, she worried her bottom lip between her teeth, his prompting for a response causing her to nod at the same time as her nose scrunched up when he tapped it.

The teen girl stuck out her tongue at her brother’s teasing as she replied, “You know I love you Kenny. I always love when you come home and hate when you are gone.” She would never say it out loud but inwardly she knew that if Kenny never came to visit she would be dead by now. So many times she had come close to giving up, ending her life just so she didn’t have to suffer the brutality her step-father forced on her anymore but she didn’t want to leave her brother alone. He gave her enough strength to fight through the thoughts enough and gave her something to look forward to that was good in her life.

When he was there she slept more peacefully, though there were still times she was jumpy at sounds and would have a nightmare only to wake and feel her brother there which calmed her and made her feel safe. “I’m happy knowing I get you for another full day this weekend, do we have anything planned?” She was ready to talk about things that made her happy and just for a few days let herself imagine that all her life was good. She could pretend for a few days that her life wasn’t a living hell. For three nights she would be able to avoid Hank touching her. “As you can see I’m ready for bed, we can go to your room anytime.” She hugged him again, this time holding on longer like she normally would and gave him a genuine smile.

Her words were entirely innocent, the girl unaware how they could be taken in another context if a mind went there. The only thing she meant by it was that she was in her pajamas and ready to start her freedom that her brother gave her by being there.

 

[kckolbe]

The stuck out tongue was cute, and he cutely responding with a mild snapping motion, as though he were trying to bite her tongue. "Oh I know you love me, do I?" He smirked as he leaned in to give her another kiss. He knew kissing was a delicate subject, because while she liked kissing, and preferred kisses on the lips, to her they were a quick, simple thing, and she seemed to be aware that at some level he enjoyed them more than she did. It was a unique situation. The other things they did they both seemed to enjoy about equally, even if they got completely different forms of satisfaction from them. The only time she seemed as kiss-happy as him was when she woke up in the middle of the night enough to wake him up as well.

"That's right, another full day of fun and another night of the best sleep. As far as plans, I guess we could go out shopping, pick up another snow globe and, if you'll let me, pick up a new nightgown for you. You've long since outgrown the old ones." He hugged her back closely, leaning as close as he could given the odd angle he was at, and lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "Are my sister's amazing leg-wrap cuddles waiting for me in bed? If so, lead the way and I can't wait to turn out the lights and lock the door behind us."

He'd always made a point to compliment her when she wrapped her legs around him, told her how much closer he felt to her, how much more love he felt between them. He made sure she was aware that it was his favorite way to cuddle, and he spent about as much time doing that with her as he could.

 

[Zarina Quiakides]

Kara couldn’t stop the small laugh that sounded at her brother’s playful snapping of teeth at her, this was exactly what she needed right now. While Hank had always made her feel worthless, Kenny had always made her feel loved and special. When he answered about plans and mentioned a nightgown she sighed, rolling her eyes. He often alluded to her choice of night clothes these days and it wasn’t that she didn’t understand because she did, the last few months she had changed what she wore and sometimes she didn’t feel like they could be as close with the thicker fabric. The thing was she didn’t want to explain why she made the choice, instead she had claimed she was feeling cold more often at night. Which would have been true on other nights since Frank had decided to run the air conditioning colder after their mother died, but in truth her brother kept her warm.

Still she couldn’t say no to his offer, she didn’t want to be unappreciative. “If you want to get me one I’ll let you but it might be a bit before I’m warm enough to wear it.” At his whispered words in her ears she giggled softly, but responded in a whisper too, getting into the way they were with each other, “Of course. I will always cuddle with you like that. I just need to get my sketchbook in case I want to work on something in the morning before we go.”

Whenever he was home she didn’t leave his room without him unless it was for a trip to the restroom or long enough to change for the day or night. Even then she was often grateful for his protectiveness because at times he would stand outside the door in case Hank came around. She couldn’t picture her life without her big brother, he was the only one that she let touch her in any way. Anyone else tries, like at school and she feels herself start to panic. “How about you get changed for bed and get the sheets pulled down and by the time you are done I will be outside your door waiting?” She was afraid that if he saw her walking too much he might realize how much pain she was in, it was painful enough just sitting on her backside, let alone moving with that pain.

 

[kckolbe]

Kenny almost squirmed with delight when Kara said he could get her a nightgown. "Oh good! I promise I'll rub you all over and keep you warm. It won't be a problem at all." As they exchanged whispers he reached down and began rubbing her legs, immediately delivering on his word even though she was still in pajamas. It was a decent enough excuse to rub her legs, after all, something he'd never had the willpower to pass up as long as he could remember.

He smiled more broadly and leaned in when she whispered back. "Always? Gonna hold ya to that, kiddo. You might just be in for three straight days of cuddle-hugs. Hope you can handle it." Even if she didn't like the hugs the same way he did, she didn't seem to like them less. Some weekends she was even more touchy-feely than he was, though he could already tell this wouldn't be one of them.

He listened to her proposal, more than a bit confused. It was unlike her to leave her room alone when he was around. "Okay," he said, continuing the whisper but letting some of his confusion be heard. "You have some kind of sweet surprise for me? If so, I'll be in bed ready for you. Can't wait." He kissed her forehead and leapt off the bed, making his way quickly to his room. He kicked off his clothes, stripping down to his boxers, and got under the covers. For some reason she wanted the blankets pulled down, but he made sure they were pulled up just to hide the erection that existed nigh-permanently when he visited her. He laid on his side, his back to the door. "Kara? You coming?"

 

[Zarina Quiakides]

Kara smiled at her brother’s promise to keep her warm and laughed softly at his comment of three days of cuddle hugs. “I can handle it.” She would ignore the pain the best that she could so he wouldn’t know what had happened. When he agreed but questioned her reasons she laughed, shaking her head before watching him walk out. Only then did she stand up clamping her lips together at the pain the movement caused while she got together a couple changes of clothes, one of which was one of her favorite long t-shirts and a pair of loose fitting shorts.


She got her sketch pad and charcoal pencils and added it to the pile before grabbing her camera and laptop, stuffing everything into a bag. The last thing she grabbed was the light perfume her brother had bought her once when they went to the mall, it was Tommy Girl and she had loved how it smelled. She sprayed a bit before she carried the bag and walked out of her room into her brothers closing and locking the door behind her before placing the bag down and going over to the bed.


She moved carefully biting back a pained cry as she climbed into the bed lifting the covers enough to be under them and instantly sidled closer to Kenny to wrap her arm around him and throw her leg over his waist as she put her head on his shoulder.

 

[kckolbe]

With his back still to the bedroom door, he smiled to himself as he heard his sister close and lock it. Though for different reasons, the privacy excited him as much as it did her. As she climbed into the bed, he chuckled, misinterpreting her muffled cry as a little squeal of excitement (which she had, on more affectionate visits, been known to produce). "Can't wait," he said softly, not turning around. He slid his hand back to caress her thigh from the side of her cheek down to her knee, encouraging her against him and whispering "so what's the surprise? I'm turning around." He'd hoped it had been a bare thigh, but he hid his disappointment, not wanting to kill whatever energy she might have.

He held her leg around him as he spun, wrapping his arms around her. For the first time today, they were perfectly lined up, and he pressed against her, his hands on her back. He was unaware that his left hand hovered just an inch above the highest welts their step-father had left on her. He leaned his forehead against hers, returning to the conspiratorial whisper that turned him on and made her feel safe. "The door's locked. It's just us now, and we can love each other as much as we want. Come here, Kara." He tilted slightly and placed a kiss on her lips, lingering against them as he squeezed her and pressed in against her young body. There were two reasons he liked to kiss her so much. The first was that he got a taboo thrill from it. The second was that it made it easier to disguise his almost dry humping of her as just them being very affectionate.

 

[Zarina Quiakides]

Kara smiled as she heard her brother’s soft voice and felt the comfort he always gave her when he touched her. When he turned to face her and drew her closer, she ignored the pain as best as she could when he caused her injured breast to be squeezed between them and whispered, “I never said there was a surprise, I just didn’t want you waiting on me to get stuff together so I don’t have to leave your room until we get food or I need to go to shower and stuff. I wanted you to be able to get comfortable while I grabbed my stuff.” Of course, the real reason had been so he wouldn’t have seen how much it hurt for her to move around. At least being like this with her brother she didn’t have pressure on her backside that would have made it more uncomfortable.

Though she did have to pray her brother’s hand wouldn’t go any lower, afraid she wouldn’t be able to stop the sound of pain she was sure she’d make if he touched the welt so close to his hand. She didn’t find anything wrong with the closed mouth kisses she shared with her older brother, they always made her feel special and she returned the kiss wincing a little when he squeezed her but she could also feel the familiar hardness against her. The light pressure had the familiar effect of making her feel the strange sensation down there along with the dampness the slight friction often created. Her leg tightened around him as it always did, even if it confused her she also knew she loved being this close to Kenny.

After what she had suffered under their step-father’s attentions she needed this affection from her brother more than ever. She was afraid one of these days Hank would kill her and she would never see her brother again. There had been times since Hank started doing what he did that she had wanted to die but she didn’t want to leave Kenny alone. That sense of panic caused her to hold her brother even closer, clinging to him as though he was her lifeline while she pressed soft kisses against his lips, his cheek and back to his lips before whispering, “I love you, Kenny. I’m so glad your home.”

 

[kckolbe]

He listened, still trying to hide his disappointment that there was no sexy surprise. He couldn't blame her, after all. It's not like she knew what he really wanted. If she did, he wouldn't get to get anywhere near as close to doing it as he currently could. As frustrating as the misunderstandings were, they were necessary to maintain the best part of seeing his little sister.

There was some good news at least. "So now that we're alone together you won't need to leave? I suppose that is a pleasant surprise by itself," he said softly, finishing with another soft kiss on her lips. He felt her leg tighten around him and responded with a light grind. This was what made the illusion worth it. He withdrew his hands from around her body, bringing them both to her cheeks. "I love you, too, Kara, and I miss being close to you. I want to feel as close to you as before. I want to be closer. I want more kisses and tighter hugs than ever." He leaned in to kiss her again, gently holding her face.