Matt’s kissing back, meeting her lips with his own, tenderly stroking whatever his hands find, trying to say with them what she needs to hear, that he forgives everything she’s done, and easily, that he’s more sorry he failed to be there for her, sorry that she carried her pain and guilt alone for over two years, and when that’s just what happened recently.
It might be working. Her heart is beating fast, of course, and that’s not going to stop. But he can hear/feel tension draining out of her, until she makes a noise against his mouth that sounds like relief. It runs electricity up his spine, and he returns her kisses with increased passion.
They were sitting on the couch for this conversation, and now she’s pressing him down, until he’s more lying down than anything else, her braced over him. Matt loves it, wants her to pin him down properly, lay claim to him. But he’s not going to ask for anything from her right now; tonight, it’s her show.
He can’t remember the last time a lover touched him like this, so gentle and warm, her care of him surrounding them, like he’s a person worth that. It hurts, almost too much to bear, while at the same time he wants to never stop feeling it.
Karen’s tongue prods at his mouth, and he opens up.