Deja sighed softly and finally lifted her eyes to his. He smiled down at her, hoping to chase the nervous gleam in her eyes away, and she sighed again.

Alejandro bent his body nearly in half, moving slowly toward her, giving her time to stop him if she wanted. She didn’t. When their mouths were less than a hair’s breadth away from finally touching, he stopped again, waiting for her to invite his lips to touch hers the way he’d been dreaming.

A few months ago, just getting this close to Deja would have been more than enough. He would have taken this bit of almost contact and spun it into hours of erotic fantasies to get himself off and to sleep at night, and, on the worst days, he would have conjured the memory of their lips almost touching as motivation to get out of bed in the morning.

This could still be enough, Alejandro thought to himself. If Deja wanted to stop, he would, he could, so he waited for her to make the next move. When she tipped her head back to brush her lips against his, he groaned and finally moved his tongue past his lips to taste the seam of her mouth, and they both exhaled in relief. Alejandro smiled against Deja’s lips.

The kiss evolved quickly from a tentative exploration into urgent intensity, as all the months of wanting each other made every press of their lips and the wet slide of their tongues together full to bursting with meaning.

Alejandro had spent a year wondering how Deja would feel in his arms or taste on his tongue. He finally had the answers: just right, and coffee mixed with chocolate. When Deja pressed her tongue into his mouth, Alejandro suckled greedily on it, and she moaned softly into his mouth.

He cupped the back of her head to deepen the kiss just as Deja pulled back abruptly.

“What’s wrong?” he asked. His words sounded like a panting groan.

“Shhhh,” she said, “I’m not sure who’s still here.”

Alejandro took a deep breath and nodded. He placed his hands on her waist and walked her backwards toward her desk.

“Wait,” she said, pressing her hands to his chest to stop him, but then curled her hands into the lapels of his jacket and pulled him toward her.

He nodded again and smiled as he pressed his lips against hers again. She giggled into his kiss. He had a sudden urge to hear her make that same sound, but while naked.

“Wait,” she said again, mumbling against his lips.