A Kind Touch 

Well, this started as something for Masturbation Monday, but apparently this wanted out instead. I was encouraged to post it for the week still. 

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“When’s the last time you let someone hug you?”

That question stopped her. She turned toward him sure she was wearing her puzzlement on her face. Not something you ask someone on the third date.

He was seated at the table where she’d left him to make a cup of coffee. They’d had a lovely dinner, something casual at her place because she’d wanted to cook for him.  The date had been going well, so well she’d been attempting to tamp down her hopes of something more. No sense getting those dreaded things up so soon. They’d not even talked about sex in any real pressing way yet so the hugging question was an odd one.

The way he’d asked is what threw her. Not only because she knew it had been a while since she’d had a hug, but because she felt like he was asking something deeper she wasn’t able to comprehend.

She narrowed her eyes on him, trying to see that deeper meaning. “Why do you ask?”

He looked her, really looked. His assessing gaze nearly making her squirm, but she held herself still. He’d been unusually perceptive over the course of the evening. It had made her nervous and excited to be under his intense stare, his eyes awakening something inside her she wasn’t sure she was ready to explore.

“I’m very curious about you.” He stood, moving around the table toward her. “You crave affection, don’t you?”

She blinked, as startled by this question as the other. She shrugged. “Of course, who doesn’t?”

He came to stand in front of her, not quite caging her in. She didn’t feel trapped by his body as she felt caught by his eyes. Those all seeing eyes scanned her face now, taking in her features in a way that made her aware deep in her core.

“I think,” he began almost carefully, “that you crave it, but because you receive it so little you reject it when it’s offered.”

She felt uncomfortable at that. Swallowing, she gripped the counter. “Are you going to hug me and make it all better then?”

Her attempt at snark fell short, sounding more nervous and excited than was necessary.

“I don’t need hugs to live.” She tried for a smile, but even that felt forced

He brushed gentle fingers across her cheek and she inhaled sharply at the touch. The way his smile softened to something sweet went straight to her heart. He cupped her cheek fully, leaning in closer so his breath brushed her lips.

“You deserve to be touched, cuddled, hugged, kissed, and loved. You want it. I see it in your eyes and can’t help wanting to give all that to you.”

She swayed toward him, filled with so much longing it made her antsy.

“Don’t you think it’s a little soon to talk about things you can give me when I’ve just met you?”

God, she could hear the fear coloring her voice. She closed her eyes prepared to pull away from him. He pressed their lips together then, connecting her to him far deeper than just the touch of their mouths.

It was sweet and so sexy. A simple kiss when she usually avoided such things and this one only made her longing intensify.

She was pulled into his body, his arms wrapping around her waist to hold her so gently she didn’t want to leave. Her body relaxed into his as if made to always be in his embrace. He placed his cheek against hers so she could feel the soft rub of his beard against her skin.

“Let me give you this even if only for a little while. It’s what you need and I want to give it to you.”

His whispered words sank into her parched heart and took root.