Her lips were the softest thing he had ever touched, second not even to the feeling of a hot spring's silken waters curling around his face. They were full as fruit and warm as their red glow had promised. From her mouth poured her dazzling scent, the fragrance of nameless flowers and sweet nectar. The more he sipped, the graver his thirst.

How long he had held her like this, tightly enveloped in his embrace, silently exchanging kisses, he could not fathom. The world as time itself had seemed to have stopped entirely.
Her hands had wandered across his chest, traced the tendons of his neck and finally found his cheeks. Nyx had slowly drawn back to behold her face.
Her lips and cheeks were even redder, emitting a warm shine that filled her eyes. Her breathing low and unsteady, she smiled shyly.

Nyx' bewilderment only lasted for a moment, then he realized.

You had asked before if you could feel my face.

„Yes, I...", she said, a  little out of breath as her heart still pounded profusely. „I have heard them say, how beautiful, how impressive a sight, but...", she stopped her words from flowing. It seemed inappropriate to ask now of all times, but her hands had just acted on their own. By the way, what do you look like? A question entirely misplaced.

Go ahead, she heard him whisper.

„Then", she hesitated for a moment. „Please, sit up straight, it is easier that way."
Of course, Nyx replied, as if obeying the words of one of his subjects was the most natural thing to do.

She traced the outline of his face. He was a tall man, so his head was also bigger than her own. His jaw bones were distinct and rather edgy, his face on the whole was of a masculine elegance Iris had not known until now. His eyebrows were thick, but soft and every hair followed the same direction. His forehead was marked by sharp edges, and his eyes rested in deep caves. She could imagine the shadows around them. His eyelashes were long and the nose between them straight and rather big, but it fit his face perfectly. His cheeks were neither full nor sunken, but she could feel the stiffness of the muscles beneath. The impact of years and years of clenching his teeth.

Iris sighed.

Nyx, on the other side, could not avert his eyes from her as she slowly put together all the parts of his face within her mind. This was how she saw. When she reached his eyes, he closed them for a few seconds, breathed in deeply and savoured the feeling of her warm, soft skin caressing every inch of his own. He felt his mind grow duller, as if drunken.

Her giggle as she reached his chin made him snap out of his daydreams.

„You have a chin beard", she noticed.
Nyx nodded, a little ashamed of his own thoughts. Her sudden reaction had made him fear she might have become aware of what he had been imagining.
"I noticed before", she grinned, suddenly feeling a little brave. „It tickles every time you kiss me." Her bravery left her body accompanying her last words. She already turned red again.

Oh? Iris heard Nyx' teasing voice. He was enjoying himself. A little flicker of the menacing aura his enemies feared so much. Cheeky, aren't we? He gently pushed her back into the luxuriously voluminous bedding with so much ease, it was actually unsettling. And he was showing her but a hint of his strength!

Iris made a stupefied face.

Nyx' body now leaning over her like a vault, she indeed felt a little trapped.

Are you afraid of me, too? He sounded anxious, making no further move.

A small sigh.

"You are indeed impressive, my King", Iris replied. "And your aura can be intimidating, as expected of our country's great protector. But...", she said, reaching out and putting her arms around his neck. "But this humble servant of yours", she whispered as her face drew nearer, "is standing in front of you with nothing in her heart but her undying love for you", she ended and pressed another kiss on his lips.