15 parts Ongoing "Someday, vita mia, you will let me read those lips, and I will finally be able to connect the dots that your eyes won't let me."
His finger lightly rests below my bottom lip as he holds my chin up, so that my eyes won't fall away from his. And I think if only he could read my eyes because I don't believe I will ever be able to express what they are trying to say into words.
I feel his hand motion to drop when I hesitate to speak, but I hold his wrist steady with my hand and wait for his eyes to fall back onto mine when I ask, "If I can't express myself in words, what makes you think my lips would be adept at communicating them?"
He takes a step closer to the space he was in before I pushed him away and doesn't waver in his confidence when he replies, "Because-when I do kiss you-that will be the moment you stop thinking of whatever is holding you back from embracing this, and we'll be able to communicate without the barrier covering your eyes."
"And how do you suppose you will ever understand me if I never let you kiss me?" I try to appear stubborn, but when his smile reaches a brightness mirroring the one in his eyes, I feel the barrier's gate dropping to let him through.
"You can dodge me the entire engagement, vita mia, but a kiss is sort of a requirement to being married." His one hand stays locked on my chin as I drop my grip from him, and his other hand wraps around me to pull me against him. "And when I do finally have that opportunity, I will hold you as tight as I am right now," his grip on my waist tightens, "and kiss you as hard as," his finger traces up to my bottom lip and pulls it between his finger and thumb, "this."
I pull my lip from his grasp to speak, but he takes it again and holds it tighter. "I would suggest not waiting until the wedding, vita mia, because I will kiss you as long and hard as necessary until it is seared into your memory and you crave it as much as I do. With that first kiss, I will guarantee a lifetime of them."
