16-06-2025, 05:17 PM
In the Tender Hour
Inside, the apartment was quiet — a single table lamp near the sofa casting warm amber light across the room.
The air smelled faintly of incense, cardamom, and wet earth. In that dim intimacy, the moment felt alive — fragile, suspended, electric.
The soft click of the door behind him felt like a seal.
A line crossed.
A room entered — not just her apartment, but her world, her air, her possibility.
“Didn’t think you’d come up,” she said softly, walking toward the dining table.
She picked up a half-empty glass of water.
Her fingers wrapped around the glass, and she raised it to her lips.
Her lips touching the rim in that quiet, unconscious way that made Abhi’s gaze lock on her.
Abhi’s gaze followed the curve of the glass as it touched her mouth — the gentle parting of her lips, the movement of her throat as she swallowed.
As she turned to face him again, he was still watching her — his eyes not shying away.
Then, he moved.
He stepped toward her — slowly, with intention — and gently reached for the glass in her hand.
Their fingers brushed as he took the glass from her, a whisper of skin on skin.
She didn’t stop him.
He took the glass from her and held it up, looking at it… then at her.
His eyes didn’t blink as he turned the glass slightly — aligning the rim with the exact spot where her lips had touched.
Still holding her gaze, he raised it to his own lips.
His lips touched the same spot on the rim of the glass where her lips touched.
He kissed that spot while looking at her lips.
His eyes lifted and looking deep into her eyes, he drank — slowly, deliberately — from that same spot.
His eyes locked with hers the entire time.
She inhaled, the air catching in her throat.
Inside, the apartment was quiet — a single table lamp near the sofa casting warm amber light across the room.
The air smelled faintly of incense, cardamom, and wet earth. In that dim intimacy, the moment felt alive — fragile, suspended, electric.
The soft click of the door behind him felt like a seal.
A line crossed.
A room entered — not just her apartment, but her world, her air, her possibility.
“Didn’t think you’d come up,” she said softly, walking toward the dining table.
She picked up a half-empty glass of water.
Her fingers wrapped around the glass, and she raised it to her lips.
Her lips touching the rim in that quiet, unconscious way that made Abhi’s gaze lock on her.
Abhi’s gaze followed the curve of the glass as it touched her mouth — the gentle parting of her lips, the movement of her throat as she swallowed.
As she turned to face him again, he was still watching her — his eyes not shying away.
Then, he moved.
He stepped toward her — slowly, with intention — and gently reached for the glass in her hand.
Their fingers brushed as he took the glass from her, a whisper of skin on skin.
She didn’t stop him.
He took the glass from her and held it up, looking at it… then at her.
His eyes didn’t blink as he turned the glass slightly — aligning the rim with the exact spot where her lips had touched.
Still holding her gaze, he raised it to his own lips.
His lips touched the same spot on the rim of the glass where her lips touched.
He kissed that spot while looking at her lips.
His eyes lifted and looking deep into her eyes, he drank — slowly, deliberately — from that same spot.
His eyes locked with hers the entire time.
She inhaled, the air catching in her throat.