Upstairs, in the cream-and-brown room, having the door locked behind us, Tarek kisses me. It becomes long and passionate. Something head-numbing and out of the pages of a Harlequin or Jove romance. I want to push him away and catch my breath, but the kiss reflects his feelings. Pure bliss. This is something he’s been holding back for a very long time. Tender emotions that he kept hidden and private from me, now exploding, seeping at his surface, present and accounted for. So I take the kiss for what’s it worth, and grasp his hips, align my chest to his, and close my eyes.