She had paused for a moment when his arm had wrapped around her, but she hadn't immediately wanted to pull away. Especially when he put effort into not making her feel trapped. And then he was pressing a kiss to the underside of her jaw, and a small gasp slipped out before she could stop it. "G-get away with what?"
He pulled away slightly at the sound of her gasp, not knowing the meaning behind it and wanting to be safe rather than sorry. He kept a light tone, however, when he spoke, and his eyes remained sparkling with humor. "The innocent act doesn't suit you, Lily," he said with a small half-smile, "If you want a kiss, just go for it."
It took her a moment to gather her thoughts, which had been pleasantly scattered by the kiss. Apparently, her jaw was a safe place as well, and she was semi-glad to have that knowledge. "H-huh. And I thought it was." She murmured, shaking her head just slightly. That was a yes, right? She could kiss him? It seemed like it, for sure, so she leaned close, her lips brushing over his just barely.
He didn't hesitate as he leaned closer to her, returning the kiss. His eyes closed half-way, and he was once again caught up in the taste and feeling of Lily's lips. There's no way this could get boring, he suddenly thought, and with that revelation, he was pleased to realize that there was no one else out there like Lily, and he wouldn't change anything to have it any other way. He'd fight through the heavens and Hell to keep her at his side.
But if she chose to leave, he also knew that he'd let her go without a fight.
She'd guessed right, then. Lily exhaled softly through her nose as her eyes fluttered closed, pressing just a bit more into the kiss. She really did love kissing him, loved the safety and how special it made her feel, but her favorite part was that it was him she was kissing. The same man she'd kissed yesterday, not a completely different different man, or the seventh man she'd kissed. It was Rhydar. Just Rhydar, and no one else. And something told her she'd never want it to be anyone else.
Seeing, and feeling, her reaction let him relax some. His eyes slipped closed completely, and he slowly pulled the arm that was wrapped around her back, reluctantly releasing her. He knew that she could only handle so much, so he didn't push his limits this time. He just wanted to enjoy the moment as long as he could without mucking it up.
Though he's had many "relationships," none of the girls Rhydar's ever been with had made him feel like this. With them, he was always the unchanging, dangerous playboy with a bad habit of getting into trouble. They submitted to him without giving a second thought to their own wishes and seemed to enjoy being bossed around. Needless to say, none of them felt right, nor did they last long.
But with Lily…she was something special. They both sought out boundaries and respected them, only giving little pushes here and there when needed—such as Lily's case. He felt like they were both on the same level and that neither one was forced to be in charge of the other. He felt liked, and not just for his royal title and reputation.
Carefully, Lily lightly hooked an arm around his neck, to make the position she was in more comfortable, and to test her own boundaries somewhat. She found the uneasiness missing, though some small part of her mind told her not to push it much further, that she wasn't quite ready for that. And anyway, she really, really didn't want to send herself into a panic attack right now.
She'd heard plenty about his reputation. To be fair, who hadn't? But it had been a pleasant surprise of sorts to find out there was more to that. The boy the media wrote off as heartless really had a heart, and had managed to start making his way towards a place in her own. She'd seen him steal, but he seemed plenty willing to give away the love in his heart to people who took the time to get closer, to his steed, and to his people, even if they didn't realize it all that much. He was so much more than the idea of him she'd been given. And she was incredibly glad for that, because that had given her a reason to get to know him in the first place.
Rhydar felt his heart flutter with joy and pride when she hooked an arm around his neck and didn't seem to flinch away from that bit of contact. With a bit of reluctance, he broke the kiss to give them both a break for air but didn't pull back. Instead, he rested his head against hers. A smile had already overtaken his lips.
Lily kept her eyes closed when Rhydar broke away, bumping her nose against his gently, something she wasn't quite sure when she'd gotten in the habit of doing. He hadn't commented on it though, so she assumed he was fine with it. She stayed quiet, listening to the sound of his breathing and focusing part of her attention on the feeling of his pulse near her fingertips.
The corner of his lips twitched upwards in amusement when he felt her bump his nose with hers. He caught his breath after a few seconds, then questioningly brushed his lips against the corner of hers. He had told her to go for it if she wanted to kiss him, but he was still hesitant to just kiss her whenever he wanted. She was making progress, yes, but it was a slow progress that didn't need impatience on his end—that's not to say that he was impatient with her.
She took a moment, to try and judge whether it would be fine or not. When the panic didn't immediately flare up, she shifted her head to catch his lips again, smiling softly. Something about this kiss seemed just a tiny bit more eager, like the first had given her the confidence boost needed to do as much as she could before she couldn't anymore.
Rhydar smiled slightly as well, noticing the dash of eagerness in her kiss as he returned it. His hand came up and lightly brushed over her cheek, a ghost of a touch. He didn't want to overwhelm her, but his own habits were hard to kill when he cared about Lily so much. The more he cared, the more he wanted to be near.
Lily tilted her head, pressing into his hand just slightly. Face was fine. Face usually was, because the only part of her face with bad memories attached were her lips, and Rhydar was already helping her work through that. And Rhydar's touch always felt safe, anyway, which tended to help settle any slight uneasiness.
He took that as a good sign and brushed his thumb over her cheekbone. For some reason, his thoughts wandered to when he first realized she wasn't good with touch. He had been so cautious and afraid of doing something wrong that he had forced himself to stay a safe distance away. But now, here he was, so close and kissing her. It was a miracle.
The reluctance as she broke this kiss was obvious, though she kept her cheek pressed against his hand even as she pulled her arm back and tucked it against her abdomen. She'd shifted close enough that her arm brushed him slightly as she breathed, and she didn't seem quite ready to move back yet, either. The anxiety had begun to knot in her gut, letting her now she was pushing it, but she was slightly amazed. She had held on to him, for the duration of the kiss, without issue.
Rhydar wasn't disappointed when she pulled back. In fact, he was practically beaming when he opened his eyes. She had come so far in such a short amount of time, and that she was obviously reluctant to pull back was plenty enough for him to safely say: "I'm so proud of you." He quickly kissed her nose after he said that, brushing his thumb over her cheek again, then pulled back slightly to give her room to breathe.
Lily blinked her eyes open, furrowing her brows just slightly in confusion. "Wh-what for?" She asked, reaching up to hold his wrist carefully, not to pull his hand away, but almost as though letting him know she was fine with it, wanted it there even. The kiss to her nose had added to the flush that usually showed up when she was kissing him, painting her cheeks pink.
He smiled at her adorably pink cheeks, lightly tapping her cheek once with his thumb. "For getting this far," he said softly. He kept his hand where it was, acknowledging her request. "Your progress," he clarified, "I'm proud of you for making so much progress in such a short amount of time."
"I'm glad I am." She said, her voice soft, but light. "It means I can do this, the kissing and the sort-of cuddling, without being unable to breathe." Her thumb rubbed circles into his inner wrist, seemingly a subconscious thing. "But you should be more proud of yourself for making it possible at all."
He shook his head lightly. "Nah, all I'm doing is giving a little nudge. You're the one going the extra mile and making an effort to get better. In all reality, you very well could just be stubborn and ignore all my little nudges." His eyes briefly flicked over to where she was making circles on his wrist, then went back to her eyes.
"It's not much of an extra mile." She said, pausing her circles to feel his pulse, before returning to them. She didn't miss the glance, and her blush deepened slightly at the realization that she was even doing that. "Your nudges are definitely more important. Without them, I wouldn't even be here."
He sighed dramatically, then kissed her forehead and said against her skin, "Alright, fine. 50-50?" He pulled back before she could answer, returning his gaze to her pink cheeks. He bit his lip to smother the smirk threatening to take over his lips. She looked so cute when she blushed, and it deepened thanks to the simplest of things. He hadn't pegged Lily as someone affected by such little things, but apparently, there was still more to learn.
She blinked a few times, seemingly trying to form a response with some difficulty. "Th-that works." She finally managed, still startled by the kiss to her forehead. Affection came so easily to him, something she was definitely enjoying, but she was still getting used to. She wanted to, definitely, if only to keep from being rendered completely out of commission by a kiss to the forehead. "We…got k-kind of distracted, didn't we?"
The smirk surfaced, having slipped past his defenses when she looked so stunned by his simple kiss. He lightly tapped her cheek before lowering his hand from her face. "Yeah, we kinda did," he agreed, leaning back slightly yet again to give her more breathing space. He tilted his head and tapped two of his rings together thoughtfully. "I promised a strawberry picking trip, right?"
When his hand lowered from her face, she shifted her own down, not letting go of him, but instead releasing his wrist to clasp his hand. She nodded slightly, careful not to bump his head, before moving back just a bit herself. Her eyes had lit up at the mention of strawberries, something that was obviously a pattern. She was incredibly fond of the berries. "You did, yes."