Chapter Text
Chapter 39
Sakura was slowly growing to hate herself. At first, it didn't seem like a big deal to blow Ino off with an excuse or to plead out of training and lunch with Naruto because she and Kakashi had plans. It wasn't even a problem to skip a shift or two at the hospital, because Tsunade knew that she had other, bigger projects to be focusing on.
But it wasn't very long before the lies began to pile up and she found herself frustrated with all of the subterfuge. She was, after all, not a liar by nature especially not when it concerned her friends. Perhaps it was Tsunade's fault, but she simply preferred the blunt, honest truth, which just wasn't possible with hers and Kakashi's current arrangements in place. And it was driving her crazy.
The frustration mounted when she was forced to finagle her way out of another mission with a Team Seven and it reached a fevered pitch when she and Kakashi were interrupted on three dates in a row. Given, it was their fault for remaining in the village and no one had any reason in the world to believe that they would want privacy, but it was the principle of the thing.
It was the last straw when she had begged off spending the day with Sai and Naruto and came to the realization that she was lying to her boys. It was possible that they both just understood and accepted the fact that she was busy, but it horrified her to think that there might be a possibility that they simply trusted her not to lie to them and that broke her heart.
"Kakashi?"
The Copy-nin raised an eyebrow at her but never looked up from his book. Their dinner things were scattered on the coffee table, waiting to be transported to the sink just as soon as the pair stopped being quite so comfortable where they were. Sakura was propped against the arm of the couch reading while Kakashi lounged with his head in her lap and his heels hooked over the opposing arm and Icha Icha opened.
"Can we talk?"
Kakashi was an intent reader and even now as his girlfriend she found it sometimes impossible to steal his attention away from Icha-Icha. So, she was gratified by how swiftly he snapped his book shut and sat up to face her. "Is something wrong?" he asked.
Sakura rearranged herself on the cushion and threw her file onto the coffee table next to her picked-over plate, dropping her pretense of interest. "A little."
"I was wondering," he murmured. When she raised a curious eyebrow at him he smiled and elaborated: "You've seemed tense all night. You've seemed tense the last few nights" He laid a hand over hers and rubbed her knuckles gently with his thumb. "What's up?"
She shrugged. "I've been thinking."
"A dangerous prospect."
Sakura smiled despite herself and lifted her eyes to meet his. "I think it's time to tell the others. About us, I mean."
Kakashi blinked and shifted to face her even more. Whatever he had been expecting, clearly that had not been it and she felt the bottom drop out of her stomach. "Sakura, I—"
"I just… I'm tired of lying to everyone."
He frowned. "We're not lying," he said, obviously concerned.
Sakura sighed. "I am," she said. "I lie to Ino about what I'm doing and I lie to Sai and Naruto about where I'm going and why and I've had to go behind Tsunade-sama's back, which I hate more than anything. I can't keep doing that, Kakashi. They trust me. I know that I'm not really doing anything wrong and maybe it's none of their business, but I feel like I'm violating something." She squeezed his hand and swiped some hair out of her face. "Look, we don't have to shout it from the rooftops. That's not what I'm saying. I just want to tell the people closest to us. Everyone else can just figure it out on their own."
Kakashi stared her for a moment longer and then began to nod, shifting his weight in the cushions a little so he was sitting up. "All right," he replied. "Who do we start with?"
"Tsunade."
He frowned. Sakura was staring through the coffee table at something a hundred miles away with her brows deeply furrowed. "Why?"
She looked to him, snapping from her trance. "If you really think that there might be a problem with us continuing missions together, she's the best ally we can make. Telling her first lets her know that we trust her to help us."
Kakashi nodded, but his shoulders were tense. "She's just as likely to oppose it," he said finally.
"But she'll hear us out." She paused and then sighed. "And we should tell Naruto whenever we tell Tsunade, but that's it. Everyone else can just… figure it out," she added at his reluctant hum.
He lifted his head to look her in the eye and smiled a little when she lifted a hand to gently stroke his cheek. "I'll leave Tsunade to you," he murmured. "I'll tell Naruto."
Sakura lifted her eyebrows. "Are you sure?"
He sighed, that sigh that he always let out whenever he was feeling old. "I have a feeling that this should be one of those man-to-man things," he said. He rubbed her leg reassuringly. "I'll take care of it. Just let me know when you're ready." He paused and then met her eyes again. "It… isn't exactly a fate worse than death if we can't go together on missions anymore."
"No, it's not," Sakura replied. "But I want to try. You're my partner and I'm not willing to give that up so easily."
Kakashi smirked. "And you'd much rather bend rules to your whims than give in to them a little?"
"Damn right."
He laughed at that and she could see a few years lift from his features. "That's my girl," he murmured affectionately as he tipped his head to look down at her.
He probably meant it ironically but with a smile Sakura leaned in and kissed him before replying with a very simple: "Yes."
*
Sakura was pretty sure that she was now officially the worst person ever. All right, that was an exaggeration but she felt like the worst person ever and that was an awful thing to be dragging around.
It had been almost two weeks since she and Kakashi had talked and she still hadn't managed to choke out an explanation to Tsunade. Every time she went to say something the words got caught in her throat and the only thing that would come out was this strangled gargling sound that sounded like she had swallowed one of Jiraiya's toads. Of course by now the woman knew something was up—mostly because she was not an idiot—but she hadn't pressed Sakura for information. Yet. The medic had a feeling that it would only be a matter of time.
The truth was that Sakura was just a coward. Like Kakashi had said, Tsunade could as easily condemn them as save them and the thought alone made her gut wrench painfully. She couldn't bear to disappoint the woman.
"Mm, now this I could get used to."
Kurenai laughed. "Me too. I look forward to everything coming back into bloom."
It was unseasonably warm outside and as if connected by some sort of hive mind every person in Konoha had decided to get out and enjoy the weather, including Sakura and Kakashi. They were supposed to meet Sai and Naruto at Ichiraku's for lunch in an hour and a half, which they figured gave them plenty of time to walk the edge of the training grounds and enjoy the sun.
They were not the only ones to have this thought, as it happened. It wasn't long before they ran across Kurenai and Asuka, who were accompanied by Shikamaru. While Kurenai sat off to one side relaxing on a checked picnic blanket, the Nara was busy attempting to stop the young girl from breaking her neck as she repeatedly tried and failed to walk on her hands. It wasn't long before he gave up and recruited a reluctant Kakashi to the cause.
Sakura had taken a seat beside Kurenai and was reclined back on her hands, her elbows locked, and her head tipped back to better enjoy the sensation of the breeze blowing across her face.
These little lapses into warmth weren't uncommon as Fire Country approached springtime and she found herself grateful for the break. It had been too gray lately, which had done nothing to help her mood.
"So, Sakura."
She looked quickly to Kurenai, who was pouring tea for them both from a thermos. "Yes?" she asked.
The woman glanced up at the medic from under her lashes, looking rather sly as she held one cup out to Sakura. She was wearing a light cotton dress and cardigan and would have looked downright civilian if not for her forehead protector and thigh holster. "How long have you and Kakashi been seeing each other?"
Sakura blinked and stared and then blinked again. And then one more time for good measure as she began to breathe a little faster. "I-I'm sorry?" she stammered. "Why would—how—we—"
Kurenai was smiling outright now, warm and amused and it put the younger woman at ease to see it. "Relax, Sakura," she said gently. "You two must be keeping it a secret for a reason, so I'm not about to tattle on you to anyone. I'm just being nosy. Mothers do that, you know."
"I know," the pinkette replied, sounding hoarse to her own ears. Ino was nosy because she cared, she was nosy because she cared, her mom was nosy—crap. She really didn't want to think about her mother right then. They hadn't spoken in weeks and the last thing on her to-do list was to reveal that she was dating the man she had introduced as her team leader not even a whole year ago. She swallowed and shook her head to clear it. "How could you tell?"
"Intuition I guess," Kurenai said with a laugh. She looked back to Kakashi and smiled. "I don't think I've ever seen Kakashi as happy as this and I've known him for years. There's something in his whole demeanor that's changed. There's something different in yours too, now that I think about it." She smiled. "Besides, it takes one to know one."
Sakura felt a familiar pang zing through her chest as she thought of Asuma. Memories of a heartbroken Ino, Chouji, and Shikamaru followed immediately after him and left her feeling numb.
"Are you two serious?"
She blinked and looked to the older woman again. Her cheeks felt hot even to herself and she didn't want to think about how red she must actually be. "We… well, yes," she said. "We're in love." The words were just barely out of her mouth before she compulsively slapped a hand to her forehead. "Gods, that sounds so corny."
Kurenai chuckled and shook her head. "It sounds wonderful," she corrected. "I'm so happy for you two. You both do so much for Konoha; you deserve a little slice of happiness for yourselves."
For a moment, Sakura glowed all over because that was exactly what she needed to hear, but this faded quickly. She could only hope that Tsunade shared that sentiment.
Neither spoke for some minutes as they watched Asuka take her first tentative steps on her hands and then fall over forwards, landing in the grass with a muted thud. Kakashi helped her up and then crouched down to explain something. Asuka got back onto her hands and Kakashi lifted a hand to straighten her legs when they started to waver too far in one direction or the other.
"Kurenai?"
The woman looked to the medic, her brows lifting slightly. "Yes?"
Sakura shifted her stare to the ground and then finally to the genjutsu master as she took a breath. "Why didn't you and Asuma ever tell anyone about you two?"
Kurenai's breath audibly caught at first and then was released in a quiet sigh as her eyes fell to the grass. "There were a lot of reasons," she admitted finally. "We were on and off for years at first so it just didn't make any sense to tell anyone. Then when we finally got it together… I don't know. It just never seemed like the right time, which just sounds silly when you think about it."
Despite herself, Sakura laughed in bitter agreement. "It kind of does."
Kurenai smiled. "I suppose it comes naturally after a while. We're trained to keep secrets and to protect ourselves by any means necessary."
"Do you ever regret it?"
The words came out before the medic could stop them and she cringed reflexively.
"Which part?"
Sakura shrugged her shoulders feebly. "Any of it." She looked to Kurenai then. "I mean, I can't imagine how much it must have hurt to lose him and then find out…" Her eyes wandered over to Asuka. "It must have been so hard," she concluded lamely.
Kurenai smiled again, but more feebly. "It still hurts," she confessed. "If anyone has ever told you that time heals all wounds, they were lying. There are some wounds that it just can't touch." She took a deep breath and then turned her gaze upwards to the sky, either to admire the color or to keep her eyes dry. "That said, I only regret the secrecy. I regret every time we couldn't be together because of it, but everything else? I wouldn't have traded the time we had together or what I felt for him for any promised thing." She lowered her stare finally and then leveled it at Sakura, who was playing with her hands. "Does that help, Sakura?"
She wasn't going to ask how the woman knew—how she knew anything. Experience, she surmised. That couldn't be traded for anything in the world. A veteran of thirty years always had the advantage over a rookie no matter the scenario. This was no different. That said, she felt a heavy weight drop from her shoulders and she took her first, deep breath in what felt like ages.
"It does," she said finally. "Thank you."
*
Later that night, the thought of Kakashi leaving send a bolt of pain through her that had Sakura pleading with him to stay the night, please. He looked slightly alarmed and began rubbing her shoulders and assuring her that he wasn't going anywhere and was this one of those woman things and was there anything he could do?
It was a small comfort.
When they were getting ready for bed he stripped to his general issue undergarments and faked modesty by covering his chest with one arm, wrenching a laugh out of her because she just couldn't help it. He was such a different creature than the one she had known as a child or even the one she had known a year ago. Once upon a time she wondered if he ever actually smiled under that mask. Sometimes it was all just a little too forced with too much effort put into those squinty eyes for it to be at all real or sincere. It was rewarding now to not just see the smile for herself but to feel the change in him too as he motioned for her to lie against him as he reclined into the pillows at the head of her bed.
He was cuddly too. That was something that would have blown her mind back in the day, but now she was just grateful that he enjoyed being laid on because his badly abused sternum was her new favorite pillow.
Sakura wasn't sure how much of the night she had spent lying awake, but she was almost certain that it was more than half. She couldn't help it. Her head swam with thoughts of Kurenai and everything she had said, thoughts of Asuma and the idea of losing Kakashi in the same manner, and how tired she was of doubt always edging its way into her thoughts. At any rate, by five o'clock she was wide awake and up for a shower, it never being too early for a nice, head-clearing round of ablutions.
Her departure didn't go unnoticed, however. Not that she had expected it to. Sharing a bed with Kakashi made her feel grossly inadequate as a ninja sometimes and when she stepped out of the bathroom in a pair of panda print panties and a flimsy camisole, she couldn't help but smile at the sight of Kakashi sitting up in bed reading Icha Icha by the first dim glimpses of morning filtering in through the blinds.
On noticing her, he snapped the book shut at the sight of her and motioned for her to join him again.
"Well?" he prompted after a while.
Sakura smiled. They were lying on their sides, facing one another and while she was busying herself with one of his hands, tracing the many scars and calluses and lines of it, he played with her hair.
"I'm fine," she replied.
"Liar," he whispered as he brought her hand to his mouth and nipped the back of it.
She laughed and reflexively tried to pull away. "Hey, you animal, I need that."
He grinned and pulled her closer despite her struggling. "What kept you up all night?"
Sakura sighed and rolled over onto her back. "You're a nag," she said.
"It would take one to know one," Kakashi replied, rolling himself over her to cage her with his arms. "There, I have you trapped. Now, tell me."
A throaty laugh bubbled to the surface and she gave him a wry look. "One of the feeblest prisons ever constructed," she replied with a critical glance at his arms.
He pouted. "My biceps take offense to that."
Sakura laughed a little louder. "I'm sorry. They're very firm and manly. It's just, you know, chakra-enhanced super strength and all that." She smiled. "You don't have to worry about me."
"Fine, we agree that my worrying is entirely optional. That said, tell me anyway." Kakashi shifted his weight onto just one forearm and lifted his other hand to comb her damp hair away from her forehead. "Sakura."
She sighed, knowing better than to assume that he'd simply drop it now that he had carried it this far. Though it was kind of nice being the one nagged for once. Just this one time though, she hoped he didn't make a habit of it or she'd have to start seeing the boys' side of things when they complained about her and that was surely the way to madness. "I talked to Kurenai at the park," she began, her words stilted.
He hummed. "I heard you two," he murmured.
Sakura flew immediately into incredulity. "How did she know—?"
"Magic," Kakashi cut in. "I've tried to figure out how she does that and I've concluded that it's magic. Motherhood seems to have just enhanced that."
She snorted. "So you're postulating that her womb is directly hardwired into what gives her that particular power?"
"Exactly," he replied. "But stop derailing our conversation. We'll save talk of her womb for another time. What about Kurenai?"
"You must have heard the rest of the conversation."
"Yes. And?"
Sakura shrugged, dragging her fingers thoughtfully up his chest and contemplating the myriad of criss-crossing scars that marred his flesh. "And nothing," she said. "That's it."
Kakashi let out a deep breath from his nose and settled his weight again to one side of her as he remained propped on one elbow over her. "I told you that I was fine with getting the word out," he murmured. "I wasn't lying about it just to make you happy."
She gave him a stern look and emphasized it by rolling over to sit on him, straddling his hips and feeling too piqued to feel self-conscious. "You ever do that and I'll grind you into a fine powder," she said, prodding his chest meaningfully. "I hate the thought of you ever feeling the need to appease me like that."
"Duly noted," he said. His voice was a pleasant rumble as his lips quirked into a smile that made her gut twist in a particular and delicious way. "Sakura, I'm yours, for whatever that's worth, and I will be for however long you want me. I'm all right if others know."
"But that's not want you want."
"I hope you mean that last bit because I'm enjoying the first parts."
Sakura smiled and her fingers danced their way up his neck to his cheek, idly tracing the faint tan line left behind by his mask that bisected his nose. "Now who's derailing the conversation?"
Kakashi caught her hand and pinned it to his skin. "I will get over it," he said firmly. "On the other hand, you are letting this secret eat you alive."
She sighed and slumped down to rest her forearms on his chest. "I do kind of suck at secrets," she admitted.
"Hm, I didn't want to say anything, but I agree."
Sakura pinched his chest in reprimand and Kakashi retaliated by turning and pinning her to the bed. She threw her head back into the pillows and broke into a fit of mirthful, open-mouthed laughter as she raised her hands to stroke his neck in apology, giggling still as their eyes met.
Experience had taught her that there were few certainties in life, so it was refreshing to have him.
He shifted his weight to rest more fully on his right arm as he raised his left hand to touch her hair and then her cheek. He was smiling at her in that way (she hoped) he reserved just for her and the brush of his fingertips against her skin was gentle, almost reverent. It made her insides ache and twist.
Memories of the last year and all of the things that had brought them here, to this point, played back for her then. The romance itself had been a whirlwind of sorts, but it was built on years spent breaking down reservations and building a foundation of trust and friendship. She knew that they were lucky. All of the conditions had been right for things to just fall into place for them.
Kakashi played with a lock of her hair falling forward in front of her ear and then his fingers skimmed the curve of her jaw before drifting down over skin of her throat and playing briefly in the hollow between her collar bones. She arched her neck a little at the sensations and he leaned in and kissed her there.
And with that something changed. That aching inside of her gave way to a fire that began to burn her up. With her throat thick and him suddenly too close and yet not nearly enough, she slid one hand around his neck and pushed her fingers through his hair as her other hand found purchase between his shoulder blades. He pressed another kiss to her shoulder and then turned his head to bury his face into the curve of her neck, inhaling.
She shivered. "Kakashi."
He lifted his head just enough to kiss her cheek and then brush his nose against hers. "I want…" His voice suddenly dropped an octave, turning husky and hoarse as he stumbled over his words. "But it isn't…"
No, it wasn't. Things were perfect just as they were. Sakura couldn't remember a time in her life when she had ever been happier. Even when she was up to her elbows in gore and ready to pass out from emotional and physical exhaustion, the thought of him gave her just enough oomph to push through the rest of the day. He made her feel stronger and the bad things never seemed quite as bad anymore.
They didn't have to do anything. But she wanted to and more than that she wanted him. She wanted to touch him, to feel his skin against hers, to show him that this was real, that it was so much more than just whimsy on her part just in case he had any lasting doubts because she didn't. This was how it was supposed to be, she thought and she kissed him, willing it to say what she couldn't properly articulate. All of her silly, childhood notions of what love was withered and died away in the shadow of this.
Kakashi made a low sound in his throat and she felt him shake a little when his weight came to rest a little more fully against her. He laid one hand on her waist before moving it down to her hip and then up again, his fingertips sliding under the hem of her camisole and playing tentatively over her ribs and side. It was almost ticklish but it made her shiver and arch into him.
Sakura dragged her hands up his back, enjoying the feel of the flexing, shivering muscles under her palms as she turned her head, breaking their kiss to let her lips wander over his cheek and then down to his jaw to his neck. His hand skated quickly down to her hip and then around her backside to press her closer as she hitched one leg over his hip and did the same.
Kakashi smelled like she thought a man should smell. Like soap and black powder and earth. She liked his hands too. They were rough and callused and they felt good against her. They were the same hands that pulled her out of danger, the hands of experience, of years long past filled with fighting and suffering, and they held her with confidence and certainty that she felt stronger and bolder by proxy.
It could have been hours before their clothes found their way to the floor. Sakura didn't notice or really care because the sensation of his chest against hers and his lips on her neck-skin on skin and heat against heat-made everything outside of her bedroom inconsequential. Then he was whispering something as his lips moved down her neck, passed her collarbones, to the valley between her breasts, to one breast as one callused palm and thumb found the other and that awareness narrowed even further until it was just him.
Once upon a time, Tsunade had assured Sakura in one of her rare, sentimental moments found amidst the soothing haze of sake, that understanding sex from a biological and anatomical standpoint didn't equal understanding it from any other perspective. It had come out of nowhere, guided only by the heavy, sorrowful nostalgia that overcame the woman now and then between bottles, but it had stuck with Sakura. It gave her hope. Someday maybe she'd be able to see the act like the romantics did, like she had before she had gotten so old and sex had just turned into copulation; into bits grinding and sliding against other bits and unsterilized hands in places where they ought not to be without gloves.
Sakura just barely muffled a sound against Kakashi's neck when he rolled his hips into hers and pressed himself inside. For a moment, she actually, really saw stars.
He asked her a question, but the sound of his voice all hoarse and choked and the sensations coursing through her distracted her from the words. He was probably asking if she was all right to go on, because that seemed like something he'd do. In any other circ*mstance she might have reminded him that she was a kunoichi and that she loved him and that this tiny ache was so inconsequential as to be nonexistent by comparison, but instead she answered by drawing her legs up around his hips and moving. At this, he hissed and cursed and then whatever followed was lost among a deep baritone groan that curled her toes and sent little bolts of pleasure rippling through her.
Sakura felt like she was on fire and his skin was scalding to the touch too as the gentle ebb and flow of their movement continued, but she held him tighter because she wouldn't—couldn't—let him go, even if it reduced her to ash in the end. Her hands skittered against his back, seeking something to cling to as his shoulders and back grew slick with sweat. His hands were more insistent too, grabbing and clutching and holding onto her as if she'd disappear if he stopped and the noises he made, low and desperate—oh gods.
Sakura's eyes started to burn at some point and it wasn't long before she muffled a half-sob, half-moan against his shoulder. It was all so much and her mind was awash in a sea of sensation and emotion. It was embarrassing and it wasn't long before Kakashi noticed. She kissed him to tell him it was okay and to her relief he didn't stop, but his hold on her tightened that much more and the kiss turned into one, long probing caress of lips and tongues as his pace slowed to drag everything out. She bit down on another sound in her throat. It was all almost too much to bear.
"Sakura." He lips brushed against her forehead and one of his hands found hers and their fingers twined together as he pressed her knuckles the bed. His next words were broken as he whispered them next to her ear, "Stay with—please. Always."
It was hard to say what did it exactly, if it was just the inevitable conclusion or the words themselves, but she came apart then. She bit down hard on her urge to cry out and settled for clinging to him for dear life and scoring his shoulders with her nails as every nerve in her body seemed to come alive at once. The stars were back, shooting across her vision and bursting into nothing.
He wasn't far behind her and there was something immensely satisfying in the low, gravelly sound he made in the back of his throat and the sweat he worked up and the way the muscles of his back and stomach jump and twitch as his arms shook.
Kakashi's weight came to settle heavily on her and he mouthed a lazy kiss against her neck as his hands ran up and down her sides, pressing into her skin and curves. Sakura pressed a feeble kiss to his temple and held him against her, not quite willing to relinquish the moment. He didn't even try to fight her and buried his face comfortably in her shoulder, breathing heavily against her.
Dawn had come and the first tentative rays of sunlight spilled through her window blinds and across Kakashi's back, illuminating the faint white remnants of scars that littered his skin and the deeply etched lines of his muscles. Idly, Sakura traced them until she fell asleep.
*
Sakura's hair was mussed, falling over the pillows and neck in half-dried kinks and waves. Impulsively, Kakashi reached out and ran one lock between his fingers. She shifted a little into him, the sheets tangled around her legs, baring one long lean limb to the morning light. It made her smooth skin glow and he couldn't help but trace his fingertips over her knee and up her thigh to her hip.
She squirmed at the sensation and smiled, her eyes still closed. "Tickle me and I'll break your hand."
He grinned and tipped her chin up to kiss her gently on the lips. "You're really good at this pillow talk thing. Are you sure you've not done this before?"
Sakura laughed and kicked her legs to fix the sheets back over her. "I'm just a natural, I suppose."
Kakashi smiled and pulled her a little closer. "So…" He trailed off meaningfully and looked down at the top of her very pink head.
"So," she replied as if in agreement. She opened her eyes and tipped her head to look up at him. "I'll see Tsunade today."
"Should I pack to leave the country?"
Sakura smiled. "Tsunade can be determined. She'd probably find you no matter where you went if she really wanted to," she said. "But don't worry about it. It's just a ploy of hers when she acts like she can't be reasoned with. I know better than that." She tipped her head and kissed him on the lips again before settling down into the pillows. "I'm her student. She has spent seven years training me to be just as stubborn as she is. I'll make her see my side—our side—of things."
The Copy-nin nodded slowly. "Then I'll talk to Naruto tonight," he said.
She hummed in agreement and then for some time neither of them spoke.
Kakashi lifted a hand to comb his fingers through her hair and smiled at the way she tipped her head into his touch. His hand drifted down and he skimmed his knuckles over the curve of her shoulder and down her arm before moving up again to push her hair further back from her face. This was, without a doubt, exactly where he belonged and that certainty settled over him like a blanket. He let out a long breath, completely content and happy.
"Do you have a shift today?" he asked at length.
Sakura hummed softly. "No. Not until later this afternoon. What about you? You're usually at the memorial at this time." She smiled. "I'll understand if you want to go. I know how important it is to you."
He shook his head and reached over to draw her across his chest. "In a little while," he whispered.
"I second that," she replied as she nuzzled his sternum.
