“His muscles flexed under his clothes, holding me, leading me. Never letting me stray far.”

“Link flexed his muscles. To be fair, he did nearly split his t-shirt in half.”

“His dark hair is perfectly recklessly up today, those tanned muscles flexing as he extends out his arms and does his little turn. And here I am, my breath caught between my lungs and my lips as he turns around and scans the crowd. As soon as he spots me, his eyes come alive, as alive as I feel when he smiles at me. He holds my gaze while those dimples flash, and I swear he stares at me in a way that makes me feel that I am the only woman here.”

“The frown again. So much contained there in the flex of a few muscles. All of history, it sometimes seemed to me. All of ours, at least.”

“He smiles sadly. "Now I know my destiny.""What is it?""This."He draws me in to him in a kiss. His lips are warm. He pulls me tighter in his embrace. The roots sigh and release their hold on my waist and the wound in my side is healed. "Kartik," I cry, kissing his cheeks. "It's let me go.""That's good," he says. He makes a small cry. His back arches, and every muscle in his body tightens.”

“I throw my arms around his neck and let him hold me. All seventeen years of me.”