Сумерки

           Hewasinstantlyserious,Icouldtellbythesuddenstillnessofhisbody.Ifroze,too,reactingautomatically.

           "Idon’tthinkthat...that...wouldbepossibleforus."

           "Becauseitwouldbetoohardforyou,ifIwerethat...close?"

           "That’scertainlyaproblem.Butthat’snotwhatIwasthinkingof.It’sjustthatyouaresosoft,sofragile.Ihavetomindmyactionseverymomentthatwe’retogethersothatIdon’thurtyou.Icouldkillyouquiteeasily,Bella,simplybyaccident."Hisvoicehadbecomejustasoftmurmur.Hemovedhisicypalmtorestitagainstmycheek."IfIwastoohasty...ifforonesecondIwasn’tpayingenoughattention,Icouldreachout,meaningtotouchyourface,andcrushyourskullbymistake.Youdon’trealizehowincrediblybreakableyouare.Icannever,neveraffordtoloseanykindofcontrolwhenI’mwithyou."

           Hewaitedformetorespond,growinganxiouswhenIdidn’t."Areyouscared?"heasked.

           Iwaitedforaminutetoanswer,sothewordswouldbetrue."No.I’mfine."

           Heseemedtodeliberateforamoment."I’mcuriousnow,though,"hesaid,hisvoicelightagain."Haveyouever...?"Hetrailedoffsuggestively.

           "Ofcoursenot."Iflushed."ItoldyouI’veneverfeltlikethisaboutanyonebefore,notevenclose."

           "Iknow.It’sjustthatIknowotherpeople’sthoughts.Iknowloveandlustdon’talwayskeepthesamecompany."

           "Theydoforme.Now,anyway,thattheyexistformeatall,"Isighed.

           "That’snice.Wehavethatonethingincommon,atleast."Hesoundedsatisfied