A Fiery Embrace

She rushed at me. Without giving me a chance to react, she leaped up and hugged me, wrapping her arms and legs around my neck and waist, restricting me like a boa constrictor seizing its prey.

I patted her back. Trisha's body was hot, as if she'd been heated in a fire.

...Have you been waiting long?

Not at all, actually.

"Really?"

I completely forgot. I might have forgotten you existed if a few more days had passed.

I was worried, so that's a relief.

Worried about what? I wasn't thinking about anything!

Right.

How much must Demian have missed me to come all this way, over mountains, across the sky, and beyond the sea...