Shifting her light, supple body up against his back, he felt her breathing trickle across his neck and into his heart. Her one little  hand wrapped around him, holding him close. She was only a little girl, ten years old. She needed his protection, but above all, she needed his love. And inside him there was something that couldn't let his reason escape her tender hold or let his eyes escape her face that radiated pure love... maybe because it wasn't an ordinary love at all.

He felt her burning eyes close, her slim body slowly drifting into restful silence... he felt her with him. The tiny, little big thing that was beating in her chest seemed to be the only part of her that wanted to do anything other than sleep... and it won.

"Tell me..." She whispered in his ear, "What do you love about me?"

"Things I completely love about you?" He sighed and let his heart think before he continued; her green eyes also opened, her heart now alert to what had just been uttered. "I love how, the nights that you do, your little arms wrap around me, the way you always hold me tight to yourself, never wanting to let me go. I love how small you are when I hold you close to me, how gentle your breathing is and how precious your heartbeat sounds."

Her eyes smiled with tenderness, or was it only a shy flutter of her lashes...

"I love how the peace inside you totally engulfs me just before I close my eyes... I love how the smile on your face, the one you give whenever I say something really nice about you, always draws my lips to yours just because it makes you look even prettier." He swallowed hard before continuing, knowing how much of him he was letting her see. "I love that you are just as good at hugging as me." He let out a chuckle and said, "I really like that."

"But above all, I love you because... you are a beautiful little girl, and..." He let out a sigh, "In middle of the night when you lie beside me... your lips find mine and we kiss in the dark, and you rest your palm against my face..."

Softly and smoothly, she gave him a little peck on the lips.

"I love hearing your words and how they fill my ears. I love you because you love me." She looked up into his eyes as if searching for the source of her happiness. Smiling, she continued, "I love how warm you are. It's like I can't let go or I'll get cold all alone. Um... and I love how you hold me in your arms... how you touch me all over... It makes me smile."

Her soft finger began to gently touch his face, his lips, causing his body to get slightly tenser and a lot warmer.

"I love how you squeeze me and hug me tight so that I can just let go and melt into you. And I love how you kiss away the tears from my eyes when I cry... how you let me cuddle up to you like this, on top of the hugs."

After thinking for a minute, the little girl snuggled even closer and said with a giggle in her sweet voice, "I want now to hear you say another five new things that you love about me."

He rolled around so he could look at her with guilt in his eyes.

"Um... can we cuddle instead?"

Looking into his eyes and nodding, she gently bit her lower lip as she allowed herself to smile....

"But only if you kiss me first..."

The End