[Oh he can. And they're almost hypnotic in their movements. There is a part of him that does want to reach out and tangle them in his own fingers; to feel her smooth skin slide against his own. He can almost convince himself that it's possible: that just this once there won't be any pain.

But the rational part of him knows that isn't true at all.]

Really. And what makes you so sure?

[He can't imagine that he has.]