He moaned again, deep in his throat. He wanted to believe her words so much. "Okay, okay," he murmured, kissing her throat hungrily and then lifting his head to flick his tongue around her ear. "I can pretend that."

She certainly felt real. So real that it was blowing his mind, overwhelming his senses.

He dropped his hand from her hair to the small of her back and lifted her, carried her to the bed with scarcely any effort at all. The scalpel bit just a tiny bit deeper as her weight settled against it, and the blood dripped faster. And yet he laid her down gently, leaning over her to kiss her hungrily again as her hair spread out across the pillow.