Page:Teleny, or The Reverse of the Medal, t. II.djvu/44

 This will be our oath and our act of possession,' added he.

"Thereupon he put his arms around me and clasped me to his breast. I entwined my arms round him. By the glimmering, dim light of the cab-lamps I saw his eyes kindle with the fire of madness. His lips—parched with the thirst of long-suppressed desire, with the pent-up craving of possession—pouted towards mine with a painful expression of dull suffering. We were again sucking up each other's being in a kiss—a kiss more intense, if possible, than the former one. What a kiss that was!

"The flesh, the blood, the brain, and that undefined subtler part of our being seemed all to melt together in an ineffable embrace.

"A kiss is something more than the first sensual contact of two bodies; it is the breathing forth of two enamoured souls.

"But a criminal kiss long withstood and fought against, and therefore long yearned after, is beyond this; it is as luscious as forbidden fruit; it is a glowing coal set upon the lips; a fiery brand that burns deep, and changes the