Your heartbeat jumps
under my thumb,

like a trapped thing.

I press.

Just enough.
Just so you know.

Heat rises in patches
across your skin,

a map I choose
not to follow.

Not yet.

Words stick in your throat.

I can see them struggling there,
prisoners behind your clenched teeth,

your stubborn silence
sweeter than surrender.

Sweat gathers at your temples.

Salt I’ll taste later.

Maybe.

If you earn it.

There’s a war in your eyes.

Pride versus hunger.

That delicious moment
before one wins.

Your lips part.

Close again.

The battle rages on.

I hover,

oracle of almost,

conjuring goosebumps
across your flesh.

Your body knows
what your mouth won’t say.

But bodies lie.

I need to hear it.

I hover.

Your body arches.

A bridge

to nowhere.

Grind your teeth.

Bite your lip bloody.

Fight it all you want.

I’ve got nowhere to be

and all night
to break you.

When it finally comes,

that sound,

raw and ripped
from somewhere deep,

it will taste like victory
on both our tongues.