'You went too far!' Alannah choked, wiping tears from her eyes. 'Go back a few pages. There's lots of "chin tilting." No, not like that! That's sticking your chin out! It means you go like this-!' Alannah said as she demonstated the move on Anya by putting one hand under her chin and lifting it towards her mouth pressing her thumb on Anya's lower lip. "See like that."
"That is nuts, nobody does that in real life!" Anya protested.
"Yes, well, there's lots of chin-tilting and passionate kissing in this book, let me tell you,' Alannah said. "Did your husband subject you to a lot of heavy kissing?"
Something in the way Alannah asked the question brought Anya's laughter to a sudden stop, looking at her friend with a serious expression on her face, "You haven't any experience with men, have you?"
Alannah bit her lower lip "no" she said in a whisper, she waited for Anya to continue.
Anya smiled at her. "You are very naieve, you know that? I forget sometimes what it was like before I was ever with a man. Has Dominic kissed you yet?"
Alannah's face tunred bright red as she thought of the rain storm, and being completley naked in front of him, but she nodded her head.
"Has he gone any further?" Anya asked.
"Oh goodness, no. I am a virgin!"
Choosing her words carefully, "The fact that you are nearly twenty years old and still a virgin says something about you Alanna. But let me tell you something, Alannah, you need to forget what you read in those books. The world of love and being in love is nothing like this" she said pointing at the book. "There is no 'lip-crushing', or 'chin-tilting', unless he tilts your chin to him, nothing like this ever comes close to the real world. Love, my dear Alannah, real love, is gentle. It is like holding a baby in your arms for the very first time, and seeing that face is the most precious thing you have ever seen or felt. Love is working through difficult times, it is when your husband comes home after a long hard day and cooks you dinner or plays with the children. It is the look in his eyes everytime he sees you and he is unable to believe that he was lucky enough to have you in his life. Love is being happy with all the small things and having no words for it. It is . . . am I making any sense to you?"
Alannah looked away, turning beet red. "Yes, but. . . it's just that . . . I've heard some things about . . . you know . . . what happens on the wedding night …"