In Over Her Head by Elsie Russell - Parnasse.com

"But it is the Annunciation! There is another panel somewhere,
perhaps, with the angel Gabriel,"
"Or was."
"Yes, I have never seen it."
That explained the bird. Its halo had rubbed away.
"What would the angel have been like?"
She sat back on the bed.
"In the Annunciation, Gabriel holds a stem of lilies or a golden
scepter. In Flemish Renaissance paintings he almost always holds a
scepter, but in Italian paintings of this period he prefers the stem of
lilies."
"Well, the lily's down here growing out of the worm holes, so
he'd have to be holding the scepter."
He switched from holding the imaginary lily stem to grasping
the scepter, his brows knit tight as he arranged his hands into the
appropriate angelic pose.
"I meant the expression," she said when he finished.
For a second he appeared bewildered, then a smile spread
across his face that flipped her over inside, and she lost it, totally lost it.
Bolted from the bed and planted her lips on his. He held her face
between his hands and returned her kiss, feather light, then eased her
onto the eiderdown.
"Penelopé." Music from his most beautiful lips. His heartbeats
slammed into to her chest as if it was made of paper. His hand under
her shirt. "May I?" he asked, and softly cupped his hand around her
breast, sighing, and with that expiration disappeared at least an hour or
two, because the room was colder, the smell of limestone more damp
than fresh now. He hadn't moved, was barely breathing, but the smell
rising from him was like new peaches in the sun. Her face was covered
in tears.
The birds woke them. Cloudy, but not raining. He curled up
against her with his arm around her. She ran her fingers through his
hair, away from his eyes and the bandage across his nose, and kissed his
forehead. He wrapped his arms closer, and kissed her lips. His eyes
were still shut as he smoothed his hands over her body, a silly smile
spreading across his face. He tried to change position but began
coughing and had to hold his side. She offered to help him up, but he
shook his head.
Shuffling into the library, he said, "Breakfast in here, okay?"
When she came in, he was on the phone, looking out the library
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