Jim caught Mary's hands, cupping them with his own and pulling them to his chest. "Mary," he kissed her fingertips, then tried to get her to look at him. "I love you. I'll never do anything to hurt you, and I'll never do anything you don't want me to. If you want me to stop, then I'll stop. If when time comes you'd rather wait, then we'll wait. You can ask for whatever you want, whether it is for me to do something or to do nothing at all."

He'd be lying if he said he didn't want her terribly, but he would never try to talk her into doing something before she was ready. They had their whole lives together, after all, so one thing they'd have was time. And as she was well aware at this point, Jim could be very patient when something or someone was worth it.