The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea - pg. 77

For Riyuji the kiss was death, the very death in love he always dreamed of. The softness of her lips, her mouth so crimson in the darkness he could see it with closed eyes, so infinitely moist, a tepid coral sea, her restless tongue quivering like sea grass ... in the dark rapture of all this was something directly linked to death. He was perfectly aware that he would leaver her in a day, yet he was ready to die happily for her sake. Death roused inside him, stirred.