This is insane, she thought. They sat side by side,
fingers threaded.
The swing gently rocked back and forth.
She had been set up, having been warned about him
beforehand, but
unable to resist. They were more alike than she'd
thought anyone ever
would be. They liked the same things, had spent the
night talking,
probing each other's minds. He confessed to a dream,
and a chill had
streaked down her spine as he talked of his soulmate.
There were so
many simularities...
His hand played with her hair, and her eyes slid shut.
A soft groan
slid from her lips and his hand fell away. She sat
up, watching as he
climbed off the swing to kneel in front of her,
between her legs. Her
heart pounded as his lips hovered near hers, his warm
breath fanning
her lips a moment before his mouth descended. Their
mouths mated, his
tongue tempting hers to dance with his.
He pulled back, and she was lost as their eyes met and
locked. Her
heart roared in her ears as she heard him mention her
room.
She wanted him...wanted his hands on her body...his
mouth on her body.
She wanted him inside her, filling her, driving her
over the edge.
In her room, she shut off the light. She didn't want
him to see her
this first time. Her insecurities were too strong.
Fleetingly, she
wondered how she could so easily bear her soul but not
her body.
They came together...touching...tasting...teasing.
And when his body
melded to hers, she surrendered....unable to hold back
any part of
herself. Her world spun wildly on it's axis,
shattering.
In the aftermath, they cuddled and more words came.
Their hands never
stilled in their exploration, fanning the embers until
the flame raged
anew.
This time, as their bodies cooled, they slept. How
long she rested in
the arms of Morpheus, she didn't know. Her eyes
opened, and she
propped herself up on one elbow to watch him.
He still slept. Her eyes traced his features even as
her fingers
itched to do the same. The years fell away as he
slept, softening his
features and revealing the boy he had once been.
Something inside her twisted, and she shied away from
it, unwilling to
look too closely. She climbed from the bed, careful
not to disturb him.
She pulled a shirt around herself and stood before the
window, watching
the sun slowly ascend. The sky was tinted in pale
hues of rose and
lavender, soft streams of gold bringing everything to
life. Birds
twittered gaily, welcoming the new day.
Their conversation, or one of them, flowed over her.
The song, 'Brand
New Day', echoed in her ears, driving home the words
from the night
before...how alike they were. Reflections of one
another. Hands held
up against each other, they'd pantomimed looking in a
mirror at each
other. Her lips curled into a smile. Reflections....
Arms slid around her waist, and she jumped in spite of
herself. He
didn't say anything, only held her, and she leaned
back against his
warmth. They watched the sun rise. A new day bathed
in a soft golden
glow. She smiled, her heart light for the first time
in a very long
time. "Starting off a brand new day," she murmured
softly,
paraphrasing the song that wouldn't go away.
She heard him chuckle softly, and turned in his arms
to face him.
Brown eyes met hazel and clung. Again something
inside her twisted,
and she feared looking too closely. So many
fears...so many scars.
She closed her eyes, leaning into his embrace. "I'm
so scared," she
said softly. "So fast," she murmured against his
throat. "This is happening so very fast." Her hands
slid over his bare back.
His fingers tangled in the silk of her hair, tugging
gently until she
pulled back to look at him. She knew he could see the
unguarded
emotions in her eyes, her vulnerability revealed in
the absence of her
masks.
He didn't speak. There were no glib words, no
promises. He bent his
head, and brushed his lips across hers. She trembled.
Something
inside told her to trust him, knowing that he would
not hurt her.
But trust doesn't come easily to a heart long bruised
and battered.
They broke apart, and he whispered against her lips,
"Come back to
bed."
Just once more, she thought, her hand in his as he led her back to bed. They would make love. Then, they would sleep.
And, maybe, when she woke in the glorious streams of this brand new day, this would not be a dream.
