“So, we’re naked now?” I ask with a raised eyebrow.
Iam pulls me down and we’re gazing at the stars. “Yes, I love the way your skin feels on mine,” he whispers as his hand slides down my back. I try to focus but he knows what he’s doing. “Kiss me,” he commands and rubs his nose across my cheek.
It’s amazing that I’d almost killed myself trying to escape him, yet his touch and presence is now one of the things I crave the most. Turing in his arms, I throw my leg over his side and press my lips against his. I savor it without trying to think of the step after because he doesn’t want to take me there. His erection pressing my belly makes me want to cry but I press forward, slide my tongue into his mouth, and give everything I have into the kiss. I’m amazed by the transition. When I met him, I happily accepted thosemonths he gave me before he showed up at my job. Now, going more than twenty-four hours without contact bothers me. I live for his kisses.
Too much temptation.
When I open my eyes, we’re clothed again.
“Can’t make up your mind?” I tease him although the disappointment still lingers.
“Sex isn’t our focus right now,” he answers more serious than I expected.
“Okay.” I refocus and go back to the one thing that’s been nagging me. “What made you so upset the other day?”
Iam strokes my hair, and for a moment I don’t believe he’s going to answer me.
“We’re connected,” he says like it explains everything.
“Um...okay?”
Sighing, he props himself up with his elbow and leans on his palm as he looks down at me. He traces his finger where my heart is housed.
“You’re mine. There’s much more to our connection than my ability to read your mind. Now, I’m able to feel what you feel.” He clenches his jaw as if considering all he should say. “We are linked. When you woke up and realized you were pregnant, I felt your distress. That’s always been possible. It’s never as strong for me as it is for you, but it gives me a good idea. Now since you’re human, I can take it from you. Doing so makes me feel everything.” He takes a moment and I watch him mystified by what he’s sharing with me. “There was so much hurt, anger, sadness, and confusion inside of you and when I took it, I felt all of it.” He smiles like it’s not a big deal. “What took me days to work through could have sent you into depression for months or years. But I’m a little more understanding of human emotions.”
“So, you opted to give me peace, but you were able to feel how mortals process emotions.” I ask as he wipes my tears away.
“Yes,” he confesses with a kiss to each eye. “I didn’t want you to carry it. Human emotions are very inefficient by the way.”
I laugh at his assessment but go back to the question in my mind. “What is it, though? Why was I sad?”
“Your soul remembers what your mind cannot.”
“Did you take my memory, Iam?”
“I didn’t but I think it’s for the best right now,” he admits.
“Why?”
“Because it’s a clean slate. You can get to know me and love me for me without the past clouding you.”
“If we were in love, I would like to have the memory. Doesn’t it hurt you to be in love alone?”
Iam smiles at me so sweetly I almost forget who he is most of the time. “I’ve waited one hundred years for you to love me again, a few months is child’s play.”
“Why doyou love me so much?” I whisper my question lest I’m asking too many.
“You are the best part of me.”
I can’t help the smile on my face. I’m learning so much from him and although I don’t remember the past, I know what he said is still a big confession.
I watch as he entwines our fingers under the moonlight. This place really is paradise and I love being in my own little world with him.
“I’d love to remember something about us. What do you mean by ‘love you for you?’”
Iam sits up and pulls me to a seated position. “That’s enough questions for tonight but I’ll meet you in the middle.” He rubs my temples and I feel my eyes drooping. I lean forward. I’m asleep by the time my head meets his chest.
