We stepped in the rhythm of a three-four signature as we danced in and out of the light from the window littering the garden.
He was graceful, though I was sure he had had many years of practice. His movements with mine were so smooth that it was like we could go on like this forever, stuck in one fluid moment that seamlessly blended into the next.
He leaned down as he moved, like he wanted to be closer, pulling my waist until there was no more room between us and our dance was no longer able to continue. His craving for proximity overpowered the desire to keep going, like it was too much to ask for both at once.
I tilted my head up at him. Our frosted breaths intermingled as we stayed like that, savoring the moment.
We were nobodies at that moment. I was not the daughter of a chemist, a botanist, or a killer. He was not a creature, a cannibal, or a man.
I stood up on my toes to interlock our lips, kissing him sweetly. He let out a soft sound, a sweet gasp of longing, as did I. His arms encircled my waist as mine snaked over his shoulders, entangling my fingers in his soft golden hair.
If he were something to be consumed, I feared I would not savor him and would selfishly eat him first—no time for saving the best bite for last. Only the need to have him remained.
THE CREATURE
That wasthe first time she’d kissed me.Trulykissed me.
I had not realized until that moment that I always moved first. It would be a moment I would savor, hoping to remember every detail. The tingle along my scalp spread as she entwined her fingers in my hair.
I wanted more than to have her close. I wanted her to crawl under my skin and make a home out of my rib cage, for my heart would only beat for her. Not even a single pump of my atria was allowed if it was not for my dearest shadow, my chosen—myAlina.
My hands slid up her spine over the neat buttons along her neckline, popping them out of their loops one by one, though it was hard not to be hasty. One thing she had certainly exercised within me was patience.
She leaned back, pulling me over her and making me lower her to the ground. Her lips tasted so sweet, soaliveagainst mine. She had tasted like many things I would learn to love. It used to be the smell of cherries that I enjoyed the most, or the bitter almond taste that I soon learned was cyanide, or the pollen of formidable flowers of the day. Now, it was the taste of her name on my tongue or mine on hers.
Her hands untangled themselves from my hair, and a low groan escaped her as I feasted on her lips, biting gently on her bottom lip when I would break briefly to breathe. Her dainty fingers tugged at the buttons of my shirt.
I slipped her gown off her shoulders and farther down hertorso, exposing her breasts to me. I ran my hands over them. I adored how they fit perfectly in my hands, made for my touch only. Her body was meant to be held by my hands, to be taken by only mine. If I had carved her from clay with my hands, I would be afraid of touching her again, fearing the perfection I had created—I imagined that was what God felt when making her, if he existed at all. I was so enamored. She had me understanding why people believed in such things.
I was too impatient for her to undress me. She only got a few buttons undone before I pulled away, tugging the dress the rest of the way down her body. She pressed her knees together in an attempt to hide from me.
I undid my trousers and touched myself along my shaft. It was becoming painful to deny myself any relief as I looked down at the body splayed before me. She covered her chest with her arms.
“No,” I begged. “I want to see you.”
“I am cold,” she whispered, but I knew that was not it.
“Then let me keep you warm.” I parted her thighs and leaned down to kiss her again, positioning myself between her long legs. I pushed the tip into her, feeling the heat surrounding my cock.
She flinched before relaxing again, moving her hands to the grass.
I took both of her hands and pinned them above her with one hand. My other hand lifted one of her legs higher on my hip as I lowered my hips down, sinking farther into her.
“Silas,” she breathed shakily. Her thigh was trembling under my touch as I began to move.
“Say it again,” I breathed against her cheek, leaving a trail of kisses down to her jaw, then following it to the front of her throat to wrap my lips around the skin there.
“Silas!” she cried for me. The vibration of my name in her throat was like honey and sweet cream against my lips as I sucked at her sensitive skin.
I shivered as I thrust into her, feeling her warmth surround me and hitting the sweet spot when bottoming out, letting me know I filled her completely. It would only be me for as long as I was alive. My cock throbbed, dedicated to the single task of pleasing her.
“Alina,” I whispered, “tell me what you want.” I picked up my pace, burying myself in her as deeply as she would allow.
“I... want you,” she breathed, unable to focus on speaking as I became rougher with my movements. She bucked her hips upward, attempting to move with me.
“You have me.” My hand on her thigh scooped under her, holding her hips up as I thrust.
Her skin glowed in the night, like moonlight. The dewdrops scattered through her midnight hair, the stars in the sky. The blue in her eyes softened just for me, my very world as I knew it.
