“There was a fire in one of the kitchens on board the ship I was serving on. I was nearest and first on the scene, but I had no experience of fighting a fire. I could hear a man screaming in pain and I instinctively opened the door to the room. I was thrown back a few feet from the impact of opening the door and the flames were in full force. The fire had taken hold and according to the report I read afterwards, it had been burning for some time. My t-shirt caught fire and stuck to my chest. I was unable to save the man, he died soon after they threw a blanket over me to dampen the flames. I’d been thinking for a while to have a tattoo to cover it over and took the plunge a month ago to have it done.”
“It’s brilliant the way it has been done. You wouldn’t really see the scars at first glance. I understand now why you didn’t want to talk about it on the way to Blue’s when you thought it was on fire.” Lilly said.
“Yeah, that was bad timing, I’m sorry I snapped at you, I wasn’t ready to tell you before. I’m ready to tell youeverything now. I want you to know the worst thing about me and hope you feel the same way about me as I feel about you.” Elijah said.
“Elijah, what is the worst thing about you?” Lilly asked as she gently placed kisses on his chest.
She continued to graze her teeth over his nipples and then licked and sucked them until they were hard and proud. Elijah shifted nervously on the spot while he controlled his lust to throw her onto the sofa and push straight into her in one movement. This wasn’t the place for their first time together, he wasn’t ready yet. The longer he left it he wondered if he would ever be prepared. He needed to know how she felt about him and then perhaps he would tell her the worst thing about him.
He kissed her face all over as he waited for his heartbeat to slow down. He was in love with this woman and he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. The only thing now was to find out if she wanted him too.
“Lilly, marry me please?” Elijah asked.
He watched as her expression turned from disbelief to confusion and then to joy. Elijah then became concerned when she burst into tears. This reaction was not what he was expecting.
“What’s the matter?” Elijah asked.
“Why on earth do you want to marry me? You hardly know me Elijah,” Lilly answered.
“I know all there is to know about you, I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you, everything else we can work out,” Elijah said.
“This is crazy talk, I’ve no clue what I want to do with my life and you want to marry me. What if I want to be a struggling artist?” Lilly asked.
“I don’t care if you never earn another penny, I’veenough savings for us both. I can support us on the takings from the bar. What’s my next stumbling block?” Elijah asked.
“I don’t have anything really,” Lilly said.
Lilly pushed him away so she could look at him in the eye, she wanted this, he knew it but she was reluctant.
“Lilly, tell me what is it?” Elijah cajoled.
“I don’t know anything about you apart from I’ve been in love with you for what seems like forever. It doesn’t make sense that you feel the same way too. I know very little about you but I don’t care and that scares the hell out of me,” Lilly confessed.
“You love me?” Elijah asked.
“Yes,” Lilly answered.
“Then marry me Lilly, take a leap of faith,” Elijah pleaded.
“Ok,” Lilly said.
“Ok?” He asked.
“Yeah, yes, I’ll marry you.”
Elijah hugged Lilly so tight she burst into fits of giggles until she couldn’t breathe, she hugged him back fiercely. They both fell onto the sofa, arms and legs wrapped around each other. He’d asked her and she’d said yes, his heart soared and he’d never known a moment when he’d felt happier.
“Come on, get up so I can sketch you, it’ll be a reminder of the day you proposed to me,” Lilly said.
Elijah didn’t let go of her and squeezed tighter, it made her giggles turn into laughter. He was so happy that she’d said yes that he didn’t want to let her go. He felt if he let Lilly go, she would change her mind and his happiness would be short-lived.
“Let me go, Elijah, so I can get comfy and sketch you,” Lilly repeated.
“Ok, I’ll let you get up, where do you want me?” Elijah asked.
Lilly untangled herself from Elijah and stood up from the sofa.
“Lie back down on the sofa and stretch out on your back with your hands behind your head and close your eyes,” Lilly said.
