I tell Vincent, “I'll go pack a bag real fast.”
“Do that and then meet me back in the living room,” he says.
I tell him okay. I go and throw together a quick bag with a few outfits, sneakers, and a swimsuit. I grab my toiletries too. I put my laptop in the bag as well in case I decide to work on the article. Which let's face it, I'll work on the article. I don't know how to not work.
I put my bag by the front door and return to the living room, “My bag is by the door,” I say.
He looks at me, “You live here, you don't need my permission to put your things anywhere.”
“But..”
“Well, I'm not used to this or living with someone either,” he says.
“Are we?”
“Doing the right thing? I think we are. I won't leave you, Eva,” he says.
I ask, “What if you want to?”
Yes, I feel pulled to him. But I don't want him to feel like he has to choose me.
He laughs, “You really have no clue what this is, do you?”
“I guess I don't,” I say.
He smirks, “Seeing is believing, I've heard you say.”
Now I laugh, “It usually is unless your eyes play tricks on you.”
His smirk widens, “But neither of ours does.”
I nod, “No, they don't.”
He takes my hand and places it on his heart, “See my desire, Eva.”
I'm pulled into a vision. It's a room I haven't seen before. It's dark and lit by candlelight. Vanilla and Jasmine float in the air. There's
music, it's soft and somewhat hypnotic but beautiful and soothing. I've heard it somewhere but can't
remember where. A white canopy hangs from the ceiling and drapes around the bed
like a fog concealing all within. I force myself to walk to the bed and part the canopy. I feel nervous. Why the hell do I feel nervous? It's a vision, I never felt anything like this!
What I see shocks me and I drop the link, “What was that?”
He looks me in the eyes, “Why does it surprise you so?”
“We are from different worlds,” I tell him.
He says, “We were but we share this one now.”
Still shocked, “But I felt…”
“Your emotions, your genuine emotions. That's what scares you,” he tells me as he continues to speak, “This goes much deeper than what you had with Kevin. Nothing will replace that because it was genuine but…”
I admit to him and myself, “He wasn't my destiny.”
“No, our pasts brought us to where we are now,” he says.
“I…” start to question but he stops me.
He puts a finger to my lips, “Look into my eyes and just speak the first thing that comes to your mind.”
He removes his finger as I speak, “I locked the door and threw the key as far as I could
I closed my heart for good
I sealed it tightly in its gilded cage
That's where my heart must stay
Then unexpectedly one day you crept into my mind
Yet I wasn’t afraid of what you’d find
Despite myself I began to change
At first it felt very strange
Yet suddenly there was no more pain
I felt renewed like after a cleansing rain
I was sure that key would be hard to find
Yet did I know that we were two of a kind
You asked me to take your hand
Said you'd help me understand
There in your palm plainly for me to see
Was that tiny little key
In that moment you proved me wrong
You had that key all along.”
He pulls me close and kisses me sweetly, “My dear…my light…..my girl.”
He caresses my cheek and I melt to his touch. It's fire, it's ice, it's electric
and I've never felt anything like this. His eyes are memorizing, endless,
sincere, and full of longing. Not longing for a past but for a future. He just called me his dear, his light,
his girl. But he doesn't feel for anyone like that.
“Does this mean…” I start to say.
“Yes,” His lips find mine. It's heated and passionate.
We pull away breathless, “But.”
He puts his finger to my lips, “Stop! Just listen, I know you have trouble doing so at times, but try.”
I nod.
“I've had lovers, but not this. feel connected to you, as if I'm bound. As if without you I'd cease to exist. You were meant for me, Eva,” he declares.
I've no words. Kevin said that he couldn't imagine a life without me when he proposed. Vincent wouldn't know that. Yet he's saying
something similar but his feels more powerful. Like he knows there's no
life without me instead of just imagining one without me in it.
He picks me up and carries me off deep into the house. He opens a door.
“The room from my vision,” I say.
He nods.
“But..” I'm so confused right now.
He must assume that I'm confused about his intentions because he says, “We can just lay and rest.”
“Um..not what I meant,” I tell him.
He smiles as he talks, “You saw my desire for you, Eva. You saw a glimpse of the future.”
“That's not.”
He says, “How we thought your powers worked. Yet…”
“Wow!” I am amazed. Did accepting my bond to him grant me this ability?
He grins, “You're amazing Eva.”
“I'm not.”
“But you are,” he insists, “Time is very slow for those who wait
Very fast for those who are scared
Very long for those who lament
Very short for those who celebrate
But for those who love, time is eternal”
“Shakespeare,” I say.
He nods, “Yes, but fitting. I've waited nearly a thousand years for you.”
“But you can't,” I tell him.
“I can and do. Katie is right but don't tell her that,” he says.
We both laugh at that.
I tease, “And just think you'll be here with her for a few days.”
He chuckles, “Don't remind me. I remember you saying the things you do for those you love.”
“Yeah, the night we met,” I reply.
He says, “Well, I'm looking after Katie for you.”
Shocked, “You don't!”
He smiles, “But I do.”
“But!” I am still flabbergasted.
He tells me, “There isn't another way to explain this, I love you, Eva,”
“How?”
He chuckles, “Believe me you don't make it easy.”
I roll my eyes and huff.
“You're cute when you're irritated,” he smiles twinkles just like his eyes are doing.
I blush.
“Even cuter when you do that,” he says before kissing me.
It's deep and sweet.
My hands tunnel in his hair while his stroke my back.
He presses his forehead to mine our gazes never wavering. This moment just feels right so I unbutton his shirt and he slides my dress off of my shoulders.
“Beautiful,” he says as he trails kisses along my jaw and collarbone.
His lips feel like butterfly wings ever so lightly touching my skin. There's something so sensual in this.
I slide his shirt off of his shoulders. This man is fit. His taunt muscles tremor under my touch. He slides my dress the rest of the way down. I now stand naked before him. He picks me up and lays me on the bed. He stands at the
foot of the bed just looking at me.
“No painting could do you justice, not Olympia and not even Venus. You outshine the stars and the moon combined! You're exquisite!” he tells me.
I look down.
“Don't, look at me,” he commands.
I watch him remove his pants and underwear. Now there is a very
naked sexy man standing before me. I gasp. He's very well endowed. He smirks.
I yell, “Hey out of my head!”
He chuckles as he crawls over me. His lips are just inches from mine, “We can go no further than this if that's your will.”
I close the distance between our lips. My hands pull his body close to mine. Flesh on flesh is what I need and want.
“What do you want, Eva?” he asks.
“You,” I have no doubts now.
He smiles, “I'm yours.”
I return the smile, “And I am yours.”
He slowly enters me inch by inch. Damn, it's been a while since anyone was inside me especially this intimately. He is slow, methodical, and savoring every second. The pace is like waves gently crashing on the shore. Building slowly becoming
intoxicating so that nothing exists but us.
In this moment we cease to be individuals we are one. Our hearts
sync, our breaths hitch, we cry out each other's names as we find our
release in the dead of night. I'd made love before but that well
nothing compares to this. Is this what real love feels like?
I snuggle into his side after he rolls off of me. He strokes my hair.
He says my name and I look into his eyes and say, “I know.” I know that he feels this bond as I do. I know that this went beyond and sex. I know that in this moment our life that together begins.
“Don't think, just rest,” he says.
“I…….I love you, Vincent.”
He kisses me, “I love you, Eva.”
My eyes flutter closed as he strokes my hair. This, this is bliss.