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She licked her lips, and my body turned to stone. I could still remember the taste of her… the only woman I’d ever wanted. The only one I’d ever touched. The fact that she still affected me just as much as she had then, despite the fourteen cold years between us, pissed me off.
“I’ll kiss you like you’re meant to be kissed. I’ll kiss you like I’ve wanted to since the moment we first met.”
“Since that moment in the bathroom… since our first touch, you’ve known, and don’t pretend that you haven’t. There’s no space for pretending between you and me, topolina,” I murmured.
I wanted to tumble her to the soft earth of the grove and settle between her thighs and claim her as my own before God and nature. I wanted to plant my seed deep inside her and ensure she’d be mine forevermore. My wife. My lover. The mother of my children.
“Beneath this skin, a world waits to be discovered. Beneath this mundane existence, galaxies stir in wonder. Beneath the frozen river, currents still run. Beneath stone and concrete, seeds push through— And those seeds can lift whole buildings.”
“And I was hers, and she was mine… and no one could take her from me… and no one ever would.”
“I was born to want you. I will always want you. I will live every day wanting you and I will die that way, too. Wanting you is in my blood. It is my legacy to want you… but I want more than tonight. I want forever.”
“Because, I can’t take having you just for one night. If I have you, I need to know it’s forever. Anything else would break me.”
“I’ve fallen in love with you, Georgia, and I’m not a man who intends to love like this more than once. I need to marry you like I need air to breathe. I don’t have much of anything right now, but I swear, I’ll give you a good life. I’ll find a way to give you what you deserve.”
Georgia was silent for once. So, that’s all it took to shake her confidence. Slaughtering ten men in front of her. Good to know.
After Georgia, there had been no one else. I didn’t trust another woman to come too close. Lust was a stranger to me, and if it did come, in the night, alone with my memories, I just thought of the terrible things I’d seen, in far-off places. Atrocities. Soul-killing evil.
“Don’t cry, Georgia. I really can’t fucking stand it.” Then he kissed me. And kissed me.
“For daring to put your worthless hands on what is mine, I find you guilty.” I stepped back and pulled the trigger.
“I don’t want to see any part of another man touching you, never mind smeared across your face,” he bit out, his rough fingers smoothing over my cheek,
“You smell like you,” I murmured into his shirt. He turned and took me from the kitchen. “Who else would I smell like?” he mused as he carried me down the hallway. “Your girlfriend,” I mumbled. “You’ve got one, right? Why wouldn’t you have one?” “I’m not really the dating type,” he said cryptically. “And I don’t know if you’ve heard, but I’m a married man.” A smile spread across my lips at his matter-of-fact tone. He glanced down, and one side of his lips lifted in a smirk. “You like that?” “Yes,” I nodded. “Yeah. I like that.”
“Don’t be scared. You’re not going anywhere. No power on this fucking planet could take you from me. I won’t let them.”
“Why can’t you just die, man?” I shrugged. “Would you believe me if I told you I was working on it?”
“You’re my wife. You’re mine to protect until the day I die. Mine.” The last left me in a possessive growl.
Because I still loved her… after all this time… and I’d never stopped. Not even for a second. I had loved her then, and I loved her now, and I’d loved her all the time in between. I’d hated her, and I’d missed her, and I’d envied her, and I’d coveted her… And through it all… I’d loved her. Loving her was my one constant. My love for her was true north on my compass.
“Where are we heading?” “Home,” I told him shortly. “I’m going to have my wife for lunch.”
“Still so stubborn. Just know this… even before you let me know that you’ve loved me and only me your entire life… I was ready to do whatever I had to, to keep you safe. Even before I knew you’d never wanted to leave me… I would have protected your life until my dying breath.”
“No. My honor and privilege... my birthright. Protecting you… loving you, is my legacy, topolina, and I’m the luckiest bastard in the world.”
Beneath stone and concrete, seeds push through— And those seeds can lift whole buildings.
