by Anne Conley
As Heather watched Uri, she felt a closeness to him that she didn’t think had been possible. She wanted to spend the rest of her life making him feel this good. As she writhed and ground her body on top of him, Heather could see Uri's head thrown back into the pillow, and his teeth were clenched, causing a vein in his temple to pulse, violently. Time slowed, and a realization struck her with a force that stilled her movements.
“What’s wrong?” He panted at her, looking alarmed.
“Nothing, Uri.” She said, gently, stroking his face with her palm. “I just love you.”
He pulled her down onto him in a scorching kiss, then rolled over, until he was on top of her, still joined. “I love you too, Heather.” He held her face in his hands and gazed at her tenderly. “Marry me. Stay with me forever. Please.” He kissed her again, and she answered him through his kisses.
“Of course. I thought you’d never ask.” She giggled.
He gave her a look of complete jubilation and kissed her again, deeply, before he started moving inside of her.
She let herself concentrate on the warmth building inside, knowing that Uri would be okay. Gripping his shoulders, she moaned as his pace increased.
“Is this okay?” He asked her, his voice husky.
“Oh, yes.” She responded, not caring anymore about anything except the waves building inside of her. As the exquisite pain ripped through her, she screamed his name, right before he froze on top of her, a mask of pure pleasure on his face.
He collapsed on top of her, breathing heavily into her hair.
“When I’m with you, nothing else matters to me.” He said, gruffly. “I want these feelings to last forever, Heather.”
She was limp under him, unable to move. “I know. Me too.”
He lowered his face to hers for another kiss, this one loving and tender. He came up, and looked at her squarely, as if ready for a fight. “I want you to quit your job, Heather.”
“Okay.”
His look of surprise made her giggle. “That was easier than I expected.” He said sheepishly.
“Well, don’t get used to it. I had already decided to quit. I’m going to open a ballet studio, teaching little girls. What do you think of that?”
He smiled at her warmly. “I love it.”
“I will need to work a little while longer, to save up enough money.”
“I’ve got money.”
“How?”
“Steve invested for me, I’m probably what you could consider rich. I’ll take care of whatever start up costs you need. And I’ll pay for your mother’s care.”
“I told Tiffany she could move in with me when she gets out of rehab.”
“No problem. We’ll get a bigger place.”
“This is too easy.”
Uri shot her a toe-curling smile, before kissing her fully on the mouth. “Somebody’s watching out for us.”
As Uri kissed Heather, he reveled in the sensations that he hadn't noticed before. The rough softness of her tongue, the warmth under the cool skin of her body, the way their bodies moved together, as if it were a private dance, just the two of them. She smelled different, now that his senses weren't archangel-sharp, but she still reminded him of purity and freshness, only tonight, he could smell something musky underneath the freshness. Her desire was heavy, as was his, and he knew that the desire was for him, and it made Uri want to do things with her that he'd never done with another woman.
He wanted to experience everything with Heather. It was an overwhelming need, and Uri had to pace himself, or he knew he would make a fool of himself, acting like a rutting billy goat.
Centering his thoughts on her skin, Uri set out to taste and feel every inch of her body. His senses were different now, dulled slightly, yet everything had an emotion connected to it somehow, and that was different for him. The taste and touch of Heather made him feel emotions that he'd never experienced and couldn't put a name to now. But he wanted to know what they felt like. He wanted to learn about it all.
Beginning with her neck, Uri planted warm kisses down her smooth skin, stopping over her pulse to feel the warm blood under her skin as it throbbed in rhythm with her heartbeat.
Her skin was slightly salty, from exertion, yet when he lowered his mouth to her breasts, the skin was sweeter, and he groaned as he felt her breathing become heavier.
"Heather…" He gasped her name, unable to form any other coherent thoughts. Her fingers in his hair tightened their grip, as he toyed with her breasts with his tongue and his fingertips. He explored them, the miracles of the female body, life-giving glands, while at the same time, so erotic, the firmness juxtaposed with softness. And apparently, they were sensitive, judging by Heather's writhing and moaning under his touches and suckles.
Uri's need was so great, evidenced by the stiffness in his groin again. He'd never felt lust and desire like this before. But it was coupled with the underlying sense of something much larger -- love. What Uri experienced in this moment was passion, and it fairly went beyond thought. He wanted this moment to last forever.
Foregoing the joys of Heather's breasts, Uri moved his hands and mouth downward to her flat belly, eliciting more moans and gasps from the woman he was worshiping. He sunk his tongue into her belly button and sucked until Heather shuddered under him and wrapped her legs around his ribcage.
Uri's mouth continued moving, tasting every inch of her long, smooth legs, down one and then up the other. He tenderly bit her thigh, enjoying the responses he felt from her. As his mouth moved across her skin, Heather's body unfurled for Uri, like a flower touched by the morning sun. When he stopped at the apex of her thighs, to taste her there, something inside Heather snapped, and as he savored the flavor of their mingled desires, she bucked under him, tightening her legs around his shoulders, shouting in exaltation. His tongue and mouth continued to taste her there, until he could feel her muscles contract under his tongue, and she whimpered weakly, legs going slack.
He looked up at Heather, and was met with a vision of satiety. Her hair was spread over the pillow around her head, her cheeks flushed, and her eyes glazed. A lazy smile occupied her lips, as she looked down at Uri.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you'd done that before," she croaked.
He chuckled, trying to conceal his need to take her again, roughly, right then. "Not quite like that, Sweet." He kissed her, a long, slow kiss that did nothing but build his own desire to unfathomable heights. "I want you again, Heather. I don't know how to turn it off," he said, a desperate edge to his voice.
She opened up to him, willingly, and he gladly entered her, feeling her warm silkiness surround him as he pushed into her depths with a groan. Sinking his face to her neck, he mumbled her name over and over again into her sweet hair.
Heather stroked his back, as he moved inside of her, feeling her smooth muscles contract around him. He couldn't seem to get enough air to breathe, so overwhelming were the sensations of Heather, her smell, her touch, the way she felt. Uri was powerless to do anything except thrust inside of her, and experience her.
This is Paradise… Uri was convinced that this was what everything beautiful that had ever been written, sung about, and painted over the millennia. This was it. He finally understood it.
Uri could feel Heather's fingertips on his back, stroking up to his hair, then down to his hips, as her breathing increased. He could feel himself build toward a climax, and as he climbed, Heather's hands grabbed his rear, pulling him towards her, compelling him to move faster, harder. As her fingernails dug into his skin, Uri felt himself rise to exquisite heights of pleasurable pain, before crashing down over the edge into oblivion, aware only of sinking back onto Heather's soft warm body.
Chapter 24
Heather awoke in Uri's arms the next morning, warm and replete. As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw his blue pools gazing at her with a longing so sharp, it took her breath away.
"Will it ever stop?" His voice no more than a whisper.
/> "What?"
"This…wanting. This desire." He pulled her body towards him, and she felt his arousal against her hip.
She giggled. "I'm sure the newness of it will. It's a novelty for you, and you'll have to work it out of your system." She snuggled closer to him, smelling the remnants of the night before on his warm skin. "But I hope not."
Memories of the last few nights came crashing down on Heather, and the enormity of what had happened sunk in.
"Uri?"
"Hmmm?" The intimate rumble of the sound in her hair sent tremors of contentment through her body.
As relaxed as she felt, there were still doubts niggling the back of her mind. "What about Damien?"
He stiffened, and she could feel tension radiating from his body, which was curled around hers.
"He will never touch you again, I promise you that."
"But, will he come back for me?"
"Probably not." He turned Heather in the bed, so that they were facing each other. His hand came up to cup her cheek. "The most important thing to remember about the Deceiver is that he works much the same way that the Boss does -- on faith. If you believe that he can come back for you, then it becomes more likely that he will." Uri's beautiful mouth turned down at the corners, and his eyes held a desperation that rocked Heather's insides. "It's imperative that you have faith, that you believe he won't come back." He pulled her next to his body, and rested his chin on the top of her head. "I won't let him have you, Heather."
His words reassured her, and she knew, without a doubt, they were true. He wouldn't let Damien have her. He had proven that once already. She remembered watching Uri's celestial being clash with Damien's demonic one and felt a surge of hope, then almost as suddenly, a surge of regret. His celestial body was no more.
"Do you think you'll regret it?"
The question was evident in his eyes. "What?"
"Me. Us. Mortality."
"Heather, I don't see how I could ever regret you." His arms tightened around her so she could feel his strong heartbeat against her chest.
"Yeah, but you gave up so much to be with me. It just seems so…I don't know. Won't you miss your work?"
He kissed her forehead. "Heather, I've been doing my job forever, since the beginning. Don't you understand? I'm tired of trying to convince people that God's will is best for humanity, even if it's not best for them, personally. The longer I do it, the harder it gets. I would much rather spend the rest of my days loving you and being loved in return. Now that I understand love, I want to experience it, all of it." His eyes bored into her. "I want a family to love -- you, your mother, your sister, maybe children. I want to experience life as a human, all the emotions. I want to cherish them, like I want to cherish you." He snuggled against her under the covers, and Heather sighed a heavy sigh of contentment.
"I just don't want you to have regrets. One of these days, you'll look in the mirror, and you'll be old. I don't want you to suddenly have doubts or resentments." Heather was doubtful, this all seemed too good to be true.
"Heather, you have shown me a side of humanity that I haven't seen in a really long time. It's certainly a side that I never knew I wanted, before you. There is nothing, nothing that could make me regret this. Nothing." He kissed her then, hard, erasing all of her doubts, taking her breath away.
Being in Uri's arms made Heather feel secure, grounded. His kisses made her feel cherished, loved. It was an experience that Heather didn't want to end.
But she pulled away first. "I've got to take a shower and get to the club to talk to Mama before she opens."
He groaned like a disappointed teenager, whose hormones dictated his every move, and Heather realized that's probably how he felt, too. He had a newly discovered sense of passion, like a youth discovering his hormones. It made Heather giggle.
"I need to put in notice, to let her know I'm going to quit dancing there. I'll be back, soon. I don't work tonight, we'll have all day together." She kissed his nose, affectionately, before leaving the bed.
She could feel his eyes on her, as she crossed the room to go into the bathroom. It filled her with warmth, a feeling reminiscent of a time before her darkness. Heather smiled to herself, as she started running the water in the shower.
Thinking about the day ahead of her, she realized that she was excited about giving Mama her notice. It wasn't like she'd been looking forward to quitting dancing, but now that she'd made the decision, it felt like the right one. She had something else to do, something to be proud of, and she wondered how she'd never thought of teaching dance before. It seemed like such an obvious solution.
As she stepped under the spray, the hot needles washing away last night's passion, she thought of Mama. She would miss the old matron, but Mama wouldn't be surprised. She had told Heather herself, that she wasn't looking for her to stay there much longer.
Strong arms around her waist and a hot mouth on her shoulder interrupted her thoughts.
"I can't resist. The thought of you in here alone and naked was driving me crazy. You go ahead. Don't mind me." Uri's mouth moved across her shoulder, while his hands, slick with the beading water, rubbed up her stomach to her breasts.
She giggled, a low husky chortle, as she turned in his arms, her hands filled with shower gel. "I don't mind a bit," she whispered, before joining Uri in reaching heights of pleasure neither of them had ever known.
Epilogue: a year later
“What time is the reservation?” Heather was sitting at her dressing table, putting on earrings, while Uri stood behind her, tying his tie. She looked at him appraisingly.
He looked at his watch. “In forty-five minutes.”
“Okay, I’m going to go check and make sure Tiffany has everything she needs for the evening.” She stood to move past him, but he blocked her and wrapped her in a crushing hug.
“I love you, you know that, don’t you?” He whispered into her ear, sending tingles straight to her toes.
She leaned up and kissed him. “Yes, I know. I love you too, Uri.” Wrapping her arms around his neck and playing with the hair at the nape of his neck, she asked, “You don’t regret anything, do you?”
He laughed, a hearty rumbling sound that Heather loved. “As if I had a choice. The first time I saw you, I was a goner.” He swooped down for another kiss. “Of course I don’t regret a single moment of it.”
“Good.” She swatted his butt, as she moved around him to go downstairs and check on Tiffany.
Tiffany was sitting on the couch, holding a bundle of blankets, cooing to it softly.
“Can you think of anything that I might’ve forgotten, Tiff?” Heather asked, as she came into the room.
“I’ve got the pediatrician’s number on speed dial, the bottles are prepared, diapers are at the ready, I know where the baby Tylenol and the gas drops are kept. I think I’ve got it. Remember, I live with you guys? I pretty much know the routine by now.” She reassured the new mother, patiently.
“I’m just checking.”
“Go out, and enjoy y’all’s date. I got this.”
Uri came down the stairs, humming softly. “You ready, Heather? I’m pretty sure Tiffany has this under control.”
Heather rolled her eyes, and said, “I was just making sure. Yeah, I’m ready.”
On the way to the restaurant, Heather reflected on how much her life had changed in the past year. They had gotten married in the small chapel at her mother’s nursing home so she could attend. Luckily, she had been lucid that day and enjoyed the proceedings immensely. They had bought a house, in the same neighborhood where Heather already lived, although they’d been able to buy one of the big houses, so she wasn’t relegated to the garage anymore. Tiffany had moved in, and since the house was so big, she wasn’t constantly underfoot. She was working as a freelance commercial artist, having started with advertisements for Heather’s ballet school. Heather’s school was going well, once she got a class started, word of mouth spread, and now she was booked full, for
her part-time schedule. She was enjoying working with the little girls, watching them bloom into budding dancers. They were getting ready for their first recital, and everybody was excited.
The baby had been unexpected but welcomed. When Heather had told Uri she was pregnant, he’d wept with unabashed joy. He was the greatest father and the most understanding husband, and Heather looked forward to spending the rest of her life with him.
They still took daily walks in the park with Taco and baby Noah and had even found a church to visit every week that Uri didn’t think was “a travesty to spirituality.” Uri had bought a cabin in the woods outside of the city, about an hour and a half away, so he could be a part of nature and to meditate, when the park wasn't enough.
Uri pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant, and rested his hand on her thigh, interrupting her reverie. “Why are you so quiet, over there?”
“Just thinking…So much has changed in the past year. It’s overwhelming sometimes, in a good way." She looked at his beautiful face lit by streetlights.
Cupping her face lightly in his hand, he looked at her with love pouring out of his eyes. "I think about it too. An eternity of more of the same, shlepping around, trying to get humans to listen to me tell them what they should do, or spending the rest of my life with the woman I love and my family?" He pulled her close, covering her mouth with warm kisses. "I never knew love until I met you, Heather. You are the closest thing to Heaven I ever want."
About the Author:
Anne Conley is a former high school teacher, who took some time off to raise goats, and children. Living in a rural Texas town has taught her that life won't come to her, she's got to grab what she can get. So, she started writing stories. Join her on her journey. Let her know what you think!
