by Audra Hart
She smiles at him, and then tries to sit up. Her head is throbbing and she reaches up to massage her temples. Luca helps her sit up, and then sits beside her on the couch. “Are you cold, baby? You are shaking. Are you in any pain?” he asks softly. Morna can hear his worry in his voice.
She nods, and murmurs, “A little bit chilly. And my head hurts horribly. And my mouth tastes like something died in it.”
He gets the soft bright turquoise throw from the back of the sofa and drapes it over her, tucking it in around her body. “Let me get you a coke to wash that taste out of your mouth. Do you want some Advil for the head?” he asks quietly.
“Yes, please,” she whispers.
He disappears for a second, and then he’s back with four small brown pills in his hand and a glass of coke. She takes the Advil and sits up a little. She swallows the pills and a big drink of the water. He puts the glass on the coffee table and sits on it facing her as before. When he finally meets her eyes, she can tell he’s very worried about her.
“Why am I wet?” she asks, feeling confused.
“Perspiration,” he answers.
“Wow! Did I get up and run around the block a few times?” She giggles in her confusion.
“No,” he snorts at her silly, wry sense of humor. Then he chuckles softly. But his eyes are quickly serious again. “Accepting the truth takes a Herculean effort on your part, I am afraid. You have been unconscious for nearly four hours, it’s after midnight.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Are you hungry?” he asks. When she shakes her head no, he asks, “Would you like for me to run a bath for you?”
“Not yet,” she whispers.
“Do you remember who I am? Who you are?” he asks softly. She can plainly see the need, the fear and longing in his face and reaches out to stroke his bewhiskered jaw without any conscious thought.
Morna’s brows draw together for a moment and then she smiles brightly and says, “Yes, you are my husband. My mate for life, Lucian Michaels. My “Man of Light”. My Luca.” She kisses him tenderly and strokes his face in awe. “I am your wife, Morna Glynn Michaels. We married March 22, in the year 1316.” Morna’s smile broadens and then a frown creases her forehead. “Can that be right? Or am I losing my mind?”
“That is exactly right! You are definitely not losing your mind, my beloved!” Luca scoops her into his arms, and straddles her across his lap and rains kisses on her face.
She laughs ecstatically. “I love you, Luca,” she says breathlessly.
“I love you, Morna. Welcome back, baby.” He kisses her lingeringly.
They spend several minutes locked in a lover’s embrace, and then she says, “Sorry, but I am sticky and feeling very self-conscious about it.”
He smirks at that, she‘s always been that way… since he was changed into a vampire she knows his heightened senses can detect the slightest odor. He loves her scent always but has never been able to reassure her of that completely. “Do you want me to draw a bath for you?”
“Yes please. And can I have another Coke?” He’s standing in front of her with a tall glass of ice and Coke before she can blink twice. She laughs, and looks into his face, “Have I ever gotten used to that?”
“No,” he chuckles, “you haven’t. But I enjoy your reactions, so I am always showing off for your benefit.” He winks at her. And she giggles in reply. “Morna, do you want the eucalyptus bath salts or the lavender oil in your bath?”
“Both, I think. Thank you, Luca. You always spoil me.” She smiles up at him. Then he’s gone before she can blink.
“Show off!” she whispers, and this time she is certain she hears him laugh from the bathroom. She chugs down the coke in three drinks. Gets up slowly and takes the glass to the kitchen sink to dump out the ice before putting the glass in the dishwasher. She then walks toward the bathroom slowly, feeling shaky on her own feet. She stands in the doorway off the hallway watching him fiddle with the water temperature. Then he adds more bath salts and lavender oil.
He doesn’t look up from the task at hand, but says, “I was planning to carry you in here, you know.”
“No need, Luca,” she assures him. “But I do need a human necessary, if you don’t mind. You can come right back when I am finished.”
He shuts off the water. Rises smoothly to his feet and comes to her. He takes her hand and pulls her to him. He wraps her in his chilly embrace. He leans down and kisses her urgently. “Hurry Morna! Now that you have your memory back I can’t stand to leave your side.”
“I know, love,” she whispers. “I feel exactly the same way.”
He’s gone in an instant. She reaches behind her and closes the hallway door. She knows without looking that he has closed the door going into their bedroom. She uses the toilet, flushes then washes her hands. She decides to brush her teeth to try to get rid of the foul taste in her mouth. She sees him materialize behind her as she’s finishing up and washing her hands again. He gives her a towel to dry her hands, and then encircles her waist and nuzzles her neck. She leans into him and sighs contentedly, finally feeling at home in his arms as she dries her hands.
She sets the towel down, and leans toward the mirror, looking at herself with new eyes, from a new perspective. Her fingers trace the faint wrinkles. Then she drags her fingers through her reddish-blonde hair, frowning at the gray streaks she finds there. She traces the scars on her face and arm. Her hand falls to her left leg, to the vicious scars she knows are there. Her face sets into a hard, angry mask. She looks up into the mirror to seek out his eyes in the reflection, then asks in a fierce whisper, “This wasn’t just a random accident was it?” She sees Luca shake his head no in the mirror. “Kyera did this?” she asks stonily.
“Yes. I am sorry. I wasn’t able to find you until four days after it happened. Can you forgive me?” he asks quietly.
She turns around in his arms. Her face has softened and her voice is soothing as she strokes his cheek. “There’s absolutely nothing to forgive. You didn’t do this and it’s not your fault she found me before you did. Sometimes it can’t be helped.” She kisses him tenderly and pulls back to ask; “How long did you have to search for me this time?”
“Sixty-two years,” he whispers.
“So long!” She whispers feeling sad for him knowing how painful their lengthy separations are for him. Her heart stutters when she imagines living with the grief of one’s mate dying. He smiles sadly and kisses her cheek. “Thirteen years in limbo? I wonder why so long?” she asks.
His answering shrug prompts her to say, “I am so very sorry you had to search for me for so long! We must find another solution this time. I can’t stand to put you through this again, and again,” she says impassionedly.
Then she buries her face in his chest and sobs. “And I just cannot bear another man’s children and then live through them dying again. I just can’t ever endure this again! I am so sorry Luca, please forgive me for that, for taking another husband,” she whispers brokenly. Shame and regret are choking her spirit and filling her heart with pain and guilt.
He wraps her up his arms to let her cry it out and he vows, “Morna, there’s absolutely nothing to forgive. Sometimes it can’t be helped, just like you said. You didn‘t remember me, about us. You did nothing wrong, baby.”
He picks her up and carries her to the chaise lounge where he gently undresses her and then carries her to the tub where he gently bathes her body. Every so often he stops to kiss her tears away. Her hard, body wracking sobs finally stop before he washes her hair. Eventually the tears stop rolling down her cheeks. She looks up at him as though she’s just noticing him again and says, “I’m sorry that I did that in front of you.”
“Morna, you have nothing to be sorry about. Your family deserves to be mourned.” They both fall silent and he continues to gently caress her face, and smooth her wet hair away from her face. When he notices how cool the water has become he asks if she is ready for bed. She nods silently, with a sad smil
e on her face.
He pulls the plug, then lifts her out of the tub, uses a bath sheet to dry her off. Then he grabs the brush from the vanity and brushes the tangles out of her short, wavy hair. “Can you stand alone, baby?” She nods again. So he steps away to take off his pajamas and toss them into the hamper. He picks up her discarded clothes and tosses those in the hamper too. He wipes out the tub with the bath sheet and tosses it into the hamper, and scoops her up and carries her to bed. The whole process takes maybe two seconds. She chuckles again and mutters, “Show off!”
He laughs happily, and says, “Guilty, as charged.”
CHAPTER 9 - RENEWING THE BONDS OF FOREVER
Once he has settled her into bed, he asks if she’s cold. “No, actually I am kind of hot and hungry.” She pushes back the covers and sits up. He’s gone and then back with the tiramisu and a bottle of water before she can cross her legs. She pulls the sheet up to her belly as she reaches for the dessert. He hands it to her and sits cross legged facing her so he can watch her eat. She slowly savors four bites of the rich dessert before she realizes she really doesn’t want any more. Her hunger is for something else, much more satisfying. He takes the container from her and hands her the bottle of plain water. “Hydrate,” he commands. She obeys willingly. After she has drank half of the bottle of water she sets it down on the bedside table and returns her full attention to her beloved, her long lost mate.
She reaches for him and kisses him soundly. He smacks his lips and says, “Tiramisu is kind of tasty.” She giggles and kisses him again.
“I believe you told me that we have sixty-two years of love making to catch up on, we had better get started, don’t you think? I mean gee, it‘s after one already.” They both collapse in spasms of laughter.
“Morna I am really liking this incarnation of you. You are so direct, so earthy and passionate. I was so shocked when you mounted me on the sofa Monday morning,” he whistles softly and kisses her lips. “Baby, I almost couldn’t make myself stop you.”
“Why did you stop me?” Morna asks, remembering the sting she felt at what she had perceived as his rejection.
“I hadn’t hunted in nearly three weeks. The scent of your blood was overwhelming me. I was afraid of losing control with you,” he admits reluctantly.
She frowns at him but nods. She knows he is always afraid of that. “Yes, I remember how dark your eyes were that day. You must have been very thirsty.” She clasps his beloved face in her hands. “Luca, why did you wait so long to hunt? You usually go every week or two when you first find me again.”
“I know,” he says. “I thought I was conditioned pretty well by this time, it has been nearly a year. But lately you’ve been saying and doing things that made me think you could remember me at any moment. I was afraid to be gone from you for too long.”
“You shouldn’t deny your needs like that,” she chides him as strokes his cold cheek with her fingers, marveling as she always does at his perfection. “What kind of spell did you use to keep me from noticing how cold your skin is?”
“I modified a buffer spell. It basically put a barrier around my body. You would perceive that I was cooler, but not the ice cold, marble like feel of body.”
“Ingenious, you have always been one of the best of our kind, my love,” Morna says with immense pride.
They both fall silent, and just enjoy touching each other and exchanging soft kisses when Morna says, “I wanted to make love with you, my dear fantasy, you know Sunday night at the other house. Did you realize that?”
“No I didn’t,” he admits, “I was so shocked when you spoke to me. I couldn’t believe you knew I was there.”
“I could sense that you were there. Even smell you,” She admits quietly.
“Yes, I finally figured that out. But you just needed me to chase back the sadness that night, didn’t you?” he asks uncertainly.
“Yes,” she admits, “that’s why I called out to you, and then asked you to lie with me. But once you were there it was all I could do not to turn around and make love to my ‘delusion’. If I had thought for one second that you were really there, and not just in my mind, I would have screwed your brains out,” she chuckles softly. She’s quiet for a moment, and then says, “Luca it has been so very painful, this journey back from the crash. Thank you for being there for me. I think I would have died without you.”
“I will always do my best to be here for you my love,” he vows.
She looks deeply into his eyes and says, “I know that, love, I know. You haven’t let me down in over seven hundred years.” She reaches up and kisses him deeply. She finally pulls back and whispers, “I know you have been with me through this entire nightmare, I have been sensing your presence since I woke up the hospital.” He’s only response to whisper that at her side is the only place he ever wants to be. And then he starts kissing her neck again.
She’s becoming very distracted and decides she should get all of the mundane questions about their immediate plans out of the way. She reluctantly pulls back and sits up straight to stretch her shoulders. Luca is happily watching her breasts as her back arches gracefully. “What’s on the agenda for tomorrow?”
Luca chuckles as he lifts his eyes to her lovely face, “You always have to take care of the business first, don’t you, baby?” When she simply smiles and nods he says; “Nothing is on the agenda for tomorrow.” He slowly trails both hands over her shoulders and down onto her arms. “I rescheduled your PT appointment for Thursday. Otherwise, your schedule was clear. And I rescheduled my clients for Friday.”
“You really have clients? That’s not just a cover story?” she asks in an awed voice. She can’t help but wonder how he always juggles her needs with his drive to help others.
“Yes, I have five members of the support group that I organized to get an in with you, and I have three clients that I met at The Shack. Now, where was I before you interrupted?” He raises an eyebrow at her in mock disapproval. “I bought groceries tonight, so we are free and clear until Thursday morning at 9:00 a.m. when you go to PT. At 11:30 a.m. your planner says you are taking Amanda to the dentist. And then you are to meet the delivery driver at The Shack at 3:00 p.m. By the way, soon you need to explain what is going on with Mike, and The Shack. But not right now. Right now we have more important things to do.”
To emphasize his point, he reaches over and gently cups a breast, then says, “Do you realize I have only seen these lovely breasts out of a bra when you are bathing. You even sleep in a bra. Can you tell me why that is?”
She cups her other breast and jiggles it. “I’m forty-nine baby! Getting long in boobs.” When they both finally stop laughing she says, “No seriously, after nursing three infants, I am much more comfortable with them in a bra.” Her heart constricts at the thought of her lost babies and she throws herself at Luca to seek solace in their passion.
The reunited lovers spend the next hour gently exploring each other’s bodies, re-building the connections that have bound their bodies, hearts, and souls throughout time. At one point he allows her to roll him on to his back and take the lead. She starts kissing his mouth, gently at first then more urgently after he opens his mouth and his scent, so sweet, spicy, and familiar to her fills her senses and makes her wild and intoxicated. She starts working her way down his perfect, cold, hard neck. Raining kisses and teasing her tongue over his perfection. Her hands sweep out and caress the muscles of his perfectly formed arms, working her way down to his hands, where she entwines his fingers with her own.
Her kisses and greedy tongue seek out the perfect contours of his chest. Her tongue flicks over his right nipple and he moans in response. She slides her mouth ever lower, savoring the hardness of his sculpted abdomen, the unique taste of him, when suddenly he draws her face back to his eager mouth and starts kissing her again. She’s disappointed he halted the progress of her mouth down his body, but is content to let him take the lead again.
Gently, he rolls them over, holding hims
elf above her, just close enough she can feel every inch of his icy, hard body without feeling the pressure of his weight. He starts to work his way down her body, first with his cold, hard lips that nip at her sensitive nipples, and followed by his hard, skillful hands. He trails his fingers through the small patch of hair between her legs. She can feel his cool breath at her very center as he skillfully manipulates the button of her clit with his thumb. She can hear him inhale deeply of scent. She moans and tightens her grip on the back of his head.
His face moves back up over her left breast, as his hand continues to gently caress her sensitive nub. His hard lips tease the taunt nipple till she moans again. He moves his face down her soft tummy, teasing her with his hard lips. He works his way lower until his lips take over for his thumb. His tongue snakes out and teases the tiny button then darts to the slit below. Morna gasps in pleasure at the strange, but very familiar sensations he is creating in her body.
The tingling sensation that sets in makes her moan loudly. He moves his face back up over her tummy, through the valley of her breasts, up her throat and back to her mouth to kiss her urgently. His right hand resumes its manipulations between her legs. She is rocking her pelvis to meet his every movement, and nearly screams with joy when he inserts two fingers and quickly brings her to climax, skillfully stroking her sweet spot deep inside of her eager flesh. She clings to him with all her strength as waves of pleasure wash over her body. When the contractions cease and she goes completely limp he scoops her into his arms and holds her body next to his until she falls asleep. Her last semi coherent thought before sleep takes her under is that she needs to find out why he’s holding back. He doesn’t move until she starts to shiver when his cold skin gives her a chill.
He lies her on the bed and tucks the covers around her body and lies on his side next to her to watch her sleep. He chuckles when an hour later she is struggling to get out from under the covers as a hot flash sears through her body. She flops over on her belly, with her face turned away from him. He reaches out to lovingly caress her bare rump and is deeply pleased when she mutters his name in her sleep.
