Shared Redemption

by Michel Prince

  These were not mere moans. She was coming in a way she never had before. I could tell by how she fought against the sensation that she wasn’t mine yet—part of her still told her she didn’t deserve to be satisfied. My hand clamped harder on her pelvis as my name escaped her lips over and over.

  “I need you,” she screamed. “Please, I want all of you.”

  I sucked on her center one last time, then with a cat-like grace I glided inside her. Her legs and arms locked around me as she begged for me not to move.

  “I can’t take any more.”

  She couldn’t take any more? Why would anyone want to stop this feeling? Was it because she had never felt the true pleasure of love? That made no sense to me. I refused to be a throw-away experience like she was used to. I wanted to be more to her, because she had become my everything.

  “Yes you can! Don’t fight it, Kiri.”

  “I’m not…fighting.”

  Her warmth surrounded me. I rocked inside her as her core tightened and her legs locked my hips to hers.

  “It’s okay to feel it. You have the right.”

  “You love me?”

  That was my cue. My hips rotated inside her. She held tight to me as if she was going to burst, and I loved every second of it. With each circle I made in Kiri, her center grasped and shuddered against me. Between her body below me and her sex, which engulfed what I had once thought useless, warmth overtook my soul. Then it was as if her sweet sex was sucking on me, pulling on the tip of my hardness.

  I breathed her in. The scent of magnolias filled my lungs. I rocked faster and faster until a tightening in my manhood made my breath catch, then I exploded. My orgasm just kept coming. Three, four, five pulses inside her. I wanted to fill her with myself. I wanted her overflowing with me like she was inside my heart, full and never leaving.

  Kiri finally unlocked her limbs for me. Her breathing was labored and her body shaking as I rolled off her. Her eyes were trained on the ceiling.

  “Never leave me,” she said quietly. “Never. The thought that I can have forever with you…”

  Tears rolled down her cheeks again.

  “Why are you crying?”

  “Because you’re who the whispers were about.”

  “What whispers?”

  “Whenever I got depressed or sad, I’d hear. ‘He will come. Be patient, he will come.’ I never thought it’d happen.”

  “Is that all they’d tell you?”

  “No. They focus me when I’m in a scary situation. I’m not schizoid or anything. It’s just…”

  She was starting to get nervous, like she was revealing too much. It was just like when she had been talking before.

  “You’ve never let yourself go, have you?”

  That got her brain on a different track, one I wanted her to be on.

  “No.”

  “So all the sex you talked about…”

  “You heard me?” Kiri sat up.

  “I tried to get Zarmina to disconnect your helmet, but she wouldn’t. She told me to not listen if I didn’t want to hear.”

  “But you listened.”

  I pulled her back on my chest and ran my fingers through her hair.

  “I needed to…I wanted to hear your voice. I loved listening to you talk.” I laughed. “I feel like I know everything about you. There was something in your voice that told me…”

  “Sex was nothing. I’ve never had anyone…”

  She nuzzled her cheek against my chest and distracted herself with my abs.

  “Why did you do it?”

  “I started because I was hoping to feel something. Then I got a rep…I stopped caring who touched me or where. I’m not that person. Not anymore.”

  “I know. I know. Kiri, I want you. I want you forever. But you must know what forever truly means.”

  “What are you asking for?”

  “Forever. Kiri I want you to be my other. I want you to marry me.”

  “Are you really asking me to marry you? You asked me when we were outside, but I thought I was dreaming.”

  “I’ve been afraid I’ve been dreaming since I met you.”

  Kiri smiled at me and rested her chin on her forearms that were crossed on my chest. I knew she could feel my heart pounding.

  “Of course, I’ll marry you. Why would you ever think I wouldn’t?”

  “It’s more than a marriage.”

  With my thumb, I stroked her cheek. Her hair tangled in between my fingers. The glow on her face relaxed me and I knew I’d have to explain everything. I could never let her enter into my world without full knowledge of all the sacrifices.

  “There is no divorce.”

  “You already trying to get rid of me,” she teased.

  “You’d never be a widow. It’s a form of bonding.”

  “I never want to leave you. I know I’d have to live in the compound. That’s fine. Whatever it takes.”

  “It’s not that simple, Kiri. To become my other would mean falling out of society. Leaving everything behind. You’d make a new world, with me.”

  Kiri adjusted herself up so we were sitting next to each other and she took my hand in hers. Her finger started to trace the center.

  “Is that the only way we can be together?”

  I pulled my hand away.

  “Kiri, you don’t have to manipulate me to get the truth.”

  “I wasn’t trying to. It’s a nervous habit, I swear,” she said as she straddled me. Her hair fell across her eyes. She tucked it effortlessly behind her ear. Her lips found mine.

  “I love you. I’m just wondering if we could be together without me having to break my contract.”

  “I have about seven years left on my sentence before I die. I’m not sure where I’ll be stationed next, but we could make it work somehow. Hiding from Gabriel will be the…”

  “In seven years you’re going to die?” she asked aghast.

  I nodded, for the first time regretting knowing my expiration. Kiri’s head cocked to the side and I could see her process some distant fact.

  “Seven years is not enough. If you have an other your sentence doesn’t term, right?”

  “Well…yes…except…”

  Kiri’s finger covered my lips.

  “I want forever. Leaving this world to live in yours is not a sacrifice, breathing one second more than you is.”

  “You must understand. If you’re my other, we’re sealed. Sealed in a way I don’t think you understand. If I break my leg, so do you. If I cut my arm, so do you. If I die, you die.”

  “So that’s what you meant about being a widow.”

  I nodded, thinking that was the only part that actually appealed to me, knowing I’d never be alone and I wouldn’t abandon my wife.

  “What’s life without you?”

  “I made that choice years ago. Thinking I couldn’t live without someone.”

  “I’m not her and you aren’t who you were then. When you left me yesterday, I thought my world had ended. My friend came over and all I wanted was him to be you. You said you’d never see me again, the thought I wouldn’t see you when I woke up…”

  Kiri started to cry. I cradled her in my arms.

  “I couldn’t imagine not seeing you for a day, let alone a lifetime.”

  “What is it with you and crying?”

  “I don’t know. I never cry. But when I think of you leaving me…”

  I kissed her forehead.

  “I never want to leave you, but it’s not like a real marriage. You’d be locked away in the house…Don’t you want children? A career? A fortieth birthday party?”

  “No woman wants a fortieth birthday party. And as for children, I’m not the mothering kind. I kill all my plants and, well, the hamster I had when I was a kid didn’t fare much better.”

  “Today, no. But in a few years? I don’t know if I could take all that from you.”

  “Take. Are you a thief now? You can’t take what’s already yours. I can’t even control m
yself around you.”

  “You’re pigheaded. You know that, right?”

  “I prefer bullheaded. And only when it’s important.”

  “So now I’m important?”

  “You’ve always been important. To me, at least. Isn’t that all that matters?” I smiled. “Could you do me a favor?”

  “What’s that?”

  “Show me what I’ve been missing all these years.”

  We rolled in the bed.

  “You first.”

  Chapter 11

  Kiriana

  Looking in my cupboards, I felt embarrassed. I was like Old Mother Hubbard. A can of soup, seven packs of ramen, and a few fruit cups. Jesus, I was a frickin’ adult and this was what I had to offer him?

  We’ll see how much he loves me after he eats these pizza rolls. I turned on the oven, thinking they’d taste better than if I nuked ’em. I put them on Mom’s cookie sheet, which was seasoned from years of use. Homemade pizzas, cookies, bars, mom used the sheet for everything.

  Tiptoeing past the bedroom, I poked my head in and saw Nye had fallen into a light sleep. His legs were shaking and my twin size mattress was vibrating as his legs dangled off the edge.

  The backdoor creaked, but not enough to worry me that I’d wake Nye. The sun was just coming up over the roof. I stood amazed at the colors streaking across the sky. The world seemed more beautiful this morning. A cool breeze blew back my hair and caressed my body.

  The pebbles on top of the roof dug into my toes as I hobbled to DJ’s cooler. Jackpot. The ice had melted, but the one beer left still felt cold. By my chair I saw five empties. Had DJ not even had one? Hi, my name is Kiri and I’m an alcoholic. I snagged the last soldier and headed back inside.

  The timer beeped as I walked down the hallway to my kitchen. Dropping the pizza rolls on a plate, I walked back to the bedroom with my pathetic bounty.

  “Nye. Nye.”

  “Yeah.”

  “I brought you some food.”

  “You’re all I need,” he said still half asleep.

  “You asked for this.”

  He sat up, his back against the wall, and I set the plate down on his lap. I twisted off the cap to the beer and handed it to him.

  “Sorry, this was all I had cold.”

  “It’s been awhile,” he said, taking a swig of beer. “What about you?”

  “We could share.”

  “Sounds good. Kiri, please don’t take this the wrong way…Your bed is extremely small.”

  “Well, Nye,” I said crawling on top of him. “Please take this the wrong way. You’re huge.”

  Then I switched into my best Southern Belle impression to tease him.

  “Oh my, I should have placed you in my arrivals room. I am such a bad hostess.”

  “Well, ma’am, we shall have to work on that. A comfortable place to lie down is very important.”

  “I was comfortable last night.”

  “Strangely, so was I.”

  Nye kissed me again, then looked quizzically at the plate of pizza rolls.

  “I don’t have a greenhouse full of food.”

  “You will.”

  He popped a pizza roll in his mouth.

  “Um…Kiri…what is this?”

  “A pizza roll.”

  “I know what pizza is and what a roll is. I’m just trying to put the two together to understand what this is.”

  I laughed.

  “Sorry, I don’t cook. Freezer food mostly.”

  “I watch the Food Network a lot. Don’t feel bad. I feel akin to Bobby Flay and Cat Cora.”

  “Wait, you cooked for me?”

  “Yes.”

  “I thought you had a cook. That food was amazing.”

  “Thank you. I don’t think I’ve ever made anything for someone before. I just knew I liked my food.”

  “Will you teach me?”

  “I reckon so. If you really want to.”

  “Yes. I mean you have so many people in your house. It will be fun to cook for a group.”

  “We don’t eat together. We would, but the Frozen don’t eat together.”

  “Why not?”

  “We just don’t.”

  “Aren’t you a team?”

  “Not really. We’re kind of like prisoners.”

  Prisoners. I instantly thought of dad. Nye had only hurt himself. No one else. But he was regimented just like my father.

  “How many Frozen have died?”

  “I don’t know. That’s a Kiyoshi question. He’s the current record keeper.”

  “So our ceremony will have no one there but Gabriel?”

  “Oh no. Lars will be there for me. Dilana, too. They all should be there especially since…there’s a part of the ceremony that isn’t pleasant.”

  “That sounds ominous.”

  Nye took my hand in his then traced the back of his fingers up my forearm. “We need to cut our arms, then we seal our blood to the other’s.”

  “Like blood brothers?”

  “Yes, but more intense. The men will need to hold me back, I’m sure.” Nye used a finger to lift my chin. “Maybe you too,” he joked.

  “You swear you can’t catch anything?”

  “Nope. What is this thing you’re so afraid of?”

  “You’ve never heard of AIDS or HIV?”

  “Should I have?”

  “I guess not. How many of you are in the house?”

  “Right now only six. Since Frick and Frack died. But they should be replaced soon.”

  “Frick and Frack? The two who died a few days ago?”

  “They didn’t assimilate well to the program. It’s not easy. I don’t really invest time to learn their names until they’ve been around a year or so.”

  “Who trains them?”

  “Lars, Dilana, and I give them a rundown of things. They came out with us a few times before they were left on their own.”

  “Who fights with Lars?”

  “Schmitty. He showed up about three years ago. He’s been around since the early fifties. A little shell-shocked. He was a vet of some sort. We keep him away from Kiyoshi. That’s all I know about him. Hey, what’s with the twenty questions?”

  “You said you wanted me to know what I was getting into.”

  “Yeah. I meant with me.”

  “You, forever. Got that. But you’re not as alone as you think you are. You’re a society. You’re a family or team or gang of vicious, marauding demon hunters.”

  “We’re not like that. Besides, only Lars marauds. He’s Swedish.”

  “Vicious Viking?”

  “As a tabby cat.”

  “I knew it. You must protect me from his…”

  I couldn’t even finish the thought of this big Viking pawing at me like a frustrated cat made me laugh so hard. Nye kissed me or I kissed him. I had lost the ability to see us as separate entities.

  “I love you, you know. I don’t know how, but I know why.”

  I took the plate back into the kitchen. How could you have a group of untrained fighters being the defenders of the world? That didn’t even make sense. No wonder evil still existed in the world.

  * * * *

  Damarion

  “Pivane, you can take the lead today. I need to handle things outside. I trust you to successfully train the Deumos on how to handle the bantling properly.”

  I was sitting in my office. Pivane stood at the edge of the doorway. He was afraid to come in. Good, I wanted him to fear me, even if he didn’t know why. Nemi and Zuma had done their job. I could tell the whole tone in the house had changed.

  “Thank you, Yahweh, I will not fail you.”

  I wanted to vomit, listening to this creature deferring to me like he actually thought I was his superior.

  “You know what will happen if you do?”

  That caught him off guard. I had never threatened him directly.

  “I wonder if you are successful, how could I reward you?”

  I knew how to reward him.
It would be the ultimate punishment. Either way, my enemy would be dealt with today. Nemesio and Zuma would see to that.

  “I would never be so bold as to ask.”

  “Has it been a long time? When was the last time you had lain with another?”

  “I have a mate in Hell. I haven’t been with another since I was assigned.”

  Liar! I screamed in my head. Lying…fucking…bastard.

  Oh, I shall tape my women torturing him and play it for my enjoyment. I kept a straight face. I didn’t want to let on that I knew what he was doing. This had to be played just right or he’d try to kill me first. Even with the girls strengthening me, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to handle a full frontal attack.

  “Well then,” I said, scratching a piece of paper with my pen. “We shall make sure you’re well bedded.”

  I smiled thinking how the women had promised to tie him down, burn, and scar him.

  “I appreciate your kindness.”

  “Trust me, it is not a kindness, but a reward for your loyal service.”

  I stuck a knife into the top of the desk, let it spin between my fingertips, and carved a small hole in the wood.

  Pivane stepped backward as he licked his lips. I could imagine what he was thinking would come to him, finally having a woman that could survive his attack.

  I pushed hard against my desk and my chair rolled back into the wall and hit with an empty thud. Curious, I thought. Turning around, I tapped on the wall. It definitely sounded hollow. I rubbed the wall and hit a drywall nail, but the wall started to crumble around it.

  I dug with my fingernail as white particles sprinkled the floor. Curling my finger around the steel nail, I pulled it out.

  A small section of the wall fell away to reveal a rectangular, black gunmetal box. On top was the seal of the royal family, a skull of a bull with a snake twisting around it and running through the eyes with its mouth open at the top of the skull like a crown. How had I never found this before?

  The box was lined with a quilted red satin. Inside the box was a knife resting on two small bars and a folded piece of parchment. The parchment crackled as I carefully opened it and saw the ancient scrawl of the royals. The princess had tried to teach me the language, but I had only learned a few words. On closer inspection, I realized the letter was written in English, but she used her beautiful calligraphy, not her language.