TouchStone for ever (The Story of Us Trilogy) (31 page)

“Not
tonight. The show is about to begin. I think we should take our seats.”

I
look around, unable to see further than a couple of feet from the bed. “What
seats?”

“Right
here.” He takes my glass and pats the bed suggestively.

I
have no idea what’s coming next so settle myself.

“Lean
back,” he says, pointing at the pillow and look up.

“What
am I looking for, exactly?” I ask, scanning the sky for U.F.O’s

“You’ll
know it when you see it.”

Like
a prowling cat he crawls up the bed and positions himself next to me. He takes
my left hand and presses my knuckles against his lips. “See anything?”

“Nope.”
Just then I spot a shooting star. “Did you see that? I snatch my hand from his
mouth and point to the west. “Over there! I think it was a shooting star!”

He
seems disinterested and folds his hands behind his head. When I look again, his
eyes are closed and his mouth is shaped into a sexy, ‘I know something you
don’t know’ kind of smile.

All
I can do is lie back, fold my arms and look out across the sea. And then they
appear. I gasp, full of wonder. “What’s that?” I grab his arm and shake him
awake. “Look, there are lights in the sky. More and more of them. What are
they? Ayden, look!”

He
feigns boredom. “What did you see?”

“If
you open your eyes you’ll be able to tell me. Take a look.” With each new
second the sky is coming alive. Miniature explosions are flooding the clouds
with light. Shooting stars are falling from the sky; some kind of red-tailed
comet is speeding across the horizon. “This is it, isn’t it? This is the show.
Oh my God, Ayden! It’s spectacular.” I grab his hand and hold it to my breast,
encasing it in my hot palms. “It’s truly magical; nature’s firework display
just for us. How amazing is this?”

“This
is just a small glimpse of the universe, Beth. There’s a whole galaxy of stars
and planets out there.”

I
turn to him, my eyes awash with glossy tears. I’m overwhelmed by the night’s
events.  For as long as I live, I will never forget this night. I flop back
onto the bed, spent of all emotion. “All that’s happened tonight has been like
a dream, Ayden. I don’t know what to say other than … thank you.”

“We
had a lot of fun. It was my pleasure to watch you; how moved you were by the
opera, how you were tipsy over dinner, your joy with the rose petals and your
childlike excitement as you witnessed the meteor shower.” He turns on his side
to face me until our noses are touching, cradling my face in his hand. “What a
delight you are, Beth.”

“You
made it so special, Ayden. I just happened to be here,” I confess.

He
will have none of it. “That’s simply not true. All this magic pales into
insignificance compared to you.” He rubs across my bottom lip with a gentle
thumb. “I am seen as a blinding light by some, yet
you
are the light
people are drawn to; you have an aura of goodness around you, Beth. You wear it
like a mantle. You always have.”

“Only
you can see it,” I say, smiling. “But thank you for saying so.”

He
runs his hand across my shoulders and down my right arm, coming to rest on my
newly-ringed finger.  “This is one of many gifts I can give you …”

I
interrupt before he can finish, “I don’t want any more gifts…”

“I
know, but you do want a child, don’t you?” He sweetens his question with a
kiss.

A
child?

“I
do, but …”

He
kisses me again. “Hush. There will be no buts tonight, my darling. I have spent
too many millennia taking care of the dead.  Is it too much to ask to be given
this one opportunity to procreate?”

His
choice of words makes me giggle. “Is that another one of your pick-up lines?”
The humour glistening in his eyes has me laughing into his chest.

“I
do so love to hear your laughter, darling Beth. I will miss it dearly.”

He
moves down the bed, holding out his hands to help me disembark as if leaving a
shipwreck. As he prepares to speak he looks into my eyes into my very soul.
“Let me make love to you. We have spoken of worlds colliding. Now the time has
come for me to show you what can happen when the forces of heaven and earth
come together.”

Wrapped
up in one another, we walk barefoot back to the villa.

“You
just love talking dirty, don’t you?”  I tease.

“Is
that a serious question?” he asks, burying his nose in my hair.

“No.”

His
grip tightens around me. “I thought not.”

Inside
the villa, there’s an air of silent expectation. The sound of the sea is behind
us; the gentle lapping of waves against the shore is barely audible. I break
the silence with some music.  In the bedroom I scroll through the iPod deck
until I find something fitting to the occasion. Lana Del Ray speaks of a
Burning
Desire
. The rhythm of the music is complemented by the humming sound coming
from the ceiling fan as it disperses the heat and creates a welcome draft that
catches wisps of my hair, giving me the dishevelled look of someone who lost
her innocence on that short stroll from the beach.

 Into the bedroom
steps the man of my dreams. In the candlelight, I see his shirt is unbuttoned
and his tie discarded. As he stands across from me on the other side of the bed
I feel my body responding to his overpowering presence. My chest heaves. I feel
edgy and impatient, aching for my husband’s touch. He might well
be
Ayden
for the way he carries himself in and out of the bedroom. He has everyone
fooled; even me at times.  He fills the space with his aura and his authority
transcends the ordinary. No man has looked more determined in purpose. He means
to have me, his way, or not at all.

I shudder at the
prospect of being taken and yet, the gratification that comes from being so
prized excites me more. I draw my tongue across my lower lip in anticipation.
“How do you want me?” I ask, removing my earrings and placing them onto the
bedside table.

His mouth twitches on
the right.  “How? Willing,” he replies, causing me to glance away for fear my
pupils will belie my indifference.

“I couldn’t want you
more, even if we’d been apart a month or a year. Come here. I have a wedding
present to unwrap.” As I walk around the bed he’s unbuttoning his cuffs and
beginning to undo his shirt.

I take hold of his
hands to still them. “Let me.” Still keeping eye contact I undo every button,
fold back his shirt and claim what is mine; flexing pectorals covered in a
downy layer of hair just begging to be stroked. I lay my palms flat, allowing
his masculine essence to seep through to my fingertips like an electric
current, urged on by my heavy breathing and a stifled moan. But there is no
time for that. Before any power is bestowed up me I am turned about.

“You are a vision in
this dress, Beth,” he murmurs, close to my ear. “But some visions are real and
others are figments of the imagination. Which are you?” He takes hold of my zip
and lowers it, slowly until it reaches my lower back. He slips his right hand
into the open dress and slides it around my abdomen, pulling me into him
tightly into him until l I feel the fullness of his erection against my
derrière.

He slips his other
hand inside and cups my breasts, causing me to whimper as I’m held fast,
imagining all kinds of sensual scenarios.

He whispers into my
right ear, “Are you ready for me?”

“Yes,” I answer
nervously.

He licks my earlobe
and nips at it before continuing his interrogation. “Are you sure? Because for
what I have in mind, you must be very, very wet.”

Fuck!

I rotate my neck
backward and sideways into him. “Yes. I’m ready for you, Ayden.” Just saying
his name causes my abdomen muscles to tighten. This is the man I know and
love.  This magnetism we have is undeniably sexual but it begins with words;
words that tempt, tease and prepare me for sex. I have missed these words.

With me still facing
away from him, he removes the dress from my body as if freeing a sweet from a
wrapper. “Step,” he orders. “Again.” With feather-light fingertips he strokes
my calves and thighs; climbs to my waist and position me against his hard
torso. “Tell me, Beth. Do you want to play?”

Just the thought of
it causes my back to straighten and every hair to stand on end. An instinctive
“Yes,” leaves my lips.

“Me too. Turn
around.”

I rotate on the spot
and find his eyes with mine, augmenting our connection. “What do you want to
play?”

“Mmm … so many games
to choose from but only one comes to mind.” He reaches behind him and opens the
bedside drawer. “You brought these, so I assume they come highly recommended.”

My eyes widen as I
see the length of cord, the blindfold and … the G spot massager.

He passes them from
hand to hand. “I think we can dispense with this.” He throws the rope to one
side. “But these I like.”

Is he reading my
mind?

The thought of the
massager causes me to bite my lip; it’s been a while since Ayden used it on me
and, as I recall, it was one of the most stimulating experiences of my life.

He places the
massager on the pillow and refocuses his attention on me. “Tonight I’m going to
take you to a place you’ve never been; to heaven and back. Are you ready?”

I nod. “Yes, I’m
ready.”

He kisses me softly,
tempts me with a moist tongue and pulls away. With my eyes closed I feel the
blindfold sliding over my hair and resting over my eyes. He takes hold of my
hands as if we’re going on a long journey. “Now close your eyes and trust me.”

“I do.”

His grip tightens on
my fingers. “Take my hands, these are yours to use. Show me.”

Feeling a little
hesitant I grapple with his fingers and lift his hands until he has my face
enveloped in his warm embrace. Needing no further encouragement, his lips find
mine. Held in place I respond, focusing on the moistness of his kiss and the
sounds emanating from his throat. His hands move into my hair, removing the
clip, scooping it up in handfuls as his kiss deepens.  My head begins to spin
as he begins his masterful possession of my body one inch at a time.

My bra is removed. He
takes each hardening nipple in his mouth and sucks hard, lengthening it,
forcing me to gasp and sway.

“You’re perfect,
Beth. To taste you isn’t enough. I have to have you. Lie down.”

I’m falling backwards
onto the bed; his hands take hold of mine to break my fall and I lie in
breathless anticipation. To my right I hear the hum of the massager and take
hold of the sheets, gathering them up in my fists, knowing what’s coming. The
bed sinks on my right and I sense he’s facing me, examining my body, memorising
every curve. The vibrator tickles my collar bone, making me wriggle and smile.

“Is this
pleasurable?” he asks.

“It tickles.”

“Tickles? Oh I think
we can do better than that,” he says, lowering his vibrating hand to my
breasts. “Still tickles?”

I’m not smiling now.
“Not so much.”

“And now?” He rests
the massager on my panties and proceeds to move it up and down in slow sweeps.

The teasing movement
make we writhe and cause my hands to twist the bedding in response. “It doesn’t
tickle …”

“No?”

“It makes me want to
come,” I moan and raise myself to increase the pressure.

“Then you shall.”

He moves from the bed
and pulls off my panties in one long tug that ends with them flying off my toes
as if jet-propelled. Feeling exposed, I pull my knees together; I’m aroused but
still bashful. I turn my head away. Throughout our adventure I have played
every game but this one is a stretch too far. I see vanilla sheets, I hear my
husband’s words, “I’m going to use this on you … this will be intense and I
want you to try to absorb the feeling to make it last.” How can I make it last
when he’s not here …

“Beth,” Ayden
whispers. “I can’t love you if you hide from me.” He kneels up and pushes back
my blindfold. He sighs. “We have been intimate before. I have
known
you
and yet you still don’t trust me?”

I see the
disappointment in his eyes and it saddens me. “I trust you, Ayden. I want you.”
Without hesitation I reach over to him, releasing his belt and undoing the
clasp on his trousers, knowing the extent of his arousal even before I lower
the zip. With careful handling I release an impressive erection from the
confines of his boxers and take it in my left hand. He leans backwards, using
his hands to support himself and thrusts his hips forward. Impulsively, I arch
my body around him and take him in my mouth.

Taken by surprise he
throws back his head and growls with primeval satisfaction. I feel his body
heat rising; his cock is pulsating and swelling in response as I pull him
deeper and suck harder. He’s losing all self-control.

“Fuck, Beth!” he
calls out. “This body is yours. Take it!”

His words are so
achingly familiar that salt water fills my eyes and flows like guilty tears
onto the sheets. I press on until he begins to tremble, taking him to the back
of my throat, coaxed by his words.

“Yes! Right there.
Suck me hard, baby.”

 Only when his hands
take hold of my hair do I ease off, slightly.

“Stop! You’re making
me come …”

But I will not be
deterred. I move into a more comfortable position, taking hold of his thighs
and attacking him with greater confidence and determination.

“Beth!” he calls out,
realising my intention. “Beth!” Without warning, he shoves me off him and
clambers over my body. With trembling knees he forces my legs open and thrusts
into me in one forceful movement.

His urgency catches
me unaware, making me scream with sweet agony and with the urgency of his
penetration. I take hold of his shoulders, pushing him off and then pulling him
back to me a second later, rocking to the rhythm of his forward and backward
movements.

Realising his
selfishness, he eases off and finds my ear. “I’m sorry if I caused you pain.”
His breath coats my throat in hot gusts while his kisses remind me of the bond
we have established. I pushed him too far.

“You didn’t hurt me,”
I whisper. “I was ready for you.”

He leans up on his
elbows and gazes adoringly into my eyes. “Is that true? Are you ready, for
me
?”
He continues to glide in and out with the precision of a human metronome, each
thrust deeper than the last, each languid lunge driving home a single message:
you belong to me.

“I’ve been waiting
for you all my life,” I state, pulling his mouth to mine to swallow up my
confession. 

“And I for you
Frances, Elizabeth Parker. I’m here, darling, and I can give you everything.”

I hear the words but
I can’t process them; his power possesses my body, my mind and my soul … I have
no-place to hide.

He fixes me with a
piercing stare. “Look into my eyes Beth. See what I see: the power of heaven
and earth and creation. Come with me.”

I can’t look away. I
feel my knees buckling, my legs folding to allow him to thrust more deeply. I
feel his physical presence over me, his raw, covetous hunger consuming me.

Conquered and claimed
I stare into oblivion and, amid those saintly orbs of the darkest sapphire I
see a thousand stars so bright and so bewitching I can’t look away. The
gravitational pull of the universe lures me in. I begin to feel lightheaded and
drawn to the light. My body hums with orgasmic sensations, and Ayden’s guttural
roars of passion resonate, creating a crescendo of ecstatic fervour
unparalleled in the known universe.

As he nears the abyss
I draw him deeper rejoicing in his omnipotence, letting go. All I can do is
call out his name over and over, “Ayden, Ayden…”

As if responding to
my coaxing, he comes inside me with a ferocious out-pouring of liquid fire. He
yells, “Fuck!” His face contorts, my mouth opens and we combust as our worlds
collide, exploding into a million stars.

As our bodies spasm
and shiver I close my eyes and silently weep, hearing three words as they
escape his throat in a strangled cry, “Choose me, Beth.”

I feel my jaw moving
but I have no words to convey my thoughts. What can I say?

Regaining my sanity I
look around the room. The candles are out, the covers on the bed have been
tossed aside, furniture has been overturned. The room looks as if a powerful
force of nature had just appeared and left.

That’s a fair
assessment of what just happened here.

I’ve left Ayden
sleeping, peacefully. Feeling both physically and emotionally exhausted. I’m
seated out on the deck with a glass of orange juice on one side and my camera,
phone and laptop on the other. I dread opening it. I know what awaits me on my
desktop; two people in love who believed they had their lives ahead of them.
What is to become of them now?

I brace myself and
boot up, avoiding Ayden’s eyes and directing my thoughts to my digital
scrapbook. So much has happened I scarcely know where to begin, but I have to
put it down so there will be no gaps in Ayden’s memory and our honeymoon will
not become my solitary recollection. I’m listening to Jason Mraz who reminds me
that
I won't give up
. Using the lyrics I channel my thoughts.

November #9

“Eternity was in our lips and eyes,