heat
And there we were, tangled under a blanket far too small for both of us. I rested my head on her chest, wrapping my leg around her torso. Katherine stroked my hair while whispering sweet, soft words.
“You’re perfect… I adore you, darling… I wish you didn’t have to leave, I wish you could stay the night…” she planted a kiss on my forehead.
“You know I’d love to stay,” I said, playing with one of her strands of hair, “but Orson is waiting for me.”
She clicked her tongue.
“I know, I know… But let’s enjoy the here and now, alright?”
“Alright, dear.”
We changed positions: now we were tightly holding each other. This gesture was a silent plea: stay, don’t leave me. Be one with me.
The warmth of her arms lulled me into a state of sweet and tranquil lethargy. The sound of the rain outside, the crackling fireplace, our wrinkled clothes on the floor. Her breathing, slow and deep, accompanied the rhythm of my heart.
“Katherine…” I murmured, not even thinking. The words left my mouth almost by instinct.
“Yes, Bree?”
“This… I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before, but this week has been one of the best… God, what am I saying, the best week of my life. Being with you makes me so happy.” I buried my face in her chest, kissing the valley between her breasts.
She shuddered under my touch, and I felt waves of pleasure rise from the tips of her toes to the top of her head.
“I feel exactly the same, my love. I feel…-she stutterd, inmersed in pleasure- like I’ve known you forever. I feel like my soul, your soul; they were once lovers. They were separated at birth, searching for each other since our first breath; and now they’ve finally found one another.”
“Oh, Katherine, that’s beautiful,” I said, as I descended, kissing every inch of her body, filling it with love.
“Bree…” she moaned, “Bree… Stop for a second, please.”
Surprised, I lifted my head.
“Is something wrong? Did I do something wrong?”
“No, it’s not you. It’s just that right now, I’d rather we talk, that we open up to each other.”
Oh, I’ll open you up alright, I thought. I rolled my eyes and rested my head on the pillow.
“Well, alright. What do you want to talk about?”
“I don’t know… Since we started, I’ve felt like everything has been very physical. And I like it, don’t get me wrong, but, well, you know, I’d love to dig deeper into your emotions.”
I froze.
The moment I feared, the one I’d been avoiding since the first time I stepped into her house, had arrived. I had never been very good at expressing my feelings; I had never opened up in the way she wanted me to. I had trouble identifying the whirlwind in my heart: dissecting it to examine what emotions it contained would take decades, millennia.
However… Seeing her face; her, asking for a piece of my intimacy, a crumb to show her I didn’t just desire her body, but everything it contained as well.
And I wanted her to know that I desired her, her body, and her emotions; but I didn’t know how to put it into words. The beautiful prelude she had presented earlier, which encapsulated everything I felt and wanted to tell her, I wouldn’t have even been able to let it leave my mouth. I tried, I really tried.
“I… Katherine, I…”
“Well?” She looked at me expectantly. I felt the warm atmosphere freeze, her gaze darkening.
The rain violently struck the windows, the fire crackled dangerously.
She took my silence as an answer.
“You should leave,” she said, getting out of bed. I stayed there, drowning in my emotions.