Past and Present - A Modern Day Romance of North & South

CHAPTER TWENTY - ROMANCE AND REVELATION

It seemed to John that his heart physically moved in his chest as he woke to find her lying there beside him. Just to be able to look upon her, to know that she was so very close, was the realisation of all his dreams, a moment that was as poignantly perfect as it was deeply affecting. For the first time in his life he felt totally complete, truly whole and it was because of her, because her innate understanding and love had given him the freedom to love her without reserve, without barriers of any kind lying between them.

His heart swelled as he watched the gentle rise and fall of her body next to his, his thoughts drifting irresistibly back over those incredible hours that had gone before. Their lovemaking had been all consuming, intrinsically borne and unrestrained, a rich tapestry of vivid emotion, melding together the beating pulses of hearts and souls, touching so profoundly the very essence of their beings in a way that transcended simple physical possession. In her arms he had found himself. He had found her. They had found each other… 

He allowed his gaze to travel to the rich, glinting filaments of her hair that draped with such haphazard grace over her shoulders and across the surrounding pillows, its very beauty entreating him to touch its lustrous length. Very tentatively his long, graceful fingers followed the imploring call of his heart and caressed very lightly the path of those silken tendrils, unable to help but remember how not so long before he’d plunged his hands into its luxuriously cascading thickness and held her to him and loved her with such wanton abandon. 

He was overcome by the longing to rouse her now from her state of glowing repose and to relight the passion they’d shared, longing to feel once more the insistent pressing of her body against his own. The allure of her being so close to him was too much, almost painfully so; he ached to touch her, even as his hungry gaze took in those shuttered lids fringed by the beautiful sweep of long, dark lashes that fanned out against her luminous skin, before moving irresistibly lower to the curving swell of her breasts hidden beneath the protective embrace of the sheet that had managed to delicately and seductively wrap itself about her. 

I never want to be without you, he called out to her in silence, wondering whether she would hear his words in her mind. I want to share my life with you… 

Like a magnet he was drawn into her orbit, the power of emotion she kindled inside him too undeniable to be thwarted. He removed his hand from the tangled strands of her hair, the tip of his index finger lowering to the satin bloom of her cheek with just the breath of a caress, noticing, as he did, a small smile of pleasure flutter across her lips and settle there like a butterfly resting upon the petals of a flower. Deep inside he felt his need trigger potently into life once more, even as his arm snaked lightly across the top of the sheet and rested comfortably in the hollowed dip of her waist so that she shifted slightly, turning onto her side to face him, her eyes still closed. 

“I love you.” His words echoed into the room, a guttural whisper too overpowering to lock away inside, dancing into the stillness enveloping them, trembling upon the air that emanated with balmy summer benevolence through the partially opened window, the view beyond obscured by softly billowing net curtains. “I’ll always love you.” 

I want to spend the rest of my life with you…

It seemed as though she’d heard him, her smile deepening as she stirred towards consciousness. He watched, delighting in the pleasure of having her wake up in his arms, his breath wedged in his throat in exquisite anticipation, as she drifted languorously into the present. Below the covers her body stretched itself and then relaxed before her eyes finally opened, blinked into focus, and came to rest upon him, the limitless love that dwelled within those hazel pools making his heart flip and his stomach somersault with crazy exaggeration.