An Unexpected Love Story

Chapter Fourteen:

Part Three: Paris

Chapter Fourteen:

I awake to the sound of our shower on full blast. I've caught him near the end, because I know he'll be turning off the taps and stepping soon.

The door opens, and the steam escapes into the late summer air trapped in the apartment. His wet hair sticks to his body as he heads for the closet.

I approach him slowly, moving his hair so I can see the markings down his spine. He's so beautiful. I trace the marks up his back, to his arms, and lastly up to his face.

"I love it when you're like this."

"Naked?"

"No. When you don't cover your marks. I think they're beautiful." I've got my open palm lying on his chest. I can feel the low thump of his heart as it hides behind his ribcage.

I wish we could stay like this. Before the world where we don't fit in awakes and ostracizes us, leaving us on the outskirts of everything.

"Why don't you leave them today? Just for me." I plead letting my hands wander to his face.

"It's Sunday, you have to." He sighs loudly.

"Thank you." I smile, pulling his face towards mine. I can feel his smile against my lips. He lets his hands roam around my hair. I pull away, smiling.

"I'm starved." He rolls his eyes.

"What? Do you want me to cook today? Do you have a death wish?" He laughs.

"I have faith in you."

"Pssht, yeah okay." And so I served the worst pancakes ever. But he ate them anyway, and all he did was laugh.

xxx

We lounge about the whole Sunday and I bask in his beautiful uncovered face. "Why don't you just leave them like you did in Vegas?"

"They worked in Vegas. It was part of my gimmick. They don't work here. They don't help me in any way right now."

"I still think they're very beautiful." I pull his face over, kissing him before we slip into our comfortable silence.

xxx

"Can we be tourists?" Sesshoumaru looks at me with a perplexed expression etched across his face. I think I even see a forehead wrinkle.

We sit on the mattress, sipping coffee, side by side. The balcony doors hang open, curtains billowing in a soft breeze. The fresh warm air feels like it's kissing my skin, it blows his hair across my lap, the soft tendrils dragging over my bare legs.

The two of us have lived in Paris for a few weeks now, and never once have we seen any of the sights.

"Technically, we are tourists." He tells me after a few moments, I simply roll my eyes.

"I know that but still, we should go and see a few things before we have to move on to the next country." Placing my head on his shoulder, my hand on his thigh, I try to wordlessly convince him to come out with me.

"Would you like to go later on today?" I nod my head quickly and smile up at him.

"Where would you like to go?"

"Everywhere!"

xxx

We get dressed up into our best tourist clothes, and head out in the late summer sun. It beats down in the cloudless sky, cooking the pavement and subsequently my skin. Sesshoumaru holds my hand as we trudge along the cobble stoned roads towards the Champs Élysées, our first destination.