Palindrome
Touched by magic

He made love to me three more times over the next hours, in between I asked him everything I wanted to ask, knowing my time with him was limited. He knew something was amiss, but he never brought it up – just caressed my chin tenderly from time to time, drowning in my eyes.

A ray of sunshine to my face woke me up, William in deep sleep next to me on the soft ground. He was naked, and I sat up silently, wanting to memorize everything about him. I started at his feet, dirty from walking around naked – but strong and well formed. How deep in love do you have to be to replace feet attractive? I was there, either way. Legs, knees, a thigh made of long muscles gliding over in the narrow hips and a firm ass. He was lying on his stomach, with one leg drawn up, resting his head on his arms. His back was a piece of art – adorned by different tattoos, all in the perfect place somehow. I lingered on the one depicting a devil, engulfed in flames. Did he see himself that way? Like a devil, deserving the flaming pits of hell?

Noah and Jafet seemed to identify heavily with their Beast-persona, making it their sole mission in life to replace the potion to make people of their choice immortal. George had made himself a business, and underneath all the influence from his fathers, he was a man with a sense of humour. Belinda and Benjamin, along with William, was a whole different breed of Beasts. High on life and the opportunities given them, they had expanded their way of life and broadened their horizon beyond the never-ending search for a magic potion. Maybe it was fate then, making William capable of seeing past the hate and falling in love with a witch able to take him to Eden, or whatever we would call this. Avalon, Atlantis, a world of my own. Just a fucking shame he had to die. A tear rolled down my cheek and landed on his hip, making William flinch but he didn’t wake. I studied the tattoo under the drop closer, it was small and anonymous amongst the others.

Touched by magic

It didn’t look old, had he gotten it recently? Did he feel that way, that he was touched by magic? Maybe it could calm my soul a bit, knowing I`d made his last weeks better. Weeks…We should have had years. Decades basking in the sun, making love under the full moon. I continued my study without shame, followed his spine up, marvelled upon his shoulders and the perfect anatomy of him. His dark hair hid his forehead, but I could see his long eyelashes fluttering, and his open mouth breathing calmly. I couldn’t resist anymore and used my index-finger to follow the sharp angle of his jaw, the beard raspy under my fingertips. I saw his dimple form before he smiled without opening his eyes.

“Goddess…” The word was a phrase of worship, reverence in his voice. I laid down beside him, hand on his cheek and stared at his beautiful face. His blue eyes blazed with a purple tinge when he opened them, looking right at me.

“It amazes me…” He started but got distracted by my naked body – his hand following the sway of my hip.

“It amazes me that a being so divine as you seem to replace me just as divine.” His eyes never left mine as his hands studied my body as I had studied him earlier. He`d left me utterly satisfied just a couple of hours before, but my body was starved again, never getting enough. His fingers knew me so well, and it took no time at all to ignite me, making me crave him.

“Keep your eyes open all the time, let me see your soul as I enter you and fill you.” A small sigh left my lips when he glided into me, at home.

“How can Heaven be anything other than this?”

I started crying, tears rolling down and into the grass beneath me, disappearing.

He stilled inside me, “Do you love me?”

I nodded vehemently, “Yes, yes I do. All of you.”

“And I love you. That`s all I need to know to make my life fulfilled. Whatever you need to do, you do it. You hear me?”

He started moving again, slowly, antagonizing.

“You don’t understand.” My voice was raw from the crying.

“I don’t need to. I bow to you, Goddess. I was touched by magic, and it has made all the difference.”

I put my hand against his chest, covering his heart.

“You know I was made to love you and cherish your soul, right?”

His eyes blazed with a victorious gleam, “I know. I`ve always known.”

This, to make love to him like this, when I knew I`d signed his death warrant, it was torture. But I couldn’t stop, I needed every minute with him before I signed my soul over to the darkness. What did it do to you, killing your love? Even if the cause was a good one?

We fell at the same time, a perfect ending to our time in Paradise, bound to make the departure even more painful. But now I knew how long Adam and eve were in Eden for.

Not long enough. Never long enough.

“We need to leave, don’t we?”

William`s voice was soft in the dusk, like he was afraid to ruin the magic.

“Yes, we do. Our time is up.” I felt it in my bones, I needed to go back to the real world. William stood and pulled me up, looking confused around him. “I have no idea where my clothes are.” I giggled; I had no idea myself. I could vaguely remember ripping his shirt open, but I couldn’t recall when or where.

“Close your eyes.” He did as I said, and when he opened them again, he was wearing combat-type trousers and a warm sweater, alongside heavy-duty shoes. He frowned, “Odd choice of clothes?” I shrugged, looking down at myself, dressed the same way. “I just envisioned clothes we would need, maybe I haven’t gotten the hang of it yet.”

He started taking them off and folding them in a neat pile. I stepped back to watch him transform, maybe for the last time. It looked so effortlessly, so smooth. It was apparent it was a natural part of him, the way he folded out the wings and flapped them majestic before reaching for my hand was just as a big part of him like his human side.

I smiled, cuddling up to him. “I have the motorcycle ready at the road, if that’s ok?”

His eyes glimmered with laughter and then he lifted us up in the air, spinning around like a bird in the spring. The stars were clear against the dark sky, the new moon shedding almost no light. I felt so alive, safe in his gentle claws as we drifted through the air, the occasional animal making a noise when it sensed the danger above. No words were needed between us, the magic of the night was all we wanted.

The bike stood exactly where I`d wanted it to, making me wonder how much power I had in this world now. Had it transferred, so I could make everything I envisioned here as well? I pondered the thoughts as William got dressed in the dark, it was much colder than I thought it would be, happy for my thick sweater and warm shoes. He walked up to the bike and took possession of it in a way that should be illegal. William kicked it, and the motor roared to life. He put a hand on his thigh, smirked my way – making me swoon way to easily.

“Want a ride?”

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