Chapter 52
Chapter Fifty-Two
She opened her eyes slowly, blinking as she focused her gaze in the gloom. Someone was leaning over her, watching her closely, tenderly stroking her cold forehead. His warm touch comforted her.
“Augustine?” she heard, recognizing the voice of her mysterious lover.
She sat up, feeling somewhat dizzy. The man’s firm embrace held her while he arranged cushions behind her and helped her lie back.
“Nice service,” she said, trying to make a joke, but her weak voice only worried her companion.
“We must return you home, my love,” the man said, still adjusting the surrounding cushions.
“I feel better,” she said, sitting up and staying inches away from him. He instinctively backed off, but she stopped him by lightly placing her hand on the nape of his neck. “I said I feel better, Alderian.”
His expression shifted immediately. His surprise and hope made her feel strangely pleased.
“I don’t remember anything else, so don’t get your hopes up,” she said, smoothing her hair. The disappointment in his eyes was heartbreaking; yet he tried to hide it.
“It’s alright, Augustine... You remembered my name. That is an impressive achievement, considering you’ve passed through the Oblivion of Lethe. Honestly, I don’t know how you do it,” Alderian said while caressing one of her hands.
“You love me too,” Augustine said after a moment. It wasn’t a question.
Alderian smiled and kissed her palm.
“What a relief,” he said laconically.
“What is?”
“You’re still as clever as ever. Though I’d like to clarify that I don’t just love you.
You were, are, and always will be the only one who can do whatever she wants with me.
I can live hundreds of years just contenting myself with seeing you happy.
I’m telling you this because soon you’ll go home and I will no longer exist in your consciousness, and that is fine.
Be happy, my love. And if, from time to time, you think of that strange dream you once had, if you come to remember me that way, I hope you know that even in your dreams you’ve been loved. ”
Augustine wanted to cry. A rush of intense emotion—a mix of melancholy and longing—knotted in her chest. Alderian embraced her the moment he realized she was on the verge of tears.
Words were pointless. Augustine felt an overwhelming need to feel his body, his hands, his lips on hers. She reached for him, searching for the skin beneath his clothes. Alderian shuddered at her touch and pulled back slightly.
“Augustine... you are in a state of great fragility... believe me, I want this more than you do, but I wouldn’t forgive myself for putting you at risk.
” Alderian spoke very low, almost whispering, scant inches from Augustine’s lips.
She simply kissed him. She wanted him for herself and did not want to wait.
Alderian interrupted the kiss, distraught.
“Augustine, please, tomorrow you won’t even remember doing this with me.
You aren’t completely in your right mind now. ”
“Listen to me well, Alderian... we only have this moment. I don’t remember the past we shared, and you tell me we don’t have a future either. But we have now. What does it matter if tomorrow I remember nothing? If right now, the only thing I want is you...”
Alderian groaned, and Augustine didn’t know if it was a complaint or a stifled cry.
“You’re cruel, my Augustine. You know how to strip me of all conviction.
You make right and wrong blur until I no longer know which is which.
I only want to follow you. I only want you to let me be by your side.
I am willing to be chaste and accompany you as a brother would, if that guarantees your safety.
.. but then, you come... you come and disarm me, and I no longer know what I should do. ”
Augustine leaned in, breathing in his scent, her lips barely grazing his.
“Do whatever you want... don’t think about anything else.”
A distraught groan. The pressure of his hands on her back as Alderian took flight, lifting her into the air. His deep kiss as she surrendered to his embrace.
Alderian’s warm tongue traveled over her skin, tracing a path from her neck to her chest. The thin dress she wore slipped to the floor while he held her naked, suspended in mid-air.
“Please... just don’t let your wings sprout...” Alderian murmured. “Don’t try to fly; I won’t let you fall.”
While one of his hands held her firmly by her back, the other squeezed her breasts with urgency. His lips sucked her nipples, his teeth nibbling them gently.
“I want to devour you,” he said, lowering his hand to her sex, sliding a couple of fingers inside her.
His touch was gentle yet firm. Augustine let out a cry of pleasure and bewilderment.
With her own hand, she guided him to keep going—it was hot, electric.
Alderian pulled his fingers out and brought them to his mouth, licking them voraciously. “I want to lick every inch of you.”
Nimbly, he grabbed her by the waist and hoisted her over him, seating her on his face. Tongue, teeth, lips. Augustine writhed in ecstasy while Alderian devoured her with frenzy.
Alderian descended gently and laid her out on the bed.
“You are my woman, my eternal wife,” he said in a husky voice as he took her by the waist, pulling her toward him.
Augustine let herself be swept away, her breathing ragged and her body hot with desire. She opened her legs, inviting him in. He did not make her wait. He penetrated her firmly, and she let out a cry of pleasure. With each of Alderian’s thrusts, she felt a satisfying wave of urgent pressure.
She embraced him, and with her hands, she reached the base of his wings. She timidly touched the black feathers. Alderian startled and interrupted his caresses.
“May I?” Augustine asked, her breath hitched. Alderian kissed her, this time gently.
“There is nothing of me that is forbidden to you.”
Augustine sank her hands into his soft feathers and felt them bristle slightly; his skin shivered from the contact. She caressed them deeply, feeling their soft, warm texture, while Alderian remained inside her, completely vulnerable and surrendered.
Alderian turned her over, leaving her face down, her hips raised sensually toward him.
He grabbed them firmly with both hands, caressing her skin as he penetrated her smoothly.
Augustine exhaled a moan, subjugated and pushing back against him, inciting him for more.
While one of his hands traveled over her buttocks, he lowered the other hand between her thighs, maintaining the perfect angle of pleasure.
Every one of Augustine’s nerve fibers was bristling with excitement.
She couldn’t see them, but she felt the feathers of his wings brushing her waist. She gave herself over to an orgasm that shook her completely, while Alderian finished inside her amid grunts and sighs of pleasure.
They both collapsed onto the bed in a surrendered embrace.
Augustine took refuge against his chest, and Alderian welcomed her with his arms and his feathers, leaving her cradled in a warm cocoon.
“How do you feel?” he asked when their breathing synchronized and their hearts steadied.
“I feel good... it was amazing...” she said, still some lingering spasms of pleasure on her belly. Alderian hugged her tighter.
“I wish this moment were eternal,” he said sleepily.
Augustine said nothing, but after a moment she asked:
“Alderian... Are you a demon?”
He opened his eyes and stared at her.
“What would you do if I were?” he asked.
“Is there something I should do, if you were?”
“And if this weren’t my actual look? If I were a demon so hideous that you couldn’t even look at me without being terrified?”
Augustine smiled softly. “In that case, you can rip my eyes out and keep loving me.”
Alderian flinched. “Don’t say that, not even as a joke.”
“I’m not joking,” she clarified. “If my wings scare you that much, you can tear them off the second they sprout. Whatever it takes for this moment to be eternal.”
Alderian weighed her words before answering with dead seriousness.
“You never cease to amaze me, my sweet Augustine. But just so you know, I’d cut off my own hands before touching you to do you harm. Don’t ever make a request like that again. And for your peace of mind, I’m not a demon, but I wouldn’t mind turning into one for you.”