72
Villains fall in love too
T he twenty-seven minutes and thirty-three seconds it took to remove the mummy from the room and for my goddess to appear at the door felt like an eternity.
My heart was pounding in my throat, and my mind was racing a mile a minute. I couldn't afford to make a mistake in what I said or how I said it.
I was a wreck; the painkillers were helping me control the pain in my side, and the corticosteroids were reducing the inflammation. I felt a certain swelling, and I don't mean in my groin, but in the abdominal area, a result of all the medication. I hoped I didn't look like a toad instead of the prince a woman like the one who had just walked through the door deserved. She remained silent and expectant. It was logical, after all I had put her through. Although it was true that Nikita hadn’t acted well, I wasn’t exactly an example either. The difference was that she had more than redeemed herself.
"Be good," commented the nurse as she and the orderly settled my wife into her new bed. "You are forbidden from having sex until your wounds have healed, so practice contemplative love, as difficult as that may be. Those looks you’re giving each other will set off the fire alarm at the slightest touch, and I wouldn’t like to see anything inappropriate. At my age and without plans for the coming years, it would make me envious."
My nurse was a riot; if I hadn’t been so nervous, I would have joked along with her. The orderly let out a low chuckle, and I sensed a wink from him at my wife that almost made me get up and remind him of his childhood, when he had supplied the Tooth Fairy with enough teeth to fill her sack for a month.
I controlled my anger by giving the guy a look that wiped the smile off his face. They both left the room, and I went to stand up.
"What are you doing?" my roommate questioned, noticing my intention.
"I still don’t know how to teleport, so I'm trying to get up to go see you."
"Don’t even think about it," she stopped me. "You heard the nurse. You in your bed, and me in mine."
"I didn’t intend to have sex, if that’s what you thought."
"That’s not what I meant. I imagine touching me is not one of your priorities." If I told her I was dying to kiss her and would give anything to be well enough to do just that, would I come off as a creep? I didn’t move, evaluating the possibilities. Nikita resumed the conversation. "I’ve thought a lot about us, and I just want to tell you that I accept."
"Accept what?" I asked, confused.
"That I want to sign the divorce papers." That I did not expect. It was worse than Will Smith’s slap at the Oscars. A smack to my ego with an open hand. When I suggested the possibility of divorce, I was 99.9% sure she would accept my proposal to marry me for love. I thought she realized that what we had went beyond an agreement and that she was just afraid to admit her feelings. Now, I wasn’t so sure it had been a good idea. My signature was on those documents, and if she signed, I would lose her forever.
"You want a divorce?"
"Of course, she wants a divorce, you are idiot! She almost died for you twice."
"Yes, I’m decided," she responded firmly.
Even if I had wanted to, I couldn’t have moved. Nikita did it instead. She got up, put her feet on the ground, and dragged that kind of silver stand with the transparent IV bag hanging from it. If there was a person who could make that shitty gown look like a freaking runway model, it was my still-wife. Now the swelling below my waist was definitely going down. If the nurse walked in at that moment, she’d jab me with a muscle relaxant like a dart in a bull.
With the feline calm of a cat walking along a railing on the 70th floor of a burning building, she reached my bed. She sat on the edge without asking permission, giving me a privileged view of her figure. The gown bunched up at the edge of her thighs. I struggled to swallow and not let my jaw drop to the parking lot.
All my senses were focused on that extraordinary creature, who with slightly tousled hair and full lips, took me to unimaginable limits.
"I’m not going to ask for your forgiveness again for what I did," she admitted seriously. "I’ve apologized so many times that I’ve exhausted my reserves." I didn’t want her to do that, quite the opposite.
"Nikita, I…"
"Let me speak; I know exactly what I want to say, and now you seem willing to listen." She was reminding me of my lack of attention when I had kept her naked and imprisoned in our own room. I owed her, I owed her so many things that it was easiest to start with this. I nodded to let her speak freely.
"We didn't start off on the right foot. Too much thirst for revenge, too many burdens on our shoulders, and even though there was a moment during our trip to Greece when I thought everything fit together, life sent me a reality check that completely threw me off." Terror froze my heart in my chest, thinking about what was coming next.
"Integrating my brother into the equation of our marriage was one of the trickiest things I've ever had to face. However, the worst part was losing your love because of me. I didn't know that loving so viscerally could hurt so much until I met you.
"I'm not going to lie to you, I had kissed many lips before yours, but I never wanted to stay and live in a kiss." I went to speak, but her fingers pressed against my mouth. "You hurt too much, amore , right here," she pointed to her chest. "Every decision you make affects me in a way that escapes my reason. That's why I think it's best if we divorce."
"Because I disgust you? Because you can't forgive what I've done to you?" I spat out uncontrollably. "I swear, Nikita, if you just try…" She smiled calmly.
"No, you're mistaken, I don't have to forgive you for anything. Everything is very clear on my part. Why do you think I want the divorce?" she questioned, waiting for my response.
"So you never have to see me again in your damn life," I concluded painfully, "and you're well within your rights. I was the one who opened the door for it, although, to be frank, what I was seeking was the opposite." She laughed hoarsely.
"Oh, amore , as smart as you are, you understand so little about me. If I want a divorce, it's to show you that no matter how much you want to separate from me, no matter how much our battles hurt, I choose your mouth over any other, no matter how comfortable it might be. I want to fight by your side, through thick and thin; that's why I want to sign and accept the ring you gave me along with the commitment to marry you, because I love you." The rhythm of my heartbeat had become deafening. Was it possible that she could forgive me so easily and even love me? "You always learn from your mistakes, and I can't think of a better life plan than spending it by your side. It's not going to be a bed of roses, but what would a beautiful rose be without its thorns?" It couldn't be that easy, it just couldn't be… "What's wrong? Are you having a heart attack? Should I call the nurse?"
"The only nurse I need is right in front of me," I sighed, releasing the breath I had been holding. "Every rose is always preceded by a bud, and this one is meant for you." She laughed again. How I adored her enveloping laughter. "I don't know what I've done to deserve you, but I do know that I won't let go of you no matter how many obstacles arise, and once we remarry, forget about divorcing again."
"I have no intention of doing so."
"Wonderful, because in the coming years I plan to do nothing but love you, fuck you, and kill people by your side."
"Mmm, you turn me on so much when you get romantic. Have I ever told you that killing people is one of my greatest virtues?"
I pulled her towards me and melted into her mouth, as it could only be, giving my heart with every touch, every lick, every caress.
Because villains fall in love too, and I had fallen in love with mine.