Tabitha points at the bigger of the two downstairs bedrooms of the pool house. “You don’t care which room I take do you Sky? I reckon you’ll be upstairs with your cutie pie anywho. Don’t worry, I won’t tell her mommy that you snuck up there. Your secret is safe with me. Oh look, there’s a little iddy biddy fridge thingy down here. Let’s just take a look see at what we have here. Ahh, there’s some wine, a lot of wine actually. You guys want to take one of these bottles upstairs with you? Charles can tell her folks that I’m the lousy drunk that took it. I don’t think that Charlie poo’s mumsy likes me very much anyway. Why shouldn’t I swig her expensive swill?”
Charlie tries not to appear snobbish when she responds. “Tabby, that’s a wine cooler.”
“Nope. Sorry sweety, I don’t see any wine coolers in here. Just the good stuff.”
Charlie gives up. Tabitha is completely impossible. If sarcasm were a career she’d be president. This is an endearing quality given the right circumstances. “I think we could crack one of those open and have a nip or two. My mother is enough to make a nun dip into the sacramental wine. Pick one out Tabby. I prefer Chardonay. That way we won’t ruin the décor if we spill it. Red wine on the white carpet would send my mother into orbit! Aside from that, I think that we all could use a drink after that horrible dining experience. Sorry about the game of twenty questions you guys. Luanne has to know everything. If you have anything controversial in your luggage, don’t leave it lying around. My mother likes to ‘clean’ a lot. Especially when it comes to my space. She is nosy. I couldn’t keep anything hidden when I was young. She always found my diaries, notes, or just about anything that I wouldn’t want her to find. One day someone is going to be honest with that woman, and she is going to fall over dead from shock.”
Tabitha pulls a bottle of white wine from the cooler and grabs three glasses from the rack. “Here you go my pretties. Don’t worry about your mom Charlie old boy. I’ll just leave my vibrator on the kitchen table before breakfast. That way, she won’t have to snoop around. Most likely she’s just slightly rigid from that lump of coal in her butt. She’ll have a beautiful diamond someday. There’s something to be said for family heirlooms! I’m looking forward to the coin collection that my mom keeps in a plastic baggy under her bed. When she dies it’s all mine, but I won’t let unbelievable wealth change me. No sir, I’m just a regular rock star. Not a single pretentious bone in this body.”
Two bottles of wine vanish during the course of the conversation. Charlie looks at the clock on the wall. “Well Tabby, I think that it’s time for bed. Sky, would you like to accompany me. We’ll mess up the bed down here just to make it look convincing.”
Sky walks into the bedroom to change and closes the door behind her. “Good night Tabby. We’ll see you in the morning. Are you all ready for church? Did you bring your Sunday best?”
“Yes dear. Is a T-shirt with a band logo appropriate? If it’s not, I brought some leather chaps? I’ll be a big hit with the preacher! Is there a TV in this room?” She takes an open bottle of wine and cradles it in her right elbow.
Charlie nods. “Yes. You can stay up all night watching commercials for mattresses and kitchen knives. Good night.”
“Fanfreakentastic! I’ve been looking for some new kitchen knives. Have you ever tried to cut a grapefruit with a plastic spoon? It’s a bitch!” She whistles to herself as she saunters into the bedroom and closes the door. “See you kids I the morning.”
Sky emerges from the bedroom wearing a silk robe and carrying two candles. “Okay dearest. I’m ready.” She picks up another bottle of wine from the cooler. “I’m guessing that Tabby took the other one.”
The loft is dark when they reach the top of the stairs, and flipping the light switch on has no effect on the night’s shadows. “Maybe the light has burned out?” Sky says to Charlie with a hint of humor in her voice. “Kind of romantic isn’t it Lenore?” Charlie pulls away from her to venture off into the dark room. Suddenly, Sky feels the darkness of the room in front of her. “Hurry back. I’m afraid of the dark.” She’s only half joking, but the alcohol is serving as a truth serum.
Charlie stumbles through the shadows and collides with an unknown object. “Ouch! I think I’m bleeding!”
Sky can see Charlie’s silhouette jumping up and down with one hand grasping on to her wounded shin. She tries to contain the laughter that is welling up in the pit of her chest. It proves to be a futile attempt. She laughs before covering her mouth to maintain an honest inquiry. “Are you okay, honey? I don’t mean to laugh, but if you had seen what I just saw you would be rolling around on the floor for reasons other than personal injury.”
Charlie shoots a look at Sky that could be felt rather than seen. Sky continues to giggle at the break in romantic mood. When the pain begins to retreat from Charlie’s freshly bruised ego she limps over to the chair with a few shreds of dignity trailing behind her. She mutters, “This stupid lamp is supposed to turn on when you flick the wall switch. Obviously, it doesn’t want to work right now.” She turns the switch under the lampshade. “Oh, now it works. Now that I’ve smashed all of the bones in my leg! That’s definitely going to leave a bruise. Damn it.”
Sky moves across the room toward Charlie with undeniable elegance. She places the wine, glasses, and candles on the table next to the bed. “Now honey, it’s just a small twist of fate. I think you’ll live.” She drops down onto one knee and kisses Charlie’s leg gently. “Is that better?”
“Yes. Thank you.”
Sky stands back up and takes a book of matches from her pocket. “Good. Sit on the bed. I’ll light these candles, and we won’t have to worry about the stupid lamp.”
Charlie turns the switch on the lamp and moves over to the bed without further incident.
Sky strikes a match. A burst of orange flame explodes from the tiny strip of sulfur laced cardboard. The sharp features of her face are illuminated at the sudden onset of soft light. Her radiance forces its way into reality like an apparition materializing in a haunted castle. Charlie studies Sky’s eyes for a glimpse into the future.
The candles are lit one at a time with Sky’s persuasive touch, as if she could create fire from her fingertips alone. She tilts the flame at just the right angle to prolong the life of the match. Then pours the wine into the crystalline vessels with a gentle maneuver of her hand. Charlie watches her every move in complete amazement of her grace.
Sky surrenders one of the glasses to Lenore, and raises the other to her lips in a regal presentation before placing her own glass on the table. She cups her hand over her partner’s, following the line of the woman’s lower lip with the edge of the glass. Sky arches her wrist just enough to give her a taste of the wine. Lenore allows the liquid to roll over her tongue. Tasting the subtlety of saccharine married to dry, a complex mixture of nectar and time that has been coupled by a love of humanity.
Sky benevolently coaxes the chalice from her mistress’s hand and sets it on the table. Her impassioned gaze beseeches Lenore and affirms the bond that exists there. The illustrious Tyrian purple shielded leg. Small shock waves blanket her skin, radiating from the site where Sky’s body encounters hers. Even the slightest touch is like a pebble shattering a pond’s surface, driving molecules from the point of impact and dispersing them into the vast sea of her soul.
Sky’s tongue is insistently pursuing the trail of delectation. She moves away from the kiss and toward her beloved with open arms and unguarded spirit as she whispers, “opes regum corda subditorum. The riches of kings are the hearts of their
shielded leg. Small shock waves blanket her skin, radiating from the site where Sky’s body encounters hers. Even the slightest touch is like a pebble shattering a pond’s surface, driving molecules from the point of impact and dispersing them into the vast sea of her soul.
Sky’s tongue is insistently pursuing the trail of delectation. She moves away from the kiss and toward her beloved with open arms and unguarded spirit as she whispers, “opes regum corda subditorum. The riches of kings are the hearts of their subjects. I offer my heart to you.” Straddling the woman’s legs with her unsheathed thighs.
Lenore’s eyes open to meet Sky’s exposed vulnerabilities and the cage that shelters her essence. She lay one hand over the splintering armor of Sky’s chest, kneading her fingers against old wounds, attempting to mend the domain within the girl’s being that bleeds from loss. The warmth of Sky’s body has transformed. Although the physical space remains unchanged, the territory is now occupied with love.
Lenore wraps both of her arms around Sky’s waist as she delicately persuades the girl to lay back on the bed. Sky’s bones become frail with her lover’s touch and she complies without resistance. She resigns in absolute submission to the woman’s embrace, finally permitting another creature to view her true being. A weight has been lifted and there are no more mysteries between them.
Lenore gathers Sky’s legs to place them in her lap, caressing delicate skin from ankle to knee. The robe has parted slightly with her movements, bringing forth an ivory river that flows from the base of her neck to the equator of her waist. Two hemispheres joined by creation and separated by suspicion.
Lenore beholds Sky with faithful worship, then drags her fingertips down her unveiled torso until she reaches the tangle at her waist and unravels it slowly. Her fair skin tone intermingles with the candlelight like a painted portrait that bled from the canvas and poured herself into the world. Her body a sculpture of chiseled features that must be cast from a piece of soapstone. The lines of her collarbones wed at the base of an angelic neck and extend to her rounded shoulders in one measure.
Sky gazes at Lenore with desire in her eyes as she battles the impulse to imprison her gentlewoman’s body, to swallow her whole with her naked flesh. She is motionless in the presence of Lenore’s bidding. It is a testament to Sky’s honor. She is willing to give herself entirely to one woman despite her boundless apprehension.
Lenore takes the glass of wine from the table and raises it in the flickering candlelight. The brilliant glass glistens in the faint yellow glow of the room as she tips it to draw forth a few drops of perfumed elixir to shower on her lover’s exposed stomach. Beads of exquisite poison hurdle through the emptiness between them and scorch as they splash against Sky’s fiery skin. She arches her back when the icy droplets assail her serenity.
Lenore bows down to savor the intoxicating potion cleansing Sky’s sculpted muscles, rediscovering the purpose that hides behind faith. Sky laces her fingers behind Lenore’s head before allowing her hands to stray over the woman’s face, tracing her jaw line.
Lenore aches for the intimacy of Sky’s flesh. Connecting what it is with what should be, she sits upright to remove the confinement of clothing. Her shirt is flung carelessly to the floor, and her body threatens to incinerate when her breasts brush against Sky’s thigh. She runs her hands along the girl’s ribcage underneath the robe, feeling the smooth surface that unifies a majestic physical form. Desire sears through every cell in Sky’s being as the woman drags her splayed fingers down her sides, conquering every inch of flesh in her wake. Lenore seizes the girl’s hips with both hands, satiating the need to possess her completely. She is a mere servant while encompassed by the divinity of Sky’s magnificence.
Sky is a portrait of a woman, the portrayal of a goddess that lives in the hearts of all reverent men. She is sweeter somehow in this moment, there in the arms of her cherished Lenore. She exists as a still life caught in time. Her woman, her man, her everything is inside of her, surrounding her, covering her like a down blanket in the heartless months of winter. A unique snowflake that no human could replicate. She is beauty in its purest form, woman.
Lenore tastes the goddess on her tongue. The enchanting nectar granted wholly from an omnipotent being. For only one who could foresee the world as it is, was, and will be would possess the ascendancy to bestow such an astonishing honor upon mortals.
They are married this night. Despite conventional thought. Beyond legal terms that define endearment within a society. The two are as far from the soil as flesh can sustain without the transformation of death.