Page 26 of Deliverance
“My heart. Something we had vowed to never give to a human for to do so would render us mortal,” Eloy confessed.
Mateo stared at him, and again his tears could not be withheld. “Your heart,” he whispered.
Eloy nodded, then took Mateo’s hands into his own. “Mateo… these words I am about to say to you will make me mortal. As mortal as you are now… though I will keep my ability to control fire. My flesh will be as vulnerable as yours is now. I will age as a normal human ages and will be susceptible to all things humans fall prey too.”
Mateo shook his head desperately as he gripped Eloy’s hands. “Then do not to say them, please!” His gazed in Eloy’s eyes, pleading for his lover to not sacrifice his power for him.
Eloy reached up, caressing Mateo’s face. “I must, for I would rather be mortal than to go on with you never hearing them fall from my lips.”
Mateo’s mouth dropped open. “I… I do not want you to die.”
“With you by my side, I do not fear it. You have given me the strength to endure and as long as we are together, there is nothing we cannot overcome,” Eloy said.
“Eloy,” Mateo said… it was all he could say.
“Mateo… I love you,” Eloy said, then he gasped as a jolt shot through his body.
Mateo wrapped his arms around Eloy, holding tightly as the god lost his god invulnerability. Eloy groaned as his body remained rigid. Mateo didn’t know if it was painful or otherwise, he just wanted Eloy to know he’d never leave him. “I love you too,” he said.
Eloy gasped again as his muscles relaxed and he sunk into Mateo’s embrace. “I love you, Mateo, and I always will,” he said through feeble pants.
“I will never leave you, Eloy,” Mateo promised as he held his lover in his arms. Life would be different for them both, but he was ready to take it on as long as Eloy was by his side. To experience what real love felt like was a dream come true. It made him strong. It made him happy and in its own way, it made them both immortal. For Mateo, he now had a life worth living… with Eloy.
EPILOGUE
Mateo climbed out of the car and rushed into the hut he had once shared with his mother and sister. He called out their names as he approached, praying that they were still there. “Isabella! Madeline!”
Before he could reach the entryway of the wooden hut, both women came rushing out. His mother screamed as she fell to her knees, shocked to see that her son was alive. His sister ran into his arms, hugging him for dear life. Her grip as was tight as she could make it. Mateo held his sister, crying as she was. Both were so happy to see each other.
“I missed you so much,” Mateo said as he kissed the top of her head.
“I have missed you too. Mama and I thought you were dead,” Isabella said.
“I feared the same for you.”
She released her brother enough to look at him. “Kijani’s cock, you are huge!”
Mateo laughed. “Not that huge.”
“Not how you used to be. What happened to you?” she asked.
“I will tell you, but first, let me see mama,” Mateo said.
“Oh… right,” Isabella released him so he could go to their mother, who had still not found the strength to stand.
“Mama,” Mateo said as he dropped to his knees to hug her.
“My baby… my baby boy… you live,” was all his mother could say as she held onto her son with trembling arms and hands.
“Mama, I live and love. I want to take you back home with me and Eloy,” Mateo said.
His mother stiffened then and pulled back to look her son in the eyes. “The god, Eloy?” she asked.
Mateo’s smile widened and he nodded. “Yes. He came with me.”
“A god in the badlands?” his mother gasped.
“Everything is different now, mama. He is different. We are in love.”
