Page 118 of Stains of Desire
"What is it?"
She slides her fingers through my hair. "Come shower with me? I've missed you."
"I've been in hell without you," I admit.
She closes her eyes and whispers, "Make me forget for a while. I need a break."
I pull her down on the bed and murmur in her ear, "Then we'll shower later. I need to feel you under me."
"Yes," she agrees.
In every rebirth, there's a moment you never forget. A turning point so indestructible, you can feel it as it's happening. This is ours.
Our conversation is an unbreakable contract of our love. It's a guarantee I hope I never have to make good on. But it's the attestation bringing her back to me and giving her the strength she needs to move forward.
We make love for hours. The ticking in my head never stops. An hourglass of dripping sand fills my mind, a watermark staining every pleasurable moment with her.
My determination to get Penelope safely to Bermuda and find Millie nags me with every move I make. I won't lose her. I can't. She's in control of my heart. The air I breathe doesn't exist without her. Our souls are entwined, and without her, I'll cease to exist.
But I believe in the power of a mother and child. And the fact she made me promise her this, makes me even more determined to get her safely to Bermuda so I don't ever have to choose.
