“Let me prove it to you.” An ornery, half-smile took the place of his dark expression.
“Okay. This will be interesting. Give it your best shot.” I rolled my eyes.
“You dream about me?” His tone sounded like a question. Demien wasn’t asking.
I rolled my eyes. “Yes, I’ve admitted that. I’m pretty sure this is a dream. What about it?” I crossed my arms over my chest and impatiently tapped my foot on the floor.
“Let me finish. Remember after we met? You dreamt that I was in your room, watching you sleep. I had Queen of the Night orchids for you and placed them in your room before you arrived home. Then, we had lain in bed together while you fell asleep in my arms.”
I felt the crease in my eyebrows turn from light and joking to bewildered and cautious. “Yes. I didn’t tell you about that one.” I thought for a minute. “I didn’t tell anyone about that one, not even Myra.”
“Or the dreams of our meetings in the most beautiful field surrounding us with orchids and azaleas?” he continued. Okay, now he was really beginning to freak me out.
“Yes,” I choked out.
“I remember one dream. You were probably about fifteen in this lifetime. We were having a picnic in our usual private field. It was a nice day, except for the dark clouds in the west. You were in a good mood. I remember you were doing cartwheels. All of a sudden, your wings appeared. Your wings are always glittering and white, beautiful, except this particular day. They were frail and jagged. You were jaded in some way. You started crying. I asked you what was wrong. You gave me the oddest look, almost like confusion. It was very close to the expression on your face now. Anyways, I couldn’t figure it out. Before I could inquire, you disappeared. I was so worried about you. You are always happy when we are together. Maybe not recently, but aside from recent events, we are always happy together. We complete each other. We can take on the world as one.” He leans into my ear and whispers, “That’s why we mustn’t be together.”
My throat made a loud gulp noise as I swallowed hard. “I remember that dream. It was right after my dad died. Several months later, I had a daydream.” I laughed at the memory. “I remember it was a daydream, because I was called out in class for not paying attention. You were happy because my wings were restored.”
“Our dreams are not just dreams. Sometimes I find you in your current lives. But mostly I’m doomed to wander the Earth, searching for you, finding you only in our dreams.” My mouth was hanging open. I forced it closed.
“Wait… lives?” I interrupted, screaming at the top of my lungs. “What do you mean… lives?”
“Let me show you something.” He placed his hand around to the small of my back and leaned in for a soft kiss. His lips left mine and followed an invisible trail, kissing my cheek to the back of my neck. His hand followed a different trail, slowly moving from the small of my back, finding my hip, his body moving around me. My body shook with excitement and anticipation. Just when I was going to lose control, his hands found a resting place low on my hips, hooking his fingers in the belt loop of my jeans on both sides. He was standing behind me, relaxed and comfortable. Demien’s head was near my ear. “Ready?”
I slowly nodded my head, unable to find words. I felt Demien softly chuckle. His breath felt spicy and warm on my neck.
His breathtaking wings expanded before my eyes, releasing a bright, white glow with brushes of darkness before dimming to medium charcoal. Demien bent his knees slightly and gently pushed off the ground, through the window. Slowly, we began ascending.
“Whoa. Really? We are flying? This is for real?” I was in awe. The night sky was beautiful. The air was crisp and cool. I could see millions more stars than I had ever imagined. Because I lived in the backwoods, I could usually see many more stars than most people, but not this many. The beauty was intense.
Demien softly kissed my cheek as an answer.
It felt comfortable… normal. “We do this often, don’t we?”
“Yes.” His voice was rugged, yet soft… full of desire.
“I’ve dreamt about this my entire life.”
“I know, Zanj.”
Demien slowly turned me around to face him. “I love you so much. You can’t imagine…”
“This is home.”
He softly locked his lips with mine. It was a long, passionate kiss. I could feel his desire radiating from every part of him. I melted into him. I was going to ask him something, about his last comment, I thought, but I couldn’t remember. I felt a slight descent. I soon felt the ground under my feet and carpet between my toes. I didn’t have to open my eyes, I knew where we were. Disappointingly, we were back in my house.
“Do me a favor,” he whispered in my ear without moving his lips or being close to my ear.
“Wait. How did you do that?” I finally asked.
“I can do a lot of things. What are you asking about particularly?”
“Whisper in my ear like that?” I snapped. He knew what I was talking about.
“We can talk about this later. I need a favor.” His eyes were pleading.
“No. I want to talk about this now.” I pushed.
“I need you to wake up, and then I’ll talk about whatever you want.” He pushed harder.
“Don’t you dare try to change the subject. Somehow you never quite
