Love and Beyond Part 3

by Nathan Colston

  She turned and walked back in the room Clarence followed. Gloria stood for a moment with her back to him, still breathing hard. She turned walked up to him and said, “Last night, something happened. What I am about to say is the truth. I started something that I do not regret in the least. But it is also something that I do not wish to continue. Thank you for the dances and your time. And a feeling I will never forget. I do not ever want to dance with you again.” She walked away.

  Later, Sam walked into her office. She said, “Lock the door. No one hears what I say in this recording until my death.”

  Sam pulled out a voice recorder and said, “Agreed.”

  Gloria said with a hint of fear in her voice, “We started the commitment yesterday, the Dance of Hearts. Later, I completed having sex with Clarence. It was incredible. When it was over, I felt guilty as if I was cheating on my husband and Stanley. Something happened, an incredible feeling came over me one I couldn’t control. Every part of my mind was screaming stop, but every inch of my body needed it. After sex the first time, I got up with all intention of leaving. He said once was not enough; he pushed me is the word I want to use. But the truth is I went willing and wanting it. He made me feel like the first time. I couldn’t get enough of him. When we were done, I kissed him and left before he could do it again.

  “The more I thought, the more I compared Clarence and Stanley. When I had finished the second time, I couldn’t tell the difference between Stanley and Clarence.

  “I went home and the pain and the urge to hold someone was great. But more than that, I felt like I had just had sex with Stanley. I was frightened, so I went to someone to hold them. We had sex. I did not see any faces. I felt guilty at what I was doing to my husband. I went home despite what I did. I couldn’t stop thinking of all three of them. Stanley, Clarence, or my husband. I felt as if I was in a dream and someone was talking to me, a voice I could almost recognize. It seemed that my life and all that was in it was slipping away. My husband came home. I couldn’t sleep so I held him. The longer I lay in bed, the stronger the feeling got. I was losing everything: my life, my children, my husband.

  “The feeling got so strong until I had to leave before I lost my mind. I came to the studio and started dancing until the feelings passed. This morning, I told Clarence I never wanted to dance with him again. This is my last entry to the archives. I am done with dancing after the championship contest. End of report.” Sam sat with a concentrated look on his face as he pressed stop. “Off record, Sam, something is happening to me. My body is shaking on the inside like a leaf on tree. He recorded us having sex. Watch it. Tell me what the hell is happening to me.” Gloria got up and walked out of the office.

  Chapter 22

  Aftermath

  Gloria went home and got in the bed. She woke up and went to Britney’s house and parked by the gazebo and looked out at the lake. She felt arms come around her at the top of her chest. Clarence said, “Sam watched the video. He said he thought the first time was undoing the bond between you and Stanley, the second time ended the curse. He suggested we have sex again; the sensation wouldn’t be the same. I did what your husband told me to do. He said to call my girlfriend and tell her everything. I called, and I told Samantha everything. She finds it all interesting. She told me to ask if you thought about filming it for a reality television show. She bets it would make a lot of money.”

  Gloria laughed slightly. “She is probably right. Lifestyles of the Weird and Crazy would be a good name for it.” Giving him a curious look, she said, “And my husband brought you here knowing that we were going to have sex again? He told you to have sex with me.”

  Clarence laughed nervously. “Um, I may have not told him that part. But the rest he did say for me to do. I got the impression he wanted us to work things out. If he didn’t care about last night, why would he worry about tonight?”

  Gloria shifted her eyes to the side and shook her head slightly. She reached up and put her hand on his arm. She sighed at how good his touch made her feel. She said, “Clarence, the completion of the curse is unnatural, from start to finish. What you feel now isn’t really real.”

  “Then tell me what is real, so I will know.”

  She sighed as she moved back to stand. “I don’t know.”

  He backed up, allowing her to stand. He said, “Then how do you know it isn’t real?”

  She said as she turned to face him, “Because I have my soul mate. Stanley was an unexpected love. They are the only two loves more powerful than the curse.” Her look got serious as his hands rested on her lower back. She said, “Bobby thinks that the curse is all about a wonderful sex life.” She shook her head. “They all do, but it is not.” She leaned back to touch his chest and she said, “What should have been done was. We should have gone out a few times, talked without dancing. The moment we danced with each other started it. I don’t mean the curse or even the bond. The curse started drawing us in. A feeling of someone you want to know, become a friend to. He forgets that part so easily because he went unchecked. He didn’t know she was his dance mate. I, on the other hand, know this feeling I have with you holding me isn’t real. What makes this so perfect is everything, conversations that last hours without running out of things to say. Passing time, having fun, doing things that each other likes.

  “If you don’t like it when you do it with each other, you are surprised at the fun you had while doing it. The two of us are essentially a couple. You are in a somewhat of a committed relationship. I am in a committed relationship.”

  She looked up at him. “I sometimes forget I am not all I believe myself to be.” She turned and leaned next to him. His hand, which was on her lower back just above her butt, was now just above her sex. She placed her hand on his and said, “What happened last night was unnatural and I know it. Looking into my husband’s eyes reminded me of many things. Clarence, when it comes to a relationship, the things I said are what everyone wants, men and women. Both will tell you that they want an incredible sex life. Sex alone doesn’t make the relationship. It completes it by making everything else stronger. In the end, you hope you can get it back, so the other things will continue to grow. I can say I love my husband. I can say I am happy with life the way it was. I wish I could go back to the night a fifteen-year-old boy fell on the couch and make love to him again. I wish I knew then what I know now. Lying out on this beach. Trying not to let him know I was watching his every move.”

  “Then I guess, um, I should say good bye.”

  “No,” she said with a hint of uncertainty in her voice. She pressed her lips together and ran her tongue through them. “To be honest, I don’t know what to do, or to tell you what to do. Nothing like this has been recorded before. I have no reference to go by. If you think this is what is best after I told you everything I did, then you do what you think you should.” She moved her hand from his. Her shirt started up; she closed her eyes and held her arms up. She felt it rub her arm as it fell to the ground. As he started unfastening her bra, she pulled her pants down with her underwear. She turned and lay back on the picnic table as he pulled his pants down. He rubbed the head of his dick on her sex.

  His touch felt so good to her. She said just as he started in her, “Stop.” He backed away. There was a look of relief on her face that words couldn’t describe. She smiled and said, “I wanted to make sure I could say it.” She sat up, grabbing him, pulling him closer to her. As they were holding each other, a man stepped from the woods and a smile came to his face. As he watched, he said low, “Now you will be mine.” In the lake, eyes started rising up out of the water. They were large: one of red the other of blue. They looked like giant reptilian eyes. As the head of a dragon slowly rose from the depths of the lake, the man backed away and vanished. The head lowered back down in the water.

  Sam sat looking at the video again alone in an office. He had a concerned look on his face. ‘She is enjoying herself. I a
m not sure of that is the look of concern or guilt mixed in with pleasure. When she starts on him, she has a look of doubt but needing him on her face. I wouldn’t be afraid to say that is the look of fear in her eyes. He has a look of pleasure on his face. I would too if I was him. He doesn’t know what to expect, but she does. He’s going in her, a look of pleasure, more than pleasure. She said she wanted to say stop, but she couldn’t. Could it be that she is dominating him and doesn’t know it? Unlikely, since they didn’t dance after they left. Both said that. Was it the bond being broken; the curse being removed? I hope she bought that. Doubtful she knows the curse ends at death. But maybe I caused some doubt in her mind. We are in uncharted territory. It could be that, but I highly doubt it. I lost Silvia, Sabrina had lost Francois, and we didn’t experience anything like that. But we weren’t dance mates either. But neither of us saw our former mates either.

  I can tell she is trying to either bond or start the curse. That is plain to see. Something is preventing it, but what? Unexpected love is said to be stronger than death. When Stanley was shot, she said she heard him, she felt him. His heart wasn’t beating at the time, or so she said. I don’t see why she would lie about that. I can tell she doesn’t want him to know the pleasure she is feeling. The love of a soulmate won’t prevent the curse from starting. It is said to be strong enough to overcome the temptations of the curse. An unexpected love, maybe. But Stanley is dead. If the love is strong enough to overcome death, then it is strong enough to prevent the curse, or the bond.

  He placed his hand under his chin and leaned forward as they started the second time. He thought, ‘Her eyes say she doesn’t want it, that is plain to see, but she can’t stop it. Her desires are controlling her body, suppressing her will. She came again, she came the first time he stuck it in her, and now again. He is hung, I will give him that, but Gloria is a well experienced woman. She has had her share of men. This is unusual. Not saying she wouldn’t have if it had been a long time. But I get the impression she is loving the hell out of being with a younger man. Plus, the fact that she just had sex with him twenty minutes earlier. That could be explained by the foreplay. He didn’t touch her, except to go inside her. It is plain to see she is trying to something is stopping her. What and why? I keep asking the same thing.

  If Stanley is preventing it, then he has a reason. They say the dead that walk among the living start resenting the living because they cannot live. Note to self, get in touch with a spirit walker. I don’t know how long it takes for a spirit to begin resenting. This I do know; Clarence don’t have the knowledge to dominate anyone. Even if he did, Gloria is way more powerful than him. I will talk to them both tomorrow. What frightens me the most is what if it isn’t Stanley preventing this? What if death has sent hate? No, it couldn’t be that. Three times, they die. The last youth will be restored. Or so the story goes. He must not be allowed to return. But it is said that they all will lie with each other. The only two that will not lie with each other are Dannarr and the priest. If they do, it will not be for love; it will be out of revenge. She has got to rejoin the curse. But something tells me nothing will prevent that.’

  Gloria lay in the grass, her head on Clarence’s shoulder, her body soaked in sweat. She had a pleased, relieved smile on her face. “You were fantastic, better than fantastic.” She rubbed her fingers on his chest.

  “Then why did you tell me to stop? I thought this was going to be a casual thing. Was it because we had sex twice last night?”

  Gloria shook her head. “No, I wanted to make sure tonight wasn’t anything like last night, and it wasn’t. At one time, I was the person that people think I am. But like all things, I changed in time. In many ways, I move too fast. I said I needed time to think. The next day we are starting something, and I had sex with you. That reminded me of two things. Like I said beforehand, I am not as strong as I think myself to be. I also stand to lose a lot if this doesn’t go right. I had sex with you, then to top it all off, I had sex again with another man. At one time, I would have gone home and said, Damn, two in one night. Boy, wasn’t it fun. I don’t want that lifestyle anymore. Yet I find myself wanting it back. Yeah, sounds a bit contradictory. Okay, maybe a lot contradictory.”

  Clarence looked at her. “Sounds like you don’t know what you want.”

  Gloria laughed slightly. “I came to the same conclusion. But what the hell.”

  Clarence placed a serious look on his face. “Time to test that honesty thing out. I take it you have heard a lot of songs. Being that you are a dancer.”

  Gloria smiled and laughed slightly. “I have heard a few.”

  “Let’s make a promise to each other. One that we keep. Let’s do something that you said we would never do. Compete.”

  She looked at him. She started to say something, but he said, “That look this morning was one I know all too well. I won’t ask you any questions. You don’t ask me any questions. We act like this morning never happened. Our very next dance is to a song. Kenny Rogers, ‘Blaze of Glory.’ Like the song said, all good things must end. Like two heroes in a story. Let’s go out like we came in. In a blaze of glory.”

  “No questions asked?”

  Clarence shook his head. “Not the first one.”

  Gloria started to get up. “First: you need coaching if you are going to pursue a dancing career. Second: we need to dance if we are going to bond. You got plans for Friday night?”

  Clarence smiled and said as he watched her walk over to her clothes. “I do not know, do I?”

  “Yes, you do. I want to meet Samantha and your kids. Plus, I want to go out and have some fun.” She grabbed her clothes and started getting dressed.

  Clarence started getting dressed too. “Fun is always a good thing.”

  Gloria pitched him his pants. “Yes, it is, Clarence. I want to bond, but after the bond, we dance only a few nights a year. I do not want to start the completion.” She walked over to him and said as she kissed him, “I don’t want you to take this the wrong way, but what was most pleasurable to my body and heart was what I didn’t feel.”

  She kissed him again. “You were great, but my husband is better. If I kiss you again, that means I am too weak, makes me separate from you. That is how much I trust you.” He touched her face and nodded. She turned and looked out at the lake. As she did, a peace she hadn’t felt in a long time came over her, a sense of relief. The moon reflected off the ripples and a soft breeze blew in the wind. She could swear she heard, “Yola, you are not alone.” A sound lower than a whisper. She smiled and thought, ‘Who is Yola?’ She turned to walk away then abruptly stopped and looked back. “The reincarnation of mother of Dennarr,” she said. “What!” But silence was all she heard.

  Clarence looked at her strangely and said, “What, what?” She shook her head and they walked away. The dragon swam in the lake calling upon the waters from the river of time.

  That night in bed, Bobby said, “You get everything sorted out in your head?”

  Gloria smiled. “Me get my head sorted, never. But I did get a few demons worked out.”

  “Baby.”

  The tone he said it in demanded that she turn over and face him. “Yes, honey.”

  His tone turned serious. “I been having crazy dreams that don’t make any sense. We are like we are now; you are older, and I am younger. Then you are younger, I am older., Then we are the same age; it’s just crazy shit. These dreams have been going on a while now. I do not want you to think what has happened these few days has anything to do with them. It doesn’t.”

  He sighed. “I love you and this has been on my mind for a while. I just haven’t brought it up. Outside of the feelings that will grow, I will hate you and anyone that I look at like a lover. The year will be fantastic. What else is there to the completion of the curse?”Gloria sighed. “The bond unlocked the talent that is locked inside, and over time, it is released, during the completion. All
the things that lovers want will come out and the feeling of life can’t get any better; it will constantly grow. But when you think it can’t, it does.”

  “So, the fall happens, she passes out, and I know what she truly is like in every way. The dancing gets better. I know not to play with fire. But what would you say if I said I was thinking of starting the completion of the curse? You say after the curse is completed, then these temptations end.”

  Gloria sat up in the bed and took in a deep breath. “Do you trust her, Bobby? Do you trust her to hold your family together? Because that is what it would be. You could fight it. Most likely at the start, you will fight it. But fighting the curse is something that is very dangerous. There are ways to weaken the curse but only after the fall. Once it starts, Bobby, there is no oops, I made a mistake. You are in it. Everything I have told you about the curse and what the feelings are like. I didn’t add or take away. I may have focused on the down side. But I told the truth.

  “That thought has been on my mind myself about Clarence. Not the completion, but what it is like dancing with him when it gets stronger. Stanley and I wanted to start the completion for several reasons. I wanted it so we would dance again, to protect him from his wife. He wanted it to ease the pain from what had just happened.

  “We didn’t fight it; we let it have its way. If Clarence was Stanley, I would still have my concerns. You know how close I was to him. But I would trust him.”

  She started crying. “I miss him, Bobby, so bad.” She wiped the tears away. “No, I am not going to do this now. Something is not right.” He looked at her and she said, “I know you said that you didn’t want to know, but I need you, Bobby. I need you to listen to me. We had sex, Clarence and I, twice, in fact, the same night. And again tonight.

  “I have had sex with others while the influence of the curse was strong in my life. I have slept with Stanley many times under the curse and not under it. I swear, if I hadn’t known any better, if I would have been blindfolded, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you if I was with Clarence or Stanley. That frightened me. I saw him when we joined the hearts. He was smiling. It was like, hey, I am happy and happy for you. Go on with your life. I wanted to stay with Clarence all night not because of what I felt for him. Now the urge to dance is so strong inside. I can feel something inside wanting to be released. Bobby, when I bond with him, I want you close to me.”