“I’m sure you would love to feel all those jets on your body,” he teased when he noticed my gaping mouth. I slowly nodded my head as I looked at all the nozzles that stuck out of dark slate tile and the rain showerhead that hung from the ceiling. It was a dream bathroom.
I took a step closer and noticed that he had already filled the nooks with shampoos and body washes. Whipping my head back when I realized that he had also filled it with my favorite products. “Klaus,” my voice hitched, as I realized how thoughtful he was and that he really did mean for me to be in his life.
I turned to face him, and he was smiling from ear to ear. “Do you like it?” he asked.
“I love it! You are so thoughtful!” I exclaimed as I jumped into his arms and peppered kisses all over his face. “You are the best boyfriend a woman could ever ask for.”
He laughed, “If you’re that excited over a soap and a toothbrush, I can’t wait to see your reaction to the closet.” He walked back to the closet holding me in his arms as my legs were wrapped around his waist. His hands gripped my ass as he held me and I felt the heat rise, wanting to go back in the bathroom and use that shower with my sexy man.
He turned me around to face one side of the closet and I was shocked by seeing women’s clothing hung up with the tags still on. “I- I don’t know what to say,” I was at a loss for words as he maneuvered with me to open some built-in drawers and show me that they were filled with lace lingerie.
“Well, I do get the benefit of seeing you in these,” he teased, as he waggled his eyebrows at me. “I want you to feel welcome here. I left enough room for you to bring your own things when you are ready.”
I wasn’t sure if he was asking me to move in with him or just to stay with him often. I assumed the latter, since it was so early in our relationship. I kissed him fiercely on the lips and tugged on his bottom lip with my teeth. I could feel his growing bulge against my core and pushed into it as I moved slightly. The pressure of it rubbing against my clit, and the way Klaus gripped my ass and moaned my name, was more than I could take.
He seemed to feel the same way as he carried me into the large bathroom and set me on the counter. The coldness hit me when he went to start the water, but he quickly returned and unbuttoned my blouse tracing his finger down my skin as he did.
I felt as if I would never grow old of his touch and I grabbed his waistband slipping the button loose and tugged them down until they dropped to his feet. With a hand on my cheek he took my mouth in his and slid his tongue in. I moaned as I reached for his smooth cock and stroked it. He pulled away for a moment to say, “I can't wait to feel you wrapped around my cock.”
Diving back in, he kissed me as if I were his everything. I could feel all the love he had for me as his tongue slid languidly against mine and his fingers slipped through my hair, holding my head to keep me with him.
As our mouths danced our hands roamed each other’s bodies, tugging off the clothing that stood between our nakedness. He tugged on my pants, but the counter was in the way. I slipped down, letting him slide them down my legs revealing my nakedness underneath. He kissed my belly before standing back up.
I was overwhelmed with feelings of belonging, the feeling that this was so right and he was my one and only. I needed to tell him before my sanity slipped away. When he stood in front of me to enjoy my body bared to him, I took a step forward and cupped his face in my hands. I looked him in the eyes, fighting back the tears of joy that threatened to spill. “I love you Klaus Hoffman. You are the piece of my heart I never knew was missing.”
The expression on his face was full of hunger, yet when I said those words to him, the words he had been waiting for, I watched as his eyes danced. He scooped me up as if I were his bride, his prized possession, and carried me to the shower. “I love you too, Lorelei. You are my everything and I want to spend the rest of my life showing you just how much.”
We washed each other, our soapy hands gliding over every sensitive spot causing moans of pleasure to fill the luxurious bathroom. I was so ready to feel him inside of me as he rubbed against my folds and licked the water off my nipples. I bit his shoulder gently as the ecstasy overtook me and I tried to keep from falling over the edge. I needed his cock inside of me.
I dragged him out, our bodies still dripping wet as I led us to his bed. I pushed him on it and proceeded to lick the water off his body. His prominent V called to me and I followed it with my tongue eliciting a moan from him.
Sliding up his body the slipperiness of our still wet bodies added to the sensations as I climbed on top of him. My hair dripped down my back and there was something about it that felt so right, so familiar. It drove me mad with desire and I had to have him filling me up. I didn’t wait and slipped his cock inside me, throwing my head back at the sensation.
He gripped my ass and I moaned at the touch as I moved my hips riding him fast. He bucked his own, meeting my frantic movements as my clit hit against his pelvis, sliding on the wetness. It felt amazing and I couldn’t stop even as an orgasm ripped through my body. I kept going even as my body trembled and wanted to give out. I was driven by the need to join our souls together.
He flipped me over, his own hair dripping down on my face. The droplets slid down my cheek and it felt so right. Hooking my knee over his arm, he pulled my leg up and drove his cock deeper inside me and I cried out his name. My hands slid over the water on his toned chest and it drove me wild. My own hips bucked to meet his, begging him to fuck me harder.
Neither of us cared that the bed moved, the headboard slammed into the wall with loud thuds. The only thing that existed was our bodies moving in a frenzy sealing our connection. As my breath heaved, I caught the scent of a river mixed with his woodsy scent and it pushed me over the edge again. My walls clenched around his cock and I thrashed as it ripped through me, “I love you,” I exclaimed, as every nerve in my body tingled with the waves of pure ecstasy.
“I love you, Lorelei,” he cried out as his own orgasm caused his body to jerk as he rode it out. I watched the expression on his face, the way his eyes shuddered, and a look of pure bliss washed over him, every muscle relaxing as he finished.
Rolling to his side, he pulled me to him with his cock still inside me. We both breathed heavily, no words needed in our post orgasmic bliss. It was something almost magical, as if we joined in body and soul and I could feel my heart so full of love for this man that swept me off my feet.
Klaus brushed a strand of stray hair that was stuck to my face and murmured, “Marry me.” I couldn’t answer as I was overtaken by darkness.
.
I held Lorelei as she fell into another one of the flashbacks. Thankful that she was sleeping and would remember it as if it were only a dream, I whispered comforting words in her ear as I stroked her hair. This time she didn’t seem to be thrashing around and it seemed less intense than ever before.
The sun was just peeking over the horizon, the first orange rays dancing through the glass when she stirred. I tried to stay awake but fell asleep sometime during the wee hours of the morning. It was just too comfortable lying next to her.
She rolled over and faced me, and her eyes popped open. Her eyes were wide and darted back and forth. “It’s okay, Lorelei. You’re safe,” I soothed, and her eyes met mine.
“Klaus?” Lorelei’s faint voice tugged at my heart, and I watched a tear trickle down her cheek. “It wasn’t a dream. I remember.”
I knew it would be hard for her to gather her thoughts and with the caveat of me being unable to say anything that the fates might deem as telling, I carefully asked, “What do you remember?” I stroked her hair and urged her to go on.
“It can’t be possible, but I was here before. With you. It didn’t look the same. It was old but new. I remember hearing horses clomping on the streets and people shouting. There was a stove here, an old wooden one that I cooked on. And you painted at the window…” she trailed off.
I still didn’t know how much I could te
ll her and needed to tread carefully. “What else do you recall?” Part of me wanted her to remember everything, yet the other part knew that as soon as she did the clock would start ticking down on her death. Except this time, I didn’t know if the clock had already started.
“I wore a ring. We were married but I don’t remember anything about it. I could smell burnt food in my dream. Isn’t that an odd thing to remember? Klaus, I don’t understand this. How? How can I remember a different life with you?” She looked at me desperately, her voice pleading with me to tell her everything, but I couldn’t chance it.
I sighed and hugged her close. “I wish I could tell you everything, but I can’t. I was stupid and did something that you may hate me for. I know you’re confused but please just trust me. Everything will be answered soon.” I kissed the top of her head and to my sadness she pulled away.
“No!” her shout reverberated off the brick walls and stabbed me in the heart. “Here I am feeling like I’m losing my mind for weeks and you know exactly why. Yet you chose not to tell me and still, still you hide things from me. That isn’t love, Klaus.” Her hands were fisted in her anger that she had every right to have. I knew she would leave, just as she had so many times before. Knowing didn’t make it any easier.
“If I tell you it may ruin everything. It may hurt you even more right now.” I dropped my head in my hands as the tears welled up in my eyes. “I can’t take the chance of that happening. The cu…” I trailed off stopping myself before I could say one of the many words that wasn’t allowed. “Please, just trust me,” I pleaded. “You know I love you and would never do anything to hurt you.”
She stood up from the bed, the sheet falling away from her naked body. “You did hurt me and you’re continuing to hurt me now.” She shook her head, “I can’t do this. I can’t have a relationship with a man that hides things. Or even explain how the hell all this is happening.”
She grabbed her clothes and ran into the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind her. I walked over to it and leaned my head against the cool surface. I could hear her sobs and I knew that I had broken her heart more by not being able to be honest rather than if she had known the whole truth. I loathed myself for what I had done.
“Lorelei,” I cried. “Please, don’t leave me. I am nothing without you.”
The door swung open and I just barely caught myself from falling into her. “Then tell me the truth,” she stated simply, her eyes pleading with me. Her face was red and puffy, streaked with tears she shed. I could feel her pain in my soul as if it were my own.
“I can’t,” I sobbed. “You have to learn it on your own.”
“I need some air,” she mumbled. “I have to get away from you.” I tried to reach for her, but she brushed my hand away and pushed past me.
I collapsed on the floor as I heard her footsteps leaving me. I knew that I had just lost her. The trust that she had in me was ruined and I knew from experience that trust is the most sacred of all. My heart clenched and I couldn’t move from where I lay. “Take my soul to the pits of Hell and take this life away from me. I don’t deserve to live it. Please, give my immortal life to Lorelei.”
I waited for the devil himself to come and take me away and my prayers went unanswered just as they had every other time and I implored whatever dark force that started this to end our suffering.
.
It was the worst kind of torture, to work with Lorelei and not be able to touch her or speak to her with anything other than professionalism. I tried to make jokes, but she shut me down, ignoring me and not looking at me.
She decided to stop working on Nixie as another painting needed some restoration. I thought that maybe the close quarters needed to painstakingly revive the painting Market Church at Evening by Lyonel Feininger, that she would have to acknowledge me or maybe feel the same need to reach out and touch me. I would even take her looking at me with some of the love that I knew she had for me.
It was quite the opposite as she asked me to hand her the supplies while she did the work. I watched as she applied the paint carefully with soft strokes that made me think of the way she touched me. I ached for her.
“I’ve got your plane ticket. Would you like me to pick you up on my way to the airport?” I asked, trying to get something from her.
She sighed and paused in her work. She looked up at me with fire in her eyes. “I will meet you at the airport. I think that would be best.”
I was relieved to hear that she wouldn’t back out and I would have a chance to be alone with her to make everything right. “Okay. We should pack light with all the hiking we will have to do. I’ve purchased a tent for us. I don’t think we should carry more than one.”
The look of hurt that crossed her face was so intense that I dropped my own gaze. “I’ll purchase one for myself. I don’t mind carrying more. It’s best if we don’t sleep in the same tent.”
“Lorelei, I’m sorry,” I started to say.
“Dr. Nixen. Please address me with the respect that I deserve,” she said harshly. “I’m only going on this trip, Dr. Hoffman, because it is required for my job. I won’t let my personal life get in the way of my career. I suggest you remember to keep the personal boundaries in place.”
“I apologize, Dr. Nixen. I’ll get some cyan blue for you. I think that would be a closer match to the middle shade than the cobalt.” I managed to keep the tears at bay as I turned away to find the paint that was needed.
The rest of the day was silent between us aside from her commands of what tool or color she needed and my own recommendations for what she would need. Restoration of a painting was a long process that was hard on the back and neck. She stood and stretched trying to get the kinks out from bending over the painting for so long. I watched in longing as she pushed her breasts out as she stretched. What I wouldn’t give to press my lips against her beautiful nipples that I knew were hiding underneath her shirt.
I almost offered to rub her neck, something that I wouldn’t have thought twice about doing before. I knew from her response to me that it wouldn’t be welcome. I hated that I caused her all this misery and couldn’t do anything to change it. It was a risk I wasn’t willing to make.
“I can take over for a while,” I offered. She gave me a look that I didn’t understand. “Like you, I also became a conservator. I know it’s not too common in our industry to have a dual education. I suppose that’s why Herr Wilhelm was so willing to let me be an intern. What a deal he got out of it,” I said with a crooked grin, as I hoped to lighten the mood.
“I suppose. I wouldn’t mind seeing the skill that I’ve heard so much about. They say you are one of the best,” she said, as she gestured for me to take her place.
It was exactly what I needed. The feeling of the brush in my hand washed away every bit of tension in my body as I got lost in the art that I was restoring. While it may not have been as good as painting my own creations, it was still relaxing to me.
I felt her lean over my shoulder as she watched me. “That's an exceptionally good technique, Dr. Hoffman. If I didn’t know any better, I would think that you were an artist yourself.”
I felt like it was safe enough to give her an honest answer, “I do have the gift of art. I just choose not to paint anymore. It’s been many years since I’ve created my own work. Most of the time I prefer to fix the art that needs to be fixed instead of making my own. Sometimes I do sketch. When I have spare time.”
“Interesting,” she replied. “I didn’t know that about you. I guess it’s just another piece of the mystery that makes up Dr. Klaus Hoffman,” she said wryly.
“I guess it never came up. I actually don’t know what you do for a hobby. I’m not sure why we never talked about that.” I may have been pushing my luck with my honesty, yet it hurt that she questioned our entire relationship. I felt like I was on a roller coaster of emotions and it was never ending today. I fell between sadness, anger, and hope. Then she would say something or do something that woul
d push me towards hopelessness again. I didn’t know how I would make it through the next week.
The week was as hard as I expected it to be. Lorelei didn’t warm up to me at all and seemed to get sharper with me as the time for us to leave approached. I tried, I really did. I offered so many times to take her out for lunch or to pick up lunch for her. Each time she shot me down.
Worry filled me as I watched her wasting away, her skin paling, dark circles marring her eyes, and her weight loss evident by her clothes that no longer hugged her luscious curves. I knew she wasn’t sleeping well or eating, but there was nothing I could do short of holding her down and forcing food down her throat.
The day before we left, I picked up some of her favorite breakfast sandwiches, the smell of them filling the large workroom space. She tried to deny her hunger and refuse to take anything from me. “Dr. Nixen, I can’t take you with me on this trip if you are not healthy enough. Even though you are my superior, I will not hesitate to go to Herr Wilhelm if I need to.” I hated myself for treating her that way, but she left me with no choice.
“Fine,” she scowled at me and ripped the bag from my hand as she stomped to the desk. It was a small victory for me, one that I didn’t feel I could celebrate.
“How are your dreams?” I asked her casually.
“Fine,” she responded again.
“Is that the only word you know?” I teased. She shot me a look that had me squirming in my seat and I shut my mouth quickly. I knew I had to do something to make things better, I just didn’t know what. I would keep at it though. I knew her the best and I needed to use that to my advantage.
I remained quiet for the rest of the day, deep in my thoughts of planning how I would get my love to forgive me. I knew that she was having a hard time dealing with everything that happened and I needed to show her that I would always be there for her. I would give in with her requests for me to meet her at the airport, but I would not give in to the request for separate tents. Our time walking would give us plenty of time alone without the worry of anyone at work catching us. In the middle of the woods, she could scream at me and get it all out so that I could comfort her afterwards.
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