by Selena Kitt
“Ahhhh Muriel!” he moaned, drawing his lower lip between his teeth. She felt his muscles quivering, taut, that thick, hard length between her legs pulsing with feeling.
“Yes!” She cupped his face in her hands, drawing him down to her, kissing him as if she might never get the chance again. She felt him shudder and tremble, moaning against her mouth as he filled her with the universe—it was shooting stars, molten lava, the explosion of planets. It was everything, all at once, and she wanted it all.
She wouldn’t let him go. Even when it was over, when their breath returned to some semblance of normal and he rolled off her onto the bed. She went with him, sliding her leg up over his, pressing herself against him, unable to keep her eyes off his. It was strange, knowing they were in the bodies of two other people, and yet she knew it was really Char who was touching her, kissing her, loving her.
“What do you think?” He smiled, brushing damp hair away from her cheek. “Was it worth it?”
“Only if we can do it again.” She kissed him, reveling in his lips, soft, fleshy, warm. “And again. And again.”
“I can’t get enough.” His hand moved over her breast, cupping, kneading her flesh, and he sighed. “But these human bodies have their limitations.”
“Like what?” She traced her finger down the middle of his chest, feeling his sternum underneath. Human anatomy had never been so fascinating before. Then she saw what he meant. What had felt so huge between her thighs was now soft and slack. She slipped her hand down to touch him, hearing him give a soft moan. He stirred again, and it delighted her.
Muriel looked down at her own body in surprise, a low, rumbly gurgle sound coming from her middle.
“Are you hungry?” he asked, biting his lip as she curiously explored the terrain between his thighs.
“What’s hungry?” She frowned, cocking her head. “Does it feel like something’s trying to climb out of me from the inside?”
“I think so.”
“Then I’m definitely hungry.” She poked at her navel, frowning. “Bodies. They’re very demanding.”
“But delicious.” He leaned over and nipped at her throat, making her giggle. “Come on, let’s eat.”
They raced each other to the kitchen.
Chapter Nine
Lucy hadn’t gone shopping recently, so they didn’t have a lot to choose from. There was some leftover meatloaf, which Char ate cold covered in ketchup, and a carton of take-out Chinese filled with rice and something unidentifiable covered in a brown sauce that Muriel ate out of the container with a spoon. They ate naked in the light from the refrigerator and then stood at the sink with the water running, both of them filling up glass after glass with water and drinking it until their thirst was finally slaked.
“Is it what you thought it would be?” Muriel wondered aloud, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.
“Being human?” He turned off the water. “No.”
“I had no idea.” She shook her head, looking at him in wonder. Her fingers itched to touch him. Skin was impossible to resist. “They feel everything.”
He nodded, moving to take her into his arms. It was strange, not to have his wings enfold her too when they embraced, but the press of his skin more than made up for that. Their proportions were perfect, their bodies seemed to fit together, the way her head tucked underneath his chin and his hand moved to the small of her back.
Now that one hunger had been slaked, another was growing. She felt it rising against her hip and she grew moist between her legs when she felt it, as if her body was already readying itself to be entered. Now that she was no longer hungry or thirsty, she felt as if they could spend the rest of their time—however long it was, she didn’t want to think about it being finite—doing nothing but making love.
“Will anyone come?” she asked, pulling back to look at him in the dim light coming into the window over the sink from a full moon. The sun had set and it was dark outside. “For Jack and Lucy, I mean?”
“His brother is coming on a plane from California,” he told her. “But he won’t be flying in until tomorrow night.”
“So he’ll be the one who… finds them.” Muriel looked down at her body—Lucy’s body. It was hers, and yet not hers. She could feel her breath, her heart beating, blood pumping. She didn’t quite understand how it was possible, but she didn’t want to stop to question it either. Not when they had so little time.
“Probably,” he agreed.
“Are we going to be in very big trouble?” she wondered aloud, but of course, she knew the answer. She was surprised The Maker hadn’t sent someone after them already. They’d both ignored their summons to the Fey Advisory Board.
“You’ll be fine,” he assured her, pulling her head to his chest. “I promise. Nothing bad will happen to you.”
“How do you know?”
“I just do.”
She didn’t question that either. He was seraphim, he probably did know things she didn’t. He’d known how to do this, how to transform them from angels to humans with a kiss.
“I don’t feel it anymore,” she told him. “Do you?”
“Feel what?”
“The Maker.” She blinked in surprise at the realization. “I never noticed before, but… it was always there. That presence. The voice. Even when there wasn’t any message coming through, it was kind of like a constant… static. You know?”
“Yes.”
“What have we done?” she whispered, feeling suddenly afraid.
“I won’t let anything bad happen to you,” he promised her again, kissing the top of her head.
Muriel discovered that she had to pee, which led her to the bathroom. Bodies, she was beginning to discover, demanded a great deal of attention. This led to a curiosity about the big claw-foot tub that was just too strong to resist. The black and white tile was so shiny. She ran the water, fascinated, adjusting the temperature. I took her five minutes to figure out how to keep the water in.
“What are you doing in here?” He poked his head in, smiling as she stepped naked into the tub. “Little nymph.”
“Come join me.”
She held her hand out and his eyes lit up as she sank into the tub, her hair spreading out around her shoulders like a dark fan.
He climbed in too, sitting behind her, and they laughed when the water level rose, sloshing over the sides of the tub. She’d never felt this way before, so safe and warm in his arms. She turned and kissed him as the steam rose, feeling him rising too, against her belly. She was so hungry for him. Humans were nothing but want, she discovered, a constant craving.
She felt him enter her and trembled. There was power in this act, so much power it scared her. His hands gripped her under the water, rocking her hips against his, water splashing over the edges of the tub with every motion. Their tongues meshed, their bodies too, until she felt herself melting against him. They moved as one being, joined together at one pivotal point.
Everything was hinged there, the world spinning on an axis.
“I love you,” she whispered against his mouth, lost in sensation, in him. And he was lost in her.
“Oh Muriel,” he cried, grabbing her to him, shuddering as he thrust up into her and waves of pure pleasure rocked through her body. “Sweet, sweet Muriel.”
They dried each other off with towels, Muriel shivering in the cold. She didn’t like the change in temperature very much.
“I’m hungry again.” She frowned as they climbed back into bed together. She found herself wanting to be naked, skin to skin, as much as they could be.
“Go get food.” He laughed, slapping her bottom as she went to see if the cupboards were as bare as the refrigerator. She returned, smiling, carrying a jar of peanut butter and two spoons.
“This stuff is good,” she remarked, digging in, offering him a bite. She couldn’t help but remember the way Lucy and her husband had fed each other the pills that would end their lives.
Was she responsible for that? If sh
e hadn’t asked Char to appear to them, would they still be here, holding each other, grieving the loss of their son? Instead, she was here with Char, in Lucy’s body. How had it happened this way, and why? If The Maker had a plan, was this part of it? Or had they violated some horrible natural law? Would they be punished?
She didn’t want to think about it.
She just wanted to be with him, for however long they had together.
“I love you too.” Char smiled, touching her lip with his spoon, spreading peanut butter there and leaning in to kiss it away. “In case you were wondering.”
“I wasn’t.” She smiled too. She knew, of course, but it was good to hear him say it.
He had proven it to her, in every possible way he could. She didn’t need him to say it.
But somehow the words were satisfying in a way she hadn’t expected.
Muriel stretched and yawned, glancing at them in the mirror over the bureau, seeing Jack and Lucy looking back at her. They were still here, that’s what Char claimed, but she couldn’t feel either of them. Dormant. Sleeping.
“Is this sleepy?” she wondered, sinking down under the covers, feeling his body curl around hers. “Oh what a wonderful feeling…”
“Delicious,” he murmured, burying his face in her hair as he sank down too.
Sleeping was almost as good as sex. Better than food, she decided, which she just found an annoyance. She woke several times in wonder at the images that filled her as she slept. Dreaming was amazing. She was flying one moment, making love the next. She was kissing Char, and then basking in the sunshine, somewhere on the sand. She could go anywhere in her dreams. She only discovered, upon waking, that Char didn’t remember any of it.
He kissed her awake. It was like a dream, only better.
And then he entered her, from behind this time, a perfect spoon. It was a slow, lazy morning making love. They didn’t talk at all that she remembered. They just touched each other, exploring the sensations. She loved tracing her fingertips over his lips, and when he cupped his hand over the mound between her legs, she quivered with pleasure. Her nipples hardened under the press of his tongue. Her body ached for him, wanting him inside of her, all the time.
They spent all day in bed. Literally, all day. They left only to use the bathroom or get more water—sex was, apparently, very thirsty work. When they got hungry, they fed each other spoonfuls of peanut butter. The clock on the nightstand kept ticking away, but she turned it around some time in the afternoon. She didn’t want to see it anymore. She didn’t want to know.
Still, she felt it coming. The light changed as the day waned. The sun was going to set, leaving them in darkness, and their day would be up. She didn’t think she could bear it. There had to be a way they could be together. Maybe they could ask The Maker? Their love was something special, she was sure of it.
“So I was in your dream?” he asked, licking peanut butter off the back of the spoon.
She loved the smell of it now. It made her think of him.
“But you were there!” she insisted. “How do you not remember?”
“It was your dream.” He laughed, leaning over to kiss the tip of her nose. “It was only happening for you.”
“That makes no sense.” She rolled her eyes, wiggling down under the covers, linking her legs with his. She loved rubbing her feet against his. Hers were cold and his were warm. It was lovely, even if it made him jump and scold her.
“Muriel.”
She looked up when he said her name and she felt her heart stop. It literally stopped for a moment before starting to beat again. She knew what he was going to say and didn’t want to hear it.
“Was I in your dreams?” she asked, putting the lid on the jar of peanut butter and tossing it aside onto the mattress. “Tell me yours too.”
“Muriel, it’s almost time.”
The look in his eyes broke her heart.
“How will we get back?” she asked softly, giving into the inevitable. She hated it, she didn’t want it, but she knew it was coming. They couldn’t avoid it forever.
“They’re waiting for us even now.” He swallowed, setting his spoon on the nightstand and turning to take her fully into his arms.
“How do you know?” she whispered, looking around, feeling frightened. But of course he knew. He knew far more than she did. He was seraphim.
“Muriel, they won’t let me see you again,” he told her softly. “They’ll separate us.”
“No,” she whispered, feeling tears stinging her eyes. She’d managed to keep them back this whole time, even when she thought about having to go back, but she couldn’t do it anymore. “Char, no… we’ll ask them. Maybe… what if we ask to be human? Maybe they’ll let us live the rest of our lives as Jack and Lucy. I mean, why not? We’re here already, aren’t we?”
He shook his head sadly, touching her cheek with his fingertips, and she knew she was grasping at straws.
“I’ve done things I shouldn’t have.” His voice shook with his confession. “I knew they were wrong, and I did them anyway.”
“Like what?” she asked, but she knew. Some part of her knew, had always known.
“I fell in love with a cherubim.” He smiled when he said it, a light in his eyes that made her feel dizzy with loving him right back. She had done it too. She had fallen in love with him.
“Well, there are technically no rules against it,” she countered, remembering Jari’s question to her about it.
“Oh, yes there are.” His smile faded, his eyes grew serious. “I also gave a human unauthorized information.”
“Oh Char.” She cringed, remembering how she’d begged him to tell Jack and Lucy the truth, to give them some bit of hope. “That was my fault.”
“No,” he insisted, pressing his finger to her lips. “You know that was me. It was all me. I was the one who chose to tell them. And I stole you away, even if it was only for a day… I’ve defied The Maker at every turn. And I’ve had ample opportunity not to.”
“But Char…”
“Listen to me.” His voice was soft, but urgent. “I did it because I love you, Muriel. I loved you when I was a seraphim, I love you now, as a human, and I’ll love you… I will love you for eternity, whatever form I take. Do you believe me?”
“Of course I do.” She searched his eyes, puzzled at his urgency. “I love you too. But Char, it wasn’t just you. I—”
“Shh!” He glanced around as if someone might hear them. “Will you please stop talking and kiss me one last time?”
“Last—?”
He pressed his lips to hers and everything inside of her went silent.
It was their last kiss, and she knew she would remember it forever.
Chapter Ten
“They’re saying we may not even need partners at all soon.” Anauel squinted up at the hot, Florida sun. It was only mildly warm to Muriel, but she did love the brightness “There’s an entire Internet division of cherubim now. I hear their arrows don’t even need to meet. Some new multi-spatial technology in the arrows or something. Pretty cool.”
“Will wonders never cease.” Muriel murmured the words, but Ana wasn’t really listening. She liked to hear herself talk, and she talked a lot, which Muriel didn’t mind. That meant Muriel could be quiet, which she was most of the time. “I smell peanut butter.”
“I don’t smell anything.” Ana shrugged.
Muriel wasn’t surprised. Angels’ sense of smell, Muriel had discovered after her twenty-four hour stint as a human, wasn’t keen at all. Like their emotions, everything was dampened. And now, more than ever, she knew the reason for that.
“There.” Muriel pointed to a toddler being pushed in a stroller, mashing a quarter of a peanut butter sandwich between her teeth. She wore a pink hat and sunglasses. “Peanut butter.”
“Huh.” Ana blinked in surprise. “I still don’t smell it.”
Muriel didn’t say anything, so Ana started talking again about the new cherubim technology. The times
had changed. It was almost impossible anymore to ensure two people would be in the same room when they fell in love. The Internet had brought its own set of problems, and solutions.
The smell of peanut butter lingered, even though the mother had pushed the toddler past their outdoor table. Muriel closed her eyes, turning her face up to the sun. There wasn’t a time that she didn’t miss him or think about him. She supposed it was part of her punishment. She had to spend an eternity remembering, loving, but never having.
It was the perfect torture. The Maker had designed it that way. It would have been easy for them to wipe her memory, to give her a new start somewhere. The Fey Advisory Board had even considered it, but in the end, they’d decided that it would be more fitting to allow her to keep her memories of that day.