“Only if you want. But I know you are beautiful, even without the dress.”
Michaelia shook her head. “No … I’m not. I have never been nor will I ever be a size two. Hell, never be a size ten. I can’t even stand to look at myself in the mirror very long.” She looked up into those vividly intense blue eyes. “How can you want … me? Like that?”
“Because all I can see is what’s in the inside. Your soul is blindingly beautiful. The outer package doesn’t matter. When I saw your so-called friends today? You wouldn’t believe how gray their souls were. How tarnished.”
“You can see all that? You can really see … me?”
Michael nodded, placing his hands on her face and kissing her again. “This night is for you. We’ll do whatever you want. You want to talk, we’ll talk. You want to play Scrabble, we’ll play Scrabble. You want to make love, then we’ll make love.”
Michaelia took a deep breath, closed her eyes and wondered if she was making the biggest mistake she’d ever make. Grasping his hand she led him to the bedroom; they stopped right next to the bed and he kissed her again, then unzipped her dress. She looked away for a moment, not wanting to see his expression once the dress fell. But his look never wavered as he undressed her, kissing every inch of exposed flesh. He took off his own clothes … she wanted to help but had no clue what to do. Then they were standing in front of each other, naked.
He picked her up; she wanted to protest but he did it with such ease … like she was built like Tracie, size 0, light as a feather. Then he loomed over her, kissing her, bringing her to the heights of pleasure no vibrator could ever match. And when he entered her … there was some discomfort, but it lead to passion … passion that could never be found again. She held onto him orgasm after orgasm. And she whispered into his ear …. “I love you.”
After making love for what seemed like hours, they both fell asleep. The chirping of birds woke them up and they looked at the clock. It was 5:55 in the morning. The 24 hours were almost up. He kissed her passionately.
“I wish we had time for one more … “ He ended his words. His wishes didn’t count in the scheme of things. “I love you, Michaelia. My namesake.” He kissed her again, then got out of bed and put his clothes on. As the time flew by, the clock moved from 5:59 to 6:00. As he faded away, he said once more … “I love you.”
Michaelia let the tears fall. But she had gotten her 24 hours. Now it was back to the drudgery of her life, to live on those wonderful 1,440 minutes for the rest of her life.
…The Elders smiled, another wish fulfilled. But the Guardian was troubled…
Twenty-Four Hours Page 3