Her scream had me bolting right up in bed and dashing into her room in seconds. There she was, in the middle of her king size bed, clutching the silk sheets to her chest, gasping for air, no sound passing through her lips as tears ran down her face. With no threat in her room, I turned to face her.
"Ember?" she turned towards the sound of my voice, but her eyes were unfocused.
"Marcus?" she whispered, her hand reaching out searching for my hand and finding it. Gasping she pulled me closer, sobbing she began crying out, "Again Marcus, it's happening again, the dreams, oh god the dreams!"
I pulled her closer and into my lap putting her back to my chest, her head on my shoulder, our temples touching.
"Show me Ember."
She didn't have to, I knew the dream by heart, but it seemed to be the only thing that helped. It was always the same dream, nightmare more like. It was mine too.
Images, smells, and sounds came quickly; and there she was trapped against the same brick wall as always. Surrounded by men with the smell of alcohol rolling off of them in waves, one held a length of pipe, another some chain and others miscellaneous things meant for her death. Blood already ran down her arm and her eye was almost swelled shut. This is how I found her, in the back of an alley bloody and begging for her life and getting nothing but sneers in return.
They began all at once, each beating or cutting her with whatever they had. If it wasn't for the small amount of hand to hand combat I received in the military I would have been overwhelmed as well, but I had the element of surprise and I dispersed the thugs quickly. She was almost dead, her connection fading, only images of her home we're clear enough for me to understand. Gingerly I picked her up, but barely a gasp of pain passed her lips as your head rolled back, she was unconscious.
As the images begin to fade she turned toward me and placed her face against my neck. Her tears soaked my shirt as I ran my hands over her body, up and down her arms, my lips against her hair, whispering "Ember, Ember, shhhh."
I felt a sudden flood of emotions come from her as she quickly turned her face up and touched her lips to mine.
The first touch of our lips was like electricity shooting through our body. Our hair stood on end and our toes curled, passion arose from me so swift and fierce I kissed her back with all I had. The connection was instant, information flooded through us in a blink of an eye allowing us to share all thoughts and feelings, nothing could be hidden. I wrapped one arm around her waist anchoring her to me and with the other I brushed back her hair and cupped her face pulling her deeper into the kiss.
Finally we broke the kiss to gasp for air but the connection remained strong there was no need to ask if she was sure, or if she wanted to wait, and she knew how deeply my love and commitment to her ran. I gently brushed her lips with mine and whispered "I love you Ember" needing to say it out loud.
Her eyes lit up "I love you too Marcus," she whispered against my lips, wrapping her arms around my neck.
With the connection, we knew where to place every caress and kiss. Every touch felt perfect and soon we were nothing but a tangle of silk sheets and limbs. Even taking her virginity wasn't overly uncomfortable as every thrust led us both closer and closer to ecstasy. Her orgasm began as a ripple and soon went crashing through her like a tidal wave. I felt everything she did and it quickly pushed me over the edge, and I started pumping my warm seed deep inside her.
I woke up with a start. I lay down listening for a moment before realizing what woke me. All was quiet but the spunk in my drawstring pants was cooling. I got up and changed before heading to the kitchen for coffee. It was 3:00 am, but I wasn't getting any more sleep. Dreams of Ember always ended the same even though it has been years. It was the first and only time we made love, her death during a riot cut her life and our love short. The ache of her death has never faded and once more puts me on the path for vengeance.
