Consumed by Love - A Short Story Read Free Page B

ease and elegance he’d never possessed before
his illness. Now he was buoyant with peace and acceptance. No matter what, it
would be them together against the evils both within and without.
    They walked hand in hand
out into the darkness, the flames of all they left behind licking at their
feet. Smiling, they slipped away into nothingness.
    ***
    “Nizwia,” he growls, his voice no longer soft and
melodic.
    “Yes, my love?”
    “ Mili gagwi...N’gadopi.”
His head hangs limply from his shoulders. The days are passing quickly, and the
time between each feasting is shortening.
    “ I give you
everything.”
    “ You give me too
much.” He chokes on the words.
    “ Nothing is too much—nothing
for you, love.”
    She lay on the bed
wearing nothing but the sheet he’d draped over her. She reaches for him with
her left hand but pulls back at his wince—the two fingers there are the last that
remain. With a sigh, she drops her arm and looks away.
    Outside, wind whips
through the desert, picking up speed and ferocity with nothing strong enough to
resist its power.
    “Maybe I should just
go,” he says, not wanting to have this conversation, knowing how the idea of
him with anyone else hurts her.
    Yet she is dying in
pieces before his eyes.
    “No.” She sits up,
looking deep into him. “I am yours. I am what you need.”
    “Nizwia, it’s become
too much, too often. I’m so hungry.”
    Instead of answering,
she pulls the sheet away from her body. Her breasts bear the marks of his lust,
but her skin shines brightly in the dark room. Her hair is short now, her long
neck flowing gracefully down to her milky shoulders.
    He takes a deep
breath and his nostrils flare at the familiar scent of her desire. The scar on
her right shoulder seems to pulse, calling out to him. He needs her body and
soul, and it is a constant surprise that she needs to give it to him.
    Their lips come
together and he feels the heat between their bodies ignite with familiar
passion.
    “ I love you,” she
sighs, running her fingers over his scalp.
    He lowers his lips to
hers again, pulling her to him. Slowly they kiss, and his hands gently roam her
body. It is always dangerous for them to make love when his hunger rises this
close to the surface, as his need for her and his need for sustenance war
inside him. His humanity battles the demon slowly consuming him.
    She begins removing
his ill-fitted clothing, needing to feel his skin against hers. Frustrated, he
stands up and removes his shirt and pants swiftly, desperate to feel her close
to him, to be inside of her—to have her inside of him.
    He lies down next to
her, stretching his long limbs out past the capacity of the bed. He never
sleeps on it anymore, the hard floor being more to his new body’s liking. His
long, bony fingers reach out to her, and she moans at the whisper across her
flesh. The skin on his hands is calloused and rough, but they are his, and so
she loves them, just as she loves his now-pale skin and his lean physique.
    “Nizwia... N’gadopi,”
he coos into her neck, and runs his tongue along the scar tissue that was once
her ear.
    She shivers and leans
into him, reaching around his body with her leg, hoping to pull him to her. As
she extends what remains of her calf over him, she stretches the delicately
healing skin further than it can go, and the scab separates, leaking the scent
of fresh blood into the air.
    The sudden onslaught
of passion overwhelms him. His erection throbs and his mouth salivates, his
body desperate for her in every way. He resists and pulls away, needing fresh
air to clear his mind.
    She arches against
him, connecting their bodies, and brings her mouth to his, kissing him, drawing
him into her. She caresses his dry tongue with hers, losing herself in the
memory of who they were.
    “ My love,” he moans,
before submitting to her desire. The taste of her mouth, the scent of her
arousal intermingled with blood, and the feeling of her skin against his