[ once more he reaches for her, and this time she does not shy away. in truth, his movement allows for her a distraction that she might look elsewhere than the intensity of passion that burns in his eyes, the very same stare that would always make her so weak in the knees. she watches as his fingers dance over a lock of her hair, unbraided and fallen from the haphazard bun she'd hastily piled on top of her head since that morning's chaos. similar strands fall all around her face, in pastel rivulets down the length of her back, like the leaves of autumn that signal an end to spingtime and summer. it is a touch she is able to tolerate, for she feels nothing but a ghost of the touches she would often crave.
in her ears, his words ring like distant church bells, a sound that must have once been meant to be placating and welcoming, now somber and dull with obligation.
comfort, he says. comfort in her embrace, support in her words. obedient.
faithful.
when she finally speaks again, it is with the slow uncertainty of someone who is clearly struggling to understand, yet with a guarded hesitation of someone who also realizes she may not want to. ]
So I am... your wife, [ she says, and never before has a word uttered by her mouth sounded so despicable before, ] while he is... your soulmate.
[ there is a hollow pang in her chest that threatens to weaken her knees in another way. her mind swims and her breathing grows thing with this revelation, and still, somehow, she finds the ability to continue to speak. ]
no subject
in her ears, his words ring like distant church bells, a sound that must have once been meant to be placating and welcoming, now somber and dull with obligation.
comfort, he says. comfort in her embrace, support in her words. obedient.
faithful.
when she finally speaks again, it is with the slow uncertainty of someone who is clearly struggling to understand, yet with a guarded hesitation of someone who also realizes she may not want to. ]
So I am... your wife, [ she says, and never before has a word uttered by her mouth sounded so despicable before, ] while he is... your soulmate.
[ there is a hollow pang in her chest that threatens to weaken her knees in another way. her mind swims and her breathing grows thing with this revelation, and still, somehow, she finds the ability to continue to speak. ]
And you mean now to — to have us both?