𝚃𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝: 𝙱𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙳𝚊𝚠𝚗 𝙿𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝙸 (𝙳𝙺 𝙼𝚎𝚝𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚏 𝚡 𝙽𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚒)

𝙲𝙷𝙰𝙿𝚃𝙴𝚁 5

~

𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙼𝙾𝚁𝙽𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙰𝙵𝚃𝙴𝚁

{𝙳𝙴𝙺𝙰𝚈𝙻𝙸𝙽}

I woke up to an empty bed, though Mani's essence still lingered.

Figuring she was exploring more of the house, I went to the bathroom to do my morning routine. After I brushed my teeth, I looked at my reflection in the mirror, smiling at the memory of everything we did last night.

I made my love to my wife...the love of my life...and she made love to me. Everything was perfect. It was like I could still feel every kiss she gave me. I was in pure bliss.

"How bad are you hurt?" I heard her ask from behind me.

Her voice was subtle, holding a slight tone of shame in it. I looked back to her and was met with remorseful eyes.

"What are you talkin' about?" I asked, going in to caress her.

"No, D..." she whimpered, pullin' up my shirt until it was all the way off.

I looked back in the mirror to see my back and shoulders tore up with scratches and bruises. Anyone would think I was in a fight with a mountain lion – two of 'em – and lost.

I didn't think baby girl was that aroused. A sense of pride filled me, only for me to sober up when I saw Mani begin to cry.

"I can't tell you how sorry I am..." she uttered.

She turned to walk away before I could console her. I followed her as we entered the living room.

"I'm not," I replied. "Really, I'm not. I'm fine."

"Don't say you're fine," she chuckled humorlessly, wiping her tears away. "Just...don't..."

"Nah, you don't. Don't ruin this."

"But I've already ruined it..."

"Baby...why can't you see how perfectly happy I am? Or was five seconds ago? I mean...I'm a little pissed off, now."

"You should be."

"Come here..."

I pulled her close to me until my arms held her tight.

"...we knew this was gonna be tricky, right? I think we did amazing. It was amazing for me..."

"That's what you're worried about?" she giggled beside herself, her hands on my chest. "That I didn't enjoy myself?"

"I just...I know it's not the same for you. But for a human? I can't imagine it gets any better than that."

"...baby...last night was the best night of my existence..."

She brought me in for a kiss. But before I could deepen it, she pulled away.

"You're not gonna touch me again, are you?" I asked her.

She touched my face like she always did, but I smiled and shook my head, takin' a hold of her hand.

"Not like that," I slightly chuckled.

She grew bashful before looking away from me, shame creepin' its way back into her eyes.

"I'll make breakfast..."

From that day on, it was like we were dating again. Which was fine for the most part. But that new level of intimacy we unlocked was locked right back up again out of fear.