Before their alarm went off he awoke. She was lying on her back with the thin, yellow sheet covering her naked body. The bumps of her nipples were visible through the fabric. Sliding closer to her, he pressed his naked body to hers. She let out a soft sound. It wasn’t a sound of arousal; it was more of an acknowledgment of his presence. Almost as if she said, I know you’re here, and I’m glad.
The sun shone through the slivers in the blinds. Golden light bathed the room, but she didn’t awaken. Her untamed hair spread itself across the pillowcase. Smiling, he tucked a tuft of it behind her ear. When he looked at her in the morning a feeling settled in his abdomen. It felt like warm cream pouring over peaches. He was submerged in her. Not it a sexual way. He simply felt as if he had melted into her body, and she into his. As if they became liquids mingling in their own little glass.
All of his senses were hyperaware of her existence. Laying his head on her shoulder, he placed a hand on her stomach. When he traced the cavity of her bellybutton with his thumb she exhaled quickly. He felt her breath on his earlobe. Even in sleep her belly was ticklish. He continued tracing the contours of her navel, before sliding his hand up so it settled on her ribcage below her right breast. He felt her chest lift as air filled her lungs. Her pointed jaw jutted to the ceiling, and the slow glug of her pulse was noticeable in her neck.
He let out a long sigh, and settled his head back onto the pillows. Strands of her hair got caught in his eyelashes. She smelled of the sweet, buttery scent of her body lotion. His hand still lay on her ribs, and his fingers couldn’t keep still. They drummed a slow tune on her flesh. She stirred. Her breathing changed when she began waking up. Her breaths became shallower, and the exhalations of air didn’t linger.
Her eyelids fluttered open, and she blinked a couple times. Angling her head closer to his, she pressed their skulls together. Temple to temple. She felt the slow beat of his pulse match hers. The rise of her fleshy bottom lip fell open, and she yawned. Dislodging her arms from under their bodies, she threw off the sheet, and stretched. The muscles in her legs tensed, and her toes pointed forwards. Her joints cracked and popped. She wrinkled her nose and smiled. “I’m sorry. I know you hate that.”
“I don’t mind it, really,” he replied.
“Should we get up?” she asked.
“It’s Sunday. Let’s stay here for eternity.”
She made a mumbled noise of agreement, and rolled onto her side to face him. He did the same. The edge of her right breast flattened against the mattress, and her left flopped on top of her right. His penis swung from a nest of pubic hair. Her round cheeks dimpled as she gazed at him. He didn’t need to ask what she was thinking. His thoughts matched hers. I see you. You’re beautiful.
Intercepting a beam of sun on her body, he placed a hand on the curve of her hip. A series of silvery stretch marks mapped her skin under his hand. He loved every one of them. He had a birthmark on his arm that used to look like a bird in flight. As he aged it expanded, and took on the shape of a bat. She loved that birthmark.
Freckles adorned her nose and shoulders. Sometimes she wanted to conceal them with makeup, but he loved those freckles. He disliked the purplish hollows under his eyes. She loved them. She was self-conscious of the scar just below her clavicle. She received it falling from a tree when she was nine years old. He loved that scar.
Leaning forward, he kissed the bumpy ridges of the scar. When he lifted his head she kissed the hollows under his eyes. He smiled and pressed his lips to the freckle-speckled skin of her cheeks. Twinning her fingers with his, she lifted his forearm to her mouth and kissed the bat birthmark. His arm hair bushed against her lips. Sitting up, he scooted lower and kissed the stretch marks on her hips.
Warmth suffused their bodies. She sat up and opened her arms. He opened his. They melted into each other’s embrace. Slices of golden light danced around the room. Neither one dared to blink. They feared the moment and the feeling would end. But it didn’t. They would always remember this moment, even when their bodies crinkled with age.
That was their first experience with eternity.
