Destined Part I

Chess Match

When the morning broke and the dim light crept through the windows, I rolled over, shifting sleepily in bed, and brushed up against Haiden.

He was still there. My heart swelled inside of me, realizing that he had kept his promise. He hadn’t let me go.

The thought made me smile, and I cuddled up closer to him, laying my cheek against his firm chest. My movement caused him to stir, and his heavy eyes opened to look down at me. His mouth curved, and he pressed his lips to mine gently. I didn’t want to move from this spot. I wanted to hold onto this moment forever with him here beside me.

With the pink glow radiating across the bedroom walls and the snow falling romantically outside the balcony doors, I was finally content in my new life.

If I could have anything, I would want to have this morning, every day for the rest of eternity. There was no longer a hole inside me; it had disappeared sometime in the night. The wound was finally mended.

And I had already forgotten it had existed.

Never moving his eyes from mine, he whispered so softly to me.

“I must have done something right in my former life,” he declared, his eyes dancing with the morning light.

I leaned back only a little, not wanting him to unravel from me just yet.

“Why do you say that?” I asked, smiling up at him.

“Because here you are, my love. And I get the privilege of waking up beside you,” he answered.

God help me, I loved him. He was almost too perfect for my own good. I leaned my face up and kissed him deeply, holding my arms around him tightly, hoping that he could sense how much I needed him.  How much my life was changed now that he was really mine.

We lay entangled together for another flawless, blissful hour, clutching each other as if letting go would cause the other to disappear. I could hear the snow falling outside, the trees rustling with the wind. I was going to make sure and remember this, too, I promised myself. I would have it in my head, the sounds outside the window, the deep, rich smell of his skin as he pressed his body against me. I would even remember the way his hands slid gently across my back, his fingers lazily tickling my skin. It would all be there, in my memory, for me to call upon it whenever I needed it.

When he kissed me again, I groaned, not wanting it to be over. I didn’t want this dream to fade just yet.

“Baby,” he whispered; his lips against my ear.

I sighed when he called me that, his smooth voice softening everything inside of me. How easily he turned me to mush with his words.

“We should get up,” he said, shifting his weight until he sat up next to where I was laying.

He had to be kidding. There was no need to get up yet, in my eyes at least. I could probably lay here for the rest of my life with him and be completely satisfied. But a sudden cold breeze caught my skin where he had been keeping me warm, making me sigh impatiently.

“Is there any particular reason we are even moving right now?” I complained as I propped myself up on my elbow, shielding myself from the chill.

“Because if we are going to spend the day together, it might as well be doing something besides sleeping,” he leaned in close and nipped my bottom lip with his teeth.

I sat up, folding my arms across my chest. My eyebrows were raised in question, and he laughed at me, sensing where my mind had gone.

“Oh, no,” he snickered, “that comes later.”