Delilah Recovered **2017 Watty Winner**

chapter 55: Bittersweet Memories

3.33 AM Sunday, December 5

Delilah woke up to the sounds of Jonathan's screams. She rushed into the room to find him alone, in the throes of a nightmare. She put her hands on his chest to calm him when she was suddenly rocked by a rush of adrenaline surging through Jonathan's body into hers.

Violent images flooded her mind. She saw Jonathan holding her in his arms, covered in blood from a gaping gash in her neck. He tried to stem the bleeding with his bare hands. He held onto her, rocking her limp, dead body back and forth, mumbling to himself.

Finally, he set her down in the lane. He took a shovel, walked to the meadow where the children would play, and began to dig a grave. When the grave was finished, he fastened together a crown of white roses that were growing by the side of their house. He wrapped her body in a white cloth. Then he placed the crown of white roses on her head and carried her to the grave. He gently placed her in it, covering her body with dirt.

Jonathan suddenly awoke with a violent start.

Delilah noticed the vial on the table next to Jonathan's bed. She picked it up. Before she gave it too much thought, she drank it. It smelled like Pine-Sol and burned her throat on the way down. She held up Jonathan's head and gave him the rest. He gagged and coughed after he drank it. He grabbed her hand, pulling her down next to him. He kissed the top of her head, and wrapping his arms tightly around her, he whispered, "Delilah, please stay with me."

Overcome with exhaustion, Delilah fell into a deep asleep. When she woke up, her arms and legs were pinned to the bed. She opened her eyes to discover an unholy darkness filling the room with a sharp moonbeam cutting through it. As she moved her arms, she realized that she wasn't in bed with Jonathan, there was a little boy curled up on her left arm and a little girl sleeping on top of her right side. She lifted her head, her eyes following the beam of light that landed on Jonathan sleeping on the floor on a bed of hay with a gun resting by his side.

Gently she extracted herself from the children. Her heart almost burst open when she realized it was Aaron and Evie. She leaned down and covered their sweet, angelic apple cheeks in kisses. The moon was calling to her. Before she even realized it, she was walking through a meadow towards a small hill enveloped in moonlight. She ran toward the moon, pulling off her nightdress. When she reached the hill, she extended her arms towards the sky as she danced in a circle, trying to bathe in the moonlight.

This is freedom.

Like the redbird, no past and no future.

I feel ...happy?

"Delilah."

She froze. 

Quickly she turned around, it was Jonathan, wearing only a pair of breeches with his suspenders hanging at his legs. He was standing at the bottom of the hill with his hand resting on his hip smiling up at her. At the site of him, healthy and smiling, her buoyant heart bounced up and out of her chest. Without thinking, without caring whether it was right or wrong, she ran down the hill and leaped into his arms. He caught her and holding her tightly he twirled her around. They both were caught in the moment like two carefree teenagers laughing at nothing and at everything.

When Jonathan set her down gently, he took her fingers and pressing them to his lips, he whispered, "You are the peace of all things calm. You are the place to hide from harm. You are the light that shines in dark. You are the heart's eternal spark. You are my love, keep me from ill. You are the light, the truth, the way. You are my Savior this very day."

In disbelief, she asked, "How is this happening? How are we in Scotland?"

Jonathan placed his hand on her heart, "Shh. You'll break the spell."

Standing face to face with him, she didn't say a word as she reached over and pulled down his breeches. Without breaking eye contact he stepped out of them. He reached out and put his hand around the back of her neck pulling her towards him. His eyes penetrated hers, not asking for permission but telling her in no uncertain terms that he was going to take her. Right now. No more hesitation. Then he kissed her urgently, pressing his body against hers.

Jonathan pulled away suddenly, "Not here. Under the haymoon."

He took her hand and with determination he led her up the hill. Together they stood in the moonlight holding hands looking up at the moon. She rested her head on his shoulder as he wrapped his arm around her.

Still looking at the moon he said, "I am a selfish man. But I cannot deny it ... I love you, Delilah. And I cannot pretend that I don't. It is killing me. I have always loved you and I always will through this life and the next."

Delilah pulled away from him, she looked up at his face and wiped a single tear from his cheek.

He continued, "I don't need you to say anything. I don't even need you to love me back. I just need you to know the truth."

They stood face to face looking into each other's eyes. He placed his hand on her heart, then took her hand and placed it on his heart and said to her, "Know this, you will always be in my heart. Now and 300 years from now. You will always be a part of me."

Jonathan pulled her into his arms and kissed her. She felt her spirit melt into his. She didn't know where she ended and Jonathan began. Their bodies became one. As he made love to her, she felt a surge of energy as a bright light shot through them as their bodies rose off the ground hovering between the earth and the moon. In that moment, what she felt was pure, it was beyond words, it was transcendent.     

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How do you feel about Delilah and Jonathan sleeping together?

Should Delilah be sleeping with two different men?