Stay With Me

Chapter 5

A fortnight had passed by since Gomez's appointment. The family had taken the news in their own inimitable way; Morticia and Gomez had never shied away from discussing death with their children, and they were now reaping the rewards of their dark parenting. Any questions the two youngest Addams' had were answered with a gentle honesty. Fester's upset had been mitigated by the request from Gomez that he step into the role of Father to Wednesday and Pugsley, two wonderfully disturbed young minds to continue to warp and mould in the great Addams tradition. Their evenings all together lasted a little longer now; Ouija board game evenings, real-life hangman, wake the dead... their time as a family unit – Lurch and Thing included, naturally - passed in a blur of fun and screams. After bedtime had come for the children, Gomez would sit on the floor between their beds and tell gruesome tales of the Addams's of old.

After bidding goodnight and bad dreams to Mama, Lurch and Thing, he would leave those three to mooch about the place as they desired, taking his leave and returning to the top floor to be with his beloved. Morticia and he had now not made love for a full 12 days; the longest they had ever abstained from each other's passions, by about 11 days. There was no lack of affection and tenderness between them, it wasn't that. Nights were still spent, as always, wrapped in each other's arms, punctuated by kisses and whispers of adoration. But Gomez, on the couple of times he had come to seduce his dark temptress, had felt something was just not as it usually was, and they had fallen asleep, both secretly frustrated at not having been able to satiate their desires. Tonight, Gomez thought – and his body firmly agreed with him – he would try again, find out what it was that had dampened Morticia's craving for him.

He slipped into the grand bedroom, walls covered with dark black and red silks and velvets, black laces over the windows, all the better to keep the retched sunlight out during the day, and to dull the screams often emanating overnight. In the centre lay their bed. It wasn't huge, a modest double bed draped in silk sheets, but it was all they needed. They slept so tangled in each other they barely took up half of the available space, and their pre-bed sexual adventures took place upon a myriad chairs, chaise lounges and dressing tables in any case. As ever, the only light came from the candles burning on the floor around the bed, and from the silver moonlight shining through a crack in the drapes. Gomez smiled at his beautiful one as she gazed up from her book upon his arrival in the room. Her black nightgown left just enough to the imagination, and her hair fell in gentle waves around her shoulders. Perfection, he thought as he stepped into the en suite to prepare himself for bed.

Morticia glanced up as the bathroom door opened a little while later, and the steam from the shower Gomez had just had filtered through into the room, misting over her vanity mirror. If he were to have his way that night, Gomez thought as he moved towards the bed, he would have to clean that mirror; he did so enjoy watching how she moved from every possible angle. As he approached, Morticia lay aside her book and threw back the sheets, turning her body slightly towards his as she welcomed him into her arms. Gomez cradled her against his shoulder, feeling that familiar stirring as she kissed his neck, before resting her head against his. Gomez enjoyed the closeness for a moment, his fingers absently tracing Spanish endearments over her bare shoulder. He shifted his hips slightly, fully pressing against her now, and she could feel his lust for her against her thigh.

"Gomez..." she murmured, her voice belying want and desire, but her body shied away a little, returning to the slightly more chaste arrangement of moments before.

"Mi preciosa, is there something wrong?" Gomez asked, trying to steady his own voice against both arousal and disappointment.

"I am scared I will cause you pain. I don't want to hurt you, mon amor," came the soft reply, spoken through loving lips pressed against his ear.

"That is all?" Gomez enquired patiently, keen to give Morticia the reassurance she needed.

She answered him with a single look through her long lashes, and Gomez nodded.

"Oh cara mia, you could never hurt me. Tish, you must know I crave you every second of the day and this long without us being together, coming together... it's been agony. I would never force you, my darling, but I swear to you, the only pain I know is that of you not wanting me any longer."

Morticia sat up a little, her legs curled underneath her and her and resting on Gomez's arm, her long hair sweeping over his chest as she moved forward to kiss his lips.

"I want you always, mon coeur," she moaned. "To fall asleep a single night without having felt your pleasure washing over me, it is no life at all."

"We have much to make up for," Gomez closed his eyes and let out a shaky sigh as he sank lower into the pillows, and Morticia threw her leg across his body, straddling his thighs.

"Let's not waste another moment," she cooed, as she lowered her head and began to kiss a trail of searing kisses down his chest, his fingers tangled in her flowing locks. They had much to make up for indeed, and a long night ahead in which to do so.

***

Later that same night – or to be more precise, in the early hours of the following morning – Morticia was awoken by a frantic thrashing and moaning beside her. Her first thought before she opened her eyes, accompanied by a small smile, was to query whether her husband had not had enough of her over the previous few hours. They had come and screamed and climaxed and fallen together many many times over that night, until finally exhaustion had lead them from their blissful afterglow into deep slumber. But as she opened her eyes, Morticia quickly realised that was not at all what ailed Gomez at that moment. She could feel his legs still tangled with hers, his flailing hands grabbing at her side, and was shocked at the heat radiating from his skin. He was always burning to touch it is true, but this was beyond anything she had ever felt from him. Concern etched across her face, she sat up and reached over to Gomez, trying to wake him. Despite his feverish state and wildly writhing body, he eyes remained closed, and nonsensical ramblings issued from his lips as though gripped by delirium.

Morticia dropped to her knees at the bedside, trying to gain some control over her beloved and his febrility. She stroked his cheek and voiced her guilt to him and the empty room.

"Oh mon coeur, have I done this to you?" she wondered aloud, fighting back her tears. For someone who usually so rarely wept, Morticia had shed a lifetime's worth of tears in the last fortnight. As Morticia stroked Gomez's scorched brow, she noted a faint sigh of relief amongst his excited ramblings. She wondered if she should wake Mama, surely she would know what to do. But perhaps there was one thing she could try first. Morticia slid back into bed beside her feverish love, and with every ounce of strength she possessed, wrapped her ice cold body around his searing hot one. The disparity in their temperatures had always bought relief to each other, and as she held her husband in her cool embrace, Morticia was sure she could feel him begin to relax. His movements became less violent, his sweat-drenched skin cooled under her touch. His fevered words became fewer and far between, until at long last, he was still in her arms. Morticia breathed a sigh of relief, and planted a kiss on the back of his neck as she finally allowed herself to join him once again in their dream-world, safe in the knowledge that his Earthly body would see another dawn with her by his side.