The Keepers Book Two of the Holding Kate Series (5 page)

“She adores you, but her heart is wanton. She does not see her own worth and will betray you and lie with another. You will give your life to save her, but she will not remain faithful. You will pour your rich love out for her, but she will not soak it up. Like water over a stone, it will pour over her, cleanse her but not be taken into her. She will remain thirsty for love that cannot satisfy and drink from other cups in desperation. Your love is her path to success, but she must seek beyond her own frailties and choose to take in your love. If she is your choice, you will suffer greatly. Do you so choose?”

Tears streamed down my face as I gazed upon the light of my soul. She bent to the silver stream and lifted water into her hands and drank thirstily. The water poured down her chin and bare arms, and soaked her dress, revealing the gloriousness of this gift. She raised her face to mine and desire called to me. She held open her arms and my decision solidified. I’d die a thousand deaths to call her my bride.

“I do so choose,” I choked out, my voice torn and my heart broken.

Immediately, we stood together in the field of grain. Kate’s white dress fluttered in the breeze, and she turned her smoldering eyes to mine. “Be my bride, Kate of a Thousand Years,” I whispered.

“Yes,” she sighed into my mouth and we kissed as the sun set over the horizon. The One sang over us, and we confessed our love and devotion. As the sun set on our past as individuals, we spoke vows of eternal commitment. Through tears of joy, we rejected all others and bonded ourselves to a holy and perfect union, sealing our promises with a passionate kiss.

I pressed the grasses down into a soft wedding bed and gently unwrapped the precious gift of Kate. Her form mesmerized me, everything I had dreamed of. I gazed upon her beauty, staggered by the way she moved me. She unbuttoned my shirt and ran her hands over my body, leaving trails of fire all over my skin. When I kissed her, I could taste her tears of joy. It stirred a deep and fierce need to protect her, to cover her with my devotion. We had longed for this day for a thousand years. I had waited, saved myself for her. The only woman I had ever wanted, she came into my arms, pure and without ghosts of past lovers between us. We had saved this magical moment as a precious gift to one another.

“Corey, Corey,” she sobbed and pressed her heart to mine. I understood, the beautiful agony of our long anticipation culminated in this moment. Emotion crested on enormous waves and crashed into fathomless billows of love and longing. Our hearts met in an impact so astonishing, resulting in a fusing of spirit and soul. I could no longer distinguish my desire from hers. We were of one heart, one mind, one spirit.

Our slow exploration became an urgent need, and Kate became my fascination. Fixated on pleasing every inch of her, I obsessed. Her slightest reaction became my inspiration, every small gasp, every cry of delight, stimulated me to new ventures. She seemed just as determined to satisfy my every longing. She wrapped herself around me and shivered in rapturous ecstasy as we became husband and wife, heart and soul, flesh and blood.

Long after the intensity had settled, we remained wrapped around one another. I had never known joy before this moment. Kate was my wife. I was her husband. She kissed the top of my head, and I pressed my lips between her breasts. We shifted to our backs in the wheat and watched the night sky as it filled with thousands of fireflies. Blues and greens, oranges and golds, every color of firefly ever created fluttered in the air above us. We luxuriated in the afterglow of our union, savoring the taste and feel of one flesh.

I plucked a grain of wheat and traced the line from her navel to her chin. She never took her attention off of me and her hands never left my skin. I ran the wheat stem through my fingers to soften it, and then began to weave it into a ring. I placed the golden ring on her left ring finger. “I have loved you for a thousand years, Mrs. Chastain.”

“I will love you for thousands more, my husband,” she breathed. The air thickened with passion and love and we started all over again where fireflies bask in afterglow.

I don’t know how long we made love in the meadow of fireflies. Not long enough, I could never get enough of my wife. Eventually the sun broke over the hills and I dressed my wife back into her flowing bridal gown, slowly kissing every part of her before covering it. She served me in the same way. We sat on the boulder and watched the perfect sunrise while she crafted a golden ring for me and placed it on my finger.

We spent the day wrapped in the bliss of our new favorite activity. We began to laugh at our insatiable appetite for one another. As the sun set and the fireflies returned, we collapsed against the boulder, exhausted, and fell asleep.

When we woke we were propped against the cave wall in the Scriptorium chamber. Dirk slept on the opposite side of the circular chamber. We didn’t wake him. We wrapped ourselves around each other and went back to sleep.

Kate stirred in my arms, and I opened my eyes. Dirk fashioned a meal on the cave floor across from us.

“Welcome back,” he smiled and offered me a bagel with cream cheese.

I woke famished, but I was not separate and other anymore. I had a wife to care for and we were the same. “Kate, darling, wake up, my love,” I kissed her sweet lips. She woke with an appetite and not for bagels.

I chuckled and she floated back to gaze at me lovingly. She snapped her head around and blushed when she saw Dirk.

“I forgot. I thought we were still on our boulder.”

My insides fluttered with a thousand fireflies, and I helped her to sit up straight and gave her the bagel.

“Mmmm, I’m so hungry.” She bit into the bagel and then turned it around and made me take a bite. We shared the breakfast, alternating bites and simmering glances.

Dirk produced a thermos and cracked the seal. Kate sang. “Coffee!” When Dirk handed her the cup, she grabbed the thermos instead. “This will do just fine.”

We shared the thermos, while Dirk chuckled and made do with the cup.

“So, have the others come back already?” I asked.

“Nope. Just you two.” He settled against the cave wall. “So, spill. What happened in there?”

Kate’s face flushed and she buried her head in my bicep. I cleared my throat and said, “We were married by the Beautiful One.”

“Married?” Dirk’s head snapped up.

“Yes.”

“Meaning what exactly?”

“Meaning, Kate and I are married, husband and wife, ’til death do we part.”

“So you…you…in there you…”

“We consummated the marriage if that is what you are asking.” I hugged Kate closer. “We consummated it thoroughly.” Kate’s cheek grew warm.

Dirk let out a whistle. “That’s a first.” He scratched behind his ear as though not sure what to think. “Did it ever occur to you that if Kate gets pregnant, it’ll really make this mission more difficult?”

Pregnant! No that never occurred to me, but now that it did, I had a picture of chasing a little blond boy and holding a perfectly round brunette girl in my arms while we ran around the First Cabin with their mother, my Kate. I smiled.

“Dirk, not that it is any of your business,” Kate snapped. “I have been on birth control for over a year now. We aren’t children!”

Dirk threw his head back and laughed. “You look like children to me, Katie.”

Kate cracked a smile. “You know what I mean. We have already lived an eternity. Our bodies may be teenagers but our minds and experiences are ancient. Right, old man?” She nudged my rib.

“Most definitely,” I kissed her nose then turned back to Dirk. “How long were we gone?”

Dirk shifted. “It’s been about twenty six hours.”

“Who went after us?”

“Mel and Tara were chosen to go next.”

“Mel and Tara?” Kate cocked her head. “I just thought we would all go in couples.”

“Very rarely are couples chosen after the team leaders.”

“I didn’t know.”

“That’s strange because four couples were chosen out of our other team,” I commented.

“You have no idea how strange that is,” Dirk replied. “Practically unheard of.”

“I guess the One knew what the future held and prepared us for the two century jump.”

“So what do we do?” Kate asked.

“We wait.

“My wife, Shanna, quite literally fell into another dimension, another world, sending ripples through our research. We now know that quantum travel is possible and we are expending great resources to solidifying a controlled conveyance.” ~
Dr. Rick J. Wilson in
Science Digest
, Volume XXIV, 2006

DONNIE AND TRIP
hit the dust of the cave floor first. They stood shoulder to shoulder and just swept the room, scanning for danger and assuming a defensive stance. Dirk opened his mouth to speak then snapped it closed, violently interrupted.

Screaming sliced through his words and announced Tara and Mel’s arrival. They clung to one another, wailing, tears streaming down their faces. They jerked up as they appeared in the Scriptorium and whirled around. When their desperate search found me they screeched.

“Corey! You are alive!” They took turns with the phrase and leapt into my arms, sobbing hysterically. We couldn’t make out any other words.

I looked over their heads desperately at Trip and Donnie who stood staring, just as baffled as I. “What, uh…what’s wrong?” I asked in soft tones. They just kept pawing at me and weeping. Kate eased toward them with soft caresses and tender tones, worry saturated her features.