Mortal Love

He reached out to touch her. She felt unusually cold.

He had been marveling at her beautiful figure for the umpteenth time. Her chiseled body was exquisitely crafted. She was slender, and had a dark skin that had a shine to it that could make the morning’s first light glide over her graceful curves. Looking at her, it was hard to believe that men have used her at their whims since her birth. Must be years now since the day she was sold to the streets, but it has failed to soil her innards. If anything, it steeled her into being perfect. God had made her pretty, but it’s the men who had bent her into her current form – stunning and deadly. How many souls must have fallen prey to her? He wondered. How many gallons of blood would have lost their way at her mere breath?

“Lovely” he whispered as he kissed her long neck. She was worth owning - every single moment of it.

He found her at a street corner one day, in the middle of a street fight. She had taken sides with the local gangs, and they ended up being the loser that morning. While the men fought over more mundane matters of gold and cash, she was left unattended on the curb. When he found her, she was cold, maybe even colder than she is now. She was soiled and unwanted, and hardly looked herself. Thankfully, she was unhurt. On another day, he would have walked by without even noticing her. But notice he did, and then he couldn’t resist himself. He had wrapped his parka around her, and walked off briskly. Her wet touch had excited him, causing a sudden rush of warmth in his veins. He probably had blushed too. Looking back, if feels a little strange. She did not take any notice of his fast racing heart, neither did she resist. Instead, she appeared to blend into her skin as he clung to her with his shaking hands. Maybe, she wanted to be with him, and get away from all the scum around her. Maybe, she wanted a cleaner pair of arms to hold her, caress her.

He thanked the lord again for that day. What a gift! What a stroke of luck!

He has taken good care of her since. And they have been inseparable too. Be it at the dining table, or the bathtub, they have been a couple to behold. The way she has blended into his life over the past few days is nothing short of a fairytale.

Only the other night, he began to open up to her. As the stories came pouring out, the memories slowly dissolved into the present. First, he took her to see his high school and the adjoining soccer ground where he scored his first hattrick. Then to his first rented apartment, his first employer’s chambers, his favorite sunset point.

And finally he took her to see his ex-girlfriend. He had expected it to be an awkward meeting, with long silences and longer sighs, but he was in for some surprises. They immediately took a liking to each other. And how they connected! He never would have imagined anyone could calm down his hyperventilating ex like she did. 

“What a blessing!” he kept saying to himself, as he slowly lowered his lips on to her. Warm blood is beginning to rush back into his crazy thoughts. “Time to make love again, my love, time to bring you back to life again. Yes, take all my warmth, and come back to the light once again. One last time”. And as her innards emptied into his senses, he finally slid back into the slumber that eluded him for ages. His warm blood touched the dried one on his ex. She lay there between them, forming the last eternal bridge. A bridge both warm and cold.