A Little Romance

JC let Ciel sleep as he rose to prepare a romantic evening for her. She had said she didn’t need to be courted, but she deserved the attention. Even his spur of the moment proposal had been lackluster. He made calls into town for flowers and groceries to be delivered. He only wished he had a ring to offer her. His heart would have to be enough for now.

“How do I go about marrying someone with no identity?” JC asked his lawyer over the telephone.

“No identity?”

“She’s an amnesiac.”

“Is that wise? What if she regains her memory? She could simply walk away from you – not even remembering she married you.”

“That won’t happen with Ciel. She doesn’t want to remember. I’ve had people looking for months to find out who she is – nothing. It’s like she appeared out of thin air.”

“I don’t know, JC. Let me look into it.”

“Thanks, man. Let me know.”

Ciel woke in JC’s bed with Serafina eyeing her accusingly.

“There are some things you just don’t do in front of your cat,” she muttered to the haughty feline.

She refused to let the animal put a damper on her good mood. Her body felt deliciously sore from JC’s gentle lovemaking. She’d never felt more live, so whole – so much like a woman. And he’d said he loved her. If these sweet, tender, protective feelings she had for him could be called love, then she loved him as well. It was something she wanted to explore further – but he had left the bed.

“Hey, I see you’re awake, sleepyhead,” JC called from the bedroom doorway.

“You should have woke me,” she told him as she pushed herself up into a sitting position against the headboard, unmindful of her nudity.

JC’s eyes grew dark with desire as he gazed at her. She thought her body lacking – he saw no deficiency, only her perfection. “I wanted to let you sleep.” He moved to the bed with a white lingerie box in one hand. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he placed the box in her lap. “I bought you this in LA. I’d like you to wear it tonight.”

“All right.” She put a hand on the back of his neck, to urge his face closer. “Kiss me.”

He didn’t pretend to protest. He took her mouth in a lingering kiss, his head spinning all the while. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that,” he murmured as he pressed his forehead to hers.

“To what?”

“Your kiss sends me into the stratosphere.”

“Hmm...I want you right here.”

“I’m here, Ceely.” He kissed her softly, then rose. “Dinner will be ready in about an hour.”

“Joshua?” There was something different in his demeanor. She couldn’t say what it was.

He smiled. “I have a surprise for you, angel girl.”

Ciel took her time preparing for dinner. A leisurely shower soothed the remaining aches from the afternoon’s activities. She dried her hair into a straight, silken fall. Opening the box JC had given her, she found a simple satin gown of pale silver-blue. The thin spaghetti straps crossed in the back, holding the floor length gown in place. Her cotton underwear would be very silly with such elegance, so she decided to forgo panties. She somehow had the idea a garment such as this was meant to be removed rather quickly.

“You look more like a goddess than an angel tonight,” JC announced huskily from her bedroom doorway. His eyes once more held the darkness of desire.

“It is lovely. Thank you.”

He moved into the room, claiming a soft kiss. He trailed his fingers along her nearly naked back. “You wouldn’t let me get it because of your scars.” He caressed the scars as if trying to heal them. “But, baby, I don’t see them when I look at you. I see my beautiful, caring angel girl.”

Then he did something unexpected, tender and oh-so seductive. He bent and kissed the length of each thick scar. Only his arm about her waist kept her upright as she melted at his soothing touch.

“Joshua…”

“I love you, Ciel. Everything about you is strong and kind and wonderful.”

Had anyone courted her heart so gently? She surely would have remembered a love like this!

Straightening, he took her hand. “Dinner is ready. Come with me.”

“Oh, my!” The scene JC had set for their dinner in the tower surprised Ciel. Beside the piano, he had placed an intimate table for two so they could look out over the moonlit sea. The piano had been covered with a white cloth and adorned with a vase of red roses and tall flickering candles. The moon and candlelight were the only illumination for the occasion.

“A romantic dinner for two,” JC whispered in her ear.

“This is romance?”

“This is one part of it.” Taking her hand, he led her to the table and held her chair.

“Shrimp cocktail,” she cooed as she sat down.

“Your favorite dinner.” He brushed his lips briefly on her neck before taking his seat. “I would usually serve white wine, but since alcohol makes you sick…” He produced a bottle of chilled, white grape juice and filled her goblet, then his.

“This is lovely, Joshua. Sweet and thoughtful.”

“I realize I sorta did this backwards. You’re supposed to woo the girl to win her…”

“Lucky for you I didn’t know better,” she teased.

“Yeah.” He lifted his glass. “A toast – To my angel girl, may she stay in my life forever.” He took a sip of the juice. “Dig in, Ceely.”

As they ate, they chatted about various things from his music to Serafina. JC tried to keep it light. They had skipped dating altogether and he didn’t want her feeling cheated.

“Joshua?” Ciel broke a long silence.

“Yeah?”

“I know you think you need to do more for me, romance and such, but it isn’t necessary. I can’t miss what I’ve never known.”

“Ciel, you deserve it all.”

“It is wonderful you feel that way, but you are enough.”

“Me?”

“You. Your caring, your affection, your kisses, your touch – What you bring to my life is more than enough. I can’t imagine wanting more than you’ve already given me,” she told him truthfully.

JC reached over to stroke her soft cheek. “Ciel, you are a miracle in my life. You brought me back to life. I can never give you enough.”

Turning her head, she pressed tiny kisses on his palm and fingers. “You already have, my dearest Joshua.”

“Then, please, say you’ll marry me.”

With her wide, soft eyes on his, she whispered, “Yes, I’ll marry you.”

The lump in his throat was difficult to speak passed. “Thank you,” he croaked.

“I—I am truly not very hungry.”

“I have Oreos for desert.”

“Later.”

Rising, he took her hand. “May I have this dance, Ciel?”

“I don’t know how to dance.”

Assisting her to her feet, he murmured, “ You don’t have to. We’ll simply hold each other while the music plays.”

Switching on a portable CD player, he took her into his arms and they swayed to the soft, seductive sound of piano and saxophone. She sighed happily, enjoying his body against hers, his arms holding her close. Once in a while, he’d nuzzle her or brush his a kiss over her bare shoulder. This romance business was heavenly.

Neither of them could have said how long they moved together to the music. Ciel lifted her head to meet his gaze and they kissed leisurely, taking time to completely mate their mouths. Tentatively, she moved her lips over his jaw to his throat, nibbling at the pulse point there.

“Joshua, I believe I love you, too.”

He hadn’t expected to hear that! His heart did a happy flip in his chest. “I love you, Ceely, forever.”

Her mouth returned to his and they drank fully from each other.

“Make love to me again,” she pleaded softly.

Skimming her hand along her shoulders, JC pushed the straps of her gown down. With one tug, she was naked in his arms. He bore her down on her pillowy nest and made exquisite, slow love to her by moonlight.

Ciel didn’t remember being brought to bed, but evidently JC had carried her there while she recovered from their lovemaking. She woke in his arms, in his bed, both of them deliciously naked beneath the covers. She studied his dear face as he slept. The gaunt, haunted, scruffy look was gone as were the frown lines. He scarcely resembled the melancholy man she had first encountered. Could love do all that? Was the absence of love what had been the cause of his morose mood to begin with?

JC woke to find her eyes upon him wonderingly. “What?”

“Why were you so sad when we met? Had someone not loved you?”

“No one loved me they way you mean,” he told her. “I was feeling alone and empty. I don’t feel that way anymore. I’m stronger for knowing you.”

“I’m so glad.”

He kissed her softly. “You have my heart and soul, Ciel.”

“Should you not keep those?”

“Not if you love someone. You give everything to them.”

“That’s a little scary.”

JC combed her hair back with his fingers, his steady on hers. “I’m not scared, Ciel. Not if I have you.”

“Then you are very brave.”

His kiss was soft and tender. “We have each other, baby. We’ve got nothing to fear.”

“Nothing?”

“Nothing.”

She gave him a tremulous smile. “All right, then I’ll be brave, too. You can have my heart as well.”

“You won’t regret it,” he promised.

A shiver of fear trickled down her spine. Something was going to happen…

She shoved the thought away. “Love me, Joshua. I love the feeling when we are one.”

“So do I.” His mouth came to hers with a breath-stealing kiss. “I love you, Ciel.”

A fluttering sound woke JC in the middle of the night. He didn’t open his eyes immediately. Ciel was curled against his side, so nothing could be horribly amiss. But the sound persisted. Opening his eyes, he was greeted by a pair of large golden wings – on Ciel’s back where her scars had been.

Wings…

Angel wings…

He blinked. He hadn’t been drinking…He hadn't even touched alcohol in weeks, since the party. So it wasn't an alcohol induced apparition…

Ciel…

He reached back in his memory – to a child in a burning house and a guardian angel with large white wings and big blue eyes. Ciel…

JC’s eyes burned with tears and he stifled his urge to cry out at the injustice of it all. Heaven had played a cruel trick on him, sending his angel to him, having him fall in love with her. When would she be reclaimed?

No! No! It just couldn’t happen! If she didn’t know, he wouldn’t tell her. Maybe he could keep her…