Love Never Dies (6 page)

“Why do you run away?” she asked, noting his incriminating pulse throbbing strongly.

“I do not run away,” he denied.

“I say you that do because you are a coward.” She eyed him fiercely, daring to provoke him.

H
is dark gray eyes smoldered. “I am not a coward,” he hissed, “but am aware, unlike you, that what you desire from me has far-reaching consequences.”

“Such as...?”

“I do not easily let go of those I care about.”

“I never once believed yo
u were of a casual nature. It’s one of the things that attracted me to you in the first place.”

Seth swallowed roughly and Julia once again scrutinized his handsome features.
His ebony hair hung haphazardly about his face and she noticed a discreet hole in his left earlobe, bereft of an adorning earring.

He in turn gazed as if disgusted into her dark green eyes flecked with golden brown.
Her streaked blonde hair was tousled and her cheeks flamed pink with undisguised desire. Julia’s tense face and rigid body, so luscious under the thick lavender sweater, demanded a response to her declaration of desire.

“I
do not do one night stands,” Seth whispered, gradually moving closer.

“Neither do I.”

His hands suddenly darted forward, drawing her to him in a devastating kiss. Julia pressed her searching lips against his and dared him to deny the sexual surge igniting her whole body. It proved his undoing and suddenly Seth kissed her again, this time opening her full lips with his insistent tongue as he plundered the sweet depths of her mouth.

Seth teased her mouth and then moved his lips onto her ears, her neck, and the recesses of her throat.
His hands stroked and searched, finally plucking up the hem of her sweater and rubbing his gentle fingertips over the bare flesh of her back.

Julia in turn ran her hands over his solid chest
before sliding them under his pullover, seeking the warm firmness of his toned body. His hairless chest was hot and her fingers delighted in the contours of his muscles as she rubbed her hands down the stiffness of his spine. He gasped and pulled her even closer, enabling Julia to feel the hard length of him crushing into her pelvic bone, and she shivered delightedly.

Her sweater was removed in one deft yank and landed on the floor in a heap of lavender folds.
Seth’s fingers cupped her breast and stroked the nipple under the lacy beige bra. He suddenly released her and backed away again.

“No,”
she cried involuntarily, and stretched out a trembling hand to urge him back. For the first time ever, Seth truly smiled, suddenly looking ten years younger and far more approachable.

“Don’t fear
, love, I would not leave you now,” he said, briskly moving to lock his bedroom door before dropping his soft gray pullover onto the floor beside her crumpled sweater as she devoured the sight of his smooth toned chest with her emerald eyes.

Seth ho
oked a finger in the front clasp of her bra, releasing the tiny catch and allowing the thin garment to fall to the floor. He gazed in open admiration at her lovely full breasts which ached for his touch.

“So beautiful,” he whispered
, and bent to take a pink nipple between his lips. He suckled and caressed and guided her toward the expanse of his bed, gently lowering her upon the silvery bedspread, his mouth never ceasing its insistent conquest of her breast.

Seth’s hands now roved freely, gently massaging her legs under the soft cotton of her tailored pants until his fingers found the snap and zipper and expertly pulled the shielding fabric from her expectant body.
Seth’s finger looped into her beige bikini, and giving her the gentlest, most reassuring smile, he tugged it downward.

“Ever so beautiful,” he r
epeated, gazing at her trim legs and flat stomach.

“Not as beautiful as you,” she whispered, touching the beating pulse at his throat
, and tangled her hands in the silk of his hair. “I want you,” she whispered, and Seth rose to his knees, slowly peeling off his jeans and blue boxer briefs.

It was
amazing how this quiet, often remote man could love so gently. A delightful feeling of completeness washed over her as they became one, his sweet breath fanning her face, his gray eyes smoldering but tender. Later he held her for a long time, his body slack against her. His lips nuzzled her hair and finally he spoke, so quietly she strained to hear.

“I love you
,” he said. From that moment on her fate was sealed.

“I love you too,” she managed
, and without meaning to at all, fell into a blissful sleep, never once loosening her grip on the man she’d loved since the moment he’d walked into her brother’s door.

The phone’s shrill ring caused Julia to gasp and bolt upright, but Seth stayed her, nestling her slim fr
ame once again upon the expanse of his chest as he answered the call in his rich, melodious voice.

“It’s not a problem,” he said patiently after a while, str
oking her silky blonde hair and nesting his nose into the tangled curls. “Of course I’m listening. I’ll bring the updated blueprints in on Monday and brief you before the meeting. I’ve already made the changes, so you’re not to worry. I’ll see you then.”

“Your boss?” murmured Julia drowsily.

“Yes. Lenny is a typical ‘type A’ personality and frets over every detail. I’ll have to go in early Monday and reassure him the designs are up to snuff before the city planners arrive.”

“I’m sure
they are,” she stated, positive anything he produced would be of the highest quality.

“Speaking of designs,” he said casually.
“One of the drawing points of this condo was the lovely Jacuzzi built for two. May I show it to you?” Seth hitched himself up on one arm and smiled down at her.

“I would love to see your Jacuzzi
, kind sir.”

Suddenly Julia was lifted into his strong arms and with an excited screech
was carried naked into the gray-tiled bathroom. Seth lowered her gently onto the thick bathroom rug and reached over to twist the taps. He nuzzled her ear as the water steamed and filled the lovely tub. They finally lowered themselves into the swirling water of the Jacuzzi; Julia propped against his exhausted body until Seth languidly reached for some herbal shampoo and began to lather up her hair. His fingers massaged, smoothing back the foaming strands, until laughing she suddenly submerged herself to rise a few moments later with water streaming down her face.

“I love your laugh,” he said seriously.
“It fills me with joy every time I hear it. I wish I could laugh like you.”

His melancholy tone bothered her so she
bent forward and kissed his too-tight mouth. “Then I shall laugh for the both of us. Now let me wash those dark locks of yours sir.”

Twenty minutes later they finally retreated from the pruning warmth of the small pool and dressed languidly after rubbing the moisture off each other’s body.

“I promised my mother I’d come over to help make the turkey soup,” said Julia reluctantly, straightening her lavender sweater. “Would you care to come along?”

“I have a bit of work to do on those blueprints before Monday.”

“We make a mean soup.”

“No sweet girl,” he said shortly, bracing himself for the hurt
look in her sea-green eyes. “I need some time to myself, but perhaps you’d find it in your heart to stop by tomorrow evening or Saturday morning?”

“I’ll find it in my heart,” she promised.



It was barely
seven a.m. before she knocked on his door. Seth answered her insistent pounding with a sleepy hello and pulled her back into the warmth of the condo, before discarding her clothes on the smooth parquet. His bed was warm and tousled and she gloried in making him gasp, his dark eyes glowing in contentment. For some, it may have seemed they had moved too quickly, but Julia instinctively realized they had spent way too much time waiting, hesitant to fulfill their needs. She refused to be hesitant any longer, and straddling his lean hips caused him to moan and gasp out her name. It was a Friday to be remembered.

It was late Friday afternoon when Paul finally wandered into the condominium and threw down his overnight bag.
Upon observing Seth cleaning up the kitchen he said, “I’m going to have to go on a diet. Two turkey dinners was way more than enough.”

Seth gave him a half-smile and waited until his roommate had poured himself a glass of diet soda and eased his long fr
ame onto the comfortable couch before approaching him.

“There’
s something I need to talk to you about Paul,” uttered Seth quietly, sinking down into the coffee-brown recliner positioned directly across from his roommate.

“And what would that be?” asked Paul
, only half listening. He was just more than a bit sore his favorite football team had lost by a mere three points. He took a sip of his cola.

“I’m in love with your sister.”

Paul didn’t plan on spitting out the liquid like some poor B-grade movie, but shot the soda all over the legs of his pants and upon the rich red tones of the borrowed rug from Seth. “You
are
what?”

“I’m in love with Julia and she
loves me. I just thought I’d let you know so it wouldn’t take you by surprise the next time you saw us together.”

Paul watched Seth in stunned silence as his roommate rose and gave him a half
-smile.

“Julia and I are
having dinner and might catch a movie. We probably won’t be back till late. Have a good evening Paul.”

Seth once again retreated into the sanctuary of his room, certain that while events
moved way too fast, he was helpless to do anything more than enjoy the sensation of being finally and completely loved.

Chapter 3

And so they bec
ame a pair. Seth’s quiet reserved nature slowly blossomed under Julia’s laughter and sweet touch and one week after his declaration to her brother, he visited her parents.

Jim Morris gave him a knowing glance.
His daughter’s unbridled happiness had not gone unnoticed and Helen Morris could barely restrain herself from giving the handsome architect an impulsive hug. She waited as patiently as possible for the methodical man to finally seat himself upon the couch after accepting the cup of hot cider offered him.

“Julia and I are seeing each other and
I just wanted you to know that I would never do anything to hurt her.”

“I never thought you would,” answered Jim Morris, liking the confident tone of Seth’s voice.

“Things are progressing rather rapidly and I just didn’t want you to be startled.”

“We are not remotely startled, only delig
hted,” chortled Helen. “You’ll be joining us for Christmas of course?”

“Of course,” answered Seth
, and they settled into normal conversation about weather and politics and work. Seth promised Jim to return for a game of chess later that week and the pair watched him walk down the damp walkway to his car after a pleasant thirty minutes.

“I’m so pleased,” said Helen, sighing in happiness.

“I am as well. I just hope he doesn’t dim her lights; he’s so serious.”

“June is a nice month for weddings,” said his wife, ignoring his cryptic comment.

“Helen!”

“Just
enjoying a pleasant daydream Dear, since I’ve never seen Julia so happy; you’ll just have to let me indulge myself.”

“I think it’s a little early to start pick
ing out china.”

“You’ll see.
There’s no one else for either of them,” returned Helen, humming happily as she picked up Seth’s empty mug and took off for the kitchen.

The next few weeks passed in a dre
amy haze for Julia, as gradually some of Seth’s clothing and personal belongings ended up in her room, as did hers in his. They often accompanied Angie and Paul on double dates, as Seth loosened up and allowed himself to enjoy the bubbly Angie and her impulsive boyfriend. Seth had managed to convince Paul to let him design an aquarium for the condo and he worked on it each weekend, adding pounds of reef rock and coral until finally, the beautiful tank was complete. They added countless gallons of salt water and eight frisky damselfish in varying shades of blue and black, which now darted about in their new home as they helped mature the saltwater. Within a week the four planned to head to the local pet store and pick out more exotic fish.

There was no hes
itancy on Seth’s part now. He’d made up his mind and didn’t try to hide his affection from Angie, Paul, or Julia’s parents. He always walked with his arm draped across her shoulder or held her hand. He sat close to her in booths and theatres alike and each night was glorious in their shared intimacy and warmth. One evening, right before Christmas, the foursome sat down in a Mexican restaurant after some frenzied late afternoon gift shopping. Paul grimaced at the large heap of packages beside him before Angie laid a single piece of paper on the table.

“What’
s this?” asked Paul, as Julia leaned over to see.

“It’s a china pattern Paul.” Angie stumbled.
“I was thinking that maybe someday, that is if we ever decide to get married, you might like to order it.

“Our wedding,” mumbled Paul. If Angie didn’t watch it, she was going to take all the fun out of his impending proposal.
“Well, maybe someday. Never hurts to dream I guess.”

Seth gave him a conspiratoria
l glance and tapped a finger upon the bronze and black geometric pattern before commenting casually.

“Very elegant and tasteful indeed; it’s a fine choice Angie.”
Angie beamed across from him. She truly liked her roommate’s boyfriend and secretly hoped they might have a double wedding.

“I don’t know,” said Paul
, studying the sheet of paper. All this wedding business laid heavily on his mind. It wasn’t that he minded getting married; he just didn’t appreciate all the malarkey that accompanied it. Las Vegas sounded like a better choice every day.

“Did your father have to succumb to buying china?” he asked Seth, who
leaned back in the booth, a casual arm draped across Julia’s shoulders.

“I really can’t recall,” he said, “not having been born yet, but I’m sure he wouldn’t have minded since he and my mother were soul mates.”

“Soul mates,” repeated Angie. “I’ve heard that term before. Isn’t that when someone is destined to be your mate? One true love for each of us?”

“That’s only half of it,” said Seth
, gazing intently at Julia’s best friend. “Being a soul mate actually entails a lot more than that.”

“Y
ou really believe that nonsense?” cracked Paul. “I thought you were much too serious to fall for romantic gibberish.”

“It’
s not gibberish,” replied Seth quietly. “My father told me himself that my mother was his soul mate and that he’d given her half his soul a year before I was born.”

“Gave his soul to her?” repeated Paul
, glancing at his sister and shaking his head like Seth had gone daft or something.

“Oh shut up Paul,” said Angie, “this sounds interesting.
What do you mean he gave his soul to her?”

“Well
it’s actually a physical thing,” stated Seth, suddenly seeming reluctant to expound further.

Julia was suddenly alert, remembering their earlier conversation at the Sushi restaurant.

“My father told me about it several times, but I’ve never discussed it outside
the family; though I’d heard of the phenomena before.”

“Now you’ve really got my interest up so you can’t just stop now. Go on Seth,” urged Angie, ignoring Paul’s snort of disgust.

“What do you mean a physical thing?” asked Julia, watching her lover’s face intently. “I thought a soul mate was just someone you wish to remain with for the rest of your life.”

“Well, that’s a big part of i
t,” responded Seth, “but there’s an actual physical act needed to exchange part of your soul with another. My father explained he’d exchanged souls with my mother when only twenty-three.”

“What did he do?
Take a knife and cut out part of his soul and give it to your mom to eat?” Seth appeared vaguely disgusted at Paul’s flippant comment.

“Oh Paul, just be quiet. Tell us about it and just ignore
him,” said Angie, putting her hand over boyfriend’s mouth to silence him. “I really want to know how it’s done.”

“Here we go,” moaned Paul
through her hand.

Seth sighed and began quietly, his voice almost melancholy.
“When my father met my mother he knew he was doomed to love her from the moment he laid eyes on her. He was twenty-three at the time and she about twenty.”

“What were their n
ames?” whispered Julia.

“My father’s n
ame was Frank and my mother’s was Jenny. He met her during a summer postgraduate course at NYU. Anyway, as soon as dad met her he knew that was it; he would never want to be with another woman. Within weeks there was no question that their involvement was going to be permanent.

“
This was in 1967, mind you, and a lot of strange ideas had made the circuit. There were mind bending drugs, psychedelic hallucinations, and free, uninhibited sex, but my father, being the more contemplative type, had read a magazine from the far east about exchanging souls and was fascinated, not being the type to go in for the other excesses of the sixties. He was passionately in love with my mother and decided to try it if she was game.

“
The process is relatively simple. The first thing is to agree to exchange souls unreservedly with your chosen mate. The second part’s even easier yet; while making love you vow eternal devotion to each other and as climax approaches you transfer part of your soul to your mate. My father said that he and my mother were making love passionately in his apartment. He gazed into my mother’s eyes and said, ‘I love you and I give you the other half of my soul.’ An excruciating pain exploded in his chest and as he climaxed he felt as if a twisting knife had been thrust into his heart.

“
He glanced down and saw my mother struggled with some intense, overwhelming pain, and he was deathly afraid he’d somehow killed her. Mom’s hand flew to her chest and she gasped out his name. A couple of minutes later, when both could finally speak, Dad noticed a warm feeling stealing over his chest, as if a vessel that had been partly emptied was once again being refilled with a liquid that warmed and soothed like a good cognac, for she too had given him her soul. Mom had silently called out his name and had taken his soul back in to herself.”

“Wow,” said Angie
, as Seth paused. Paul leaned back in the booth, his arms crossed defensively before him. He clearly didn’t believe a word of it

“And I thought you were a sane, rational man
.”

“Paul, shut up!” exclaimed Angie.
“And...?”

“Later, when they were calmer
, they spoke about it. My father, always the skeptic, didn’t really believe that it happened and wrote off the pain in his chest as some sort of fluke during lovemaking. But that evening as my mother returned to her dorm room, my father felt a strange pang in his breast as if he couldn’t bear for her to apart from him. Mom whirled about and gave him a halfhearted wave from the downstairs landing, a strange expression flitting over her face. That night a soft despair settled over him and all he could do was think of her, visualizing her stretched out upon her narrow bed, eyes fastened upon the ceiling as she fantasized about him.

“
Suddenly Dad realized that part of her was in him, and he was in her. It was almost as if some sort of telepathy had instantly developed between the two. When she entered a room he didn’t have to turn around to instinctively know she was there; he could feel it by the warmth in his chest and the glow in his heart.”

“You have got to be kidding,” said Paul disgustedly.

“I wish I were, and it’s that unbreakable bond between my mother and father that finally killed him.”

“What
?” gasped Angie, her dark brown eyes widening.

“It’s true.
When I was twenty-four my mother was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. From the time of her diagnosis to her death, only a scant five weeks elapsed. My father had no time to prepare himself for her death and upon her passing sank into a deep depression. I myself was too aggrieved to understand that my father needed help. One day, four months later, when I returned home after an evening of drinking and carousing with my buddies in an effort to forget the memory of my mother’s frail face and wasted body, I saw my father hunched over in his comfortable old chair where he’d watch TV beside my mother when she was alive. He had aged ten years in those four months, his hair turning prematurely white even though he was only fifty years old.

“
He sat in the chair with a picture album spread open upon his knees and scanned photographs of our family. I remember kneeling down to watch his fingers caress a worn and cherished photograph of my mother; one that had been taken in 1967 right after he’d met her. The sadness in his eyes was so pathetic that I wanted to cry at his obvious despair.”

“
‘She’s gone now,’ he said to me, as if I didn’t realize my own mother was dead. ‘I know,’ I answered, and reached out a hand to pat his thin knee.”

“
‘There’s no more warmth,’ he moaned. ‘When she died she took half my soul with her and I can’t exist on this earth without her; without the other half of my soul. What am I to do son? Where am I to go and who am I to talk to? There’s no comfort in my life, my bed, or my heart. ’”

The air hissed from Angie’s lungs but Seth continued, oblivious to her distress.

“I remember I uttered some useless words of hollow comfort, but they did nothing for my father and the next day as I left him to go to work, I never realized it was the last time I’d see him alive. That evening, when I arrived home, I found him sitting in his office with his head drooping; a bullet-hole placed accurately through his skull. His note was brief and to the point. ‘When your mother took my soul, I didn’t realize it would take my life as well. I cannot live without her, so I must seek her.’ He was only fifty years old.”

Angie gulped and whispered softly.
“So you really believe your father had only half a soul when your mother died?”

“Yes. I believe that when she died the essence of h
is soul went with her body into her grave or even perhaps to heaven. I’m not sure about the hereafter, that’s a whole other realm to contemplate within itself, but I do know my father was an empty shell after she died. Without his soul mate there was no reason for him to linger upon this earth any longer.”