The Golden Desires (7 page)

"Isabella, I believe you must be jesting me.
You know that is not possible."

She nodded and looked into his eyes, and Trent
could see how close they were. As friends? As lovers? While pondering that
question he felt a strong unease at the possibility of the latter.

Trent saw Isabella nod at him.

"Show him," she said with a fair degree
of force, and he immediately followed her instruction and raised his hand, the
next moment being completely alone with her.

With a nod of her head, she guided him to put his
hands down once more, resulting in him and Adrian once again being able to see
one another.

"I cannot watch any more of this …
madness
.
Isabella, come with me and I will walk you home. This is some kind of … trick.
Please come with me," he said to her, standing up and then pleading in his
voice, but she only shook her head at him.

"No, Adrian, I shall stay here. Trent needs
sustenance and I brought this bread for him. Do not worry for me. I shall see
you at breakfast."

Adrian looked at her, scared for her, but knew how
strong willed she could be. He turned and walked away without looking back.

Trent looked at her and saw a trace of distress on
her face.

"You care about each other," he said
simply and she nodded at him.

"Yes, very much."

"But you let me kiss you."

Isabella blushed at the thought.

"He and I are friends …
good
friends.
We are nothing more," she said as she started to break off a small piece
of the bread that she held in her hands.

"But one of you
wishes
it were
something more."

Trent saw her nod again, softly and with a look of
affection mixed in with dismay at the observation.

"The other night he asked me about
pairing…"

"Pairing?"

Now Isabella blushed profusely, making Trent
consider what it could mean, and suspected he understood.

"In our village a man and a woman pair … and
then produce offspring so that the village can maintain population."

Trent nodded at her, not wanting to make her any
more uncomfortable. But he was surprised when she continued to speak.

"He asked me but I did not feel I was ready
so I … I told him I was not ready and he accepted that," she continued and
then paused, looking him directly in the eye while she raised one piece of
bread and eased it toward his mouth, allowing him to take it in and start
chewing the first taste of something so filling in a long while. "I did
think then that I was not ready but … when
you
kissed me … when I kissed
you
… I felt …
different
."

He watched her as he enjoyed and savoured the flavour
in his mouth. Now that he was 30 years old, it seemed an eternity ago when he
had lost his virginity. Sex seemed so … easy … where he came from. Like it was
hardly worth anything at all really.

"Different to … how it felt when you kissed
others?" he asked her boldly, curious now because she was like an enigma
to him. She had invaded his dreams, and then become a reality before him.

"Oh, no … I have never kissed anyone
before," she said and he was surprised but at the same time sensed a
feeling of relief flowing through him. "No, I would only kiss someone I
was pairing with."

She saw Trent's eyes go wide, as if he was worried
he had been committed to pairing with her, but she laughed softly at him and he
was mesmerized by the sound of it.

"Oh, do not look so scared," she said
with humour in her voice that made him even more captivated. "I am not
saying you are now paired with me. I do not know why I enjoyed you kissing me,
but it did not come from knowing each other over a long time, knowing what we
each like and dislike…" she continued, now remembering the way Adrian had
explained things to her when he had suggested the two of them pair.

She tore off another piece of bread and again
offered it to his mouth. He was desperate to move his hands but at the same
time he knew he needed the food so would not risk losing that opportunity. His
body needed so many things - but the feeling most able to be felt inside of him
was that he needed
her
. He could feel the pull he had toward her and
believed it was mutual. Something unknown that had pulled them to be near to
one another.

But for now he would eat. She only had limited
food with her, and that was good as he would have to build up the quantities he
could eat, slowly, letting his body gradually adjust to proper food once again.

They looked at each other as she slowly fed him,
and once the food was gone he took a moment to enjoy the fullness in his
stomach.

"I would like to kiss you again,
Isabella," he said and she nodded.

"Yes."

"I want to stand and put my arms around you.
But although people will not see me, they
will
see you."

Isabella realized the predicament there and nodded
again.

"Yes, we need to go somewhere where no-one
else will see. I cannot see the dangers you can, so point me in a direction and
I will tell you if I can go there," she said and stood up, watching him as
he lifted his backpack in preparation for following.

She laughed at him.

"You can probably leave that if you wish to.
No-one else can see it so it will not be taken."

He laughed in agreement with the point she made,
and it was an easy moment for them before she came closer to him and stood
before him.

He was desperate to kiss her, so quickly looked
around and started walking toward the outer wall. Between them - him saying
when he could not walk over or through something, and her doing the same -
finally they reached a discrete corner behind a building.

"Are you safe here?" he asked her to be
certain. He was hungry for her and did not want to deal with the
two-hands-on-the-ground saga now.

"Yes, no-one can see me here," she said
and stepped forward to him.

Together they moved their arms around each other
and then his mouth was on hers, so much hungrier now than he had been before. She
was finding her way in kissing, he noted, but the desire and passion emanating
from her was overpowering. He felt like he should break away from her but at
the same time he felt like that was the last thing he could do.

He pulled back only slightly so that he could look
at her. The brilliant red hair was like a wild mane but he could not help but
slip his fingers into it, feeling it run across his palm like it was silk, it
was so soft.

"Isabella, you are so beautiful. I don't know
where you have come from but I am drawn to you. I've been drawn to you since
before I was even here, with you in my dreams," he whispered to her before
kissing her again, this time more softly.

Isabella revelled in the feelings flowing through
her body. Never had she felt anything like this. She never had even dreamed of
feeling like this. And being able to touch him … hold him … invigorated her
even more.

When he pulled back again to look at her once
more, she moved one of her hands to his cheek, feeling the short hair over his
chin and face, and he naturally moved his head to move his face against her
hand. It had been so long since he had experienced any human interaction at
all, let alone touch.

In a fleeting moment he thought back to life as it
was before. He had been seeing a married woman for many months and they had often
had sex, but he had never felt anything like this. Just the touch of her hands
on him was enough to make him crave more.

"I shall need to go home soon, Trent. My
mother and father will be worried about me," she said, suddenly seeming so
young and innocent, even though he knew she had great passion inside of her,
waiting to be set free. "I cannot help you to find somewhere safe to
sleep…"

Suddenly he was aware of the dilemma also. He
looked around but as far as he could see, there was not one building standing.

"I have a small tent in my bag…"

"A …
tent
?"

He smiled at her. Of course she would not know
what a tent was.

"A small shelter that I carry with me. I will
set it up where we were sitting earlier and will be able to sleep there for the
night," he said and she nodded, looking down. "I can walk you to your
house now though. I mean no-one is going to see me, right?" he said and
she could hear the amusement in his voice, making her laugh lightly in return.

"Yes, of course. Thank you."

She held out her hand to him and once more they
negotiated the way to her home, both of them pointing out the obstacles they
could see that the other one could not. Finally she stopped and leaned in close
to him, but not touching him.

"I am here," she whispered and he nodded
at her.

"Will you come and find me tomorrow?" he
asked and she nodded slightly, seeming to be worried that someone might see
her. "I can see that you cannot move toward me, or kiss me, or say
anything right now. But I can lean in and kiss you," he said, leaning and
just lightly kissing her lips, ever so softly. "Goodnight Isabella. Thank
you for a remarkable day."

She watched him walk away and then she turned and
entered her family home, wondering what adventures could possibly come her way
next.

9 ~ THE DISCOVERY

Throughout the night Trent felt incredibly
warm and safe in his small pup tent and sleeping bag, although he could hear
wind gusting around the outside of the tall village walls. It was a strange
sensation, knowing that people were nearby, sleeping, and yet they weren't
really there at all.

With his mind working so much, he found sleep
difficult. Nothing made any sense and he kept returning, over and over, to the
possibility that perhaps he
had
perished on one of the mountains, and
was now drifting as a spirit without a body. He didn't know if he believed in
ghosts, but then, after such a day he had to acknowledge that anything
could
be possible.

He thought about Isabella. That morning when he
had walked into the interior of the large grey walls, he had been sure no-one
could be around, and yet he could feel her before he saw her. Not only had he
known there was a presence, but he could feel it was
her
- the woman
from his recent dreams.

Throughout the day so much had happened to keep
his mind busy and thoughtful, but now that he lay in the quiet and calm of his
sleeping bag he found his mind drifting specifically to her. And when he
thought about her - her flowing red hair, her flawless skin, and her plump, full
lips, he felt himself become aroused. It hadn't been something that had been on
his mind for so long - sex. And even through the day today it hadn't been
something that he had thought about. Even when they were kissing, there was
something so different
about
the kisses - about kissing
her
-
that they seemed to have a different effect on him than kissing and being so
close to a woman would normally have on him.

He knew … believed … that she was a virgin,
unaware yet even of what sex entailed. She had told him she had never kissed
anyone before he kissed her. And yet looking at her face he knew she must be in
her 20s. By that age many women had already succumbed to the temptation of
passion in his world. It was common. It had become
too
common, he
supposed. That was why sometimes it had never felt so special to him. He was
attractive and he had his share of women approaching him whenever he went out
to bars. Sometimes he would use them for sex. Sometimes he would end up dating
them. But even then he would still have sex with them. He could not remember
when he spent quiet time with a woman
without
them eventually having
sex.

The trek to this place had taken its toll on his
body but even just having the one apple and small amount of bread that she had
brought to him, he knew was already resuscitating him.

He had so much to think about, but now, finally,
he found himself starting to finally relax and become sleepy. No more thinking
tonight. More thinking could be done tomorrow, he thought to himself as he
quietly drifted off into dreams once again.

~~~~~

The dream had begun but it was different. He was
back where he had met her this very morning, but instead of seeing rubble now,
what he could see was a large building with symbols vividly carved into the
stone frontage, either side of the doorway and over the top of it.

He turned as he felt her approaching, and when he
turned around he was overwhelmed by the beauty before him. But now, instead of
just her porcelain skin and long flowing hair being what attracted him, he
could see a glow emanating from her. He stepped forward as they walked toward
each other and he stopped still, facing her and within arms length of her. She
came closer to him and kissed him, and even in his dream he could feel the
depth of passion that resulted deep within him as she touched her lips to his.
He didn't move, keeping his hands by his side. Eventually she pulled back from
the kiss, smiled at him and placed her hand on his heart. As she did, he felt
incredible heat and power coming through from her and into him. It was like
ecstasy to him, as if they were making love and she were taking him into an
extremely deep and long-built-up climax. He had never felt anything like it.
And in the depth of his dreaming, the thought made him smile…

~~~~~

As Isabella prepared for her night of sleep, her
mind wandered to the stranger she had met during the day. It seemed as if nothing
that had happened could be real, and yet it felt as if it were
very
real.
Even the things the ancient had told her did not seem like they could be real.
Perhaps she was dreaming - perhaps even now, climbing into her bed, she was
actually already in bed, dreaming about everything that had happened since that
morning.

She lay down and pulled the covers over her and
remembered his kisses. Her first kisses. She had never anticipated that kissing
would feel like that, but kissing him had touched her in places she had never
felt before. She shouldn't have kissed him - it was not right to do so. And
yet, at the same time it
was
right. She had never been more certain of
anything in her life.

~~~~~

In her vision of the night she saw him again. This
time he was different. There was an aura around him, shimmering like a wave.
But it was alternating between a light blue and a deep orange, like he was
changing back and forth, over and over, from cold to warm. They stared at each
other until she could not bear to see him like that any more, and she moved
closer to him and placed her lips on his. The feeling from that kiss was
overpowering to her and in her head she could only see brilliant yellow. When
she pulled away to look at the man who was driving her forward in her need for
passion, he was still changing, cold to warm, cold to warm. She reached forward
and placed her hand on his heart and the changing stopped as she saw him become
engulfed in a steady, warm colour of flame.

He opened his eyes and reached out to her, pulling
her close to him and taking her mouth with his, before his hand reached down
and touched her…

Suddenly Isabella jolted awake. She had never seen
anything like that in a vision of the night before. Where had that come from?
And why did she feel so heated, as if she had enjoyed such a vision?

~~~~~

The following morning Trent woke up feeling the
most refreshed and relaxed that he had in a long while. His body ached in
desperate longing to not have to walk anymore - at least for a while - and he
happily lay still and did not move at all. The ground underneath him was so
warm, it almost felt like he was indulging in a warm bath…

Suddenly he was finding himself wondering if there
was water in the area, and if so, if it was heated. Oh what a warm bath would
feel like after so long walking most of every day and only washing in freezing
cold rivers when he had been in the valley areas!

Parts of the dream from the night of sleep came to
him and he was focused on her once more. He was sure she was real, but how
could she be? How could any of this be?

He pulled his water bottle from his bag and
noticed it would need filling soon. Having not yet looked further around the
ruins of the village, he now hoped he would find a water source eventually. He
could not think of any real reason why water would have stopped flowing to
wherever the past residents had gathered their water from.

He was deep in thought when he heard footsteps
approaching and her soft voice call out to him from outside the tent.

"Trent," she whispered as loudly as she
dared, with it being so early in the morning.

Even the sound of her voice was intoxicating, he realized
as his body instantly jumped to attention, making him curse that part of him as
he really did not want
there
to be awake right now.

He clutched his sleeping bag tightly around him as
he leaned forward and unzipped the small entry point of the tent.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, intrigued by the
zip itself.

He laughed softly at her as she took the zip in
her fingers and moved it upwards and then downwards, then upwards and then
downwards. While she was intrigued by that he took the moment to lie back again
on his back, resting his head on one arm that was crooked behind his head, and
smiling at her.

After a few minutes she looked at him with a
sheepish look on her face.

"Sorry, Trent. I have never seen such a
thing," she whispered and he smiled at her. "May I … come in here
with you?"

The question was an innocent one but he had to
curse his body once more as it immediately jumped to even greater attention.

"Yes, of course Isabella," he said and
watched her slowly find her way in climbing into the tiny space and eventually
lying alongside him, her face close to his.

"Did you sleep well?" she asked, seeming
to be so close to him that he was enchanted by the beauty of her eyes, and the
movement of her lips.

"I did, thank you. I had the best sleep I
have had in a very long while," he responded, unintentionally raising his
free hand to touch her cheek and jaw line. "Did you?"

Isabella closed her eyes and indulged in the
feeling going through her.

"Yes," she seemed to breathe out and he
knew that sound. She might be inexperienced in sex but she still had a great depth
of passion inside of her, and she was waking up to it, seemingly right before
his eyes.

She leaned in to kiss him and he welcomed it as
they lay together, his body's determination to not be sleepy fortunately being
contained within the thick sleeping bag.

Trent felt like he was transported. The feelings
were incredible. He had been with some amazing and very memorable lovers in his
adult life so far, but no-one had ever had this effect on him.

He moved himself so he was facing her, and pulled
her close to him, feeling her body naturally move so that she aligned herself
perfectly, rising one knee up so it rested on his hip through the protective
layer he had around him.

Both of them sunk into the feelings, not wanting
them to stop, until Trent found his head and pulled away.

"Oh, Isabella," he heard himself groan
as he fought to find words. "I … I think we should not get too close here
and now."

"Have I done something wrong?"

"No! Oh no, kissing you is the most exquisite
thing I have ever experienced. You have no idea how it feels to kiss you…"

"Yes I do," she argued back softly.
"I
do
know how it feels, and it feels wonderful."

He closed his eyes and shook his head, desperate
to keep control of what was happening, and when he opened them he saw her still
staring at him with such an intense look on her face.

"Other people will see you, will they not?
They will see you lying on the ground here, looking like you are … kissing
someone," he said and she comprehended his words and he heard a slight
giggle come from her.

"Yes, you are right, Trent. I imagine it
would be quite an image to others who can see me but cannot see you," she
said, nodding and smiling broadly. "I shall leave you now."

"Oh you don't have to go…" he said,
reaching out and stopping her progress that had begun to move toward the zip
once more. "I just meant perhaps you shouldn't be kissing me…"

She smiled such a beautiful, intense smile at him
that he felt a natural urge to grab her and pull her back, and into his
sleeping bag with him. But he fought it, instead thinking of the day to come.

"Isabella, do you have water here
somewhere?" he asked and she looked confused. "Water for drinking,
and water for bathing."

"Ahh yes, of course. I shall go to breakfast
now while you rest and then get ready. When I have eaten I shall bring you some
more bread?" she asked and he nodded, feeling hunger at the thought of it.
"And then I shall go with you to where our water supply is. I did not
bathe yesterday so I will have to do so today," she said and looked at him
in such a way that he could only imagine her naked body, and once again he was
very pleased to have such a thick sleeping bag wrapped around him.

~~~~~

At breakfast she met up with Adrian, who seemed
particularly eager to talk to her.

"Isabella, I am still confused by yesterday.
How did we see that man? Who is he and where did he come from? I just don't
understand…"

Isabella looked at her friend and felt his
confusion.

"I know, Adrian. It is beyond me how anything
like this could be, also. I thought I might be seeing things, because he was
the man from my visions of the night, but…"

"
He
is who you saw in your visions of
the night?" Adrian asked, feeling a depth of concern deep in his heart.
"I do not understand…"

"It is beyond belief, I know. But Elder Rhys said
it was real - that he had seen someone like Trent before. A
traveller
,
he called him."

Adrian listened to the words but kept finding his
thoughts going back to her statement that the man had been seen in her visions
of the night.

"What happened in your night visions? When
you saw him?" he asked.

Immediately he saw her face fall into a deep blush
and he was instantly angered. He knew that look, and the significance behind
it. He had not seen it on her before, but he had seen it on others after they
had gone through the pairing.

"No! Isabella?" he asked with
tentativeness and horror in his voice. "You did not … pair with him…"

"No! Adrian, no I have not paired with
him!"

Isabella could feel her face burning. She did not
want to lie to him - she had never lied to him in their many years as close
friends - but she did not want to hurt him either.

"What then? You are not telling me
something."

"Please. No more about this, Adrian. I do not
wish to talk about him anymore." She paused before turning to him more
fully, and speaking again, trying to force a smile onto her face. "I want
to talk about you. Please … how was the mill yesterday? Is the water running
more freely now?"