Work Text:
Peach Rings and Poetry
(GIF owned by strawberrypatty on Tumblr)
The feelings rushing through Lisa Swallows were new and frightening. She stared at her reflection. Why did she feel as if the whole world was about to change? Her heart pounded behind her ribs so hard she wondered if it would burst out of her chest. She studied her face in the mirror; the way her eyes seemed bluer than before, her cheeks a rosier pink she could never achieve with blush, her lips curving up into a shy smile that she hadn’t seen since before her mother died. Instead of making her look washed out, the nightgown she’d brought with her into the bathroom made her flesh look warm and alive. She took a deep breath and pushed her hair back from her shoulders.
She didn’t know why she was suddenly so nervous. Hadn’t it been just this morning when she woke up determined to give herself to Michael Trent because she thought she loved him? She’d been so sure of herself for some boy that she thought saw her as someone important and special. On the other side of the bathroom door was someone who she knew loved her enough to fight past death. Creature… he was more than she’d ever thought she deserved.
With one last breath, she reached for the doorknob ready to face the future with him. However long that might be.
***
Creature sat on the edge of Lisa’s bed staring at the bathroom door and wiping his sweaty palms on his trousers. It was a new sensation, being able to sweat. His newly beating heart raced. He took inventory of his newly restored body, realizing that he was whole for the first time in over a century. He closed his eyes and thought back to his last trip through the tanning bed—the painful shots of electricity running through his body connecting nerves and sinew that had long been dead, the strange sensation of his tongue knitting together, a realization that Lisa had put him back together in the most intimate of ways.
Experimentally, he cleared his throat, hoping that his voice had been healed as much as his body. It felt strange to even attempt to speak after so long. As with almost everything else from his past life, he’d long forgotten the sound of his own voice. His first words came out hoarse and broken, but it was only fitting that he murmured her name. That he loved her. He whispered the words over and over as he slipped off his shoes and socks, tucking them under the edge of the bed. His fingers worked free the first few buttons on his shirt.
Creature took another steadying breath and jumped to his feet as the squeak of the bathroom door opening. For a moment the lights from the bathroom shone through the gauzy white nightgown, showing him the faint outline of her body. He gulped in awe, surprised at the thought of his Lisa looking like a bride on her wedding night. It seemed appropriate as he was as nervous as an inexperienced groom.
Lisa nervously tugged her wild curls over her shoulder, twining the strands over and over around her finger. Nervousness ran through her so much that she couldn’t bring herself to look at him. Her mouth had suddenly gone dry, and butterflies had taken flight in her stomach. She could feel Creature’s eyes on her. It sent heat burning through her veins, pushing her to take a tentative step forward.
Unable to stop himself, Creature closed the space between them in just a few strides. He reached for her hands and drew her close, sucking in a breath when she finally looked up at him. The blue of her eyes looked different somehow. Brighter, more alive. For her part, Lisa felt her heart clench at the clear green irises that stared back at her. His flesh was still cool, but no longer the cold of the grave. His lips were pink and full, dark freckles and beauty marks spattered like flecks of paint over his neck, jaw, and chin. Wispy mutton chops had grown along his cheeks, and his dark hair flopped over his forehead in glossy black curls.
A blush warmed her cheeks as he drew both of her hands to his mouth and kissed each knuckle in turn. When he nuzzled against the marker-drawn lightning bolt on the back of her left hand, Lisa was surprised by the fierce sensation of love and adoration that squeezed her heart almost painfully.
“Creature,” she whispered, leaning forward until their foreheads touched. “I wish I knew your name.”
His chest constricted. It was one of the few things he remembered from his life before, but he didn’t want those to be the first words he ever spoke to her. With a faint smile, Creature kissed the back of her hands again and then held up a finger. He went to her desk and drew a scrap of paper and a pen toward him. His hand swept over the page with impatience. Creature squeezed his eyes shut for a moment before he turned to put the paper in her hands. He was surprised that his fingers were trembling with nervousness.
She took the paper from him, reading it repeatedly. Her chest ached as she held the paper against her heart, fighting back tears. “James William Cohen,” Lisa murmured.
Creature felt his stomach drop into his toes at the sound of his name on her lips. He ached with love for the girl in front of him. Without a thought, he brushed his left hand against her cheek. She turned to press a kiss against the heel of his hand and curled her fingers around his wrist, holding his palm in place.
Lisa looked up at Creature—James—and saw the true depth of his feelings reflected in his eyes. His pupils were dilated, the ring of green around them darkening. He smiled softly at her—at his Lisa—and opened his right hand. Crystals of sugar stuck to his palm, glistening around the two gummy peach rings settled there.
He took a steadying breath. “Lisa,” he croaked. He winced, hating the way that her name came out so broken and quiet. James cleared his throat and tried again. “Lisa S-swallows, I love you.”
She leaned toward him, her chest rising and falling with gasping breaths. The words rolled around her head, filtering through every cell of her body. She knew their time was growing short. Any minute police could descend on the house ready to take them away from each other for what they’d done to Janet, to Doug, to Michael. Lisa pressed forward, brushing her lips against his.
“I love you, too, James,” she whispered against his mouth. “I’ll love you forever.”
James leaned forward to press a kiss against her forehead, his thumb brushing against her cheekbone. Lisa looked back at the gift he’d held out to her. She had a brief flash of his tombstone—the sculpture of him at the top, the chipped marble that had lost all but the last two letters of his name, the word Unmarried engraved below. Tears blurred her vision as she reached out to take one of the peach rings from his palm. Her knees turned to water and she sank onto the edge of the bed.
“James Cohen,” she said, hoping that every ounce of her love and affection was audible in her voice. “Be mine forever.”
He sniffed, knowing that the scent of his tears bothered her. A small smile curved his lips as he nodded. “Forever.” Lisa pushed the gummy candy onto his left ring finger, her own hand shaking in nervousness and anticipation.
James knelt in front of her, wishing beyond wishing that this moment could last forever. He kissed her hand, his chest aching at the fact that she’d carefully redrawn the lightning bolt onto her skin. “Be mine. My beloved forever.” His throat ached from speaking, but he didn’t mind just then.
Lisa’s response was a breathy whisper, eyes bright. He looked up at her with his heart in his gaze. He carefully placed the peach ring on her finger.
The smile that spread over his face was practically angelic. As he stood, he gathered her into his arms. She settled her hands on his shoulder and watched him with awe as he carried her toward her bed. He smiled, settling his forehead against hers. There were so many things he wanted to say, but he couldn’t find the words. He would have to settle for showing her.
Lisa brushed her fingertips against his restored ear and let out a faint giggle at the thought of how much she liked how he looked with the diamond stud. She shifted, leaning toward him. “I love you,” she murmured. “I love you.”
James thought for a moment that his knees would give way at the sound of those words in his ear. His heart sped up as he settled her gently on the bed. He was fascinated by the way that her curls spread out over the pillow. She looked up at him with such love and trust that he had to blink away the sting of tears. He followed her onto the mattress and felt a white heat rush straight to his clearly functioning loins as she made room for him between her thighs.
My beloved, he thought as he gazed down at her. You brought me back. Your voice brought me out of a century of nothingness. I will give you anything, my love. Anything.
He gave himself a brief moment to burn the image of her into his mind. Her smile was angelic. James leaned forward and brushed gentle kisses against each of her eyelids, her forehead. Lisa let out a faint hum of happiness that sent shivers down his spine.
When he drew away, she was staring up at him with bright eyes and a soft, shy smile. His hair rustled, an insect falling out onto her collarbone. But Lisa didn’t even blink. Instead, she stared right back up at him while he carefully picked the bug up and tossed it over the side of the bed. Secretly, he hoped the bug phase was drawing to an end with his last trip through the tanning bed.
Lisa drew in a deep breath. For the first time, her lungs filled with the scent that was just James. It was earthy, but not like before. It was like the forest after a gentle rain or the scent of a crisp spring morning. She’d spent all that time in Bachelor’s Grove sitting beside his grave, reading to him, telling him all the things she couldn’t say to anyone else. His green eyes said the words that his voice couldn’t just yet.
He’s loved me the whole time, she realized in awe. He could hear me all that time ago. He was awake down there. James… James came for me. For me!
Emboldened by the realization, Lisa braced her hands on his ribs and pushed. She grinned and laughed happily as she rolled the two of them over. James let out a gasp of surprise and grinned as he found himself settled beneath her. Her fingers brushed against his own as she found her comfort straddling his hips. Each time she wiggled the tightness in his trousers grew until he was certain she could feel it.
When she reached for the fabric of his shirt and shifted her hips, the faint gasp that rushed past her lips confirmed that she had. James didn’t know what to do. He lifted from the pillows, shifting his shoulders as he looked up at her. His fingers toyed nervously with his buttons as he watched her tug at the bow that held the sheer cover of her nightgown. She bit her bottom lip and looked away as she let the fabric fall down her arms.
Lisa shifted as she pulled the cover away. A faint whine drew her attention back to James. Even as he looked up at her with nothing but adoration, his hips reflexively lifted toward hers. She smiled wickedly and rocked against him. His hands came to grip her hips of their own accord. It was as if the instincts buried within them both had bubbled straight to the surface. Lisa reached for his hands, brushing her fingers up over his arms, along his shoulders and collarbones. Bravery spilled through her veins as she slipped free the last few buttons on his shirt.
“Lisa,” James moaned as her fingertips parted the fabric and brushed against his bare skin. She rocked her hips; he flexed up against her.
He skimmed his palms down her legs before slipping his hands beneath the hem of her nightgown. Her skin was so soft and warm, and he felt the muscles of her thighs flex as she rocked against him. Lisa leaned down against his chest, sighing as she nuzzled against his neck and pressed soft, open-mouthed kisses against each freckle and mole. The shift in angle and pressure made him whine even as he tilted his head for her, as he lost himself in the warmth of her body over him and the way the flesh of her hips gave way beneath his fingers.
The nightgown was rucked up around Lisa’s hips and James held her by the waist. She felt the fabric flutter as his beautifully cool fingers drew the garment along her body, forcing her to sit up so he could pull it over her head and drop it unceremoniously by the bed. Her hair settled wildly around her shoulders. A blush began at her collarbones and rose up along her cheeks.
He remembered being in this very bed beside her last night as he watched her come undone. The groan it dragged out of him was as inhuman as he had been only hours ago. His Lisa was bare above him, the glow of the rose lights above her bed casting a soft glow against her alabaster skin. He let his fingertips trail down along her spine and sweep around her waist to settle once again on her hips. It was only then that he realized that she was truly bare. That he was the first to see her like this.
James lost all control.
A growl vibrated up from his chest as he wrapped his arms around her, rolling quickly until she was beneath him again. He nearly tore the shirt trying to get it off his shoulders. Lisa hooked her legs over his hips. He ground himself against her center as he leaned forward to capture her lips with his own. Gone was the tentative gentleman who truly had no idea what he was doing. Here was the young man who was drowning in desperate need for the woman he loved. Lisa slipped one hand into his curls while the other curled around his back, nails digging gently into him.
When she sighed, James pressed the advantage and licked along the swell of her bottom lip, the seam of her mouth. Lisa shivered and arched her entire body up into him. Her fingers tangled in his hair and her hips bucked up in search of friction. Shyness fell away. She opened to him, whimpered at the taste of him, returned his kiss with a frenzy that nearly drove her to the brink of madness.
Sparks burst behind her eyelids as his hand slid between them, fingertips grazing her clit. The ease with which he found just the right way to touch her was practically magical. Even lost in the heat of his kiss and the gentle touches of his fingers, Lisa couldn’t help but marvel at the unconventional scene of it all. He’s been waiting for me. For so long.
“James!” she exclaimed as he trailed his hand lower to press one finger into her. Such an intimate touch, the way his thumb searched out her clit as he teased her with slow strokes. She gripped his black hair tightly as he settled his mouth against the soft skin beneath her jaw. He listened carefully to the sounds she made, to the music that he drew out of her as he played her like a sonata that had been waiting deep inside him for all these years. When her hips rolled, he added a second finger and listened to her panting. He sucked and licked and nipped at the flesh as she tossed her head back against the pillows.
Lisa had never felt anything like this in all the times she’d touched herself. His fingers reached places inside her that she never could. He fluttered his fingertips against a spot that made her entire body press up against him. James pressed his thumb harder against her clit and stroked his fingers in and out of her faster, always making sure that he hit that spot that had made her bow up.
“Yes, beloved,” he murmured against her flesh. His teeth nipped at her earlobe. His breath was hot against her skin. “Come apart for me, Lisa.”
Her fingers tightened almost painfully in his hair, her nails dug deeply into his back, and his name fell from her lips in a whine. The tension started to coil within her belly and spread throughout her limbs. And when she thought she couldn’t take it any longer, the coil snapped sending waves of pleasure to every cell in her being. James grunted as he stroked her through her orgasm, his mind already conjuring fantasies of how it would feel when she found her release on his cock.
He watched in awe as an expression of angelic peace made her face glow. Her eyes had fluttered closed, and he couldn’t help but dust fleeting kisses to her eyelids. He pressed his lips against the tip of her nose, the curve of her cheeks. The tip of his nose brushed along her jaw to press one last, chaste kiss against her lips before he sat back on his heels.
James couldn’t help but blush at the sight of his wife spread out before him. His Lisa shivered as he gently drew his hand away from her center. Curiosity made him lift his hand to his mouth and suck gently on his finger, tasting her release.
Lisa opened her eyes only to find him kneeling between her thighs licking the taste of her from his sinfully perfect fingers. Her stomach clenched when their eyes met. Only a thin ring of green remained outside his blown pupils. She barely had time to register his ravenous expression before he dipped his head between her thighs. Her fingers went into his curls on instinct at the first touch of his tongue against her flesh. James wrapped his arms around her thighs, fingers splayed against the soft skin where her leg met torso, lifting her hips up to his mouth.
Her fingernails scratched against his scalp, setting off a purr of pleasure that vibrated up through her core. He teased her flesh with long, slow laps of his tongue. His lips found her clit, sucking and lashing his tongue against it. Lisa whined and rocked her hips against his face. With a growl, he doubled his efforts, desperate to taste her release and hear his name on her lips again.
“Oh!” she cried out as he scraped his teeth against those tender nerves. She bucked even harder. “Oh! Again! Please, James, please!”
The world had constricted until the only thing that mattered was the taste of her on his tongue and the sound of her crying her pleasure. James held onto her tightly, keeping her from rocking her hips so he could control the pace. She pulled hard on his hair as that coiling sense of tension spooled tighter and tighter.
“James!” His Lisa screamed his name as every muscle in her body tensed and released in a crashing wave. She tried to buck against him, but he was content to draw out her orgasm.
When she trembled and pushed weakly at his head, James let his attentions turn to the inside of her thigh. His lips trailed gentle kisses up along to her hip and toward the softness of her stomach. He nuzzled against her bellybutton with the tip of his nose. Traced the line of her ribs with his fingertips. Rested his head on her chest, cherishing her breasts and collarbones with kisses. Lisa’s arms draped limply over his shoulders.
“Are you alright, beloved?” he murmured between soft, open-mouthed kisses along the line of her throat.
Lisa giggled. “Amazing,” she replied dreamily. She stared up at the ceiling as she tried to catch her breath. Her fingers carded gently through his hair. So soft, she thought with an ache in her chest. Reality crept into the moment. This is it. This is all we’ll ever have.
The tears burned as they slid down her cheeks. Her fingers trembled as she cupped his cheeks and drew him up toward her. His green eyes darkened with worry as she ghosted her thumb along the line of his bottom lip. She sniffled and leaned in, kissing him so tenderly that he thought he might join her in tears.
“Lisa, my dearest,” James began. She shushed him with a shake of her head.
“There’s no time,” she whispered before kissing the tip of his nose. “Make love to me, James.”
He squeezed his eyes shut to hold back tears of his own. She was right, of course. Their time together was running short, and the future that awaited them was dark and uncertain. For a moment, he pressed his face against her neck and breathed in her scent. He wanted to commit it all to memory. To be able to keep this instant in his mind for as long as he continued to exist.
He sniffled and leaned up to press another series of soft kisses along her face before bracing himself on one arm and kicked his trousers to the floor. Now that the moment had arrived, nervousness settled into him. He looked down at his Lisa, his bride. She watched him with trusting blue eyes, a soft smile on her face. Her chest rose and fell with a deep breath as she nodded.
James leaned down to rest his forehead against hers as he reached between them. He trembled. Lisa wrapped her arms around his shoulders, one hand against the back of his head. He kept his eyes on hers as he pushed forward. She sucked in a breath. He flexed his hips into hers slowly, reading her every expression as he gasped for air, so afraid of hurting her.
She was surprised by how little it hurt. Taffy said the first time always hurt, but all Lisa felt was a stretching that was new and delicious. She rocked against him with a faint whine, nodding that it was okay. James captured her lips with his as he began to move within her.
If heaven existed—if there was ever a chance that he could join that paradise—James knew that it was this feeling. It was the warmth of Lisa’s body wrapped around him. It was the friction that sent shivers up his spine and sucked the breath from his lungs. It was the way she moved with him and whispered his name. It was how nothing else mattered but that white hot feeling that began to boil deep within him.
He kissed her with renewed hunger as the pace of his hips increased. Lisa met each of his thrusts with her own. She held him as close as possible, arms and legs wrapped around him. He slid an arm beneath her, tilting her hips so that he could hit that spot that she seemed to like so much. The moaning gasp that fell from her lips let him know he’d succeeded.
Time compressed into a single point of infinity. Lisa whined as her body tightened around him. James gave in to instinct, chasing the heat that was threatening to explode. When it did, all he could do was hold onto her and chant her name like a supplicant at prayer. They came apart in each other’s arms, giving in to the sensations racing through every nerve of their bodies.
“Lisa,” he whispered at last, brow pressed against hers. “My beloved Lisa.”
She brushed the hair back from his face and smiled. “I’ll love you forever, James Cohen.”
The finality in her voice sent a stab of ice through his chest. No, he thought, shaking his head desperately. No, not yet. This isn’t enough. It isn’t long enough.
“We have to go,” she whispered, her voice tight.
“I can’t,” he replied, trailing his fingertips along her cheekbone. “We can run away.”
Lisa shook her head. “This is the only way we can be together. I trust you. I know you can do this.”
***
Beloved Wife. James ran his fingertips over the words he’d lovingly carved into her gravestone. She’d told him the signs to look for, and he knew that tonight would be the night. After so long apart, it was almost time. He closed the book of poems that had been her favorite, marking the place with a blade of grass.
“Death is temporary,” he whispered against the stone. “But I’ll love you… forever.”