“Aidan,” she whispered, pleaded, urging him to come to her. Cover her. Be in her.
A blink later, he was there, giving her what she needed as he pressed her thighs apart. When he kissed her this time, it was so full of passion and love that a myriad of emotions bubbled up, and her eyes grew damp.
She had never felt so desired by a man.
Craved by someone who only wanted the very best for her.
When he pressed deep this time, she didn’t have the sensation of being a virgin but overwhelming relief that this was happening. That she’d decided to do this if only to have one lifetime together. Understanding these emotions were connected to a previous life, she paid little attention.
When they began moving, she forgot them entirely.
Blown away by how he made her feel, she wrapped her legs around him and met his every thrust. Sweat slicked their skin as sensations ebbed and flowed in time with his sometimes hard, sometimes slow thrusts. He teased her sensitive flesh, drawing it out, keeping her on the edge. Occasionally, he even slowed down to a crawl and kissed her deeply, pulling her further into a world beyond this plane. One made of sensuality and eroticism mixed with loving emotions and heart-wrenching romance.
Eventually, however, having brought himself to the edge as well, his thrusts intensified, and their lovemaking grew desperate. They raced toward release. When it came, it hit them so hard that her sobs of pleasure met his roar of release, and they both trembled.
After that, she drifted on a high more intense than the last, only vaguely aware of Aidan wrapping her in his arms.
Sleep overtook her, and she only dreamt of him.
One after the other, moments from her previous life came and went.
Sometimes she flitted around, aimless and lonely, waiting for him to be reborn so she could start all over with him. Sometimes, she sat beside him, chatting away, having known him for years. It was in one of those flashes that she realized she changed size. Tiny when amongst her own kind, then human size when she so chose.
His lifetimes came and went, their connection only growing with time. He was never much to look at physically, but so very handsome on the inside. She remembered him as a boy, a teenager, a man in his prime, then elderly. And every time, though he loved a lass or two fiercely, his love was never returned.
“’Tis all right, lass,” he said softly. “’Tis not meant to be. She doesnae love me as I love her.”
Though his language wasn’t hers, her Fae blood allowed her to understand him. In most of his lives, he spoke Irish Gaelic, but this time it was Scottish Gaelic because his soul now resided in Scotland.
As always, she wished she could help him. That the women he loved saw him as she saw him. But they never did. And as always, as each lifetime passed, she fell in love with him and had to watch him die then wait for him to be reborn.
Over and over.
An endless cycle.
“Just give it time,” she assured him in one of his many lives, wishing she could touch him. Wishing her hand didn't pass right through him. But alas, Fae were not allowed to touch humans. For if something so unnatural happened, there would be consequences.
“Once she gets to know ye,” she said, “she will see what I see and never want to let ye go.”
He offered her a sad but hopeful smile. “Ye really think so?”
“Aye.” She smiled in return, speaking with his accent. “I dinnae doubt it in the least, my friend.”
She never told him that the women he loved would never love him back but remained by his side whenever she could, a friend to the end. Even this time, when years later, he lay on his deathbed.
Yet this go round, she sensed he had changed.
Not sad to say goodbye but eager to be reborn and see her again.
“Ye’re sure then?” he murmured. “We will meet again? I willnae lose ye?”
“Nay,” she vowed, resting her hand beside his on the bed. The closest they could ever be. “I will find ye and be there for ye always.”
“Then I shall die in peace,” he whispered, his heart in his eyes. “For I love ye dearly, lass. I always have.”
He had never said that in any life, and she cherished it, not caring that it wasn't the type of love she sought. That it was but the love of a friend rather than a soulmate.
“Aye, I love ye too, friend,” she murmured because she did with all her heart.
