First Love, First War, First Step |√|

Clever Manipulations

"I hope he doesn't give that lecture to everyone," Luke whispered as we pulled our hoods up before stepping out into the pouring rain.  "How many people do you think would reconsider marriage after having a middle-aged man describe in detail exactly what he believes a married couple is supposed to do?"

I wrapped an arm around his waist and rested my head against his shoulder.  "Not us, I hope.  We did just make it official with no one the wiser.  You know, Luke, if I had known that it would be this easy, I would have dragged you here sooner."

He smiled, kissing the top of my head through the cloth of my jacket.  "Where are we going now, my lovely wife, to spend our first night together?"

"My house.  Father is working late tonight, and this morning, he told me he was going to stay over with a friend because it was going to be too late for him to come home."

The Officiator would be mortified that, despite his informative talk, Luke and I instantly collapsed at my table and devoured a very late dinner.  Let's just say that consumption of food was not high on his list of things we should make a priority.

With candlelight flickering around us, we looked at the license lying on the table in front of us as we ate, almost as if we were fearful that it would vanish.

The woman must have been flirting too much with my boyfriend, no, husband to even notice that the ages that she had copied onto the piece of paper weren't within the legal limit.  Rather, perhaps she had and truly hadn't cared.

"I'm stuffed," I managed at last, leaning back in my chair for a moment before gathering the objects we had used and taking them into the kitchen.

I was busy putting them away when I felt Luke's arms snake around my shoulder.

"You may be full, but I'm starving," he muttered, breath tickling my ear.

"How can you be hungry..." I started as I turned.  My own breath caught in my throat, seeing the look in his eyes and realizing exactly what he was hungry for.

"I already blew out the candles and tucked the license away.  Are you about done in here?"

I blinked and opened my mouth to find that no sound would come out.  Finally, I settled for a nod, starting to realize exactly what marriage would mean.

Luke picked me up as soon as he got my answer and carried me to my room with his long strides.  I didn't stop to wonder how he knew which room was mine because my mind was running everything that the stupid Officiator had said on an endless loop.

"Luke," I managed to croak, "should we be doing this?  I mean, as of right now, our ages still mark us as Breakers of the Laws.  What if something happens, and I get pregnant?"

I actually flushed at the mention of that word, silently cursing the lecture that we had gotten earlier.

That idea seemed to hit Luke suddenly, and he set me down on the bed before sitting in my chair.  A strange swirl of emotions was forming on his face.

"We'll deal with that if it happens," he said after a long pause.  "We'll just have to hope that we're careful enough and that this revolution goes quickly.  Though," he gave me a sly smile, "I wouldn't mind seeing you swell with our baby."

My blush became deeper, and mortified, I hid my face in my pillow.

Moments later, I felt him settle next to me.  "Lane, please don't be embarrassed.  We've both never been in this situation, but I meant every word.  I want to, one day, hold a child that we created and feel every inch of pride that comes from that."

I raised my face just enough to find his eyes.  They told me that he was being completely honest and that he was just as nervous as I was about the turn our relationship was going to take.

Luke lowered his face to mine, and I allowed his lips to connect with mine in a shower of sparks.

While we had managed to sneak kisses among the Igniters, where no one cared because they were all there for illegal reasons as well, this one felt different.

Unlike our other frantic kisses that promised that we would find a way, this one held the promise of a future where we wouldn't have to fear others finding out what's between us.

Slowly, Luke's lips started to migrate.  I felt the tenderness of his love and adoration as they brushed my cheeks, my eyelids, my nose, my neck.

Not sure if it was courage or merely curiosity that flooded my body, I tugged him on top of me, watching as he opened his eyes and raised his head.

"Are you sure, Ilania?" He asked, emotions floating on the undercurrent of his question.  "This is a line we can't uncross."

"Consider that line already crossed," I answered breathlessly.  "Consider that Law already broken.  It's been shattered since the moment that your eyes connected with mine."

Greedily, I pulled his shirt up, running my fingers up and down the contours of his body that I had claim to now.  His whole being tensed, and I felt, rather than heard, the groan that shuddered through him.

As if my own actions had stirred something inside him, Luke traced every inch of my body that his hands could reach, igniting a fire in a hidden region of my spirit.

That night became all about us and a discovery of what we were going to be to one another.

That night became a memory seared deep into our minds and our hearts where no one would ever be able to take it from us.

I became a part of Luke, and he became a part of me.  Our futures were so tightly, so rightly, tangled with the other's that we knew we could never find where we ended and the other began.

It was thirteen months after I had first met Luke, seven months after I had first realized what he was involved in, and one month after I had turned sixteen.

It was the snowball that started the avalanche that was going to devour us and the entire world as we knew it.

And we didn't even try to stop it.  Like little kids, we gleefully packed more snow into it before shoving it down the mountain.

It was exhilarating, and looking back, I wouldn't have traded it for the world.