Sunlight Black

Her lithe frame was draped over him like a satin sheet, her long, lean legs interspersed between his. She trailed one slender arm lazily up his chest and rested her cold palm over his fragile heart, feeling the slow and faint rhythm of his pulse.

His chest rumbled as he coughed once to clear his throat. He looked down at her in his arms and he tightened his hold on her waist as if she could slip through his fingers at any moment.

She felt his grey eyes on her and she moved to gaze up at him, her mass of chocolate brown curls cascading down her right shoulder. As their eyes connected, she flashed him her prettiest smile - all red lips and pearl-white teeth.

"Is there something on my face?" She asked him.

He nodded stiffly.

"Those blasted freckles of yours," he responded in a quiet raspy voice. He broke one hand away from her waist to run his knuckles lovingly over the light dusting of freckles on her left cheek.

"There's too darn many of them."

"There have always been too many of them," she giggled.

She brought her hand up to the side of his face and delicately traced his jawline, the length of his nose, the outline of his lips. She ran her fingertips over his brow and back down his cheek, letting them memorize every crease and wrinkle of his face.

"You touch me as if you still love me. As if your love for me is as strong as the day we first met," he mumbled quietly under his breath. He knew she'd hear him just fine.

"I do still love you like I did the day we first met."

She put her hand back to his chest and smiled at him.

"I will always love you the same way," she told him.

The two fell into a comfortable silence, their bodies still entangled in his bed sheets. The white canopy above them reminded them both of clouds and the sky. Of purity and freedom.

In the distance, the doves began singing their lovers lullaby.

Dawn was approaching.

"Do you remember it?" she asked him. "What happened when we first met?" She moved her hand from the spot over his heart and laced her fingers with his. She felt him nod.

"I thought you were an angel," he said, his voice barely a whisper.

She laughed lightly.

"I thought you were going to kill me," she said and this time, he chuckled, the sound ending in a fit of coughs.

She furrowed her brows and stared down at him in concern. His coughs subsided, and he felt her eyes on him. He offered her a small smile - a slight lift of the corner of his lips - and gently squeezed her hand as hard as he could, although his strength was waning.

"I might have," he responded. "If you hadn't have saved me, I might have killed you."

The two locked gazes - grey and red.

"But I couldn't," he quietly whispered.

She heard his pulse fading and could feel the warmth of the rising sun through the open velvet curtains behind them. A single tear fell down her cheek as she gazed lovingly at him.

His grey eyes that had once been so bright were dulling. His once dark hair had turned grey over the years. The smoothness and high angled planes of his face had become plastered with wrinkles. But despite how he had changed with time, his heart was the same and she loved him undoubtedly.

"I love you Willem."

"And I love you, Gwendolyn," he whispered, wetness glistening in the corners of his eyes.

"Thank you, my love." He smiled.

She watched as his grey eyes shut. His smile turned into a frown as his heart slowed. She slipped her fingers out of his to caress his now cold cheek as his body stilled beneath her. The warmth of his skin was no longer here.

The tear that had fallen down her cheek dripped onto his.

"I love you Willem. Forever."

She put her head down over his still heart and her gaze found mine. She smiled softly as the sun rose behind her, its magnificent and glorious light heating her skin.

I watched her bite her lips in pain as the sunlight burned her flesh and I gripped the door handle hard enough to break it off. The maid beside me gasped.

Through the fire of the sunlight, Gwendolyn looked over at me once more, her lips forming muted words that humans would never be able to hear. But I heard.

"Thank you, Damen."

And then she burst into ash.