Rootless Tree

Part 3

“She didn’t love me.” Amar repeated solidifying Shi’s words, almost as if in a trance.

A detested tone rolled off his lips. “I told you…she was a whore.”

“Don’t call her that.” He uttered as his body tensed, his eyes still not blinking as the stared into the now tainted water in which he sat. A rose petal had stuck to his sternum, it slick with the oils. Although the scent lingered, the clean, clear water was now the shade of rust as it washed away his iniquities.

 “But it is true my Prince…She is a whore and whores cannot love. They lust and want only to fill the hole between their legs. They are foul creatures.” Shi spoke in both jealousy of the relationship shared between Amar and Ofelia but also of his dislike for most females in general. As the conversation continued so did Shi's cleansing of Amar. Gentle, intimate-like movements, though his brow was arched in awaiting Amar's response.

Amar protested. “She wasn’t a whore.”

“Why, because she had soft skin and warm thighs? Or because she was title-bred?” He scoffed, never taking his eyes from Amar's flesh as he cleaned between his shoulders. “They are the biggest whores of all they just wear more expensive clothing and use intelligent and pretty words to hide the wickedness that is spouted from their tongue.”

Sinking deeper in the tub he uttered, “Why couldn’t she love me?”

“Because you are too beautiful.” He said caressing the side of Amar’s face with the backs of his fingers and tracing over the curves of his jawline with his thumb, finally letting the sponge drop gently into the water.

“I am a monster.” He whispered turning his chin away from Shi’s touch, his eyes shutting partially to block out the pain his own words caused his heart.

Firmly gripping Amar’s jaw so he couldn’t pull away, Shi pressed his lips to the shell of the Prince’s ear just lightly enough for them to brush the surface as he spoke just above a whisper. A tone so light yet certain it sounded like he would sing instead of speak. “A beautiful monster.” Running his hand up the side of his face, he gently tangled his fingers into the locks of his hair, letting the strands wrap around his digits as he pulled assertively yet lovingly; guiding Amar’s head so that the nape of his neck was exposed. Lowering his warm lips he began to place subtle little kisses. “She didn’t see you, not as I do. The Prince of lust and love, captivating…breathtaking.” His voice never rose above a calm whisper, Shi’s words breaking free between each kiss as he released the hair he was holding tight to. Amar moaned with every greet of Shi’s lips on his skin. Gripping the sides of the tub as the kisses turned into teasing bites, he could not help but nibble just slightly on his bottom lip as the pleasurable gestures began to warm his core, making it tingle slightly with what felt like light flicks of electricity.

“She didn’t love me.” He moaned out in both sadness and pleasure.

“No one could ever love you as I do my Prince.”

“I wanted her.”

“And now you have her…forever.” He said inching his fingers down low on Amar’s stomach. He let the tips of them circle around his belly button then trace the outlines of his muscles. They flexed and twitched in reaction to the touch. “Now she can never leave you, now you can always keep her.” Shi's voiced seemed hypnotic as the words made Amar's veins come more alive, the blood and adrenaline coursing through adding a current to the electrical waves that were already dancing within in. The hairs on his arms began to rise in reaction to the sensations.

Opening his eyes, his gazes fixated on only one thing. What a sane man would have looked upon with fear Amar’s gazes stood desensitized to the facade. The once lively image of Ofelia was now replaced with her lost spirit. She stood by his feet, at the end of the tub. Her fair skin now a sad blue, the color of the veins that once pulsed with her life-source. Her stomach wound still pumping blood but instead of a rich vibrant red it was now as black as night and looked thick like tar. She trembled, a look of fear and panic on her face as she was now a member of his lost dolls, his tormented. Her lips parted to scream but only water poured from her lips, causing her to choke as she tried to push the sounds past her bitter end. The water spurted out even harder with each attempt, her eyes wide in uncertainty and terror as she fought for what seemed like a breath. Her mouth twisted to accommodate the masses of water she was coughing out, her jaw misshapen and out of line, the fine lines of the bones in her cheeks disproportionate to her face. Her clothing stuck to her slick, wet body, revealing the delicate outline of her breasts and the protrusion of her nipples, barely covering the delicate shape of her sex. Water was running down her thighs highlighting and playing across the muscles, places he had gripped and held tight to many a night. She would never escape him nor he her and he knew it. “Forever.” He pushed the word from his parting lips.

With his hand venturing lower to his hip bone, the tip of his nail now teasing and rubbing along the sensitive area, his lips moving against the tender places of Amar’s throat Shi whispered along with him. “Forever.”