II.

She dreamed that she was running down a strange corridor in sterile, military environment. Prickling pins and needles of fear danced through her entire body and made the muscles in her legs feel like rubber. Every down-step of her feet was luck, or so it seemed until the heavy hand came down on her shoulders from behind and she stumbled forcefully into the cold, metallic wall. She had never felt so afraid in all her life, afraid and hopeless, as if the only thing she had ever known to be true in her life had turned up false, had turned out to be the onset of her own demise.

"Don't," she whimpered pleadingly. "Please. There is something you should. . ." He squeezed tighter, pressing her into the wall so that it felt as though she and the wall were about to become one. "There is something you should know, please."

"You don't know me," a thick, distorted voice spread hot breath against the back of her neck. He continued to squeeze, bearing down hard on her from behind until she thought her body would burst from the pressure. "You don't know me."

26 Days before Invasion

06:38 A.M.

"So much for waiting up," Leoben's gentle voice swept against her ear and sent shivers rippling through every curve of her relaxed frame. She pulled into herself almost fetally, brought her knees forward and waited for him to tuck in accordingly behind her. "I knew you wouldn't last past midnight." In a matter of moments he had lifted the heavy comforter and slipped in, folding his body neatly into hers from behind and wrapping his arms around her.

The muscles in Kendra's face pulled into a slow, but teasing grin. "It was well past midnight when I fell asleep." She ran the tip of her tongue over the dry skin of her lower lip.

"Twelve-thirty then?" He pressed his cheek against hers while resting his face

"Try two-thirty, at the earliest. I read until my eyes felt like they were full of sand." She gestured toward the book that still lie open and face down on the edge of the bed.

"But you're awake now," he growled softly. "That's all that matters."

She could feel the rough brush of stubble against her skin, a feeling that always elicited temptation and desire in her. She stretched her body into his, pressed her back firmly against the warmth of his bare chest until his arms struggled to maneuver her so they lay face to face in the half-light of dawn. "I'm awake now," she felt herself smile. It was a silly smile, playful and of the kind that only a newlywed dare risk knowing her husband would take great delight in it.

Leoben moved inward and tasted the readiness of her half-parted lips. His firm hands braced her tighter, fingers stretched and pushed into her flesh. He brought her in so close that the pressure of his urgent desire for her became instantly apparent. She gasped in delighted surprise when he rolled her from her side onto her back and then perched himself on his arms above her. "You know, sometimes when I watch you sleep, I think you are one of God's angels. Perfect, peaceful. . . wonderful," he paused, his grey-green eyes searching her face as though he were memorizing it. "I know I am not worthy of your love."

"Shh," she reached up and touched a finger to his lips. The sting of emotion blurred her vision, and she blinked quickly to hide how overwhelmed his love still made her feel. "I'm no angel," she whispered. "And you shouldn't watch me sleep."

"Why not?" His clever grin drew to the far reaches of his face, revealing the sinister playfulness that had originally inspired notions of desire for him inside her. That desire continually ached within her, no matter how many times he satisfied her, and she longed desperately to struggle toward heaven with him again.

She leaned upright and kissed the corner of his mouth, then brushed her lips slowly against his. "You'll give me a complex."

He shook his head as she released herself into the pillows below them with a soft bounce. Leoben looked into her and for a moment she felt as though he had really looked inside her, past the façade all people wore to disguise their insecurities. "I wish you could see you the way I see you." The gravelly brush of his chin scraped delicately across her cheek as he descended to whisper in her ear. "You're perfect in my eyes." He lowered himself nearer to her and she raised her thigh against his hip, pressing into him in near desperation.

Struggling bodies fought to become closer, to merge into one melted creation, one being that lived and breathed only one another—that cried out with one voice to the heavens in magnanimous celebration of glory and wonder. Kendra had known only one other lover before Leoben, but she didn't need to be experienced to know that there wasn't another man alive who could satisfy her the way he did.

They had met at the Ministry. He worked for Colonial Civil Intelligence, and that was all she knew. He'd flashed a badge at her and explained that he had been sent to secure the area after reports of terrorist activity within the Ministry. Just as she was leaving that evening she ran into him in the hallway. He'd been a little bit shy in his flirtation with her at first, beating around the bush with questions about how she liked her job and if she didn't get tired of all the suits strutting around in their arrogance all day. They had been just outside Dr. Amorak's office as he was coming out, dressed to the gills in the stuffiest suit Kendra had ever seen. He had looked over both of them, sneered almost as though he knew what they had been talking about and then he walked away. Kendra had started to laugh, a nervous and uncontrollable laughter that had touched him, or so he later said.

"My name is Leoben," he held his hand out to her.

How she had trembled when she reached out to accept it. "Kendra."

"Kendra," he repeated it more eloquently than anyone had ever said her name. "Magical, child of water. "

She had looked away, her cheeks flushed with the heat of flirtatious embarrassment. "I wouldn't know about magical," she had said, a nervous guffaw followed.

Leoben had tilted his head back, smiling rather curiously at her when he said, "I imagine you're quite magical, even if you don't yet know it yourself. Let me show you," he said. "Say tomorrow evening at dinner."

She'd almost said no, however her natural instinct to steer clear of strange men completely clouded by the glisten of playfulness in his sharp eyes. "I'd love to have dinner with you," she said rather quickly. In retrospect on the way home she had fretted about sounding too eager, almost to the point of desperation. She had given him her address, and he promised to pick her up around seven. Her insecurity over appearing too eager or desperate was quickly assuaged by the arrival of a colorful bouquet of flowers.

Despite any reservations she might have had in the past, and despite her own inexperience, they made love that first night, and in the swift shadows of early morning he confessed, "I've never done anything like this before."

"Neither have I," she felt ashamed for a moment, and grateful for the darkness which hid that shame. Making love with him had been the most incredible experience she'd ever had, and her feelings about the entire ordeal were mixed at best.

They still lie together, her head cradled in the crook of his arm and pillowed by the muscle of his shoulder. He traced patterns over the naked skin of her back, and from time to time she shivered with delight. It was stupid, but she felt as though she had known him her entire life, as though there was no one else for her but him, and that only intensified the shame she felt for sleeping with him just hours after their first date.

"Have you ever felt close to someone just moments after meeting them, like you've known them before, in another life or another time?" A soft fingertip trailed the tender skin from the base of her spine to just up under her shoulder and she shuddered.

She thought for a moment about what he was asking, and tried to remember any time in her life she had felt that way. There wasn't a time, she realized. She had never felt that close to anyone because she'd never let her guard down far enough to let anyone in, but with Leoben, it had been too easy. She had already broken every rule in her personal code of conduct, why not allow herself to experience the euphoric de-ja-vu of love at first touch?

"This is going to sound stupid. . ." she started.

"No," his finger stopped and the flat span of his palm opened against her back in a comfortable gesture. "It won't sound stupid. I know. Trust me."

"I want to," she said. "I want to trust you, that's the thing. I want to believe that what I feel isn't crazy, but it feels like I have known you before, before and always."

He lowered his lips against her forehead and said, "It isn't crazy to let yourself know love. It is the will of god for all his children to know love, to embody the very essence of love itself."

Four months later they were married, and three more months had passed since then. They hadn't even known each other one full year and yet Kendra felt more at peace with herself and with the Gods than she had in all the years of her life combined. There was no question about it anymore, no uncertainty. Theirs were two souls eternally combined, and that was just the way she wanted it to be forever. There was no life beyond their love, beyond their future together. There was only life because of their love.

center /center

Sunlight burst through the vertical blinds in crisp white stripes that now made patterns across the bed and the wall. It was nature's announcement that the day had begun outside and the world was rising. Kendra had fallen asleep again, but now she rose and left her exhausted lover alone in the middle of the bed. She glanced back at him from the doorway, face down on the mattress, arms tucked under the pillow in which he buried himself. The blond tufts of his hair were in disarray from the couple hours he'd been asleep, and she couldn't stop herself from grinning at the adorable picture he made. Then she shook her head thoughtfully and left him to sleep.

In the bathroom she slid out of her bathrobe and turned on the shower. Clouds of steam filled the small bathroom quickly, and painted the mirrors and windows with a layer of condensation. She slid the glass door to the side and slipped in beneath the heavily pulsing jets of hot water. Water streamed over the curves over body as she ducked her head under the shower head and allowed it to soak her hair around her face. She moved it away from her face with her hands, and then leaned forward to press her face against the cool tiled wall. She wasn't sure how long she stood that way, thoughtless, motionless, as rushes of hot water poured down her back and puddled into the drain, but outside she heard the rustle of movement, and then the shower door opened.

Leoben slipped in behind her and rested his hands on the slender definition of her hips. He came in close and kissed her ear. "Were you going to let me sleep all day?"

"All day?" She laughed. "We were only asleep a couple of hours. I thought since you were up all night you'd appreciate the sleep."

"I'm not even tired," he told her. "In fact, I thought we could spend the day at the lake."

Kendra brightened with excitement. "Really?"

"Really." He laughed at how easily she felt joy. She wasn't difficult to please in the least way, and that was one of the best things about her. "We'll pack a picnic, sit in the sun, enjoy all of God's creation."

It sometimes made her uneasy the way he singled the Gods into one being. It seemed sacrilegious to ignore the many and only focus on one God, but when she had once asked him about his reasons for doing it she learned rather quickly not to question his spiritual choices. All he asked was that she embrace them, know God like he knew God, and since she had never been subjected to religion growing up, she found his spirituality exciting and comfortable. She soon learned to follow him on philosophical tangents about life, the body, the soul, God, and heaven. He was big on prayer, and from the beginning it had bothered him deeply that she was not more spiritually connected herself.

"That sounds wonderful," she yielded into the gentle tug of his arms.

"But first," he nibbled the sensitive skin at the back of her neck, his warm breath sending shivers through her.

"Leoben," she twisted her neck, stretching outward to accommodate the delightful pressure of his mouth upon her skin. "We just. . ."

"And we will again," he turned her in his arms. Sharp eyes scanned her face, almost challenged her to deny him. "And again and again until we've done it right?"

Kendra raised her hand to his water specked cheek and shook her head thoughtfully. "And what then, when we've done it right? Will we stop?"

"Of course not," his sly grin enamored her as it often did. "It is God's will, his first commandment." It always made her laugh softly to herself when he brought God into their sex life. "It was his first commandment, Kendra. Go forth and multiply."

She leaned into him, rested her forehead against his cheek. It would only make him angry if she asked who she was meant to please more, God or him. It did no good to question him or his sometimes strange philosophies and practices. She yielded to him gratefully, as she always did, but in the back of her mind she wondered what would really happen when he had finally managed to get her with child. Would his attention falter completely, even as he swore it never would?

He tended to her body with complete devotion. He pleased her long before pleasing himself, and that alone was enough to assuage her fears of abandonment, at least for the moment.