Sometime later, Aileas awoke curled up in James's arms. She watched him sleep for a bit. He looked so vulnerable, yet there was also a contentedness about him. She felt it too. Being here felt safe…right…meant to be. She hadn't felt this way in a very long, long time. She couldn't remember if she had even felt that way fully with Jack. Confusion set in. She needed to think and a bit of home. Alieas eased herself from James's arms, careful not to wake him, and found his shirt on the floor. She slipped it on and tiptoed down the steps to the entry table where her clutch had been tossed. Opening the clutch, Aileas searched for her vortex manipulator. The leather cuff felt smooth and familiar in her hands as she searched for the hidden pocket with only the moonlight for lighting. Her fingers closed over the familiar heart shape and pulled it out of the cuff. Clutching it in her hand, she silently made her way back up the steps to the large window seat in the bedroom.
Aileas curled up on the window seat, the side of her head leaned against the cool glass, and opened her hand. Inside was a metal object, topped with a heart and bound in leather. She unwound the leather to reveal an ornate heart attached to a key suspended by a leather cord. She lost herself in thoughts of home, her former life, and the last ten years. Her mind raced through thoughts she hadn't let herself contemplate since she began her search ten years ago. Aileas was so lost in her thoughts, she didn't hear James get up and approach her.
"Aileas…are you alright my dear?"
No response. James reached out and caressed her cheek as he said her name again. This got her attention. She turned her head towards him and managed a slight smile, but he could tell that she was still not completely back from wherever she had gone in her mind. He joined her on the window seat and gathered her into his arms.
"Where did you go, my dear? You seem a million miles away."
"Just lost in my thoughts. Some questions running through my mind that I haven't let myself think in a very long time. I also needed a bit of home," she said as she opened her had to revel the key she had been clutching so tightly.
"What's this, my love? You don't mind if I call you my love, do you? It somehow feels so right." James said while holding her close to his chest, the back of her head resting on his shoulder.
"It's perfect, you calling me 'my love.' I was thinking when I awoke that this all feels so right, so comfortable…so…safe. And this…well I guess you could say it is the key to my heart. There is an old tradition where I am from that when a child is born, their entire family, close friends, really anyone who will be important in that child's life gathers and each takes a turn holding the key and pouring all of their love, hopes and dreams for that child into it. It becomes sort of a talisman, a touchstone, a piece of home no matter where you may go. It also really is the key to our hearts. I don't know how, but when you are involved with someone who is worthy of your heart, it grows warm to the touch. On the opposite hand, when you are with someone unworthy of your heart, it grows very cold. There is also a legend that for very rare couples, couples who are destined through all of time and space to find each other, that when they find each other, the heart will grow hot enough to leave its imprint on them both. But I've never heard of this happening for anyone….as far as I know it is just an old legend."
"I love that. I wonder what it will tell you about me. Shall we test it out?" With that, he took the key from her hand and slipped the leather cord around her neck. The key came to a rest over her heart. James held Aileas close as her lightly kissed the back of her neck. She turned in his arms and brought her lips to his. She felt something tangle around her foot, but was too intent on their passion to care at that moment.
Aileas tangled her fingers in James's hair as their kisses built in intensity. James tugged at the buttons of his shirt that she was wearing, practically ripping them off in an effort to get closer to her, to have her skin touching his. Once unbuttoned, he slid it off her shoulders, momentarily pinning her arms in the sleeves behind her back before tossing it to the floor. He rolled them towards the window, tangling Aileas's foot more in something, but neither one of them seemed to care. The settled with Aileas on her back, James kneeling over her. He caressed her lips and cheek before lowering himself so that their hearts were touching, the key the only thing in between them. At first, neither one of them noticed the growing heat between them. They were lost in their passions as they started to make love for the second time that night.
James had claimed her as his own. Their bodies joined in a way that felt like they were made for each other. They clung to each other as they turned in the small space of the window seat so that she was on top of him, neither one caring that it was the drapes that were now wrapped around their ankles. The key kept getting warmer and warmer, yet they still did not notice, so lost in each other and their passion that nothing else seemed to exist. Small cries of pleasure were growing in volume with each quickened thrust as they both drifted closer to the edge of release. James rolled their bodies away from the window, forgetting where they were, crashing their bodies, the drapes and the cushions to the floor. They both giggled slightly for a moment before their lips found each other again. Aileas arched her back and clutched at James's shoulders as the first of her climax rocked her body. With a final thrust, James pulled her on top of him, his strong hands firmly grasping her hips to his own.
With gentle kisses, Aileas collapsed on top of James, her head coming to rest on his shoulder. It was then that they finally noticed the burning heat coming off of the key around her neck, causing them to separate and inspect what could be seen as a clear imprint of the key directly over each of their hearts. James sat up amid the rubble that was the drapes, their clothing and the cushions from the window seat and pulled Aileas into his arms.
"So, I thought that was only a legend about the key leaving an imprint," James said a bit breathlessly.
"I thought it was too. In all my life and that of my parents and grandparents, it has never happened. They always told us it was rare, I just never believed it."
"Yet it happened to us. I never really believed in destiny before. Maybe it was time I started"
"I think we should go back to bed and think about this later," Aileas said before turning slightly in his arms to nuzzle his neck.
"That sounds like a wonderful idea to me. You have worn me out, my love. At this moment, all I want to do is get back into that big bed with you, and sleep with you in my arms."
With that he got to his feet and helped her up. They walked hand in hand the short distance back to the bed. As they settled under the covers, James pulled Aileas into his arms and held her tight.
"I could get used to this," she said.
"So could I, my love…so could I."
