Summary:

The title is in Latin and means: "The sweet whispers in the nightfall" (it is taken from Horatius: Carmina, I,9, Ad Thaliarcum).

I keep reading this chapter, because I like it immensely...

It is shockingly , extraordinarily, unbelievably romantic!

Comments are greatly appreciated: please, let me know what you think!

Chapter:

The waiter brought Ward the Crème Brûlée and Skye the Chocolate Cake, together with a red strong wine, a Porto, in large shining crystal glasses.

"Let's make a toast!" Ward said.

"To what?"

"To hope, life, and love" he said, resolutely.

Skye smiled sadly and whispered:

"Ok. As you prefer. I don't care…"

But, when their glasses collided, she added:

"I think these are only the dreams of a bunch of deluded people…"

"So you think I am only a deluded dreamer?

Ok! I pick up the challenge!

Let's make a bet!

I bet that, exactly one year from now, the two of us will come back to this restaurant, alive and happy as we had never been before!

And, if I win, you'll pay the dinner!"

His eyes were sparkling.

"Ok, I'm in!" she answered, infected by his enthusiasm.

"And if you loose?"

"Sincerely… I do not want to think about it"

His mood darkened immediately and Skye didn't dare to ask further.

When she took a spoonful of her cake and put it in her mouth, she let out a moan of pleasure that was almost embarrassing.

"Ward, this cake is divine! You must absolutely try it!" and she took his spoon from his hand and with it handed him a generous portion of her cake, inviting him to open his mouth.

He slowly opened his mouth and did take the spoon in, without averting his eyes from her for even a second.

The whole operation was very sensual, and neither she nor he escaped the other's glances, or the silence that followed.

"You are right… this is indeed very good…" he said looking deeply her in the eyes with a husky voice, and not giving the impression of talking about the cake…

He reciprocated with his crème and she took it from him, moaning in pleasure again.

This was all obviously beyond subtlety.

"This is very good, too" she said looking him under her eyelashes.

After that they finished languidly the desserts and the wine, looking furtively at each other from time to time.

"Before we go, I would like to show you something." Ward interjected.

He stood up and gave her his hand to help her stand, too, reminding her of that time in the Providence Base when they escaped taking the Bus. This time, however, the feelings involved were completely reversed... That time he was the traitor, unaware that she knew... this time she felt like a traitor, unaware that he knew... That time she was devoured by pain, fear and hate... this time he was devoured by pain, fear and love...

She took his hand and in that moment she felt something warm enfolding her whole… like the feeling of being finally home… even if she did never feel what it meant...

And another layer of ice melted in her heart...

He led her out on the garden patio, the restaurant's own al fresco paradise, where they could walk in the moonlight along the walkways and sit on the benches or on the edge of a large fountain illuminated by a pale blue light and framed by roses and greenery. A sweet music could be heard, broadcasted by a series of hidden speakers here and there. All the outdoor patio area was sexily illuminated and enticing, and framed with ubiquitous flowers. The perfumes were giving her a sense of dizziness…

They were still holding hands and Ward, after a while, changed his grip entwining his fingers with hers, trying to do it in the most natural and indifferent way possible...

His hand was so cozy, comfortable and warm… Skye though.

She was indeed upset by the fact that simply being hand in hand with him was much more exciting than kissing or even making love with any other man in her life… Lincoln included! Her heart was pounding, her breathing was labored and her head was no longer able to think. She felt completely at the mercy of emotions.

What the hell was happening to her?

While they were walking, they saw in the distance a little cloud of floating lights, so they approached, driven by curiosity.

The lights were fireflies!

No wonder: after all it was summer…

So they found themselves almost in the dark, but surrounded by fireflies wherever they could look: the sensation was to float in the space, in the midst of millions of stars!

Skye spoke:

"You know? This reminds me so much when I was little, at the Orphanage! Even there, sometimes, the sisters took us to a nearby field, at night, to see the fireflies! It was so beautiful!"

"This is the first time you talk to me of your time at the Convent of St. Agnes in an almost enthusiastic tone!"

"Yeah, I know. And it wasn't fair, of me.

All taken in consideration, that place was not so bad.

The sisters were persons of true faith: they tried to give to each of us a deeply Christian formation.

Just think that they made us confess every week!

Often I didn't even know what to say…

Of course, sometimes I had to confess maybe stealing a jar of jam, or a fight, or a grudge… some disobedience… but it was nothing, compared to now…

Oh, I miss that innocence, that purity!

If I had to confess now, I fear that I would give a heart attack to the Father!

Now I have lost faith completely...

I have become a cyber criminal, a traitor, a liar, and a murderer… I don't even know how many people I killed!

And the cherry on the cake is that I'm starting with prostitution!

Wonderful, don't you think?"

Skye's voice was extremely bitter.

"You don't have to, if you don't want."

"No, that is exactly what I have to do! It is what I deserve!

But I cannot explain you why.

There are things about me... that you wouldn't like... if you knew..."

- Oh, Skye!

I know!

I know perfectly well!

You are like an open book for me! – Ward thought.

- And the thing that worries me most is not that you've become an addict, but that you've lost hope and the will to live!

You've surrendered!

It's not just your body to be sick, but your soul!

And from your sick soul come down cascading all other evils!

The body may heal, but the soul… who can cure it?

It is beyond my possibilities!

How can I help you? –

And suddenly he had a flash of inspiration!

"Maybe this could be a good idea, to confess yourself!

God gives us all the means to save ourselves, but it is us who have to decide to use them."

At that she brutally disentangled her hand from his and faced him, with one of that hard stares of hers:

"Ward!

Open your eyes!

God does not exist!

If He existed, if He loved me, He would be doing anything to save me!

But what is He doing?

Nothing!"

And she threw her hands in the air.

"Do you see Him, right now?

Where the hell is He?"

And she shook her head:

"No, He does not exist… or, if He exists, He cares nothing about us and we are only one of his experiments, and He's just a sadist, to let us suffer in this atrocious way!"

He allowed her to outburst, to let out some anger. After all, her words resembled his own, just some time before...

Then he spoke:

"If I were you, I would not be so sure of what you are saying…"

"Why do you say that?"

"Because maybe He is not visible, but He sends someone on his behalf to accomplish His missions…"

"And who is this 'someone'? You, perhaps?"

And she laughed bitterly.

"You, a murderer like me?

Ok, you, by chance, saved the world from the biggest threat of all!

But then what?

This doesn't mean you are in charge of saving the woman you love!

Everybody wants to save poor Daisy!

I don't need to be saved!

I'm sick of that!"

She realized, from his expression, that she had just hit the mark.

But he was hurt by her derisive tone, too.

He remained mute.

After some embarrassing moments of silence she added, in a resigned tone:

"Sorry, Grant. I'm sorry...

I didn't want to say what I said...

I always talk too much...

Please forgive me..."

He looked sharply at her and said:

"It wasn't by chance... by the way"

She sighed and approached him, her head down.

Then she raised it suddenly and asked out of the blue, looking him straight in the eyes, smiling mischiefully:

"Wanna dance?"

He looked surprised at her:

"What?"

Then she, putting timidly the tip of her fingers on his belly, confirmed:

"Come on, Ward!

I'm trying to make amends!

Don't make me beg!"

And with that she climbed his torso with her hands, putting them on his chest and resting her head on his shoulder, while he hesitantly embraced her on her waist.

"You are comfy, you know?"

She then raised her hands to his neck and started caressing his hair and massaging his scalp, swaying at the sound of music and humming the tune.

After a while she felt him relax.

Then, without changing position, she asked him, as if a doubt had just crossed her mind:

"What about you?

How did you manage to face remorse?

How did you get the peace you seem enwrapped in?"

"I guess I can say that I confessed myself and I was forgiven."

"Really? And what happened to the Father that confessed you? Did he have a heart attack?" she chuckled.

"The Heart of the Father that confessed me was extremely loving and the biggest present I could give Him was asking forgiveness. And He gave it to me."

She could hear the sound of his steady heartbeat under his firm chest. It was so soothing! Hypnotic, almost...

"I didn't know you attended the churches."

"I didn't go into a church."

"Then what did you do?"

"I died."

"Oh… And then?"

"I resurrected."

"And what happened in the meanwhile?"

"A lot of things…

Maybe one day I will tell you.

But what you must know is that it is not true that everything is nullified by death.

On the contrary, everything reaches a state of fullness and completeness, for better or for worse. Therefore it is important to act well during life. Our every smallest action is only seemingly insignificant: instead it actually brings enormous consequences in eternity, like when you throw a stone into a pond and the concentric circles always widen more."

"I don't believe you. I think your brain tried to defend itself from a too big pain, and made you hallucinate."

"One day… one day you'll understand." Ward smiled tenderly at her.

"I don't like when you predict the future!"

"Why?"

"Because you tend to guess!"

"I'm not clairvoyant!"

"But when you say something about the future, what you foresee is what duly happens!"

Ward chuckled.

Thankfully the atmosphere had calmed down again.

They continued dancing, slowly, enjoying their closeness.

"Do you miss them?" he asked after a while.

"Who?"

"The nuns."

"Sometimes…

All the sisters where good persons; some of them were also affectionate.

My only consolation, when I went to bed, was that my favorite, Sister Bertha, would come and give me a kiss as soon as I was in bed. But that goodnight lasted so little…"

"I agree with you. After all, that place was not so bad.

My mother never gave me a goodnight kiss.

Not once."

Ward voice was extremely sad.

"This is terrible. But why?"

"She never loved me. To be honest, she always hated me, right from the very beginning."

"And how was that possible? You were only a baby!"

Ward sighed:

"Another time, maybe…"

He gave her a light squeeze.

Skye accepted to be left in the dark about that: she didn't want to push.

She, moreover, tried to change the subject:

"The sisters were very clever also with newborns and very little children. There were so many of them!"

Skye was smiling at the memories.

"You talk fondly of babies. Do you like them?"

"Oh, yes! I enjoyed myself in talking and playing with them! They were so cute!"

"Did you ever think of having your own… babies, I intend?"

At that Skye blushed, then became very sad.

"Yes… but I never had the opportunity. And I won't ever have."

Skye was once more on the verge of tears, but tried to react. Indeed her biological clock was ticking, and it was comprehensible that the maternal instinct was taking over her.

Ward struggled not to embrace her even tighter and not to promise her that, one day, soon, she would have become a mother.

She continued:

"Fortunately they were receiving alms from many good people, who had also the courtesy to bring a lot of baby food.

...

I always wondered how could the mothers wean their youngs, when all these things didn't exist, not even blenders… in prehistory, for example…" she was trying to sound cheerful.

He answered:

"In primitive times, women weaned their young pre-chewing to soft mush the food into their mouths, making it liquid. Then they joined mouth to that of their babies and, using the tongue, passed a little food into them. Later, the baby, who got used to seek the mother's mouth every time she approached, automatically started sucking her tongue to get the softened food.

This is also the origin of kissing between humans.

And that's why, even today, the kiss between adults is considered the most… exclusive and intimate act of love."

Ward was looking intently at her now and, at those words, Skye started feeling a sense of vertigo.

But Ward continued, with a deep voice only she could hear:

"Even now, the most delightful kiss is the one placed on moist lips, accompanied by the suction of the lips and the tongue, so as to produce in the partner the emission of fluid. This one is gently intoxicating and gives a sensation of thrill to the whole body, more exciting than a robust wine."

Skye was struggling to keep in check her breathing, but was so excited that her eyes filled with tears, and these rolled down her cheeks.

She fought against them all evening, but now she couldn't hold back them anymore!

Ward kept talking without stopping:

"The love of humans is distinguished by the stupid folly of the beasts only by two divine functions: the caress and the kiss."

With those words Ward cupped tenderly her face, caressing her with his thumbs, and added:

"From tears to kisses there is no more than a shiver."

Then, kissing her tears away, while she actually shivered:

"Kisses are like tears: the only real are those that you can not hold back. And I cannot hold back them anymore!"

And finally, in the most amazing moment, when she saw his face coming close to her and she realized that she was about to be kissed on her mouth, in that moment that was the most wonderful of all, he whispered:

"The lips that taste of tears, they say, are the best to kiss."

Oh, God!

His lips!

His mouth!

Only in that eternal moment she realized how much she had missed them!

He did not speak or loosen his embrace for several minutes, during which he covered her with kisses, as much as he never had given in his life. And she let him kiss her, lost in that bliss, and reciprocated any time he kissed her lips…

"Oh, Skye!" he was whispering "If the man that invokes a kiss of which he doesn't know the taste is unhappy… a thousand times worse it is for the man who just tasted this flavor and then he was cruelly denied of it!

I could kiss you only three times, but it was enough for me for dreaming of you for two whole years!

Oh, Skye!

Where have you been all this time?

Where?

Where?"

"Oh, Grant! I have been so far! And alone!" she was still weeping.

The two continued kissing and whispering into each other's mouths:

"You should have been kissed… and often… and by someone who knows how to do it!" he said huskily.

"Oh, yeah… Don't stop... Kiss me, please…Kiss me as long as you can… as if tonight was the last night!"

"Don't say that! I want to kiss you for years to come!

...

This is heaven, Skye!

You are heaven!

Your kisses are what remain of the Paradise language!

And I am kissing you, but my desire is to devour you!"

And with that he grabbed her by the waist and lifted her, so that she could wrap her legs around him, and moved both of them on a bench nearby.

And then he felt that these kisses were the first sign, but already full, of the possession.

Skye became "his" woman when she gave him these kisses.

She gave him her mouth thoroughfully and with that all herself.

It was happening to their kisses as with the confidences: one led to another, and gradually they became more close and warm. In these early moments of their love, the kisses sprouted so naturally! They arose and grew so close to each other; and to count the kisses that they gave each other in one hour you would struggle as to count the flowers in a field in May!

Their kisses were the surest way to remain quiet saying everything.

Their kisses were the trick of nature to stop speech when words had become superfluous.

The silence of their kisses was worth a thousand words, and, because they didn't speak, their kisses couldn't lie.

Their kisses were like the music: a universal language; the highest poetry of love; the sweet finding of each other after a long pursuit; a promise written on the lips; a secret confided on the mouth; a communion, a way of breathing and savoring each other, heart and soul, after such a long painful separation…

Their love was a dream; but those kisses awakened it and made it come true!

Skye said:

"My mom told me once an old Chinese saying: kissing is like drinking salt water. The more you drink, the greater the thirst becomes."

"Your mum is very wise!

…

Wait!

Did you find her? Is she still alive?"

Ward interrupted his assault…

"She was… then she died…"

"Wanna talk about it?" Ward asked timidly, understanding that there was more than Skye wanted to show.

"No!" her answer was desperate, painful.

- What the hell happened to you? - he wondered in himself.

- You finally managed to find both your parents, but your father can't remember you anymore and your mother died?

What must have you gone through, my little baby girl! - and he felt his love for her grow even more.

He could read her mind, but preferred to leave her privacy untouched.

They were now sitting on the bench, she on his lap, straddling him, panting, and, as their souls could talk through their eyes, so they could kiss each other with their glances.

After a little of that wordless dialogue, he said, interpreting the thought of both, with a husky, trembling voice:

"Maybe it would be better if we find a more secluded place, don't you think?"

She nodded.