Dear reader, I am sorry that RL has gotten in the way. I hope to have Ch 9 our soon.
All the characters in this story are over 18.
I awoke to rediscover something I had long forgotten -- the sheer pleasure of the break of dawn.
The crystal-clear morning was made more glorious by the scent of roses born on gentle breezes pouring through the open window. The fragrance washed over us, carried by the refreshing chill air. But not one beam of morning light, nor perfect dew-kissed bloom, could match the sheer perfection of the creature who slept in my arms.
I would rather die than disturb her slumber; her head lay upon my shoulder, her face only inches from my own. Her perfect body next to me, only obscured by only a thin sheet. I watched her breathe; felt the wisps of warm air across my skin; her beautiful breasts rose and fell in perfect time. Upon her face, a flawless portrait of womanhood, my love flowing out through my eyes carried by tears of joy. My body thrilled to the slightest of her touches as she lay so close.
We had made love until the Beast was sated, the first in my memory.
Even then, as it slept, my human form returned, and she had redoubled her efforts, bringing me to peaks I had never imagined. I reciprocated the gifts of pleasure with my own efforts with her body.
I had held her tight as I kissed and suckled and nibbled every single point of pleasure on the deliciously flawless body. Now I know every inch of her form far better than I knew my own. All would become cherished memories.
Her presence was a gift of wonder, one I would cherish during the long centuries that lay before me. As I watched her sleep, I could see those lonely years as a long march of stairs from this solid ground, each step taking me away from her to the gallows far above. However, I would still go to my death with this shining day and night as a magnificent bloom -- a memory of perfection that would comfort me until the noose bit and I found my end.
Somewhere in the quiet of the night, I realized that for the first time since the waters of the spring had touched me; I was wholly Angela again. I had not realized how much I longed for my true self, the woman I once was. I had gained much becoming the Guardian of the Source, but I had given up much as well, and not until that moment as the morning light illuminated her face did I truly understand what I had sacrificed.
I watched her sleep for a few more precious moments, attempting to etch the scene into my memory. Then, finally, she started to stir, and I knew our time was drawing short.
"Alice," I gently whispered, and I kissed her forehead as she slept. "Alice, my love, it is morning," my voice caught in my throat as I said what I knew I must, my final words, but a whisper, "it is morning, and you must go."
I could give her love but no family; if she stayed, I was sure she and I would be trapped here forever. But, if she returned to her life, she might know the limitations of a woman's life, but also its joys. I would gift her children, then grandchildren, and the long roll of years filled with happiness and losses -- a real life.
No, not to live the strange half-life of fantasy and horror I was condemned to live, to feed the Source until finally spent and cast away into dust, neither remembered nor mourned.
I could not, would not condemn her to my fate.
"My love, it is time for you to go." These words were like ashes on my tongue, acid in my throat.
I watched her slowly begin to rouse, her soft moans and movements, then her eyes fluttered open to fill my heart with joy at her waking and dread for her leaving.
"Good morning, my love," The words left my lips before I could restrain them.
"Oooh, how I adore the sound of that." She rolled into me, lips pursed.
How was I not to meet those lips? I am only human, well most of me, part of me? I kissed her.
"Hmmm, my darling, what is for breakfast?" She asked, her eyes suddenly flying open. "Where do you get food?"
I laughed, "Don't worry Alice, you have not eaten anyone..." moving closer to her, I showed my cat eyes, with my whiskers and fangs showing in my smile, "...that you knew well." Then, returning to my human self, I laughed again. She responded by slapping my arm.
"Owww" I plaintively cried in mock agony, covering her target, and my mouth bearing a pronounced pout, she merely laughed. The sound of her voice thrilled my heart, my pout melting into the first genuine smile of the day before turning back to the subject at hand.
"No, my love, I have never harmed anyone. I do, on occasion, take meat, but from the same sorts of animals you would eat in your own house. However, harvested a little differently, I give my prey a fair chance to escape, not chase them with dogs and horses, nor keep them in pens until I slaughter them." I was not trying to be rude, but my opinions had changed since my transformation.
"However, the forest provides, and I have some abilities to create much what I need." I chose not to disclose all things; after all, I am the Guardian of the Source. What sort of Guardian would I be to tell all my secrets?
"Good!" she threw the covers away from her glorious body, a body that had given me such joy just hours before. The body that every fiber of my being wanted to keep precisely where it was, the body that I must send back to a world I could not return to, the body I would dream of for centuries.
"How about some yummy berries, perhaps with cream? Oh, and some of that lovely cheese and perhaps bread and honey, oh with juice and tea?" I asked, trying desperately to change the path of my thoughts.
I turned, and my heart ceased to beat for her smile... it outshone the sun!
"As you wish, my queen," as I bowed, keeping my eyes locked on hers. The naughty part of me made sure to linger in the bow, hoping her eyes remained on my hanging breasts. I was rewarded as she blushed.
I was so thrilled that I willed her desire without a thought, and the table was already set in my garden.
"Oh, but what will I wear?" She with a slide long sly smirk, "You are rather hard on my wardrobe."
