The Dark Rising by Lacey Weatherford

anything while I tried to hold my own emotions in check.
    He reached out to cup my face, letting his thumb rub over my cheek and I naturally leaned into the sweet gesture.
    “I brought you here today because I want to tell you I do feel something for you too.” He paused while watching me.  “I don’t understand it, but the feelings are there and they’re growing fast.”  I saw the sincerity on his face.
    “Oh, Vance,” I replied with a sigh, allowing myself to lean against him.  I wrapped my arms around his neck, laying my head on his shoulder.  “I love you.  I’m sorry.  I know I agreed to treat you as a completely different individual, but I can’t.  You’re still the same person to me, even without the memories.” 
    He pushed me back so he could look at me when I continued.
    “I notice it in the way you talk, the way you walk, the way you move.  Everything you do is so … you.  Please forgive me for not keeping my end of our deal.  But it’s like asking me to believe you never existed.  I can’t do it.” I searched his eyes for his response.
    “It’s okay, baby,” he replied, and I didn’t miss the use of his traditional pet name for me.  He pulled me closer to him.  “I understand now.”
    He stroked a palm over my hair and down my back.  I closed my eyes and just enjoyed being close to him in this way.
    “Portia, look at me,” he said, and I lifted my head up toward him.  He moved his hands so each one was placed under the sides of my chin.  “I want to kiss you,” he said softly.  “Is that okay?”
    I nodded, staring up into his eyes.  “You don’t ever have to ask me,” I replied, watching him.  “My lips have always been yours to kiss.”
    He dipped his head in, kissing me sweet and gentle.  His mouth moved tenderly over mine and I closed my eyes savoring it.  He lifted his lips to kiss both of my eyelids, my cheeks, and even the tip of my nose before he returned back to my mouth.
    He deepened the contact this time, and I slid my arms around his neck.  He pulled our bodies tighter together, and I felt myself turning to molten liquid in his embrace, my emotions coursing through me while our mouths moved in perfect unison.  He finally pulled away from me and he rested his forehead against mine.
    “Look at me,” he said, and I opened my eyes to stare into his beautiful blue ones.  He let his gaze trail slowly over the feature of my face before he spoke again.  “I love you, Portia,” he said in a hushed voice.  “I don’t know how or why, but I do.”
     
     

 
Chapter 6
    I began to tremble at his words and my eyes filled with tears as he searched my face, waiting for a response.
    “You don’t have to say these things to make me feel better,” I whispered, my voice choked with emotion.  “I know you need time, and I don’t want to rush you.”
    He slid his hands over my arms, caressing my bare skin.  “I’m not trying to do that,” he said with a slight shake of his head.  “I can’t say what the reason is, maybe it’s this place and all that’s happened between us here.  But I feel it … me, myself, not just some memory which has been planted.”  He lifted a hand to touch my face.  “These feelings are growing stronger with every minute that passes.  It started last night, after you went to sleep and has continued throughout the day.  I love you, and I know I love you.  In here,” he added in a whisper, as he reached for my hand and moved it to rest over his heart.
    I felt the warmth of his skin through his shirt, along with the steady beating inside of him.
    He smiled at me.  “It’s funny when I think about it.  I haven’t even been … alive … for twenty-four hours yet, and everything is changing for me so quickly.   I’m not sure how to explain except to say I love you and I need you in my life.”  He squeezed my hand in emphasis.
    I gazed at him and I only saw the face of my loving husband.  I knew he wasn’t