The Green Ribbons by Clare Flynn

Author:Clare Flynn [Flynn, Clare]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Cranbrook Press
Published: 2016-05-08T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

[Ganymedes] was the loveliest born of the race of mortals, and therefore

the gods caught him away to themselves, to be Zeus’ wine-pourer,

for the sake of his beauty, so he might be among the immortals.

(Homer, Iliad Book XX, lines 233–23)

The curtains were open and the sunlight came through the windows and dappled the bedroom floor like a mosaic. Hephzibah turned over and looked at Thomas asleep beside her. She remembered what he had said about their having the rest of their lives to get to know each other. Watching him sleeping, she was filled with an overpowering tenderness. She had not believed she would ever find the capacity to feel love again after the death of her parents, but this was different. The love she felt for Thomas was like nothing else. It consumed her. It burnt inside her, filling her with a longing and desire she had never experienced before. She would walk to the ends of the earth for him. She prayed he felt the same, and was terrified that he might not.

The night before, after the departure of Reverend Nightingale, Thomas had led her by the hand up the stairs and she had followed him, weak with desire and nerves. He had thrown her across the bed and taken her quickly, shooting a sharp pain through her that dissolved into a sensation of pleasure which ended too soon. She had lain underneath him, pinned to the bed like a specimen butterfly.

Lying now on her side, she examined his face. So handsome, beautiful even. She searched for a fault. If she could find one it would render him human, whereas now he was like an angel who might disappear as if in a dream. His features appeared carved from marble by a sculptor seeking to create perfection – a Ganymede, too beautiful for mortal life. She wanted to run a finger along his dark eyebrows, but feared waking him. His nearly-black hair was tousled on the pillow, soft to the touch and she remembered how last night she had known what it was to tangle her fingers in it as he made love to her. And his mouth. It was slightly hard about the edges so that he often appeared preoccupied and serious – until he turned his smile upon her and her world lit up. She wanted his kisses to go on forever. His eyes. When he had moved inside her, the limpid blue of those eyes clouded over and lost focus as he looked down at her, before he closed them and let out a long sigh. A shiver of desire went through her as she thought of the moment when he had entered her, taken her, and she had given herself to him.

She felt an unexpected rush of sadness. What they had done together in the night was not as much as it might have been. She knew nothing of such matters, but sensed that she had disappointed him in some way. When he was

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.