Existence 01 - Existence

but I wasn’t sure. I had to wait until…” he trailed off and I pulled back to look up at his face.
    “Wait for what?” I asked, needing reassurance that he wasn’t leaving. Dank wiped the tears from my wet face with his finger and tilted my chin up so I could gaze directly into his jewel-like eyes.
    “I couldn’t return until you chose. Apparently, if you made the ultimate sacrifice then my broken rule would be amended.” I shook my head, not understanding what sacrifice he was talking about.
    “You mean my dying? I did that willingly last night. What took you so long? Gee came to my room and she was as confused as I was.”
    He smiled at me. “No, not dying, although that sacrifice wasn’t taken lightly. However, it could have been interpreted as selfish nature by the Deity. You see, humans give up life when they can’t deal with the pain. It’s an easy escape for them. The sacrifice I’m speaking of isn’t one of dying but of living.”
    He touched his forehead to mine. “You see, Gee was playing her part. She knew exactly what was happening. She isn’t a Deity, but she is an immortal and has been around since the beginning of time. She knew it all revolves around self-sacrifice. A completely selfless act.”
    I shook my head, frowning. “What do you mean?” He chuckled and I realized it was the most beautiful sound in the world.
    “You chose to live a life you no longer wanted just to ease my pain. You didn’t want to live without me, yet when you knew it would have made my extinction pointless you couldn’t stand the thought. You chose to live for me.” I nodded agreeing with him but not sure how this had anything to do with how he was here in front of me.
    “My beautiful soul,” he murmured and caressed my cheek. “When you gave the ultimate selfless sacrifice, it paid for my wrong. You proved to be worthy of my devotion. Of Death’s.....love.”
    I touched his perfect lips with my fingers, wanting to kiss him. To be as close to him as possible. “So, because I chose life, you continue to exist?” I asked in wonder.
    He nodded. “It actually gets even better,” he said, kissing my chin and then each cheek, causing me to forget what it was we were talking about. His nearness made me weak with pleasure and a soft moan escaped my throat.
    “Ah, that sounds wonderful,” he murmured as he ran kisses down my neck and across my collarbone. I clung to his shoulders knowing at any moment I was going to pass out from the pleasure. I felt his warm tongue flick across my skin and I gasped, pressing closer to him, ready to beg for more right there in the schoolyard. He pulled back and his breathing was ragged.
    “I get to keep you,” he said, staring at me with an intensity that made me shiver.
    “Keep me?” I asked, reaching up to kiss his chin and trail kisses down his perfect neck.
    “Not here. I can’t take much more, Pagan. I’m only so strong,” he said in a husky voice as he pulled me against his chest. “You’re mine now. While you walk the Earth you belong to me. Nothing can hurt you.” I heard a touch of humor in his voice. “It’s pretty impossible to hurt what Death protects.” I smiled into his chest, wanting to stay in his arms forever. But there were questions I knew I needed to ask. I could bask in his presence later.
    “I can stay with you for eternity then?” I asked, watching him. A small frown touched his perfectly-sculpted mouth.
    “Not exactly. You’re mine as long as you walk the earth.
    Your body will grow old and old age isn’t something we can stop. One day you will have to leave this body and begin a new life.”
    “I will grow old and have to leave you and then what? Start a new life where I won’t know you? Will you wait until I’m old enough and then come see me? No. Dank, NO! I don’t want to do that. I want to keep you forever, all the time.”
    Dank cradled my face and stared into my eyes. “Pagan you’re a soul. You must live the eternity souls are given. You don’t get a choice. The fact I can love you and protect you while you live on Earth is a gift I hadn’t even dared to hope for. This is all we can have. I’m Death; I am a Deity. I am not and I have never been a soul. I take cold souls or souls whose bodies have died and send them to the place they have earned. I was created for this.” I shook my head, wrapping my arms around him as if he would disappear at any moment.
    “I want to be immortal. I want to be with you