"Luce, look at me."

He tips my chin up to look into his shadowy face. I try with all my might to imagine the features of the man I love in its place. He might not look like the man I'm used to, but he feels like it—mine, just like I am his. And to my shame, I crave him all the same. Black shadows or human form, I desire him just as much—maybe more due to this prolonged absence.

"I'm a mass of atoms. And they all vibrate in concert with yours. I may not be fully corporeal, but I can still feel you."

His tendril-like fingers caress my face, going lower.

"I'll always feel you," he whispers.

His touch is cool, yet it burns my skin all the same. Moving down my neck, to my chest, he pauses when he reaches my breasts.

I hold my breath as he makes contact with my sensitive nipples. A shiver goes down my back as desire pools low in my belly.

Is it unnatural to want him like this? Is it so abnormal to desire him in any shape or form?

"I missed this," I whimper breathlessly.

"You did?" he asks, his voice rough.

I nod fervently, keeping myself still for fear this moment will be over and I'll be left bereft once more.

"Tell me more, sweetheart. What else did you miss?"

He teases my breasts just enough to get my heart rate up and fill my head with countless scenarios. But as he continues his journey down my body, a new type of want blossoms inside of me. One that cannot possibly be normal, but it feels right nonetheless.

"You. Inside me," I whisper, my cheeks reddening. "Filling this aching emptiness."

I never saw myself as a sexual being before him. He awoke my desire, lighting a flame inside of me that's been fighting to stay alive after his death.

"

Sweetheart," he groans.

He trails his fingers lower, hovering over my belly.

I'm so gone that not even the presence of my scars bothers me anymore. They are a part of me, and every part of me is his.

"You're so beautiful," he rasps in a ragged voice. "Most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

He reaches between my legs, and before I can anticipate what he means to do, he plunges two thick fingers inside me.

I gasp at the sharp intrusion and struggle to keep my balance as I hold on to his shoulders. Shadowy tendrils wrap themselves around my arms as he keeps me in place, bringing me closer to him.

"So warm," he speaks, his tone one of awe. "So tight."

He thrusts his fingers all the way inside me, and I struggle to keep a straight face as he pumps them in and out.

"A bit slower," I tell him with a wobbly smile. "It's been a while."