Belonging to Lust

Anneliese and Zaiyia had headed to bed right after Heath returned to his sleeping quarters downstairs. Her bed was big enough for them to avoid touching each other throughout the night, yet Anneliese thought Zaiyia should be assured that she wasn’t a snuggler like her husband was. The second their heads hit their individual pillows, they had fallen asleep. It was around 3AM or 4Am when Zaiyia was roused from her sleep because of her dry throat. Seeking some cool refreshing water, Zaiyia snuck out of bed and down the stairs towards her kitchen. She had completely forgotten that she wasn’t alone on the first floor, and went about her business in filling up a single glass with cold water.

A clicking sound in the background had her jumping and twirling about to see what had made that noise. Heath was sitting on the couch running his figners through his short ruffled hair while the other was wrapped around the chain switch that turned the lamp light on that was on the table next to him. He let out a tired groan as she placed her cup onto the counter and quickly made her way over to him.

“Did I wake you up just now? I’m sorry if I did. I was just thirsty and totally forgot that you were sleeping down here.” Zaiyia apologetically whispered while wringing her fingers apologetically.

Heath looked up to see her standing there in front of him in her nightgown. He tore his eyes away from staring too long and let out another more painful moan. “No, no you didn’t. You’re fine.”

Zaiyia nodded in assurance, before a few minutes of silence followed. For some reason, she was feeling a bit nervous around him. She wasn’t sure why she felt that way, but the image of him staring at her during her sister’s storytelling began to pop up in her mind, making her feel even more nervous. The way he looked at her was something she had never seen on his face before. Wanting to end the awkward silence, Zaiyia flashed him a warm smile and greeted him. “Hi.”

Heath looked at her for a minute, trying to resist her smile, but that didn’t last. A smile broke on his face as he let out a chuckle. “Hi.”

“I’m guessing you couldn’t sleep, huh?” Zaiyia asked him, gesturing to the scattered pillows that had been tossed off the couch.

Heath nodded, once again running a hand through his hair.

Zaiyia pointed to the empty spot next to him. “Do you want me to keep you company? I mean, if you don’t plan on going back to sleep.”

Heath declined her offer with the shake of his head. “No, no you should probably go get some sleep yourself.”

Zaiyia gave him a weird look. “Why? It’s the weekend, remember? I got nothing to get up for, other than feeding you.”

“Oh yeah, that’s right.” Heath grumbled, before letting out a yawn.

Zaiyia helped herself to plopping down next to him, shifting around to her left so she could stare at him. “So how come you can’t sleep? Was it something you ate? A nightmare, maybe?”

Heath nodded on her last guess, confirming that he did have a troubling dream. “It was just a weird dream. Not really a nightmare.”

Zaiyia frowned. “What happened in your dream?”

Heath went completely silent then as his body tensed up as the quick images of an inappropriate sexual dream that starred both him and Zaiyia invaded his mind. In his dream, they were back upstairs in her room. Anneliese wasn’t anywhere in sight, leaving the two of them alone to their devices. Heath was staring at her, much like he was last night. Zaiyia was staring back. After a few minutes filled with silence had passed, Zaiyia had got on her hands and knees and crawled to the center of her bed. Heath had simply watched her straighten herself up to pull off her top.

Shaking his head to destroy every last remnant of that dream from his focus, Heath awkwardly cleared his throat and lied to her. “I uh, I don’t really remember my dream. Sorry.”

Zaiyia nodded. “It’s okay, we can’t remember all of our dreams.”

Heath agreed before they went right back to silence. He was slipping back into mentally watching his dream again, while she was trying to figure out what else to talk about. Other than to express her secret yearning for him or openly compliment his physical perfections, she wasn’t quite sure what to discuss. Looking around the downstairs, she began to admire the hard work everyone had put into making the living room amazing. There was nothing wrong with the original design, in fact, Zaiyia loved it, but she also loved the new look too. She had no idea how Anneliese created all this simply by walking through the aisles at the local hardware store. How could she envision such splendors and be able to create them while also maintaining a job, a strong marriage, three happy children, and mothering her two brothers was beyond Zaiyia. She couldn’t help but love her new home for however long she was allowed to have it.

“I can’t get over your beautiful home, Heath. I swear every time I look around I fall in love all over again. This is the most beautiful place I ever lived. There’s just something about it that can’t be compared with anywhere else in the world.” Zaiyia ranted with adoration laced in her voice.

Heath smiled with appreciation. “Thank you, that’s means a lot to us, especially because we’ve been slaving over this damn house 12 months out of the year. I wouldn’t say it’s the prettiest place in the word. Did your aunt ever take you sightseeing to see the wonders of the world or anything like that when you were living with her? Maybe moved to a new state or town?”

Zaiyia froze in place as her eyes widen at his question. She was so caught off guard by his question and that he mentioned her imaginary aunt, she almost told on herself. With a quick shake of her head in his direction, she turned her head to stare towards the nearest window.

Heath nodded before a soft smile spread across his lips. “You know you’re lucky right?”

“To be living in a place like this? Trust me, I know I’m lucky.” Zaiyia agreed.

“No, I mean you’re lucky that your aunt stayed. You’re lucky that she’s nothing like her sister.” Heath clarified for her, watching her turn her head to stare at him with sad eyes. His smile dropped at the sight of her upset and his eyes immediately became concerned.

Zaiyia opened her mouth but she knew the words wouldn’t have come out the way she wanted them too. Instead, she simply nodded her head in agreement before lowering her eyes to her lap. She hated that she had been pushed to lie to him from the beginning when they first met, and she even hated lying to him now. It was upsetting to realize that he pretty much MET a lie since she was introduced to him on a lie. The only truth about her that he knew was her name and that she was Yovela’s daughter.

“What’s wrong, Zaiyia?” Heath asked her, his brows furrowed in concern. When she didn’t answer him, he reached over to place a hand on her shoulder to grab her attention. He felt a bit better when her eyes finally returned back to his without any signs of her former sadness.

“Are you okay?” Heath asked her, searching deep into her big brown eyes for the emotion she had before.

Zaiyia nodded, allowing the warmth seeping from his hand to steer her focus towards something more delicious. She let her eyes look over his sexy rugged looks, and his shirtless torso. The bulging muscles made her mouth water just by looking at them.

“You sure?” He asked to be certain.

Zaiyia looked back into his eyes and nodded with a reassuring smile this time.

“Okay.” Heath reluctantly pulled his hand from the soft deep flawless skin that was her shoulder.

After a few more minutes of silence passed between them, Heath decided he would try to go back to sleep again. “I’m gonna try to get some sleep now.”

Zaiyia nodded and got up from the couch. “Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow. Good night, Heath.”

“Goodnight Zaiyia.” Heath mumbled as he watched her retreat back up the stairs before laying back across the couch to get some sleep.