Starlight in the Heavens - 20. Chapter 20

Part 20 - Joshua

I'd expected TJ to return with Jo in tow, so when he and Adrian walked in with a young man between them I was a little shocked. But that soon become complete bewilderment as I really looked at the man. It was still Jo, but different.

I knew that Alex had seen when Jo's face had turned to that of a man—this one in matter of fact—but seeing her... no him standing there shivering... There was more substance, like he was really real. Jo had always been a bit fragmented in my mind. She was too real, if that made any sense. My mind had been clouded from the day we met her. And now I was seeing someone that was completely clear. There were no shadows, no clouds, and no doubts.

As he stood and shivered, I was Sean move up to stand in front of him. His eyes stared at the floor until Sean lifted his chin and looked into them. I heard a small gasp come from Alex and turned to see him staring, wide eyed and open mouthed. I knew he was seeing the same thing I did. It was in the man's eyes. Starlight. But I had a feeling that it wouldn't last. Jo had changed.

"Adrian," Sean said in a voice as calm as a flat sea. "Go to our bedroom and get a change of clothes. I believe we are about the same size now."

A shudder, more severe than before, went through the young man's body and TJ caught him as he collapsed with a keening wail.

Alex and I tried to stay out of the way when TJ picked him up and sat in the middle of the room. Sean sat in front of TJ and pulled the blanket from the upper body of the man's trembling form. With fingers splayed, Sean held a hand against the fair skin of his hairless chest. There was a low rumbling noise in the room that came from TJ. My guess was he was purring. It was such a soothing sound that I soon found myself in a cloudy daze with Alex's head on my shoulder. He'd fallen asleep.

I blinked rapidly to keep from succumbing to slumber myself. I didn't want to miss what was happening in front of me.

Jo—I can't think of anything else to call him—had gone completely limp in TJ's arms. His eyes looked like they'd rolled up in his head and his mouth was hanging open. The only thing that let me know he was still alive was the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest.

TJ held him like a small child in his father's arms with one arm around his shoulders and the other across his waist, with that hand resting on Sean's knee. I could see the vibrations of his purrs running through both Jo and Sean.

Sean's eyes were closed but his brow was furrowed in deep concentration. The hand resting on Jo's chest seemed to glow. His other hand gently combed through Jo's hair and along his cheeks.

"He is healing the pain in his soul."

Adrian had come in and settled down by my feet. The clothes Sean had sent him for were held in his lap. He watched his brother with a sad smile on his face. I got the feeling that he knew what it felt like—what Jo was feeling.

"How does he do it?"

Adrian shrugged. "It's a gift he was born with. I don't think he even knows."

"He's done this with you?"

The smile faltered then fell from his face as he turned to me.

"He needed help with me." He studied my eyes for a minute. His attention flickered to Alex and then back to me. I thought maybe he was trying to decide whether or not to trust me. In the end, I guess I was found to be worthy because he started to speak.

"I was five when I helped my mother escape. Sean had not yet been born, and it was twenty-four years before I first saw him. TJ saw me for what I had been created—a killer. But Sean saw me for what I was—a broken hull. I had done things... things had been done. Our father... he'd done..."

He gave his head a violent shake. "I don't want to go there. I found Sean as I was running to my death. In him, with the help of another, I found my life." His voice dropped to a whisper. "Though there are still times when the loneliness of my existence becomes almost unbearable. Samantha told me not to give up, that there was someone in the world to make me complete, but sometimes..."

"Samantha?"

His smile was back. Not sad this time—almost radiant and his eyes shone. It completely transformed his image, making him absolutely beautiful.

"Yeah. I imagine you will meet her at some point. Sean will see to it."

A groan and sigh caused us to look back to the center of the room. Jo was alert and moving to sit up. TJ helped him rise as Sean pulled the blanket closed at his chest. He was no longer shivering and it looked as though he was comfortable, resting between TJ's legs with his eyes closed.

Adrian got up and took the clothes he'd brought out to Sean. Sean accepted them and returned a tired smile to his brother. When Sean set the clothes down on Jo's lap, he opened his eyes and I saw they were no longer lit like starlight. Gone were the prisms of diamond color. In their place was a stormy gray. I wondered if that meant the Jo that Alex and I had known was gone.

"Do you think he remembers?" Alex asked.

He lay across my chest with his left leg tucked between mine. His breath was warm and tingled as it drifted across my nipple. I felt a twitch in my already pulsing member. It had been too long since we'd had any real alone time. Even though we were by ourselves three days prior, before we left on this trip, I didn't count that as alone time. Jo and her little buddies had been inside our heads.

"I don't know," I said as I slid my hand down Alex's back to the cleft of him ass. "We'll find out tomorrow."

"Mmm." Alex pushed back against my hand, encouraging me to deepen the strokes of my fingers.

I slipped my fingers into his crease and rubbed at his sensitive rosebud. Alex lifted his head from my chest and stretched up for my lips. When our lips met, there was more than just passion in the kiss we shared.

For the months that Jo lived across from us and the growing need we'd had to be connected as one, this feeling was the one thing missing. For all the love we had one for another, the absolute desperation we'd felt had taken precedence to the actual feeling of love—the tenderness of a soft kiss or caress. More than anything, right at that moment, I wanted to show Alex the love that enveloped us together completely. This night would be about us and for us. We would make love slowly, tenderly, and we would give each other ourselves totally... without any reservation.

Alex moved so that he lay on me, from head to toe. His lips were soft as he rained down butterfly kisses to my face. All the while, his body slid along my length, growing harder with each pass up and down. When he settled on my mouth, I readily opened for him, sucking on his tongue. The sounds of our bodies, slick with precum, and ragged breathing were the only things to be heard in the room. Sensing our impending orgasms, Alex slowed his movements, even as I brought my fingers up to his mouth. He readily sucked them in, making them good and wet before letting me remove them and give him back my lips. I prepared him slowly, listening to his breath quicken.

When he reared his head back and mewled "Please" I flipped him to his side and slid in from behind. It was one of my favorite positions for a long and languid session. I caressed his skin, and nipped and sucked on the skin at his neck, pulling up a mark that I was sure would last for days. I wanted the world to know that this beautiful man was mine.

Morning sunlight streamed in through a crack in the drapes and hit me in the eyes causing me to wake. As I turned my head away from the glare, I noticed that Alex wasn't lying next to me. He was still in the room, but was sitting in an armchair with his legs pulled up, arms wrapped around them, and his chin resting on his knees. He had a smile on his face as he watched me blink and rub my eyes. This was something he used to do in the beginning—sit off by himself and watch me sleep.

When I cringed at the big wet spot on my pillow, he started to giggle. I threw my pillow at him. We both knew how much I hated it when I drooled in my sleep. At home when Alex spooned up behind me, I'd tuck an extra pillow under my chin to keep my mouth closed. When it was me that held Alex, I rest my chin against the top of his head. I must have passed out without noticing my direction after our long night love-making session.

Alex hadn't been deterred in the least by the flying pillow and rose from the chair with it in his hands—still giggling I might add.

"Housekeeping is going to love this," he said between his snickers.

"Yeah, yeah." I took the pillow from him and tossed it onto the bed. Then I grabbed Alex and lifted him from the floor. "I need a shower, and so do you."

Even under the spray of the warm water, Alex's giggles had not abated. So, I did the one thing I knew would shut him up. I dropped to my knees and took his cock down my throat. His startled gasp brought a smile to my face, and his immediate moans had me hard as a rock within seconds. The sounds Alex made never ceased to bring me alert with pleasure. He began to thrust into my mouth, but stopped with a whimper when I took hold of his hips and pushed him against the wall of the shower. I wanted this to last—at least until the water ran cold.

When I finally allowed my lover release, he dropped to his knees and kissed me to within an inch of consciousness. But then, his kisses almost always did that. The water grew frigid, so we left the shower and got ready to meet with the others.

The young man we assumed was Jo was sitting on the front porch alone. He was looking about him with what could only be seen as wonder. It was as though he was seeing the world for the first time. When he saw us approaching, he stood with a brilliant smile and held out his arms.

"Joshua, Alex, it's so good to see you this morning."

I think Alex was taken aback at his greeting. His steps slowed and the only thing that kept him walking was my hand at his elbow. I looked at his face as I pulled him along. His eyes were wide and his expression was one of shock.

I stopped when we were at the bottom of the steps leading to the front door and grunted as I was suddenly pulled into a strong embrace. Jo was only a little taller than Sean, but man was the little guy strong. Or maybe it was just his exuberance that made his hug so much bigger than himself. Either way, it was hard not to return his enthusiasm. Jo, the woman, had never been as tactile. She gave small touches, and the only time I remembered any more than that was when I lifted her to her feet the day we met. This guy seemed to want to crawl under our skin, and his body almost vibrated with... joy? at seeing us.

When he finally turned us loose and stood back, though still holding on to each of our hands, Alex gazed at him with a silly grin on his face. I guess he'd won him over. But then, I was sure his smile was mirrored on my face as well. It was hard not to feel happy around someone as joyful as Jo was being.

I took a good look at the man before us. His hair was still the same rich mahogany, full and wavy, but just covered his ears and fell a bit above the neck-line of the t-shirt he wore. His eyes were the stormy gray that I'd seen the night before and were bright with the light of day. His features, though still delicate, were very much those of a man, with a light shadow of beard on his skin. I supposed he hadn't shaved yet that morning.

"So, where are the guys?" Alex asked.

"Oh, they're around here somewhere. TJ said they needed to take Adrian out for a run before putting him into a vehicle. He gets a bit twitchy in enclosed spaces." Jo's face grew solemn. "I don't imagine that is much of a surprise considering what he's gone through in his life."

Adrian had hinted a little about his life last night, but it seemed Jo was privy to a deeper explanation. I wondered whether or not we would be told, and then I wondered if I even wanted to know. The dark despair that had clouded his eyes when he spoke of things being done by his father gave me shivers when I thought about it.

"Can I ask you something?" Alex asked Jo as we walked up the porch steps to wait for the others.

Jo shrugged and sat in one of the chairs, leaving the porch swing for Alex and me. "Sure."

"Do you remember the day we met?"

He looked out across the lawn with his brows furrowed. "A little. My time between leaving this world and returning has become hazy. I think that maybe I'm not supposed to remember."

"What do you remember from before?"

"Before leaving?"

Alex nodded and leaned forward, almost dropping out of the swing. I pulled him back to my side. He glanced at me with a sheepish grin which I returned with a wink.

"It was a different time, and one that has no reference to now. I imagine it will fade also. There is a different life insinuating itself in my mind. I'm not sure whose it was, but I find myself welcoming it. It will help me deal with all that is so foreign to me."

Not quite what either of us had expected. But then again... maybe it was. Who could put expectations on anything that was happening before our eyes? So far, nothing was as it seemed to the human eye, and I had come to believe that there were things going on in the world that just couldn't be explained to the average person.

As we sat there, I was aware of flickering movement at the corner of my periphery. When I turned my head, nothing was there. When I concentrated on Jo, the movement was back. It wasn't continuous, but enough so that I knew something was there. I remembered again the stories Jeremy had told about the elves that hid from human view. God, how I wanted to see them. That thought brought me to the realization that I believed with my whole being—Jeremy's stories... all of them... were true.

"You are the soul that cried out," Alex said. "The reason for her confusion, and the reason we came here."

He smiled and nodded.

"Then Jo is gone." It was a statement rather than a question. It made sense, seeing that her memories, her life, was disappearing from his mind.

"Not really gone," he said, and his eyes went to the porch roof as he seemed to collect his thoughts. "I knew Sean told you of what the starlight beings are. I am still made up of the spirits that made Josen, though they have merged completely to form the human body you see. It is my soul connected to my spirit that makes the union whole. So she is still a part of me, as she was the group."

Twisted. Wow, try to wrap your mind around that one. So... the spirits are the dust that make up the human body. Hmmm, I guess I could see it that way. Sure, why not?

Alex sat perfectly still as he sorted that bit of information. He always did that when something bigger than he thought he could cope with was thrown at him. I could remember a lot of still times with him when I was explaining the legalese that his attorneys had given in the beginning of our relationship.

After a few minutes, Alex shrugged. "Oookaay. Don't know if I'll ever understand that one, but whatever. So, what is your name now?"

His face grew bright with a full smile. "Josen. It's always been Josen."