Betrayal

"You're perfect", he whispered in my ear,
and I felt that delicious chill run up my spine,
a shivering splinter of my very soul travelling through my skin.
"I love you," I mouthed, and he leaned in and breathed for me.

The hallways blur as she walks faster,
away from the wide-eyed face of the one she thought would never hurt her.
The apologies are bits of glass that she deflects with her hands,
spread like stars over her eyes.

He was made of light and heat and motion,
a glowing flame beneath my trembling palms.
I wanted to drown in his warmth, his scent,
the way his fingers drew winding trails across the planes of my shoulders.

She cannot believe it -
a betrayal so sudden and cold, like a knife wound on raw skin.
A pain so deep it takes a while for it to rise to the surface with a scream.

His lips took away the thoughts, the memories.
The guilt, the reluctance that twisted darkly in my abdomen like a serpent.
They faded away until only he existed.

It is in the cavernous library,
filled with the gentle whisper of pages turning and stories unfolding,
that she finally allows herself to cry.