Page 60 of Pride

He kissed my spine, one vertebra at a time, from top to base.

I rolled over, eventually, and pulled him to me, and we lay face to face, the hush of the city complete, the only sound themeasured, exhausted, happy breathing of two beings who had nothing left to hide.

We lay there, for as long as we could.

He said, “Will you rule with me?”

I said, “You know I will.”

And I meant it.

The throne would be ours.

The city would be ours.

The world, or whatever was left of it, would be ours.

And in the hush, in the gold, in the perfect, wanton, filthy joy of it, I knew I had never, in any age, been so alive.