Gaze

Mmm… Watching.

I have something I must confess. I have been watching you. Yes, right this second. Unaware of my proximity, I’ve been watching you for the past several days. You have such a lovely home, full of space and dark corners. I like the dark. All that time, I have been in your home just watching you. Well, not just watching, but we’ll come to that later.

I watch you perform your nightly routines before slipping into your bed under your warm blankets. I watch until you fall asleep. I am there to see you awaken in the morning to daybreak’s new light. I am so still, my stare remains unbroken and undisturbed for hours and hours. You are so beautiful when you sleep. I wish you could see yourself as I see you. Your body is a sensual furnace of heat that radiates endless plumes of vibrant red, orange, and yellow flames as you slumber. I bask in your warmth and light. Your rhythmic rising and falling of your chest is the source of a breath that can ignite the very air around you, announcing to the universe that you are here and you are alive! The beauty of the spectacle can hold me in a trance the entire night until the morning light forces me to retreat to my dark haven. Other nights, I come to you.

You don’t even feel my touch. Up and down your arms and thighs, I touch you with the utmost care. I would never want to disturb you while you sleep. Your skin is so soft and delicate, so unlike mine. Your body is a landscape of ecstasy, with a new wonder just waiting to be discovered and explored. Your aroma is intoxicating and invokes an insatiable hunger that I surrender to and gorge upon. I then quietly make my way back to my hiding place. I am hidden well before the first rays of morning peek through the windows. I am so quiet; you never realize I was there. You awake and go about your life as you would any other day while I sleep content, but still filled with anticipation for what the following night will hold for us.

I see that you have noticed the marks I left behind. Marks on your thighs and arms and throughout your body. I know they hurt and I am truly sorry for that, but things like that are unavoidable when it comes to matters such as these. I am always so careful that my kisses are soft and delicate. I kiss your body ever so lightly and cautiously. I would not dare spill a single drop of your blood.

It saddens me that soon I will have to share you with others. However, I know that you will be just as beautiful to them as you are to me. I know their touch will be equally as delicate as my touches have been. I know their kisses will show as much tenderness as mine have always had.

My eggs will hatch any day now. The little ones will most likely hide within the mattress and frame of your bed; a trait for which we earned our namesake. I much prefer the nightstand next to your bed. The tiny crevice on its side allows me to look upon your face for as long as I desire. It is from here that I simply gaze and wait for our next encounter.

—Author unknown