Finding Imani is Live! / Bonus Chapter
Finding Imani is now available on Amazon.com in paperback and kindle formats.
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Read it for free if you are enrolled in Kindle Unlimited.
Here is a bonus chapter, to be read after reading Finding Imani.
Completing Each Other
Vincent
It is our wedding night.
And I am a man without words,
my mind momentarily
devoid of coherent thought.
My very being,
the essence of all that I am,
is imprisoned in an all-encompassing
love and adoration
for the beautiful woman
sleeping in my arms.
My wife, Imani.
Her very name
is synonymous with hope,
something I was once devoid of.
She told me I helped her to heal,
that she feels God’s perfect love
through me.
But I think His love flows through us both.
She truly is the woman I waited years for.
To own her precious heart
and have her own mine so completely
is truly God’s greatest blessing.
Tonight,
though we were each other’s second,
the love between us discredits the past,
so, we count it as our first,
and we will be each other’s last,
never again sharing the intimate act
of making love with anyone else.
It had been everything I’d hoped for
and so much more.
She had traced the scars
marking my chest and back,
tearfully kissing each one,
as if to soothe a pain no longer there.
The scars on her stomach and back
drew forth my own tears,
my lips following where they fell
against her skin.
Agony and ecstasy warred within us,
but the latter was the victor,
the joy in our every touch
our shared triumph.
Our matching battle wounds
are a testament of our victory,
trophies won in the refining process,
a fire that burned
but hadn’t consumed us.
As an artist,
I have always loved
creating beautiful things.
It began at ten years old,
the first time I held a brush,
and through the years
it grew with each stroke
against a blank canvas.
It was painting that helped me
to survive and heal
after dealing with two years
of physical and emotional abuse.
I had been a broken soul,
and I didn’t know
if I would ever be whole again.
At that time,
I saw two choices before me:
I could die, or survive.
With God giving me strength,
I chose the latter,
looking forward with faith and hope
to a brighter future,
to the life I was meant to live.
Then I laid eyes on Imani
while she was visiting my sister
and everything changed.
Suddenly,
everything in my life made sense
and all things fell into place.
Imani doesn’t know it,
but she instantly became my lifeline.
On that very day, I allowed myself
to fall in love with her completely,
never questioning or doubting
my feelings for her,
because I knew God was in it.
Over the next few months,
I looked for her everywhere I went,
hoping for just a brief glimpse.
Over time,
as Elise unfolded Imani’s story,
I’d begun to pray that God
would open her heart enough
to allow someone else in
the way He had opened mine.
Then I walked past her that day
when entering a friend’s pub,
and I knew it was time
to take a chance.
My sister felt the same
and fate smiled upon me,
gifting me with the chance
to win her love.
Now she is mine,
and I am hers.
Listening to her deep breathing
and feeling her warmth,
I tighten my embrace,
tears filling my eyes
when her arm tightens in return.
Our movements are in sync–
when I move, she moves.
When she shifts slightly,
my movements are drawn with her.
I don’t think there have ever been
two bodies more perfectly suited
for one another,
nor arms more intoxicating
than hers wrapped around me.
Everything inside me
feels so protective of her,
even my body curving around hers
is automatic.
We are consumed by each other–
not in a possessive way.
It is a mutual need to heal
instead of hurt,
to share pleasure and adoration
instead of pain and humiliation.
Vincent’s portrait of Imani entitled, “Beauty.”
These days, when I paint,
my wife is now my muse,
bringing to my new pieces
all things beautiful.
Imani is my everything,
and she loves so deeply,
that just being in her presence
brings warmth and peace
to my spirit.
Brushing back the curly locks
from her smooth cheek,
I caress her soft skin,
marveling at her warmth.
“I love you, baby.”
My words are spoken through lips pressed
against her brow, and then her ear.
In the darkness her answering sigh
reaches deep inside me,
as her seeking mouth
finds purchase against mine,
drawing me once again
into a world untouched by time,
where the wanting
and needing between us will never end.
Before drifting to sleep,
I whisper to God
words of gratitude,
promising to never hurt her,
vowing to always guard her heart
like the treasure that it is.
Tomorrow,
we will leave for our honeymoon,
visiting Greece and Italy.
Having been to both countries before,
we look forward to sharing the experience,
no longer solo in our travels.
Our lonely days are over,
our nights passed in solitude, ceased.
Our forever is just beginning.
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