For too long,   love seemed like an illusion,   its golden promise   obscured   by reason and confusion.   Too often,   its favours were thrust upon me.   An invasion.   An intrusion.      Then there was you.   A revelation.   Forbidden yet familiar,   you stood before me,   a hand outstretched.   Not to give,   not to take,   but to simply -- caress.      We kissed --   a passageway   to secrets   still unspoken,   promises unbroken   answers   to questions not yet asked.   A glimpse   of the faces   behind our masks.      The taste of you   burned in my mouth   like an ancient truth.   And then,   as gently as a ghost,   you were inside me.   Your essence   rising in my chest,   your heartbeat   pulsing beneath my breast.      Desire   burst from you    like a string    of flawless pearls.   Between my thighs,   your hands,   guiding me   to undiscovered   lands   treasures --   in the sand   pleasures --   never known to man.      And as we lay together,   the first cool breath   of morning   on our skin,   offering   a silent benediction,   we knew   that we were not alone,   that in this harsh   and unforgiving world,   we'd found a place that   we can call our own.      Who says only opposites   attract?