「25」Burning Passion of a Forbidden Love (3)

SIDAPA


“I GUESS both of us are,” I seconded, then sighed. “You know what? I’m really insecure on what I look like,” I suddenly opened up. “I hated it when some mortals accidentally saw a glimpse of me whenever I went down this mountain to stroll around or the disgusted look on other Gods when they saw me in my true form. ‘Why do I look like this? Why are they scared? Why do they all cower in fear when they see me?’—These questions haunted me for thousands of years that I’ve been in this mortal world,” I told Libulan.

“I… I also got scared of you.” Libulan’s voice trembled when he said that. He was guilty.

I breathed out before answering him. “Yes, but you didn’t fear my appearance. You only feared the thought of being eaten alive by me,” I clarified.

Libulan faintly smiled. “I was surprised by myself, too. I really do get scared so easily but when I saw you in your real form, I saw sadness,” he pointed out.

“Sadness?” I repeated.

“Yes, sadness,” he confirmed. He made me loosen my grip on his waist a bit and Libulan pulled his knees together as he faced on his left to have a better look at me when he talked again. “Your eyes looked really sad, Sidapa. It almost felt like you wanted someone to love you,” he said before leaning the upper part of his body against mine. “But like I said, I feel the safest when I’m around you. And I don’t regret falling for you,” he added with a very sweet smile on his face. I almost grabbed his chin to kiss him. Why did he have to attack me like that? Then Libulan backed away a little while blushing. “Sidapa, something hard is poking on my left side,” he half whispered.

「Yeah, right. You just made me excited!」 I exclaimed in my mind.

“Don’t mind it,” I said to him, but Libulan was the curious type. He would definitely talk about it! He slightly looked down to peep, but I abruptly stopped him. “Leave it alone, Libulan!” I told him.

Libulan chuckled before answering. “But it will hurt later on,” he casually said. “I’m a man, too,” he added.

I averted my eyes from his curious and playful look at me. I couldn’t help it. I had romantic feelings for him. Of course, I would feel like this!

“Please, stop staring,” I begged.

“I’m not,” Libulan denied but I could feel his intense stare down there. The more he did it, the more excited I got. It slowly became painful on my part.

There was no use trying to suppress it. Nothing would happen if the both of us kept pushing on who should do the first move.

“Libulan, can I kiss you?” I asked in a low voice. He flinched, but he didn’t back away this time.

Libulan shyly nodded his head. “G-go ahead,” he said with permission.

I stood up before carrying him in my arms. There was a low lying thick branch near us. I made Libulan sit on top of it because he was lighter than me. He remained silent and patiently waited for my next move. When he was comfortable enough, I parted his legs as I slid myself in between so I could get closer to him. We had an eye level view of each other. Both of us were nervous, but I badly wanted to touch Libulan. He felt the same way, too.

“Is this the part where I deliver a very long speech?” I tried to crack a joke, but Libulan’s longing look as he stared hard hinted to me that he wanted me to kiss him already. “I might suck on kissing,” I warned him.

Libulan blushed once more. He rested his right arm and hand on my left forearm as I wrapped it around his waist to support his back and weight. “I’ve never kissed anyone before, too, so we’re even,” he said. He was highly conscious around me, but he didn’t look away or hide his face anymore. He brought his other free hand on my right cheek and gently stroked it. “Sidapa, my beloved. Sounds cute,” he giggled.

I answered him by claiming his lips. At first, I just pressed my lips against his, stopped, and looked at him again. His face was now red all over. He started at me, too, matching my intense gazes mixed with passion and urge to make him mine. Libulan probably noticed that I got ahead of myself earlier because I had a hard time hiding the lust that my body felt. It scared me a little, but it only proved that I acknowledged the fact that I wanted to make love to him. But I never did it with anyone before. I never felt this lustful or excited towards somebody else, not until I met him. He opened up a new world that I knew nothing of. It was mysterious, but it was the most beautiful world that someone had given me—a world filled with warm love.

“Libulan, please close your eyes,” I politely asked him, and he did. I traveled my eyes down and admired his beautiful body. Even though he acted calm, his lower body was also excited to feel my touch. I turned my gaze back to his face. His lips trembled as he anxiously waited for me to kiss him again. I brought my right hand to his left cheek and gently pressed my thumb against his soft lips.

“Sidapa…” Libulan called out my name lovingly. I took that clumsy mistake of his and claimed his lips again. It was a bit torrid than before.

Libulan wrapped his arms around my neck, and he pulled me closer. When he slightly opened his mouth, I slid my tongue in and invited Libulan to play with mine. The way he would let out a restricted moan, the feel of his hot breath each time he opened his mouth to welcome my hungry kisses, and even the way he took a peek to see my reactions made me want more than just kissing.

「Is it really fine? I don’t want his first time to be painful. His entire body is so frail and I’m afraid of soiling it,」 I argued within myself. I suddenly stopped and we both caught our breaths.

Libulan noticed the discomfort on my face so he asked me. “Is something wrong?”

“I’m actually afraid that I might break you,” I admitted, guilt was written all over my face.

“You say that now?” Libulan giggled. “Honestly, I don’t mind you breaking me, Sidapa.” How cunning of him to say such a bold thing. He then squeezed his thighs around my waist and used them to pull me closer. I gulped when I felt his hardness against mine. “Can you feel it? This is the first time that I felt this very lustful over someone. I feel ashamed of myself and afraid that you might get turned off if you found out, but I really do love you, Sidapa,” he announced. He made our foreheads bump before he continued talking. “And I will be willing to love you forever.”

“I love you, too… more than my own life, Libulan,” I proclaimed. “I’d do anything for you.” That was enough to put Libulan at ease.

Later that night, Libulan and I did a morbid act and allegedly broke a rule meant for Gods. We repeatedly exchanged words of love as we drowned ourselves in the warmth of each other’s bodies. The Balete tree was the sole witness of our eternal vows.

Or so I thought.

When we were focused on the deed, there was one more witness lurking from the shadows. Their prying eyes saw everything. It was too late when I sensed its presence. When I tried to figure out who it was, all I saw was a remnant of a piece of leaf that was turned into ashes and got blown away by the wind.

The skies started rumbling, and several flashes of lightning lit up the dark clouds that brooded above us. A storm was coming.

The following day, Libulan didn’t come.


*Lihangin - God of the Wind
*Lidagat - Goddess of the Sea


「to be continued」