Chapter 1

“Come on, keep it moving!  Badges out and in plain view, everyone!”   

         There is a huge attendance at WaukeeCon, Milwaukee’s premiere anime convention.  So much activity is going on there that the biggest buzz outside any Hollywood movie premiere could ever hope to have just keeps the otaku and cosplaying droves coming left and right.  Those same crowds seem to be heading to one place and one place only-the voice actors autograph signing.  It just never seems to stop.  A whole lot of pushing, pulling, shouting, screaming, coughing, glomping, posing, flashing and photo snapping, it seems to be happening all at once.  The few security guards on staff, really only two of them, are making weak attempts to control the crowds and the lines to the VA autograph table.  Now, if there were any time that a fucking catastrophic, aneurismal event was about to go down, this would definitely be it. 

The monstrous crowds of otaku, game freaks and cosplayers run back and forth all over the place.  They trip all over themselves trying to get to a certain special ballroom in the Milwaukee Convention Center.  All are oblivious to the somewhat imposing figure that they are constantly running and bumping into.  Like savage winds blowing through a moveable forest, one mighty tree is standing tall and strong, refusing to bend or break from the taut force. 

         “Come on!  The lines are growing! The lines are growing!”

         “And, uh, who gave us the wrong fucking time of the VA signing?!”

“What the hell. Somebody smells in this crowd.”

“Is Treg Mondol gonna be here?”

While the crowds get bigger by the minute, the imposing figure finally decides to start making his way to the growing lines that are snaking out of Ballroom A, more than likely the largest ballroom that could possibly accommodate the hellish throng that threatens to push its way through to the other side of paradise.  Somehow, the tall creature that looms forth manages to cut his way in line near towards the front, allowing him to actually see above the sea of heads that tries to block his vision.  There in the near distance, a long, black draped table beckons otaku and cosplayers as far as the eye could see.  Almost at the ballroom’s wide open doors, he stands and waits patiently-and impatiently-for the line he‘s in to at least budge. 

Some official looking dude comes out to control the flow of geeks who dare stampede their way in.  The official dude kind of pushes and guides people who are trying to step out of line a little bit. Those same pushy people try to see what the hell’s going on and try to also catch a glimpse-any kind of glimpse-of their favorite voice actors. 

Ah, the magic moment is at hand, the figure silently thinks.

Inside Ballroom A, the mega large table, draped in black heavy cloth like some sort of prop for a Gothic Lolita function, continues beckoning the throngs that keep pushing their way towards five unim-posing figures that seem ready to bless the oncoming onslaught of anime fans.  Surrounding the five un-assuming gods are various posters, merchandise and streamers of a nondescript anime series, which dec-orate the table. A few nerds of various sizes, ages and genders are buzzing around the table, making sure everything is in order and in its place. 

        The five gods at the table ready themselves for what looks like a marathon “blessing” of otaku and otome.  One of the geeks, a heavyset woman, is leaning over and talking to an elderly woman seated at the very right end of the table.  The woman seated next to her, a pretty African American, seems to not even belong there.  The other three, a redheaded Irish looking girl, a big fat papa bear nerd and some middle aged jerk wad looking dude, take up the next three seats and converse for a bit, before the first of many fans excitedly sprint up to meet them all. 

         A guy in a cheap suit says a final word to a young geek outfitted with a headset of some sort, be-fore beckoning the anxious front of line fans to come forward, “but in an orderly fashion!” he barks.  He then guides those lucky fans to the voice actors, who might be less than enthused to be meeting some of their more rabid ones. 

         While several fans, motioned to come forward for their coveted autographs, hightail it to the voice actors, all look over towards the pretty black woman seated almost at the other end of the table.  Supp-osedly, the drill for most of them is to meet the “other” voice actors and get their John Hancocks and then scoot right on over to the black princess’ line and wait to meet her. 

         The figure has been in line for almost half an hour now, when he tries to amuse himself by reading the makeshift cardboard sign that trumpets one of the hottest anime shows in North America, Corico.  All of its crudely drawn anime characters are falling all over the sign, with each one subliminally point-ing to the names of the voice actors who give them, well, the squeaky childlike voices that delight the show’s fans each and every day that it airs on Cartoon Network.  Mr. Figure trains his bright gray eyes on the one name that is his true obsession: Carin Wiley. Closing his eyes, he tries to recollect the beauti-ful face that has haunted him since his auto mechanic trade school days.

            One day, his last class of the day was released early and he had some time to kill before going in to work. He could never imagine that a simple stop inside a dingy, small gas station convenience store would change his life forever. 

Mr. Figure stopped inside to grab a greasy lunch for work and an anime magazine to read along with it.  On the cover was a show that he didn’t exactly care too much about at first, which was Corico.  He found it childish and devoid of any semblance of a storyline, which often some anime creations sim-ply do lack.  Harbinger and Red Zanning are more to his liking.  There is much more action to be had in those titles. 

As Mr. Figure flipped through the pages of the well worn publication, something or someone had caught his eye.  On the page that featured interviews with the voice actors and actresses of the often feat-ured anime titles, a young and pretty African American face looked softly back up at him.  Her deep and bright eyes seemed to beckon him. Her mysterious beauty, soft medium skin and faint, bewitching smile had entranced him.  Instantly, Mr. Figure fell madly in love.  It was as if he had become enraptured in a strange new world that he’d never seen nor have heard of before.            

The sudden rush of the other fans pushes him along in line.  An event guard, dressed all too casu-ally in a black heavy metal t-shirt and black jeans, bellows at the slowly moving lines of fans.    

“Come on, guys.  Keep it steady, and moving.  And don’t push me out of the way, or I will push back!” the guard screams. 

Mr. Figure steps up to the ballroom doors, which were flung wide open to accommodate the rush of anxious people.  The guard stops him by putting up a slight, pudgy hand bedecked with a cheap silver watch, which is probably broken.  Mr. Figure snarls at the guard for impeding his way towards his beau-tiful anime goddess.  But hey, at least he made it to the door.

A full hour has past by now, but the lines are starting to finally move a little faster.  Mr. Figure is now in the queue line directly in front of the black velvet ropes that spaciously separate the anime voice gods from the hungry packs of fans that dare to break through the sacred barrier.  Mr. Cheap Suit contin-ues his duty of motioning the unending numbers of fans through the barrier.  He also keeps a stern eye on the lucky ones who have made it through to the voice actors, while making sure no one freaks out too badly. 

Mr. Figure takes a few short breaths, knowing the magic moment is near for him. He slowly dips his head down and to the left to catch an inkling of a glimpse of his true love, Carin.  When she fails to fall into his line of sight, he switches peripherals by turning his dirty blonde head to the right.  Aha!  Success.  He gets a clear view of Carin, who is excitedly, yet a bit tiredly, meeting all her fans, signing millions of autographs, shaking hands, handing out hugs and posing for pictures with many of them as if she were a real mega superstar.  At least she is, to many of Corico’s followers, but most of all, to him. 

The queue line continues to shrink, thanks in large part to Mr. Cheap Suit, who keeps the fans from taking up too much time with the Corico voicers so that everyone else in line can get their chance to meet them.  Now there are only two people in front of Mr. Figure, which gives him the opportunity to finally prepare himself to meet his favorite and one true love, Carin. 

The fans that are already at the table attempt to take up a bit more time meeting Carin and the others than anyone is allowed to.  Mr. Figure busies himself, reading the names of all the other voice actors and actresses written on bright white folded cardboard nametags. 

Seated at the far right end of the table is Barbara Waller, an aging voice actress.  It seems she’s been around for years in the anime genre.  Carin Wiley is of course seated next to her, on her left. 

Purportedly the first African American voice actress regularly working in the anime medium today, Carin was relatively invisible because of the dearth of roles available for black actresses in anime series, or in any genre.  Later in years she became a huge star in anime after being cast in Corico as the main character in the series named Rokio, a loopy, cheerful chibi princess that has endeared herself to the show’s viewers everywhere. 

To Carin’s left is Mary Lauter, a fairly new player to the game of anime voicing.  Mary doesn’t really stand out, except for her pale white skin and deep red wavy hair. 

Bob Newell sits to Mary’s left, a stocky, gruff veteran voicer who seems to have been there and done that at one too many anime conventions. 

The smug jerk wad at the end of the table is Jason Layman, a cocky son of a bitch if ever there was one.  A rookie voicer, Jason sits leaning to one side, waiting for his few fans to come to him for his autograph, even though he’s totally unaware that his body language is giving off worse attitude than he even thinks.

At last, Mr. Figure’s moment has arrived. Mr. Cheap Suit motions him to the barrier that he must cut through to get to the table.  Mr. Figure zooms right through it, making a beeline to Carin. Once there, he stops dead in his tracks and in front of her. He stands straight as if awaiting a command from the god-dess, and fixes his mesmerized gaze on her. His heart is pounding and his breathing quickens as the very live sight of her takes him.  It’s safe to say that he has completely forgotten all about the other voice act-ors, because only Carin has taken his full attention.

Standing there frozen in place, Mr. Figure takes several minutes to say anything to her.  But, it just so happens that Carin had caught sight of this handsome, imposing man, and has become completely entranced by him as well.  Somehow, Carin manages to break the ice between them.

“Hi.  How ya doin’, Sir?  Your name?”

Carin sits at the ready, with black ink marker in hand and a black and white glossy of herself underneath her petite right hand, waiting to sign.  But the figure just stands there for a few seconds, still mesmerized by Carin. 

It’s obvious to Carin that this guy is completely shell shocked to see her in person, so she search-es his handsome face for any signs of alertness.

“Uh, your name, please?” Carin asks a bit perturbed.  The figure finally snaps out of his daze all of a sudden.

“Oh, um, hi there.  How’re you doin’?  Wow! Carin Wiley. I can’t believe it!  I can’t believe I’m really standing here loo-” the figure stammers.  Now getting a little embarrassed, Carin cracks a nervous smile.

“Uh, yeah.  Carin Wiley’s my name, but I asked you yours.” 

By now, it’s Carin who’s become totally enthralled by the devastatingly handsome dude.  Mr. Figure then lets out a nervous laugh through a half smile.

“Oh, I’m sorry.  It’s David.  David Hanoby.” 

His smile becomes full bloom, knocking Carin out.  She quickly composes and brings herself back to the present.  As she signs her name and a pleasantry on her glossy for David, Carin becomes sort of girlishly love struck.  It’s as if she’s back in high school or junior high, with a crush on the cutest boy in the whole school.  Now Carin can’t seem to stop from smiling, or her beating heart from racing. 

“Well, David Hanoby.  It’s nice to meet you.  Watch the show often?” she asks, in an unexpected girlish tone.  David’s eyes widen with excitement. 

“Well, yeah!  I mean Corico is my favorite series.” 

Be cool man, David thinks to himself. 

Carin tries to carry on a tiny conversation with him, so that she can get a real good look at him. 

“So, I guess I don’t have to ask who your favorite character is on the show, huh?”

“Yeah.  I guess you know it’s Rokio, your character.”

Carin laughs.  “Yeah.  Thought so.” 

As Carin finishes out her autographing of her picture for David, she darts her eyes from side to side to make sure no one sees what she’s putting on the photo.  She then turns it over on the white back-ing side up, and scribbles something down feverishly.   Mary Lauter, again sitting next to Carin, might have seen what she has written down for the tall, brooding man. 

David then fidgets about like a young schoolboy trying to ask a girl he likes out on a first date.  In fact, that’s what he is mustering up the courage to do with Carin.  With one deep breath, David makes his move.

“Um, uh, when can I see you again?” 

He looks around sheepishly, as if he doesn’t want anyone to see or hear him.  Carin just shrugs and answers him.

“Oh, um, I don’t know.  Maybe at the next convention that comes into town?” 

Carin is sure that that wasn’t what David really meant.  He moves to correct her when Mr. Cheap Suit, now known by name as Bret, steps up to David and taps him lightly on the arm. 

“Hey buddy, move it along.  The lines aren’t getting any shorter, and this session’s over in less than an hour,” he says gruffly to David. 

Startled, David just says a quick goodbye to Carin and walks off. 

It was starting to become apparent to Carin that this good looking man, named David, was really trying to set up a date with her. 

Some of these fans are getting pretty bold these days, she thinks to herself. 

But he still may be just good looking enough for her to consider going out with him.  This makes Carin kind of glad she wrote down her suite number at the Milwaukee Sheraton, where she’s staying for the weekend.  She also wrote down her cell phone number, so that gorgeous new fanboy can call her up sometime. 

David walks away from the voice actors’ table with the biggest smile on his face, and his heart is now pounding like crazy.  He keeps looking back at the table and back at Carin, trying to take in the fact that he has finally met his favorite voice actress, and his dream woman.  But his smile is about to get a whole lot bigger, and his heart is about to soar to new heights. 

When he looks down at his prized signed picture of Carin, he notices something underneath the autograph.  There’s an arrow pointing down to the bottom of the 8 x 10 glossy that she signed for him.  David turns it over to discover its message.  It reveals her suite number at the Sheraton where she’s stay-ing.  There’s also a time to meet her later on in the day.  David reads the information over a few times to see if he is really reading what he thinks he’s reading: 

4 p.m., Milwaukee Sheraton Suite 715 Top Floor.  (414) 649-7730 

It takes David a few seconds to register the message.  But there it is, clear as crystal. David gives off a final glance back at Carin, who is now super busy with a continuously steady stream of excited fans wanting her autograph. 

Man, David thinks to himself, how in the world did I pull this off?  He simply cannot believe his luck. 

During the remainder of the session, Barbara, Mary, Bob and Jason all keep stealing glances at the ever popular Carin, who’s getting the lion’s share of rabid fans.  Their glances turn to total glares, as Jason and Barbara disgustingly shake their heads at Carin’s wild popularity.  Bob leans over to Jason to say something, probably not anything nice about her.  Jason leans his slumping seated form back even further and lets out a snorting laugh.  At the same time, he‘s signing an autograph for a young and very skinny otaku.  Mary turns to Carin with a slightly mean look on her pale face. 

“How can you do this all darn day?!  Me, I’d be pooped out after an hour,” she tells Carin. 

“Oh, it’s not too bad, once you get used to it,” Carin answers her, with a slight smile. 

“Trust me honey, I’ll probably never get used to it,” Mary says.  Carin gives her a pitiful look. 

“Then you’re in the wrong business, Mary,” Carin says. 

She returns to her ardent fans and continues signing her autographs and meeting as many of them as possible.  Barbara, hardly getting any fans coming up to her, just sighs slightly at Carin.

 “I got to admit Carin.  Everyone sure does love you, though.” 

Carin smiles back at Barbara and mouths “thank you” back at her. 

Chapter 2

Considered one of Milwaukee’s most beautiful hotels, the Sheraton Milwaukee has become the main hotel for WaukeeCon.  Convenient in its location, next to the Milwaukee Convention Center and in the middle of downtown, it is the luxurious go to place for many discerning travelers and even locals.

Whenever WaukeeCon is going on, the Sheraton gets booked solid within weeks, before the local and popular anime convention begins its takeover of the convention center, the Sheraton and even the city itself.  Of course, all the invited guests of WaukeeCon make it a point to book the top floor suites well in advance.  That way, they will have somewhere halfway decent to stay during the crazy convention, at least.  Never mind that RiSun Studios, where Corico is produced and dubbed, is based right there in Milwaukee.  As for Carin, she has somehow managed to book one of the Sheraton’s grand-est suites.

            Carin, who is nicknamed Care by her friends, walks through the heavy wooden door into the living room and breathes a tired sigh of relief.  She removes her trendy leather jacket, tosses it just so onto a plush stand alone chair and takes a seat on the coordinating plush couch since she’s not quite ready to retreat to the bedroom just yet.  Care rubs her eyes a bit, trying to chase away the total shock of meeting close to thousands of fans during the VA signing. 

            After a much deserved break on the couch, Care gets up and goes to the small desk across the room.  She picks up the receiver of the outdated touch tone phone and speed dials the number to room service.  A pretty and courteous female voice answers the call.

            “Good afternoon, Sheraton Milwaukee Room Service.  How may we serve you today?” 

            Wow, great voice.  She could give me a run for my money on the show, Care jokingly thinks to herself.

“Hello, of course I’d like to place an order, please,” Care answers gently. 

            “Certainly, Ma’am.  What would you like?” the attendant asks, smiling through the phone.

Care sort of winces at the Ma’am courtesy.  Later for that, she thinks. 

“Um, yes, I’d like to have the large fruit cup and the herbal ginseng tea, please.”

            “Of course, Ma’am.  Would that complete your order, or is there anything else you would like to have today? “ Care thinks for a second, and then answers her. 

            “Actually, do you have any salads?  Something fresh and maybe, original?” 

            Care sounds kind of nervous asking that question for some reason. 

            “I’m sorry, Ma’am, I’m afraid I don’t understand,” the attendant says.

            “May I ask what types of salads do you all have available?” Care asks. 

            “Oh, of course, Ma’am.  We have a wide variety of freshly prepared salads made to order.  We have Cobb, Chef’s, Garden, Asian, Pasta, Caesar, with and without chicken or turkey, and also-“the att-endant rattles on. Care cuts her off quickly, before they’re on the phone for the rest of the day.

 “Oh, wow, ok!  I see you have a lot,” she tells her.  Care laughs a little bit at the girl’s utter thor-oughness. 

“I tell you what.  Why don’t I just upgrade the fruit cup to a fruit salad?  Is that a possibility for you?”  Care asks.

“Why, yes Ma’am.  That wouldn’t be a problem at all.  If there’s nothing else you would like for today, may I have your name and room number, please?”

“Yes, you may.  Um, suite 715, and my name’s Carin Wiley,” Care responds to the attendant. 

At this point, the attendant faintly gasps at Care’s name but quickly and silently regains her com-posure.  It seems apparent that she knows who Care is.  She must be a Corico fan herself.

 “Very good, Ms. Wiley. Your service should be arriving to your suite within the next five to ten minutes.  Again, would there be anything else before I send it up, Ms. Wiley?” 

“Oh no, that will definitely be all for now. “

“Well then, thank you for requesting Sheraton room service, where serving our guests is always our pleasure,” says the attendant, beaming through the phone. 

“No, thank you, Ms…” Care says, implying that she’s asking for the attendant’s name, in order to properly thank her for her bang up, stellar customer service.

“Uh, it’s Amy, Ms. Wiley,” she says, answering Care’s invisible question.  Care just laughs soft-ly to herself and at Amy.

“Well, thank you, Amy,” Care says.

“Thank you again, Ms. Wiley.  Hope you enjoy it. Have a great day.”

After hanging up with Amy, Care returns to the couch to relax just a little bit more and to await her room service.  She reaches all the way over to the chair where she also put her medium sized purse to get it without getting up any more.  She digs inside the Gucci bag, searching for her cell phone and, after a few minutes, finds it and then proceeds to access her address and number log, lazily searching all of the names that are logged therein.  She’s also waiting for David to call her.  She contemplates calling a couple of people in her phone, when there’s suddenly a soft knock at the door.

Care gets up to answer it, hoping that it’s her room service since she’s now getting a little hung-ry.  Sure enough, as soon as she opens the door, a young, tall and skinny bellhop appears with a wheel-ed silver cart, topped with her simple order.  Care simply guides him through the suite’s somewhat nar-row door.

“Good afternoon, Ms. Wiley.  And just how are you today?” the bellhop asks.  He steadies his over excited gaze on Care.  In fact, he keeps his eyes on Care so much, that he almost bumps the cart into the coffee table. 

“Oh, sorry about that,” he says nervously.  Care returns his somewhat embarrassed look.

“That’s ok.  The coffee table over there would be great.” 

The bellhop then places the fruit salad and tea service on the table.  He then stands straight up, as if awaiting further orders. 

“Would there be anything else, Ms.Wiley?” he asks. 

“Oh no, that would be all.”  Care then tips him five dollars for the delivery.

 “There you are,” she tells him, giving him the trifolded five dollar bill. 

He takes it, but hesitates to turn back to the door to leave her suite.  Then he looks nervously down at the carpet and cracks a slight smile.  Care catches this and can’t really help but smile back at him, reading his nametag.

“Yes, Varin?” she asks, reading his expression.

“Um, uh, Ms. Wiley?  I, uh, happen to be a big fan of your show, Corico, and was wondering if I can possibly get an autograph from you, Ma’am?” 

With that, Varin pulls out a small pad of paper and an even smaller pen for Care to sign an auto-graph for him. Care can’t help but laugh and smile sweetly at the rather timid and handsome young man.  Varin was starting to remind her of her young boyfriend, Brad Tanner. 

“Of course,” Care says kindly. 

She signs the pad and writes a tiny message right along with her autograph. 

“Wow, this is incredible.  I mean, I am so psyched about this,” says Varin.  “But usually I don’t do this, it might be against hotel policy.  To ask for autographs and stuff.”  Care looks back up at Varin.

“Well, I don’t know about anyone else who stays here, but I’m ok with it,” she says to him.  She then hands him his pad and pen back.

“There you are.” 

“Wow, Ms. Wiley, thank you so much,” Varin says, excitedly. 

He taps his open hand with his pad a few times, and then heads to the door.  He turns to Care for a final time. 

“And again, if you need anything else, Ms. Wiley, my name’s Varin.  Feel free to ask for me dir-ectly,” he says before leaving.

“Thank you,” says Care.

Then she returns to the couch to enjoy her light meal and moment of stardom with an excited fan in Varin. 

Care enjoys her fruit salad and tea generally uninterrupted.  She thinks about going back into her purse and getting her cell phone out again.  This time, she tells herself, she’s going to call at least one of her friends, who have wanted to hear all about her crazy day at WaukeeCon.  Care takes over twenty minutes to finish up her fruit and tea.  She takes her sweet time trying to decide whom to call, when a forceful knock on the door stops her from dialing. 

Care immediately gets up and goes straight to the door.  She looks through the tiny peephole to see who’s there. Whoever it is, he or she is covering up the peephole pretty good.  Care gives up trying to guess whom her mysterious visitor might be and answers the door.  She opens it, and is shocked and delighted to see whom the mystery person standing there on the other side is.  It’s him-David.

Care just stands there in a daze, holding the door open and gasping for breath.  She takes in the sight of the most beautiful looking man she’s ever laid eyes on.  After a minute or two, Care finally speaks.

“Omigod!  It’s you,” Care says.  David returns her shocked smile.

“Yeah, it’s me, David.  We met at the voice actor signing, and you had…”

He trails off of his train of thought while raising his carefully preserved autographed picture of Care up to his chest.  Suddenly, the picture jogs Care’s memory, and she holds her forehead in her hand for a second.

 “Oh yeah, that.  But I didn’t think you’d actually come.“

“Well, you wrote this room on the picture you gave me,” David reconfirmed with her.

 “Uh, can I come in?” he asks nervously. 

Mesmerized by him once again, Care lets David in without saying a word.  She leads him to the living room couch and then she sits herself down, facing him.

“Well, fancy seeing you here.  And again,” she says, cracking a nervous smile. 

“Uh, yeah.” 

David keeps his love struck gaze deadlocked into Care’s eyes.  The two just smile and laugh ner-vously a couple of times, but cannot say barely one word to one another.  It is a moment that two people simply cannot escape.  The words that the both of them try to say hide and retreat. Care and David try to

search for those words, and some others that they want to say to each other.  Their breaths are hot and crossing, as they become lost in their long, loving gazes.

            Without notice, each one dares to steal the faintest, slightest touch of each other’s skin, but it seems that all of the senses have left them as soon as their eyes lock.  The space that surrounds them shrinks, to trap them in an invisible embrace.  This unequivocal feeling of love binds them to one ano-ther.  At long last, a few words enter into their perimeter. 

“We’re here,” Care whispers to David. 

“Yes we are,” David answers in kind. 

He smiles again, and Care clutches her heart gently with both hands.  David reaches for those hands and he holds them gently.  Care releases an exhaling breath, one that reaches David’s lips.  He feels that very breath glide across them, like a gentle breeze gliding across the ocean.  Now this awakens something within David.  One of his hands leaves Care’s, and goes straight to one cheek on her pretty face.  Care closes her eyes to take in the soft, masculine touch.

“Oh,” she quietly moans.

Shivers run throughout her body, causing a ripple effect by reverberating to David, who weakens with each wavelength.  His eyes grow heavy, but he keeps them open, just so he can witness what his touch is doing to his true love.  He is trapped.  So is she.  Escape from this is no longer viable.  Their resistance is futile. 

David collects his utter courage, to mount into a moment that held him hostage for so very long.  He moves in closer to Care, to begin a kiss that would rock the very center of the both of them.  Care braces herself for the love that is to come. 

“No,” she barely speaks, while weakly trying to fight off what is inevitable. 

With a racing heart and a shaking disposition, David surrenders total control of himself.  He then moves in to guide his waiting lips to hers, while now holding Care’s face with both hands.  He brushes his lips across hers, as a shock strikes through the very core of David. He pulls back slightly, to catch his breath and to regain his senses.  But it is all for naught.  Love’s natural force pulls him back to Care’s defenseless mouth, as she can no longer fight him off. 

At the first true kiss, their bodies weaken.  The taste is more than the two of them can bear. Care pushes at David, to try to stop all that is happening between them, but she is too weak.  David grows limp himself, except for his one crucial area; that part stiffens with considerable might.

Each kiss he gives her, he pulls her in to receive more.  By now he has lost total control.  Care begins to cry out over his empowerment.  David then grabs both of her wrists, brings his body to hers to connect in full with her and then entraps Care within his mighty grasp.  His arms tighten around her. His loss of control does not let her escape.  The harder she tries to wrench out of his mad clutches, the louder she moans and the firmer his grip on her.  David bends backward, breathing heavily at the sheer passion of it all. At this point, Care leads him and herself to the bedroom, the one place that has been waiting for them to enter therein and surrender fully to their love.

The bedroom door slams shut behind them, trapping them in a dungeon of love.  The kisses grow stronger, longer and wetter.  The vibrations increase with each heartbeat.  Care and David then proceed to rip each other’s clothes off, falling deeper into the throes of their passions.  Their breathing becomes heavier at each instance. 

When most of their clothing is removed forcibly, they fling open the luxurious bedding and coll-apse on top of one another.  They hungrily kiss each other, breathe and moan, increasing the decibels to near high pitches.  David then pins Care on her back to the bed, gazing down on her with the look of a hungry wild animal, ready to devour its prey.  Care looks back up at him with a mixture of lust and fear.  She waits for him to overtake her with his powerful might. 

There are a few pieces of clothing remaining on the both of them.  Without hesitation, they rem-ove those constraining articles and bare themselves totally to each other.  They see themselves for the hungry, rabid things that they have become.  They laugh heavily and their eyes are deadlocked.  They await the very thing that is to come.  They let the anticipation heighten their passion, locking themselves into position.

David looks the fiercest, with his striking male beauty and god like masculine build.  He takes command of Care’s exquisite, gentle form, finding the place where he dares to enter her.  As he guides himself to her sacred place, bolts of lightning reign throughout their bodies. David increases his strength, keeping his eyes locked to hers and lowering himself closer to her face.  He guides her arms around him and pins them to his sides. He releases all nerves and inhibitions, as he strokes Care’s face just one more time. 

Care controls her breathing.  She looks into David’s eyes, to reassure him that he is allowed to her.  She exhales again, relaxes herself and then closes her eyes.  David kisses Care gently on her quiv-ering lips.  They share a few more quick breaths between the spaces.  He then sighs…and inserts.

The feeling is unbelievable.  Care senses David’s true strength as he fills up within her.  She lets out a breath of total shock and of being so overwhelmed.  When he is truly within her, he holds himself in to take up every space that she has.  Care cries out at the very feeling that she is experiencing, for this is a love that is just too great.  She shuts her eyes tightly, inviting mental images of David thrusting a sword in her side, as he pulses within her.  She feels the vibrations of him when he pins her wrists to the bed, allowing her no escape. 

David himself cries out, trapped and engulfed in the sea of his true love.  Care and David are lost at sea, with no island to float to, nor boat to sail on as a means of escape.  The one time she dares to look upon her mighty warrior, he looks down back at her as he bears down upon her.  She pleads for him to stop, but it is beyond his control.  He takes in his entry inside of her inner sanctum, lowering himself to her quaking, sweating face. David holds that beautiful, elongated face partly with the hand that is attach-ed to the arm that’s balancing him.  He then quickly takes it away, while Care buries her entire head in mountains of pillows, searching for a way to contain the thrashing.  But she sees there’s no end in sight of this stormy sea, until…

David stops thrashing so that he can look upon his beautiful victim yet again.  Then a great vib-ration overtakes him, and he cries out for Care.  Care’s arms flail about.  She finds his bobbing head and savagely massages it, hanging on, with no end in sight to the raging that they are caught up in.  The two lovers scream and beg for mercy from the crush of waves and the ceaseless lightning of the storm. 

Finally, the ebb has come.  After the release, aftershock sets in for both of them. David collapses right beside Care, while at the same time refusing to relinquish his now weak grip on her.  Care turns on her side to face her beautiful warrior, taking in his weary face, completely drenched in sweat.  The sea has now calmed. 

Though it is getting rather dark outside as the night comes forward, inside the sun is steadily ris-ing upon the two lovers.  Its shining light causes the sweat of their still quivering bodies to glisten like diamonds.  Their bodies are bathed in gold, thanks to the sun’s rays.  Nature’s first green is gold, indeed.   

David and Care gaze tenderly into each other’s eyes.  They stroke each other’s sweaty faces gen-tly.  A tender kiss follows each stroke of the cheek.  Even a satisfied smile or two sneaks in between the both of them.  They try to keep this moment precious, searching for the right words to preserve it.

“Can’t believe what just happened,” David smiles.  A tiny tear escapes his eye.

“Neither can I.  You’ve captured me, you know,” proclaims Care, catching that tear.

“I thought I’d never find true love.  I never thought I’d find you.”

“Well, you have.” 

“That’s why I’ll never let you go.  I’ve found what I’ve been searching for, for all my life.”

With that, David reaches over to give Care a much longer lingering kiss.  From that kiss comes another crushing wave that rocks them.  But this time the oceans are a lot calmer, so the second go round of lovemaking can be gentler, more loving. Then there are a few more moments of making love between the two of them.  Passion just has them trapped in its clutches, right where it wants them to be.

            A little later in the morning, the lovers finally rise up out of bed and take turns showering and getting dressed for their days.  Not a word is spoken, but the air is clear.  David and Care look lovingly at each other, sharing a smile that brightens up the room. David finishes getting dressed and spots Care’s nearly clothed form in the mirror.  She combs and brushes her hair while sitting on the king sized bed, on top of its dismantled sheets.  David turns to his beloved for a second and shoots another faint smile at her. 

            Filled with utter happiness, Care gets up and goes over to her newfound Romeo. She holds David  

lovingly on the side in her arms, while he buttons up his blue plaid shirt.  He turns back to her to steal a quick kiss from her smiling lips.  Then she quickly gets completely dressed so that she can lead him to the door and say goodbye to him for now.

            Before Care opens the suite’s door David blocks it, takes her head in his hands and plants anoth-er kiss on her lips. This one is longer and wet. The kissing couple then embraces tightly, never wanting to let go.  During mid kiss, Care slowly opens the door behind David, who still tries to block it shut. 

            At this point, Care has no choice but to break up their kiss, guide him out of the slowly opening door and into the suite floor’s wide hallway, except she can’t do it.  She drags her lover back inside the suite to kiss him some more. Care takes David’s head in her hands a few times to keep their kisses dead-locked.  David responds in kind, never wanting to release her.  They rest their lips for a few seconds.

            “I can’t leave here.  I can’t leave this place,” David lovingly tells Care.  A short kiss is shared.

            “I know.  I don’t want you to,” Care says, in a near whisper. They share yet another kiss.

            “We are bound together now, Carin.  We are bound together,” David declares.  Another kiss.

            “Oh, David, how did this happen?  How did this come to be?” she asks. 

            A confused look appears on David’s face.

            “I don’t understand.  ‘How?’  Because I love you, Carin.  I’ve loved you since the first time I saw your face.  I’ve loved you since the day I first heard your voice.  That’s the real reason I came to WaukeeCon, to see you.  To find you, and to tell you what you’ve done to me.  Oh Carin, baby.  I love you.  There is no time, no place, no rhyme or reason for this.  This was just meant to be for me.” 

            With that, Care smiles brightly, as her heart is now filled with absolute light.  She breaks out into the sweetest laughter she can release and fully embraces David, who is by now totally beaming at her satisfaction.  With all of his might, David receives her hug and engulfs her in his strong arms.  He slight-ly lifts her up from the overabundance of joy that flows out of him so freely.  Care lets David remain in her arms for a little while or, at least, for as long as she possibly can.  Finally, the brand new lovebirds part ways, and then Care gets ready for another long and hectic day at WaukeeCon.