I see Eden walking to the table with a large platter of all types of different foods. Laura’s following him with a bottle of wine and four glasses.
“Look who I found,” Eden says.
Ally smiles at Laura. “Did you make a new friend, Laura?”
“Yes, I did, Ally. She said to tell you goodbye. She had to leave the party early. She needs to get up really early tomorrow to head back to New Orleans.”
My eyes narrow as I glance at Eden. His fascination with the drab woman makes me tingle inside. I’m not pleased with it one bit. His focus should only be Ally. “Did you get to tell her bye, Eden?” I ask.
The slightest hint of a frown takes the corners of his lips down. “No, I didn’t. I guess she was in a rush to leave.”
Laura looks at Eden and smiles. “So am I going to see the birds tonight or what?”
Eden taps the top of her hand, which lies on the table top. “I told you that you were. I always keep my promises.”
The music starts back up and Laura stands up. “Come on, Eden,” she looks back and calls out to him. Ally looks surprised. “It’s okay, isn’t it, Ally?”
The look of surprise leaves her face, leaving it as angelic as it usually is. “Yes, of course it is.”
Eden gets up to go out to the temporary dancefloor with Laura. The band plays a country song that’s slow. I find Ally watching them intently as her husband holds her best friend close to him.
I stand up, taking her hand and pulling her up. “Come on, Ally. We can’t let them have all the fun.”
I pull her in close to me as I take her arms and place them both around my neck, moving mine around her tiny waist. I press my forehead to hers. “Are you ready for this, Ally?”
She smiles. “Yeah, it’s just a dance, Kyle.”
“Not are you ready to dance, Ally,” I say as I start swaying us with the music. “Are you ready for this? For us being so close all the time. Do you think you can you handle it?”
“Eden showed me something on the jet ride over here, Kyle,” she says as she pulls her head from mine and looks at me. “I’ve seen the past from your point of view. I’m aware you had a difficult time choosing between me and Laura. I know you were more physically attracted to Laura. You felt like the tiny, almost non-existent kiss we had that one night would cost you both of us if you didn’t choose me.”
“Wow, you know that, huh?”
Leave it to Eden to find that tidbit of information in the cosmos and share it with her!
She nods. “If you would’ve told me you liked Laura, which would have been fine, it wouldn’t have stopped our friendship, and I would never have developed an inappropriate relationship with you.”
“Inappropriate?” I ask and stop our dance. “There wasn’t a whole lot of inappropriate going on, Ally.”
She looks at me and begins moving us again. “What is that supposed to mean?”
I pull her closer, our bodies touching in the old, familiar way they used to. “Just that more could have happened, but you wouldn’t let it and now it never can.”
“You can blame me if you want to, Kyle,” she says as she pulls away from me a bit. “But the fact we didn’t go any further than we did is a blessing.”
I search her eyes and try to see what she’s thinking. She’s closing her mind off to me and that tells me loads. “If it was such a blessing, then why do I feel like something is missing?”
She shifts her eyes, letting them roam over the guests. “You didn’t feel like this yesterday.”
“I kind of did,” I say. “I’ve always wanted you like that. Hell, you know that. When I told you I’d wait forever for you, I didn’t think I would actually have to. Now you and I are together, in a way, forever, but we can never be together like that. It’s a lot to take in.”
The song ends, but I don’t let her go. “Kyle, the song is over. We should go back to the table.”
“I know that, Ally,” I say, but I can’t seem to make myself let her go.
“We can get through this, Kyle. My husband and Laura know our past is a hitch in this situation. All of our feelings are important to each other. We can all work through this together. We are all supposed to be together. I saw that,” she tells me, then pulls away from me, leading me back to the table.
Eden and Laura are sitting at the table as we walk up. “You have a wonderful wife, Eden,” I say as I pull her chair out for her and place a kiss on top of her head after she sits down.
Eden smiles at me. “I am aware of that fact, Kyle. You’re a lucky man yourself. Laura is a special woman,” Eden says as he stands up to take Ally back out to the dance floor.
He’s right. I am a lucky man. A very confused man, but a lucky, confused man.
I look down at Laura. “I know I’m lucky. Come dance with me, baby.”
The band plays another slow song. I wrap myself around Laura and try hard to think about her and only her.
She’s fantastic. Any guy would be glad to have her. She’s kind and funny, with a smoking hot body. The whole enchilada, so to speak. I do love her and I know she loves me.
So why can’t I get Ally out of my mind?
CHAPTER 60
ALYSSA
Eden and I dance around the small floor as Kyle dances with Laura. Something is going on in his head and he’s having a hard time putting his feelings into the proper categories. He needs to put me in the category of a friend he protects, not a lover.
As we dance near Kyle and Laura, he holds her close to him. Until our eyes meet and he pulls back from her.
I close my eyes, hoping he’ll pull her close to him again. I hate that this situation has caused him so much confusion. I know he loves her. I know he wants her. He and I can never be together like that.
Eden nuzzles my ear. “You about ready?”
I turn my face on his shoulder, still laying my head on it. “Ready for what?”
He does this deep chuckle thing he does on occasion. It makes his chest shake and I find it adorable. “Your mind is elsewhere, I know. Laura—you do remember her, right? I made her a promise to do the bird thing.”
“Oh, yeah, that. We mustn’t let Laura down.”
He stops dancing and pulls me away, leading me into the house and out the front door to the side of the house. It's pitch black, so we feel along the wall as we go. Eden stops abruptly. I feel his hand turn over in mine as he moves his body in front of mine.
His heart is beating hard as he presses up against me. Soft lips find mine, but turn hard and hungry as he pushes his tongue past my lips. A low groan from him sends me into the same state of desire which has overcome him.
Leaving my lips, his warm breath blows gently into mine. I inhale him and he fills me, as if our souls combine inside me.
He lifts my dress, pulling it up over my head and off. The cool breeze brings goosebumps to my skin.
“Eden?”
His hands begin to caress my almost naked body. I kick off my sandals. His hands reach up, unclasping my bra. With haste, I push the jacket off his shoulders, then unbutton his shirt.
My hands graze his rock-hard abs as I take his shirt off, letting it fall to the ground. I unbutton and unzip his pants. They fall to the ground. I feel him step out of them as he takes his shoes off.
He reaches down to take off his boxers and his socks, pulling my panties off before he comes back up. The heat of his mouth grazes me as he moves back up my body.
Completely naked, I’m shaking with excitement. My back is against the cool wood of the wall. I feel Eden’s hands move up my arms. One of his hands goes to my throat, not choking me, but holding me back against the wall. I feel his breath near my ear.
My toes barely touch the ground as the heat of his words fill my ear. “Alyssa, I want you. Can I take you?”
He’s acting so differently, so savage in a way, yet still he asks me if it’s okay. My body is shaking with excitement. I can’t say no.
“Yes,” I manage just before his mouth c
overs mine and he forces his breath into my mouth. His tongue follows it in, covering every space, claiming it all as his.
Though he holds me to the wall with one hand, his other takes my ass, lifting me higher off the ground. Wrapping my legs around him, I slide onto his large erection.
“Oh, God, Eden!” I say before I realize it’s coming out of my mouth.
He moves our bodies as one up against the wall over and over again. “Baby. Alyssa. Tell me you love me,” Eden says breathlessly as I feel his fingers begin to dig into my backside.
“I love you. I love you, Eden.”
The feeling I have is beyond any I’ve ever felt. I can’t even think. I feel like I’m floating as I ride the wave of the ultra-hard orgasm. I want to scream, but I hold it in as our guests may be close enough to hear me.
My legs quake around his body as he stiffens and pulses inside me. His body is hard against mine, filling me like never before. He holds me like that until my walls stop squeezing at him to give me all he has.
Soft kisses flow over my shoulders and down my neck. “I love you, baby. I love you,” Eden says as he kisses me all over. “I love you, Alyssa.”
Practically out of breath, I say, “I love you, too, Eden.”
Strong arms lay me on the ground with such gentleness it feels as if I’m lying on a cloud. “What was that, Eden?”
He draws tiny trails down my chest with his fingertips, encircling my stomach. “I don’t know, Alyssa. I felt a sudden urge. You were irresistible to me. I didn’t hurt you, did I?”
I giggle a little. “No, Eden, I’m not hurt at all. Quite the opposite.”
His lips touch my ear. “Don’t giggle, Alyssa, or I may go savage again. I really don’t know why I did that.”
“You didn’t turn savage. Really, you need to stop being so hard on yourself. I find you very exciting, Eden. Don’t apologize about something which was so intense and satisfying.”
“Okay, Alyssa. I’ll let it go, then. It was rather intense, wasn’t it?”
“Yes, it was. I’m a little weak from just how intense it was,” I confess.
I hear him sigh deeply, then he takes my hand in his. In an instant, I feel myself change into the bird and the sound of thunder rings in my ears. Eden flies straight up into the darkness. I follow him closely. With the bird’s eyes, I can see a lot better than I did with my human eyes.
We move fast, high up into the air. I hear Eden’s voice in my head. ‘Follow me, Alyssa.’ A loud screech is all anyone else can hear.
I look down to see all the people have looked up to try and see us, now that they’ve been alerted to our presence by Eden’s screech. I look back up at Eden to see that he’s stopped flying up and now is circling just above me. I follow behind him, then look down to see Galchobar escorting Kyle and Laura to the altar.
Eden starts to fly down. I follow him slowly. Eden touches down next to Laura and I touch down next to Kyle. I feel really weird, like we’re on display or something. I see Laura reach up and touch Eden’s chest feathers.
“It’s really you, Eden,” she says. “Your eyes give you away.”
I’m watching her reaction so hard I jump a little as I feel Kyle stroke my wing. “Sorry, Al, I didn’t mean to scare you.”
I turn my head to look at him. The bird’s eyes see everything so much more clearly and colorfully. His blonde curls glow like rays of sunlight. His blue eyes sparkle like I’ve never seen them do with my human eyes. He looks like an angel to me.
He continues to stroke my wing, looking intently at my feathers. “God, you’re so beautiful. The colors, the softness of your feathers,” he says, then looks into my eye. “Your eyes look like actual sapphires. They sparkle and are even bluer than when you’re a person. This is unbelievable.”
Laura comes over to touch me. I feel her hand stroking the feathers on my chest. “This is so cool, Ally,” she says as she looks up at me. “The two of you are majestic.”
I hear Eden’s voice in my head again. ‘Time to fly, Alyssa,’ he sends as an enormous shriek comes out of his bird mouth.
‘Okay,’ I send back. The shriek which comes out of my bird mouth makes Laura cover her ears with her hands.
Eden takes a couple of steps backward, then runs forward, taking off over the crowd of people. They gasp in awe of him.
I follow his lead and do the same thing. I follow him as he turns to fly back over their heads again. The people begin to applaud loudly.
Eden flies straight towards Kyle and Laura, who are still standing up at the altar, pulling up just as he gets to them and going straight up into the sky. I do as he does.
Eden is flying so fast that I have to really move my wings just to stay behind him. A loud clap of thunder, and then another one right behind, sounds out as we fly past the sound barrier. Eden finally begins to slow down and I’m finding it hard to breathe.
Eden begins to descend lower into the air as I follow him. I feel like I can breathe better. ‘It’s so dark tonight,’ Eden sends me. ‘Let’s take advantage of it. Okay?’
‘Okay,’ I send back.
He hangs back a little so I can catch up and fly next to him. I can hear water running, then I see a river running underneath us. We fly down as close as we can without hitting the tall trees which line it. I see a silver fish jump up out of the water.
‘Did you see that, Eden?’ I send him.
‘Yes, I did. Isn’t it amazing how everything looks so different, so much clearer?’
‘It really is,’ I send.
His head cocks to the right. ‘Do you hear that, Alyssa?’
I haven’t heard anything. I listen and then I hear it. It sounds like a jet engine. ‘Eden, is it a plane?’
Suddenly it passes right over the top of us. It turns around to come by us again.
‘Shit. Fly, Alyssa. Fly as fast as you can. We have to get away from this thing,’ he sends me as he takes off, flying faster and faster.
The plane flies over us again, really fast. Whoever is in it knows we’re unusual, to say the least. I feel very threatened. The jet turns around to come at us again.
‘Look down, Alyssa. There’s an open area in the woods. We need to land there, as close to the tree line as possible,’ he sends me. ‘As soon as you land, change back into your human form and run into the trees. He can’t follow us then.’
I do as he tells me. The jet is following us closely, but it can’t follow us down into the clearing. Once over the clearing, we drop quickly to the ground. When our feet hit the ground, we transform and run into the woods surrounding the clearing.
Eden and I stand completely still, just inside the tree line. The jet keeps going back and forth over the clearing. Then, to my complete horror, two sets of headlights come out of the woods on the other side of the clearing.
“We can’t let them find us,” Eden whispers to me. “Don’t let go of my hand, Alyssa.”
As if he could shake me off! Crap! Why did we have to go and pull all our clothes off? Damn bad timing!
I take Eden’s hand as he leads us through the pitch-black woods. There are so many sharp things under my bare feet, poking at them as we walk cautiously away from the area the headlights seem to be going to.
The headlights stop at the edge of the tree line. I can hear one of the trucks’ doors open. “Get ‘em, boy,” I hear a man’s voice say.
I squeeze Eden’s hand as the sound of barking dogs fills the air around us. Eden is running so fast that I almost fly behind him, my feet barely touching the ground. I hear the dogs gaining on us. Eden is running back into the clearing. I can hear the jet coming.
“Don’t let go of my hand. We have to change back. Stay as close to me as you can. We have to move fast. Don’t lose sight of me once we’re in the air,” Eden orders me.
He couldn’t lose me if he wanted to. I’m scared almost to death. I just keep praying for us to get out of this safely. My human eyes can barely make out the opening. Eden runs out into the opening, transfo
rming immediately. I follow just as quickly. Two thunderous booms follow us as we change into the birds.
‘Stay as close to the tops of the trees as possible,’ Eden tells me, making sure to only tell me telepathically so no one hears him shriek.
The jet flies over us but keeps going. I guess his radar can’t pick us up when we fly this close to the trees. Whatever the reason, I’m happy to have it off of us.
‘We’re going to lose the trees as cover, Alyssa. We have to fly as fast as we can once we lose them. Straight for their house. Do you understand?’ Eden sends me.
‘I do,’ I send him, then I send an image of the jet to Kyle.
The trees begin to get fewer and further apart and then there are no more trees. Eden beats his wings faster, as do I. The familiar sound of the air collapsing around us as we break the sound barrier rings in my ears. Then I hear a third loud clap of thunder to find the jet back on our trail.
I can’t look back anymore. I have to get back to the house—back to the people who take care of us. The jet passes over us, going out to turn around. I see the lights begin to come into view. The house is not far now.
The jet has turned and is coming straight for us. I see Eden dive, trying to get to the ground. I follow him, tucking in my wings, and letting myself fall as quickly as I can.
‘Change as soon as you hit the ground, Alyssa,’ Eden tells me. This time he lets himself shriek out loud as he says it.
He comes down a little bit farther away from the house than we started off. I hit the ground and change back to my human form, running like crazy towards the house. He slows a little for me to catch up, then grabs for my hand, taking me to the side of the house where our clothes are.
I feel for my clothes, finding them. I grab my dress and throw it around me. Eden pulls his pants on and grabs the rest of his clothes. Taking my hand again, he runs into the front door of the house. Once inside, we stop as Eden locks the door behind us. Laura and Kyle come in the back door.
“What the hell is going on? Why is there a jet following you?” Kyle asks us.
Nobody's Girl Page 78
