No Promises: A Bad Boy Billionaire Romance by Michelle Love (18)

‘I’m ready,’ she sends me.

I pull almost all the way out and push back in with a quick motion. Nothing stops me this time. The tightness around my dick is like nothing I’ve ever experienced.

She’s becoming wetter as I move in and out of her. Sweat covers my body and my chest slides back and forth over her hardened nipples as I pound at her, sliding my hard dick into her over and over.

Soft hands travel up my back, running over it then up into my hair. Plump lips find my neck. She nips at it as I thrust into her.

Her innocence is no more and she moves with me, wanting it as much as I do. The touch of her teeth on my neck sends a shock straight to my dick, making it pulse like never before.

“Alyssa, baby. God, Alyssa!”

The teeth stop biting at me as the soft walls surrounding my very swollen dick pulse, sending my body into a spasm. I can’t think as hot fluid shoots from me into her and I quiver deep inside like never before.

Masturbation doesn’t hold a candle to the real thing!

I fall onto her, holding her as we both try to catch our breath, then leaving her once her walls no longer pulse around my spent dick.

I could live inside her like this, our bodies as close to one as possible.

“This is going to be hard to stop doing, Eden,” she whispers.

Don’t I know it!

CHAPTER 38

EDEN

I turn over very quietly to see my wife is still asleep. I slip off the bed to go to the lavatory. My body is sore and I love it. I must’ve used muscles I didn’t know I had.

A hot shower should do the trick.

I press the button in the shower and the warm water runs over me.

Damn, I never knew a shower could feel so good!

I just stand still and let the jets of water do their job. Closing my eyes, I lean back against the wall. ‘Would you look at you? Did you forget to invite me?’ my wife’s voice fills my head.

I open my eyes to find my gorgeous Alyssa with a bad case of bed head.

“I know. That’s what happens when I go to bed with wet hair,” she says as she steps in the shower. The water wets it immediately, taking the tangled knots down a notch.

“You looked so sweet, sleeping. I couldn’t wake you up. You’re here now, so let me lather you up,” I say as I pour the body wash straight into my palm.

She has my back up against the warm tiles of the shower wall before I realize she’s done it. Her mouth is on mine. I bring my hands up to her shoulders, rubbing the soap in as I run my hands over her back. She pulls back away from me a little.

“I could take a shower like this every day. Clean me up, my prince,” she whispers to me. Then her mouth is on mine again.

I manage to get enough soap on us both to clean us up a little, as my wife clearly would like some more of my attention. I manage to get her to ease up on her kiss. “Good morning, Mistress Fontaine,” I say, my lips against her ear. I nibble at her earlobe.

She turns her face to look at me. With a sinister smile, she says, “Good afternoon, you mean, Master Fontaine. I’m about to make it even better if you’ll allow me to.”

Pulling at my shoulders, she eases me onto the seat. Her hands run down to my arms, over my thighs, and right to what she wants. “Are you sure, baby? That’s a lot to do so soon. That can wait until you feel more comfortable,” I tell her, but she shakes her head at me.

“I’d rather not wait, Eden.”

Pulling her hair back, she gets on her knees in front of me and my cock begins to gravitate toward her perfect little lips. My stomach is tense as her hand caresses me. Her head goes down and the warm inside of her mouth makes me hard instantly.

“God, Alyssa! God, don’t stop!”

My hands find locks of her hair to wind themselves in. The wet heat of her mouth moves up and down the long shaft of my dick, making my whole body hot and rigid. I’m about to lose it when I pull on her hair, making her stop.

“Baby, you have to stop or I’ll sully that precious mouth of yours,” I tell her as I stand and move her up against the wall.

I press my body to hers and grab her legs, making her wrap them around me. Taking one hand, I run it down to rub her clit, making her moan. “I’m ready. I want you inside me.”

Shit! She’s hot!

Moving her down onto my rock-hard dick, it takes a bit of effort to push it into her swollen vagina. “This might hurt,” I say.

“Bite my neck while you do it.”

I rest my lips on her already marked neck and bite gently as I push myself into her. “Harder, Eden! Bite harder!”

Clamping down harder, I thrust all the way in as she screams. “Fuck! Why does it have to burn like that?”

“I’ll stop,” I say, but she looks at me like I’m crazy.

“No! Don’t do that. Come on, I have to get used to it,” she says. “It’s like exercising. It hurts at first. I’ll stop screaming and cussing.”

Moving slowly, I pull out a bit, then push back in. She’s so tight, I’m about to explode, and I don’t want to do that until she does. Kissing her neck drives her wild, so I kiss and nip at her neck.

A groan comes from her, and I move faster, stroking harder and deeper. Her legs squeeze me as she speaks between clenched teeth, “Damn, Eden!”

Her pulsing throws me over the edge and I spill into her as her walls milk me. Leaning my forehead to hers, our jagged breaths melt together in the steamy shower. Unwinding her legs, she stands.

“I love you, Alyssa.”

In a sudden attack of shame, she lowers her eyes. “I’m too aggressive, aren’t I?”

“What? No way, baby,” I say as I place my hands on either side of her face, making her look at me. “I love you.”

“I love you too. But I’m super aggressive all of a sudden, and I don’t know why,” she says as she averts her eyes.

“I tell you what, princess. Let’s go get something to eat. I saw a basket of something in there when we passed it last night. You have to be starving. I know I am,” I tell her as I turn the water off, taking her hand in mine.

She follows me out and I wrap a towel around her. “I need a moment or two in here alone, please, Eden.”

I nod and press my lips to her forehead. “Don’t second guess a thing about anything we do. This is brand new to us both. By the way, in case you didn’t notice, I like it too, princess.”

A smile creeps over her plump lips, so I leave her, knowing she’s happy once more.

CHAPTER 39

ALYSSA

I fell back asleep as Eden dressed and went down to the kitchen to get us something to eat. I’m afraid I look a bit of a mess with hickies and bite marks all over my chest and neck.

Yeah, it turns out I’m a freak in the sheets. Who knew?

Eden doesn’t enjoy the neck area attention as much as I do. His hickies are elsewhere. Thankfully, our bodies heal much faster than normal humans, so I should be presentable soon.

As long as I can stop asking him to bite me for at least a day. Why do I crave it so?

The clock next to the bed says it’s six. He left over an hour ago, so I throw on a blue, silk robe and leave the bedroom to search for him. I find him sitting in the living room, eating a pizza and watching television. I clear my throat and he turns to look at me.

“Alyssa, you’re up,” he says as he jumps up, coming to me. I see his chest is bare, but he has on black pajama pants, meaning he came back in and changed while I slept uber hard.

Crap, he’s so freaking sexy. I want to grab him and drag him back to the bedroom.

“Are you hungry?” he asks as he takes my hand, pulling me to the sofa.

I sit down next to him. “Yes, I am. I see you got a pizza.”

He smiles. “I was famished. I’ve never been so hungry.” He puts a piece of pizza on a plate, handing it to me. There’s a six-pack of Dr. Pepper on the coffee table. He breaks one off, opening it for me. “Here you go, Alyssa.”

The commercial on the television is over and the show he was watching comes back on. I’m taking a big drink and almost spit it out.

“Eden, really? This is what you’re watching?”

He almost squeals back at me, “What! You watch it.”

I shake my head. “I’ve been a bad influence on you if you’re watching Teen Mom now. Next you’ll be craving crummy hamburgers.”

He laughs. “I’m not that corrupted!”

Before I realize it, I’ve finished the piece of pizza he gave me. I reach to open the box and get another piece. I see it was a large pizza and it’s half gone. “Wow, Eden, married like a day and over eating already.”

“Laugh it up. That’s your second piece, Alyssa,” he reminds me.

“Well, I’m starving. Someone has kept me in bed for about twenty-four hours,” I quip.

He smiles his devilish smile at me and says, “Eat up, girl. I plan on keeping you in bed for another twenty-four.”

True to his word, Eden has kept me in bed another entire day and night.

I sink into the hot water of the Jacuzzi, almost immediately relaxing. The pulsating jets of water soothe my now aching body.

I have to get out of the bed more often.

I have to drag myself out of the tub. I dry off, then tiptoe over to the bed see if Eden is still sleeping. He is, so I decide to dress in one of the fancy nightgowns I saw in my enormous closet. I pick out a lacy little number in red, with matching panties. Then I tiptoe back to bed, snuggling into Eden’s back as I drift off to sleep.

EDEN

Alyssa is curled around my back and I feel silk between our bodies. I turn over and pull the blanket back, revealing a very sexy little red nighty.

“Mmmm …,” I moan. “What do we have going on here, Mrs. Fontaine?”

Her sleepy eyes open and she grabs the blanket out of my hand, covering herself back up. “It’s cold, Eden, stop.”

“I’ll let you sleep. I’m going to take a shower,” I say. “I really think we should get out of this bed today. You know, go do something.”

I’m determined to get a real shower and shave this beard from my face this morning. Although part animal, I don’t care to live like one.

As I hold my hand under the dispenser, warm lather fills it and I smooth it over the thick, dark stubble, which has made my Alyssa’s cheeks and inner thighs quite red.

If I can get her to go somewhere, she’s going to need some makeup to hide her cheeks and neck. Oh, and her chest too!

Clean-shaven, I get in the shower. In walks my gorgeous wife in her little husband distractor.

“Oh, yeah, baby, I hoped you’d join me,” I call out from the shower.

“We don’t have time for that right now,” she tells me as she heads to the sink. “I had a dream about a plane full of people who need our help. Our first mission, Eden. Isn’t that exciting?”

“Our first mission?” I ask as I turn the water off and step out of the shower. “Already?”

Crap! They sure didn’t give us very long to honeymoon!

My wife is about to meet me at the front door of our suite. We’re about to depart for Miami, where this dream of hers told her we need to be to save some people.

I’ve set up our pilot, Jeffery, to take us there, and he’s managed to get a spot as the captain of the plane which is about to be in danger.

My jaw drops as my wife comes down the hallway out of our bedroom where she’s been getting ready to go. Alyssa’s silky black curls fall around her shoulders, ending at the tiniest part of her small waist, which is accented by a tight, red dress.

It fits her like a glove, molded to her curves and stopping just above her knees. Sky high black heels is where my eyes end, then I look back up. The little, silver bird necklace hangs just beneath her collar bone.

Words fail me. She holds her hands in the air, gesturing for me to say something. “You’re hot,” I say,

That’s all I got.

“Oh, Eden. Of all the words you know that’s all you can come up with?”

She walks over to me. The heels make her legs look long and strong and I want to do things to her I haven’t yet. “Outstanding,” I add.

“You can do better than that,” she says as she runs her hand around my back. The heels make her head come almost as high as mine, perfect for turning my head and landing my lips right on hers, no bending required.

Snaking my arm around her waist, I kiss her cheek. She’s managed to cover all the redness in her cheeks, save a slight blush. Her neck looks long and free of the marks I’ve left on her. “Spectacular,” I say.

“Now you’re getting there,” she says with a brilliant smile.

How is it a person can get even more beautiful?

“Are you ready to do this thing?” I ask as I pull her close to my side and smell the honeysuckle of her hair, constantly fighting the urge to take her right back to our bedroom and devour her.

“The old me would have said no. But I’m not the old me. Let’s go do this thing,” she says.

I open the door leading us out of our suite and into the long hallway. “You truly aren’t the old Alyssa, in more ways than one. While I loved the old Alyssa, the new one is smoking hot.”

As we near the staircase, thumps upon it make us look up from raking our eyes over one another. Kyle has Laura by the hand and they’re both in bathing suits, slightly damp from the pool. At the top of the staircase, they freeze when they see my mate.

I’m unhappy to see Kyle drop Laura’s hand immediately. “Ally,” he says.

Laura’s hands cover her mouth as her eyes widen.

My mate smiles. “You like?”

“Fuck me,” Kyle so eloquently says.

I try to shoot him a look to let him know that language is not tolerated here, but he can’t take his eyes from my wife.

“Language, Kyle,” Alyssa reminds him.

“Oh, yeah, sorry. I forgot. You kinda stunned me,” he says as he walks away from Laura and straight to my mate.

“Are you two having a nice time?” I ask.

His eyes dart to mine and right back to the gorgeous creature at my side. “I am. We are. Are you going out?” he asks.

Alyssa looks up at me, sending me, ‘I’m going to tell him real quick.’

When she reaches out to hold his hand, I see she’s even painted her fingernails red. I let her go for a moment to say hello to her friend, whom she’s ignoring.

“Hello, Laura. Are you having a nice time?” I ask as I walk up to her.

“I am. This is so nice of you to let us stay. Your driver is so nice. Hell, everyone is,” she says, then looks over at Kyle and Alyssa who whisper to each other, then look into each other’s eyes as they communicate telepathically things that Laura can’t hear. Nor can I for that matter.

Please don’t be sharing intimate details of our love life!

“The pool is nice, isn’t it?” I ask Laura, trying to catch her attention.

She looks back at me. “It’s weird what they’re doing. Do you see that?”

Time to go!

“Princess, we must hurry,” I call out to my mate.

She flashes a smile at me and kisses Kyle on the cheek, leaving a perfect impression of her red lips on it. “Coming, babe,” she says, and saunters away from her ex-boyfriend slash new primary guardian.

Laura walks away, joining Kyle as they enter their bedroom suite. Alyssa walks up to me, putting her hand behind my neck and drawing my face close to hers. “I’m ready when you are, Mr. Fontaine.”

I stare back at her for a second, her eyes smoldering. “I sure am glad the jet has a bed, because I don’t know how long I can keep my hands off you, Mrs. Fontaine.” I tell her, then wrap my arm around her and lead her down the stairs.

As we walk past the game room, Scotty shouts out at us, “Whoa, they live.”

“Hey, Scotty, having fun?” I ask.

“Yeah, we went to see the house we’re moving into. It has a bigger game room than this. It’s crazy sick. Eden, dude, you gotta come play once we get over there man.”

“Sure thing, dude,” I say.

Alyssa laughs. “Dude, Eden?”

“What? I know how to play games, Alyssa.”

“Bye Scotty,” she shouts back as I move her towards the door.

“Where you guys going, anyway?” Scotty asks.

“A secret mission,” Alyssa teases.

“Fine, don’t tell me then,” he calls out after us.

We make our way to the front door, only to be stopped once again. This time my father catches us. “I thought I heard voices out here. Finally decided to join the living, huh?” he asks as he puts his arm around my shoulders, pulling me in to hug him.

“Hey, Papa,” I say, hugging him back.

“You look fantastic, girl. Married life is agreeing with you already,” he tells my mate.

He lets me go and goes to hug my mate, wrapping her up in his arms and rocking her back and forth several times before he releases her.

“I know everyone wants to see us, but we have some work to do this evening. We have to get to Miami, so we have to jet, Papa. Could you please let Mother and Alyssa’s parents know about us?” I ask.

“Sure thing, kids, get out there and do what you need to do. I’ll take care of the old folks. You can tell us all about it when you get back. Be careful you two. Love you both,” my father tells us as we walk out the door.

My jag is sitting in the driveway, right beside the new BMW the foundation gave Alyssa, and there is her jeep. She looks at me quizzically as I lead her to my car, helping her into the passenger side.

“When did my jeep get here?”

“I’m really not sure. I just know my car keys were in the night stand next to my bed.”

After helping her into the passenger side of the jag, I run my hand up her leg. “Such a beauty you are, princess. I certainly wish we were up in our bed rather than taking on a mission so soon.”

“Hurry up and get in. Let’s get this out of the way and we can be back in bed before the morning,” she says with a smile.

I get to see that smile forever. Thank you!

CHAPTER 40

ALYSSA

I shared the entire dream with Eden on the jet ride over here, so he’s up to speed now and knows exactly what we’re supposed to do.

We get to the Miami airport early and go inside. I want to be sure I see the people from the dream before we do what we’re planning. I’m a little unsure if the dream is real or not, making me hesitant about all this.

We go to an area near the gate they should be going to. There’s a television on the wall and the weather is on. It shows clear skies with no chance of rain. It gives me doubt.

“Eden, look at the television. The forecast says no rain and clear skies. What if I’m wrong?”

“Then you’re wrong. So what?” he simply says.

I throw my hands up in the air. “Well, that’s bad, and we involved Lana and Jeffrey and their time and effort. I mean, Jeffery had to figure out how to be able to get the original pilot off the plane so he can pilot it.”

“Alyssa, it’s no big deal. He loves doing this and so does Lana. If nothing happens, great. No one is going to think any less of us. It just means the one in charge decided to go a different route. Besides that, you can’t go by what the weather report is. I can’t think of how many times it’s been way off.”

I smile. “Eden, I love you. You’re so fantastic,” I gush, then give him a kiss on the cheek.

I’m the luckiest creature alive!

He smiles at me, but in an instant his look turns serious. “Alyssa, isn’t that the little blonde girl and her mother from the dream? Turn around slowly and see.”

I turn around to look. The moment I see them, my heart begins to race. “Yes, it is,” I say as I grab Eden’s arm. “It’s true. We have premonition as well as flight and telepathy. This is unreal!”

Eden’s expression is puzzled as he pats my back. “Simmer down there, little lady. You sure are getting excited about such a small thing. You didn’t get this gaga over transforming into a giant bird.”

My grip on him loosens as I realize how much of a dodo bird I truly am.

“It’s just a thing I always thought I had and now I know it’s true. I used to dream things and they’d come true a lot. All the way back to the first time I saw Kyle. The night before he came to our school I had a dream about a husky little blonde-haired boy coming into my classroom and taking the seat next to mine.”

Eden looks away. His chest is tight and I can feel it. “Perhaps what you and he have was always meant to be. My mother keeps telling me to let the guilt go, but I can’t think it’s anyone else’s fault that I must share you except my own.”

Share me!

Running my knuckles over his cheek, I draw his attention to me. “Eden, please don’t look at it like you have to share me. I’m yours and yours alone. Our Creator wants things to change. Maybe that’s why he chose us. No matter what, we will make changes to help the future Phoenix couples. Now let’s put this on the back burner and deal with the task as hand.”

His hand captures mine and he holds it against his cheek. “Let’s do that.”

I wink at him “Okay, look around. Do you recognize anyone else?”

I scan the people as more begin to crowd into the waiting area. I see the elderly lady I recognize. She’s standing next to a man in a shirt with palm trees on it.

Oh, him. I know him!

Well, I don’t really know him, but recognize him from my dream.

I motion to Eden for us to get closer so we can hear people talking. My curiosity is peaked. The palm tree shirt guy is talking to the elderly lady.

“Thanks for bringing us to the airport, Madge,” he says, sadly. “We’ve been saving and saving for this trip. I’m happy we can go before Rose gets too ill. God, I’m going to miss her.”

The elderly lady pats him on the back. “I’m here for you brother. You’re not alone in this. Go have a good time and don’t think about that. Enjoy every day and don’t think about when the last one will come.”

I back up a little, wiping a tear from my eye. I look at Eden to see if he heard it too. I know he did as a sad look is on his face.

The lady in blue tells them they can begin boarding now. I see the little blond-haired girl being carried by her mother—her pregnant mother. In just about an hour, she’ll realize she’s having another baby.

This is so weird that we know this before she does.

“I think we’ve seen enough, don’t you?” I ask.

He nods then takes my hand, leading me to the exit. We can see the plane taxi out onto the tarmac, getting ready for take-off.

Just as we’re about to walk out, the tall man, the husband of the main woman in my dream, comes into the airport. Anxiety radiates off of him. It takes everything in me not to run after him and let him know everything will be all right.

We find the rental car the Phoenix Foundation rented for us and Eden opens the door for me to get in, then slips into the driver’s seat. He turns it on, then hits a button on the computer screen. A lady’s voice tells us where to go.

As we travel down the road, I can’t help reaching out for Eden’s hand and saying a little prayer in my head.

We travel away from the city lights and end up on a vacant lot with tall grass and several trees on it. The grass is so tall that, once we drive into it, it envelopes the car, making it practically impossible to see. Eden takes the key out of the ignition and stashes it on top of the front driver’s tire. I grin at how clever he is.

“It’s time to fly, Mrs. Fontaine.”

The sky-high heels I have on have to go and Eden takes his shoes off too. I look over at him with a huge smile. “Our first mission, Eden! Are you as excited as I am?”

“I am, princess. Let’s get going,” he says, and transforms with a resounding boom of thunder.

Whatever happened to ladies first!

‘Come on, princess,’ he sends to me.

I picture myself as the huge bird and find I’m close to him, just like that.

Magic is too cool!

In the distance, lightning strikes over the water. All I can see is water beneath me. Another strike of lightning shows that there are low clouds beginning to hang out of the sky.

Suddenly, about fifteen lightning strikes happen simultaneously, showing us the storm is really big. Then we hear it as we both look up and to the left. We see the plane as it disappears into the dark clouds.

Eden shrieks.

‘Sorry about that. I attempted to speak out loud. I wanted to tell you to follow me. I’m changing our trajectory,’ he sends to me.

‘I was wondering,’ I send back.

He changes our direction and I follow him closely. He pounds his wings harder, making him go faster. I do the same to increase my speed to keep up with him. We enter the cloud bank and almost immediately the rain pelts us as winds push us around. It takes every bit of strength I have to keep myself steady.

I see the water spout I saw in my dream. It’s like a tornado but it’s made of water. Its spiraling dangerously close to one side of the plane. We see the plane turn around, going back in the direction it came from.

I follow Eden as he changes our path so we can get to it. As we near the plane, Eden flies around the back of it and I lose sight of him.

Crap! I’m alone over here. Okay, be cool, you knew this was going to happen.

I fly next to the plane, trying to remember the dream. I think I’m supposed to go up and get in front of the plane. As I fly by the side, I can see the faces looking out at me.

Oh, that poor lady is screaming.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” I cry out, but all that comes out is a thunderous shriek.

What kind of idiot am I? Eden just told me that would happen. Well, that probably made her feel even more afraid!

I focus on getting to the front of the plane. I remember Jeffrey is flying the plane, so he’s probably looking for us, so he can follow us out of this mess.

The wind is blowing so hard it’s difficult to move up to the front of the plane. I feel a difference in the air on my toes, or claws, or whatever they are. I dive my head down to bring my body into it, then I find I can glide really fast in this pocket of air.

Before I know it, I’m at the front of the plane. I dive a little more and I’m in front of it. Now I see Eden, I move towards him, we curve to the left some, and I can see the plane is following us.

The wind is hard, pushing back at me as the water pounds at me, like fists punching me all over my back. Lightning zig zags really close to me and I can feel the electricity from it. I can’t see for about a second from the bright flash. Then I see the edge of the storm. Thankfully, we fly out of it.

The air is so different it disorients me. I move my wings a little to find my stride. Eden moves us to the right. I see the runway lights shining up at us.

“We made it,” I shout, only to hear that shriek.

‘I really have to stop that!’

‘We’ll get used to it,’ Eden sends back.

We move away from the plane toward another part of the shoreline. I look back to see it land safely on the runway. As we near the place where we parked the car, we slow.

Eden must have spotted it because he makes a Bee-line for a certain spot. He hits the ground just before I do. I see his bird feet hit the ground and turn into his legs, then I touch down.

I transform back into my human body. We look at each other. “We did it! We did it, Eden!” I shout as I run to him, hugging him and jumping up and down.

He laughs and tosses me up into the air. “I know, Alyssa. That was great!”

Our first mission has been accomplished!

CHAPTER 41

KYLE

Laura is fast asleep as I wait up for Ally to come back from their first mission. I wanted to go, but with Laura knowing nothing about them I couldn’t.

I’m not sure how Laura and I will work out if I can’t tell her.

Ally’s stayed cooped up in her bedroom since they got married. I saw her briefly before they left for Miami, and she told me about her dream and saving people on a plane.

I bet it was cool, and I missed it.

So now I wait for the second-hand details and stew about my problems.

What am I supposed to do with my life now that I’m a primary protector to a mythological bird-woman? Can I still go to college? Will they go to Austin with me? Or do I have to go to a college in New Orleans? When can I tell Laura about their secret? How will she take it if they do let me tell her?

I can see it all now. I tell Laura I have to base my life, which it will out-last hers by a few decades or so, on Ally.

I see a slap coming in my future!

Nah, Laura won’t be cool with that. I wonder if I can talk Ally into telling Laura. It’s a much better idea, and if anyone gets slapped then it will be Ally, and I don’t see Laura doing that. No, she’ll probably just cry.

And that makes me sad.

The old guy said I’d get some gifts and I know I have telepathy with Ally, but no one else. This morning I found out I’m a lot stronger than I was before the ceremony.

I’m not sure if playing football in college is such a great idea anymore. I could seriously hurt someone. Plus, using superhuman powers on the field is most likely against some rule, I bet.

I found out about my strength because Laura couldn’t find her flip-flop and asked me to run into the bedroom to check under the bed. The bed in the room we’re in is giant. Solid wood with four large posts and a heavy mattress. When I put my hand on the bottom of the bed to pull the blanket up, my hand caught the frame and I lifted it like it was nothing.

The whole damn bed!

So then I threw a baseball once we were outside. Laura hadn’t come out yet, and Scotty and I were horsing around. I told him about my super-strength and he found a ball. That kid was impressed and more than a bit jealous.

“Why couldn’t I get something like that?” he said. “She’s my sister. We come from the same parents.”

I didn’t know what to tell him. I wasn’t about to say, ‘She loves me more than you.’

That would’ve been rude.

The love thing me and Ally have is weird. It’s not like we used to have, yet deeper. I can’t be jealous about her and Eden.

They were made for each other. Ally showed me the things the other bird-people showed her, and let me tell you there is no way she’s made for anyone but him.

I’ve accepted it. Well, kinda. I have no choice. The faithful sidekick is what I suppose I am now.

How depressing. I must work on what I am.

When I saw Ally this morning coming down that hallway, I didn’t recognize her. She was way out of my league. A grown ass, sexy-as-hell woman is what she looked like.

Her dress and heels had to have cost thousands of dollars. Everything about her screamed, ‘I’m not of this world.’ It made me question my mind. Like, how did I never see that in her before?

I’m sitting at the top of the staircase to be sure I don’t miss them coming in. It’s a sure thing they won’t be coming out of their love nest once they get back in it.

I know I wouldn’t let her out much if I was Eden!

A beam of light falls across the huge, marble floor of the room at the bottom of the stairs.

Don’t ask me what the room is called because I have no clue.

There are so many rooms in this mansion and they call them all something different.

Her giggle hits my ears before I see her. I send, ‘You’re finally back,’ to her.

Ally and Eden walk out of the darkness and into the light over the staircase. “You waiting up for us, Daddy?” she asks me sarcastically.

“You are very late, missy,” I return her sarcasm.

I stand up as they make their way up the large spiral stairs. He holds her tightly to his side.

It used to be me, holding her like that.

I take a step back to let them pass me. Ally reaches out and touches my cheek. “Come to our suite. We should talk about things,” she says, and I follow her like a puppy.

‘Don’t think like that,’ she sends to me.

I follow them into their new place at the very end of the long hall. I look around as we go inside. It’s nice, like really nice. There are two huge, overstuffed, red-leather sofas, a chandelier in the middle of a high ceiling, and a monster television hanging on the wall.

Damn! My room is a dump compared to this place.

Ally spins around out of Eden’s tight grip. “Where is it you’d like to live, Kyle?”

“Me?” I ask, surprised at how fast she turned around and that she is right in front of me, so close I can smell her hair. It smells like honeysuckles.

“I’m going to take a shower, princess. You talk to Kyle,” Eden says, then leaves the room.

I’m no threat?

“No, you’re not,” she says as she takes my hand, leading me to one of the sofas.

She sits down, pulling me down to sit next to her. “You don’t even look the same, Al.”

“I know, Kyle. Something woke up in me. The Phoenix, I guess. I feel different. Flying is so phenomenal, so is telepathy, and the ability to have premonitions.”

Her legs look gorgeous in those heels, and her red dress leaves nothing to the imagination. My eyes can’t stop roaming over her body. “I wish I could’ve gone,” I say. “When can I tell Laura?”

The touch of her hand on my chin brings my face back up from looking at her legs. “While I’m flattered by your adoration of my physique, Kyle, I’m trying to talk to you. We must get past this physical thing we have. It will never happen, so we must let it go. I thought you understood that when I showed you the reality of who and what I am,”

“Yeah, I do. I really do, but what’s happened to you?” I ask, then touch the top of her arm as her bicep is firm and shapelier than it had been. “You’re buff, Ally.”

“The flying I suppose,” she says, and releases my chin. “So, you wish to tell Laura our secret?”

“I should’ve been there with you tonight,” I say. “I am your primary guardian you know.”

The flip of her hand into the air makes one of her breasts move under the tight, red dress, drawing my attention as she says, “We must think of another name for your position. I hate that one. It makes me think I must ask you before I do anything, which I don’t have to do.”

I smile at her and lean close to her ear as I whisper, “Remember the old guy’s words and your vow to me, Mistress Fontaine. Do you vow to follow this man and do as he bids you to, without hesitation, as he is your guardian for life? Then you said, ‘I do.’”

The warmth of her breath on my cheek as I purposely drag it by her mouth makes me hesitate, as our lips are so close it would be easy to touch them.

“I did agree to that, didn’t I?”

“That you did, and I have to hold you to it. So what I say goes, princess.”

‘I hate the fact we can’t be together,’ I send her as our foreheads touch.

‘It’s not our fate. You and I are to be something else to each other. Hard as it may be, we’ll have to get past this,’ she sends me.

Not really wanting to move away from her, I do anyway. I sit back on the sofa and take in a deep breath. “Why would he do this to us?” I ask.

“Our Creator?” she asks.

“Whatever you want to call him, but yeah. Why?”

Ally slips her heels off and turns towards me, putting her feet underneath her. Her legs are hidden from me, something that is probably for the best.

“I remembered something today,” she says. “I had a dream about you. The night before you showed up at school that day. When the teacher introduced you, you came and sat in the empty desk next to mine.”

“I did sit next to you, Al,” I say. “You’re just remembering what really happened.”

“No, I’m not. A little girl named Stacy sat in that desk, but she was absent the day you came. You took her seat and the teacher moved her when she came back to school.”

“So? Stuff like that happens, Al.”

“You and I were meant to be together,” Ally says. “You are my protector, though, not my lover. Our teenage hormones created that need for each other. You do remember how you also wanted Laura at the time you kissed me. Our deep connection made you and I both think we were attracted to each other in that way. Only we weren’t supposed to go that route. It was Laura you should’ve been with the last few years. Not me.”

Talking to my Ally about Laura, her best friend, is uncomfortable and I’d rather not do it. Her eyes twinkle at me as she awaits my response. “I know you’re right.”

A smile slowly forms on her plump, red lips. “Good, then that’s settled. You are my protector and no physical stuff can happen between us.”

My eyes roll as I look away from her. “God, Ally! I know it can’t. That’s what’s so damn hard. I’ll get over it, I guess.”

‘And yet I don’t want you to,’ she thinks and I snap.

I grab her by her shoulders and pin her back to the sofa. ‘Tell me to stop,’ I send to her.

Her eyes search mine as I move my lips closer to hers. ‘I don’t want you to stop,’ she sends back.

Achingly slowly, my lips move to taste hers. ‘Just one kiss, Ally. All we need is one last kiss. We’ll never do it again,’ I send her.

My eyes close as my lips are so close to hers, I can feel her warm breath on them. A flash fills my head and there are the faces of Laura and Eden.

Sadness radiates from them, filling my heart with heavy sorrow. One small action could cause them so much pain. I pull my face back from Ally’s.

She’s seen the same thing I have and we look at each other, knowing it isn’t in us to hurt people we love and care about. I lay my head back on the sofa.

“Well, at least we know what’ll happen if we try something like that again. The Creator will not allow it to happen anymore. I’m glad it’s beyond our control,” Ally says.

The pounding in my chest almost hurts as I realize I’ll never touch those lips again. I have to get out of here and away from her. “I need to go, Al.”

“I understand. We can talk about everything later,” Ally says as she moves her legs out from under her and places them on the floor. “You asked me where you could live and the answer to that is anywhere you want. I don’t have to have you right next to me. Only when we go on dangerous missions will I need you. Other than that, feel free to live your life as you wish and wherever you wish.”

Her damn gorgeous legs take my attention and I have to get the hell away from her before my heart bursts from my chest. “Catch you later, Al,” I say as I get up and walk towards the door. “Have a good night.”

“You’re leaving?” she asks as she catches up to me.

Her hand on my arm as she stops me sends a chill through my entire body. I turn back to see her eyes looking sad.

“I need some time to adjust. You’ll be in my life for a very long time, yet I can never have you. This isn’t easy for me. I can see it’s not for you either,” I say, then I caress her pink cheek. “I’ll leave you to have your honeymoon with your mate. Call me if you need me. I have to get back to my life and figure out what I’m going to do with it. I also have to decide what I’m going to do about Laura. It’s not fair to her. She deserves someone who can give her all of him. I’m not that guy.”

“Please don’t hurt her, Kyle. Think about this a lot before you make a decision about breaking up with her. There’s a slight chance that in the future she can be told our secret,” Ally says. “She and I are also very close. It may be she can be a part of this as well. Don’t count her out just yet. As far as you not being able to give a hundred percent of yourself just yet, don’t let that get in your head. One day you will.”

Slowly, I move my hand up her arm, relishing her soft skin. “Ally, you will reside in my heart forever. Your presence there takes up space and it makes it impossible to give one hundred percent to anyone else.”

Her voice is soft as she says, “Kyle, you also reside within my heart, yet I love Eden with all I have. You will learn how to do that too.”

I kiss her cheek and hug her tightly. “I love you, Ally. I’m going home after Laura gets up. I don’t know if she’ll leave with me or not, but I have to get out of here for a while.”

Letting her go, I turn and open the door. Right before I close it, I hear her say, “I love you too, Kyle. Be safe.”

Tears cloud my vision as I make my way down the long hallway.

How am I supposed to live over a hundred years with this pain in my heart?

CHAPTER 42

ALYSSA

Pain radiates through my body as my Kyle leaves our home. I woke as he left this house, his goodbye waking me from a deep sleep. Laura decided to go with him back to Cloudcroft. He doesn’t know how he’ll deal with what we have, nor do I.

How can I feel so much love for my mate and still have love for another?

What a cruel thing to do to us all. Eden struggles with the knowledge, and if we decide to let Laura in on our secret, she’ll have difficulty with it as well.

This life will be long and I have to wonder if our want for each other will ever go away. Kyle has a permanent place in my heart. I don’t see our feelings ever leaving us entirely.

For now, he’s gone. Eden and I can concentrate on each other and making a strong bond. Perhaps in time, I will grow into a creature who can make sense of things of this nature.

Love, lust, and friendship are all complex relationships.

A quick flash of Kyle and me runs through my head and I shake my head to make sense of it. I was very round bellied, like I was pregnant, and his arm was around me.

But that could never happen. Could it?

CHAPTER 43

ALYSSA

It’s been a month since we had our first mission and nothing else has come up. I’ve left my Kyle alone, letting him deal with things in his own way. I can’t lie and say his absence hasn’t changed me in ways.

Eden and I have settled in nicely to our marriage. We seem to be waiting here to see what comes next for us as the Phoenix couple. It’s an odd thing to be waiting for and I feel a little lost about what we’re supposed to really be doing.

No one seems to be stepping forward and letting us in on what we’re supposed to do when not on a mission or planning one. Eden thinks it’s because we have to work on being the birds, learning how to fly and transform more quickly and becoming stealthier. We’ve been practicing at night around the mansion.

But there’s a little pain in my heart with Kyle being so far away and us not talking at all. It’s a thing Eden is aware of, as he’s able to see my thoughts, which roam all too often to wondering what Kyle is doing at that very moment.

I suppose some day in the future I’ll learn how to deal with this thing.

The light streams in through the window, waking me up from a deep sleep. I feel Eden’s leg thrown over mine and wiggle to move out from under it. Once freed, I sit up on the edge of the bed. My entire body aches with every little movement. Muscles are sore I didn’t even know I had.

“Owww!”

I walk slowly and painfully to the bathroom, starting up the bath. Once it’s full of piping hot water, I push the button on the wall, turning on the jets for the next twenty minutes. The hot water helps to soothe my sore muscles. Thankfully, I don’t have to work out today. I get a day off between each workout.

Yesterday I found out Eden’s personal trainer, Beck, is a demon from hell. It’s no wonder Eden has that freaking hot body, but good Lord he has to work hard for it. It was my bright idea to start working out with him, so there’s no one to blame but myself.

The bathroom door opens and I see my sleepy husband walk in, going straight for the shower. I’m beginning to think he didn’t notice I’m in here. I can hear him humming some kind of tune as the shower starts. The jets in my tub turn off by themselves, as the time I’m supposed to be in here has run out. I can hear him much better now.

He’s mumbling, “Doctor, you have to … I can’t lose her … help her …”

I get out of the tub, wrap a towel around myself, and walk to the shower to find Eden’s eyes closed. He’s standing under the water, but there’s no soap on him. He’s just standing there as the water falls on him.

He yells, “No … don’t say that … no!”

I realize he’s asleep and remember hearing somewhere that you should never wake up a sleepwalker. I gently take his hand, leading him out of the shower. The feel of the water on my skin jolts me, as its freezing cold.

How in the world did that not wake him up?

I place a towel around his shoulders, then lead him back to bed, lying him down as gently as I can. I pull the blanket up to cover him as his skin is freezing and he’s shivering. I climb into bed and snuggle up next to him, trying to warm him up. His body tenses up as I move my body close to his. He reaches out to touch me.

“Alyssa?”

I giggle. “Yes, Eden, who else would it be?”

He turns over, then sits up, looking down at me. His usually happy face has a very distraught look to it, then he almost falls down on me, hugging me to him tightly.

“God, I’m so glad. It was just a dream. You are here, right? Say something. Say something, please.”

“Eden, what’s wrong? Whatever it was, it’s just a dream. It’s not real.”

He shakes his head, making his brown waves dance above his broad shoulders. “I have to not think about it. It can’t happen like that. I won’t let it.”

“Eden, please tell me what has you so upset.”

He stands up rather abruptly, his bare body taut and rippled with new muscles that draws my attention and admiration. “I have to take a shower. I have to clear my head,” he says as he walks away from me. “Don’t leave our suite!” Then he disappears into the bathroom.

Guess he doesn’t remember being in the shower.

I get out of the bed and get dressed. As I sit at my vanity, fixing my hair, I find myself wondering what kind of horror my husband has just witnessed in his head.

Why does he want me to not leave our suite? Was it a premonition? What can be done to change the outcome if it was?

He’s still in the shower when I finish getting ready, so I go to the living room of our suite. A knock at the door startles me. I jump, then laugh at myself for being so silly.

As I open the door, I find a short man standing there. He’s just a little taller than I am, which is not tall at just five foot four. Thinning, grayish hair is swept to one side, trying to camouflage a growing bald spot.

Why do men do this? Just cut it right and be natural or get some implants!

The man holds a large bouquet of wildflowers as he stands in the long hallway, scanning my entire body.

In an effort to get him to look me in the eye, I say, “Oh, how nice. Please, put the flowers on the table.” Then I move back so he can come into the room.

He sets them down, then turns towards me. “Allow me to introduce myself, Alyssa Fontaine. I am Darren Stiles. I read about your marriage to Eden in the newspaper.”

I extend my hand to shake his, but he backs away from me.

Okay, maybe he’s a germaphobe!

I drop my hand. I’m not trying to offend him after all. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Stiles. Thank you for the flowers. They’re beautiful,” I tell him as I admire the large bouquet.

He stammers, “Uh, yeah, anyway, I just wanted to let you know that Eden used to see my daughter, Karen.”

What? What the hell is he talking about? Eden told me he never dated anyone.

The man sees the surprise in my eyes. A smirk forms on his thin lips. “Maybe he didn’t tell you? I’ve never heard of you. You’re not from around here, are you? I mean, you talk funny.”

“I’m from New Mexico. Perhaps that’s why you’ve never heard of me.”

He fidgets for a second. “Too bad about your weird accent. Other than that, you’re very pretty.”

I find myself walking toward the door, as he’s making me uncomfortable. “Mr. Stiles, while it was very nice of you to drop by and bring flowers, I’m afraid we’re very busy today,” I say as I open the door. “So, if you could please see yourself out.” I gesture for him to leave.

He walks past me, then turns back to me. The smirk still has not left his chubby, red face. “See you around, Mrs. Fontaine.”

I close the door, lock it, then push the button with Eden’s father’s name on it. The intercom which is wired all over the mansion. “Papa?”

His soft French accent with just a touch of Southern to it answers me after a few moments. “Yes, darling.”

“A man was just at my door with flowers. Do you know who let him in?”

“A man! What? Alyssa, lock your door. Where’s Eden?”

“Taking a shower.”

“Go tell him to get out and get dressed. Don’t come out of your room until you hear me at your door. Make sure your balcony doors are locked as well. Do not open your curtains at all and stay away from the windows. Get Eden now,” he commands.

Oh, God, what the hell is going on? No one let him in? How did he get in? How did he know where to find us?

I see Eden’s closet door open, with a light streaming out of it. I go into it, finding him with black slacks on and nothing else.

“Eden, a man was just here. He brought flowers. He told me you dated his daughter,” I say, and find I’m clutching at my stomach as it feels like I’ve just been punched. “Anyway, the problem is no one let him in. He acted weird, too. Your father said to lock the door and not to come out until he comes to get us. He said you’d know what to do.”

I turn to go make sure everything is locked, but he’s at my side, his arm tight around my waist. I struggle to get away from him, as I find I’m mad at him for not telling me he dated someone before.

“Alyssa, don’t,” he commands me as he moves me to the bed, sitting me down on it. “Stay right here. Do not move. Do exactly as I tell you to.”

He goes to check the balcony doors, then moves quickly to one side. “Shit, he saw me,” he hisses.

The glass blows inward as something strikes one of the glass panes which make up the French doors that lead out onto the balcony. Eden runs right at me, grabbing my hand and taking me somewhere down the hallway. He opens the last door at the end of the hallway, then quickly locks it behind us. There are no windows in the room. It’s pitch black. I hear a click and a dim light comes on.

“What is this place?” I ask him, having never ventured through the whole suite of rooms we have.

“It’s a safe room, Alyssa,” he tells me as he reaches to press a button on the intercom hanging on the wall.

“So we have a safe room?” I ask.

Eden nods, then speaks into the intercom. “Papa, he threw something through the balcony doors. Papa, can you hear me?”

I look around the dimly lit room. There are shelves on one wall with canned foods on them and twelve gallons of water. In the corner is a small single bed with two pillows and a blanket. I look over in the corner closest to us to see what I believe to be a portable toilet. A ceramic bowl sits on a small table next to it.

Finally, someone answers on the intercom. “This is Niles, sir. Your father and several others are searching the grounds for the intruder. The item which was thrown into your room has been removed. You need to stay in your safe room until further notice.”

“Is my mother safe?” Eden asks.

“Yes, sir, she’s in a safe room in their wing.”

With a relieved look on his face, Eden comes to sit next to me on the small bed. “Alyssa, what did that guy say to you?”

I cross my arms over my chest. “He told me his name was Darren Stiles, and that you dated his daughter, Karen. Is that true Eden?”

“In a way, yes,” he answers.

Something in me snaps. “In a way, Eden? It’s either yes you did or no you did not. Simple as that.”

“You remember when I told you several of the girls expressed interest in me in high school, right?”

I shake my head, as I’m so pissed I can’t talk.

How could he leave that information out?

“Karen begged me to take her to the senior prom,” he says. “She was not a very pretty or popular girl. I felt sorry for her, you know? No one would take her and she wanted to go very badly. She already had her dress purchased, but she had no date.”

“I can’t see how that was your problem to solve.”

“If you will remember about what I told you before, the common thought about me was that I was not heterosexual. So she didn’t expect anything physical, just a boy to take her to the prom. I thought that was all she wanted, so I didn’t see any harm in taking her.”

“I see,” I snap.

Eden’s hands twist together nervously as he says, “Unfortunately, after the prom, she still wanted to hang around with me. Like I said, I felt bad for her, so I let her come over and play in the game room with me sometimes. I guess she took it as I liked her. She began to tell everyone we were dating. I couldn’t have that, so I stopped talking to her. She didn’t take it well. She told her father I took her virginity then refused to see her anymore.”

My jaw drops and my eyes go wide. “She did what?” I gasp.

He shakes his head, looking down. Finally, his eyes come up to meet mine. “Well, you know that isn’t true.”

“I don’t know. I mean, why didn’t you tell me this before?”

He throws his hands in the air. “Alyssa, you know damn well I didn’t do that. Don’t be ridiculous. I’ve shown you how much you mean to me. I would never have jeopardized us. Not on purpose anyway.”

“So her dad, he’s a psycho or what?”

“Well, I didn’t realize he was this bad,” he says as he sits down next to me. “He came to see my parents after his daughter told him that about me. He was upset. I thought he believed me and my parents when we told him there was no truth to it. You see, the date to the prom was completely chaperoned by them. My father was in the game room with us whenever she came over. There was not a single time we were ever left alone.”

I shake my head. “Eden, this is so much to take in. I wonder what this man is thinking.”

“He’s thinking about money, Alyssa,” he says as he wraps his hand around mine. “Because that’s what he wanted from us before. Of course, we refused to give him any as nothing wrong was done to her. Far from it. What she was doing was wrong.”

“How much money did he want?”

“He asked for a million dollars. How do you like that? He would’ve given his daughters virginity away for a million dollars.”

Mostly to myself, I mumble, “This is a crazy place. We should probably move away.”

Eden kisses the hand he holds, then says, “There are crazy people everywhere, Alyssa.”

A knock comes at the door. “Open up son. It’s Papa,” Lyle calls out to us.

Eden opens the door and Lyle reaches in, quickly pulling him into his arms, hugging him tightly. He lets him go, finally, then grabs me, hugging me too.

“You kids, okay?” he asks as he finally lets me go.

“Yes, sir,” Eden tells him.

I walk out, only to get snatched up by Eden’s mother. “Oh, my babies, I was so worried.”

Eden helps me get out of her grip, only to find he’s caught up by her. “Mom, it's okay,” he says, soothingly to her.

As we walk past our open bedroom door, we see the glass on the floor as the sunlight shines through the broken pane, reflecting the light on the numerous pieces.

My parents are in the living room. They both rush at us, taking turns hugging us.

“Gee, guys, really? So much fuss? We’re fine,” I tell them.

With a serious tone to his voice, my father tells us, “Sit down, please, both of you.”

I’m shaken by his demeanor. Eden and I sit down as the four of them stand in front of us. Mom comes to sit next to me as Eden’s mother comes to sit next to him.

“The man who was here is very dangerous,” my mother says as she pats me on the back. “He’s done some horrible things, it would seem. When Lyle called the police to let them know there was an intruder and that he got away, they responded immediately. They saw the surveillance footage from the security cameras and they recognized him as he’s being sought after for a prior crime.”

My father puts his hand on my mother’s shoulder and says, “His daughter, Karen, was found in an alley in downtown New Orleans last night. She was badly beaten. Luckily, she was found and taken to the hospital. There she told the doctors her father had been sexually abusing her for years. She tried to stop him from doing it again, but he beat her, then took her, dropping her off in a deserted alleyway. He thought she was dead. They sent police to his house only to find it was burned down.”

I look at my mother in shock and disbelief as I reach my hand out to Eden. “I should’ve never opened that door. I put us at such risk, Eden,” I say despondently, upset with myself.

Eden holds my hand. “No, don’t blame yourself.”

I turn to look at Eden. “I’m so sorry, Eden. You should go see her.”

Eden’s father stops me. “Going to see her is out of the question. We’ve already sent someone to look after her there. She’ll be well taken care of. She will have the finest medical care, both physically and mentally. We’ll take care of her, don’t worry. She’s been told you’re aware of her condition, but you cannot come to see her for safety reasons. She’s fine with that. We’re trying to locate an aunt who she says is the only relative she’s ever heard anything about.”

My head is spinning at this information. What an animal that man is and I let him into our home. Then I’m reminded he was in the mansion way before he got to my door.

How did that happen?

“Did you find out how he got into the mansion in the first place?” I ask.

“He walked right through the front door. He somehow knew the correct code to gain entry at the gates. The code has already been changed,” Lyle says, as he shakes his head almost sadly.

“We do know he’s not on the premises anymore though,” my father says, turning our attention to him. “While his car is still here, he was seen climbing over the fence. Just to be safe, though, you’re all coming to stay at our new house until he’s caught.”

“How is there any safer than here?” I ask.

“The house is smaller, with a safe room built into each bedroom,” Lyle says. “The closets are all safe rooms there. The security system is state of the art, even better than what we have here. Also, I don’t think he’s figured out your parents live here in New Orleans now. So I hope he won’t be looking for you there.”

Eden rises, pulling me up with him. “Then I’ll finish getting dressed and we will leave.”

When we walk into our room, the glass on the floor brings a thought to my mind. “Eden, I wonder what he threw to break the window. Look, the hole is small. It can’t be more than three inches around or so.”

Eden studies the hole in the glass. “I don’t know. I just know he had a sling shot in his hand when I saw him,” he says, then turns to me. “Alyssa, I’m sorry about this. I had no idea she was from such a messed-up situation.”

“Eden, don’t do that,” I say as I follow him to his closet. “You saw a girl who had no friends. She just wanted to do what everybody else was doing. You know, be normal and go to her senior prom. The poor girl was enduring so much at home it made her unable to make real relationships. I’m glad you did that for her. Please don’t apologize for it again. I admit I was angry at first, but you didn’t do anything wrong. My heart aches for that poor girl.”

Eden pulls on a white shirt, buttoning it as he walks to me, then pulls me to him. “You’re so kind-hearted, Alyssa. I love you so much. You have no idea how much,” Eden tells me with added warmth to his soft, velvety voice.

“I love you too, Eden,” I tell him as he rocks me slowly back and forth, kissing the top of my head.

When we walk outside, I see a black suburban parked in the driveway. “Is that the man’s?” I ask.

“No, sweetie, it’s mine. Your mother and I found it at our new house when we moved in. Pretty cool, huh? The Phoenix Foundation always does so well by us,” Dad says.

He opens the car door for us. “I don’t see our cars anywhere. Where are they?” I ask.

Lyle turns to look at me as I climb into the seat behind him, and says, “We had them put into the garage and locked them up tight so that maniac can’t get to them. They’ll also be gone over with a fine-tooth comb to be sure he’s not done anything to them.”

I look over at Eden. “I hope he hasn’t done anything to mess them up.”

He smiles at me. “Even if he has, they’ll be fixed up good as new. You can count on that, Alyssa.”

As we come to the gate, there’s an old, ratty-looking, brown Buick. “So this must be his,” I say.

Lyle answers me, “Yes, it is. I’m very disappointed he was able to get through the gates. That means someone gave him the code or buzzed him in. Someone in our home.”

I hadn’t even thought about that. I cannot imagine who would want us hurt. Everyone who works at the mansion seems so nice and genuine. The thought there’s someone in the house who’s against us is frightening. Why would anyone be against us?

Eden buckles his seat belt, then mine, which I neglected to do. His constant attentiveness has me forgetting to do the most basic things for myself. “I cannot believe someone in our organization would be a part of this,” he says. He looks at me and smiles, then sends me, ‘I’ll try to control myself, princess. I don’t wish for you to become so reliant on me you forget to buckle your own safety belt.’

I smile back and kiss his cheek.

He’s so adorable!

“Unfortunately, son, it’s impossible to be certain that every person has good intentions,” Lyle says. “That’s why we have to do the things we do to keep you safe. It takes many people to be sure of that, and sometimes we have to fight our own to keep the Phoenix couples safe.”

Eden asks, “Do you think this person or people changed the way they thought about this organization because of us?”

Lyle looks back at him. “People can change for many reasons. Maybe the person started out with good intentions and then something happened to make them fall away from what we’re doing. Hopefully we’ll find out soon, as not only do we have the New Orleans’s police department investigating, but also our own team of investigators. They should find something soon. This guy didn’t just disappear.”

Eden looks down at me. “Promise me you’ll be good and do everything we’re told to do, even if it doesn’t make sense to you at the time, princess.”

What? What is he talking about?

“Eden, I don’t understand.”

His arm slides around my shoulders and he pulls me into his chest. “Just promise me, please,” he not so much asks as demands.

I nod my head, but internally I’m freaking out. I mean, come on, just do whatever I’m told to, without questioning anything? I don’t know if I can do that. What if someone I don’t completely trust tells me to do something I’m not comfortable doing?

“Eden, what if the person who helped this guy get into the house tells us to do something we question? I mean, we have no idea who it is, right?”

He smiles at me. “Okay, I see. Just do what I ask, or what anyone else who you trust asks, okay baby?”

I smile back at him. “Okay,” I promise him and I feel a little bit better about it now.

The gates open up at my parents’ new house. As we drive up to it I’m speechless. It’s gorgeous. It’s not nearly as large as the mansion we just came from, but it’s a mansion as well. Even though its brand new, it’s still full of the southern charm Louisiana is known for.

Four large columns hold up an enormous balcony overlooking the front entrance area, which is spectacular. There’s a large area of pink flowers blooming up the middle of two stairways, leading up to a porch. It’s a shade of white, but has a slightly pink hue to it. Dad pulls up and we all get out.

“This is beautiful, Toni. I haven’t seen it finished. It turned out so nice,” Sierra tells my mother.

“It really did. They always do such a fantastic job, don’t they?” Mom asks.

“That they do,” Sierra agrees.

As we enter the house, we walk right into the main living area. I can tell my mother had her hand in decorating because I see several paintings which came from our house in Cloudcroft. The painting over the sofa is one that my mother’s father painted when she was a little girl. It’s of her and her little sister at the beach in California.

“Come Ally and Eden, let me show you to your room,” Mom calls to us as she heads towards a gorgeous staircase that spirals up just off the living area.

We follow her up the stairs. “This place is so nice, Mom.”

She turns to me and smiles. “The first door to the right is yours. Make yourself at home, dears. You will find that, as usual, your closets are already filled with clothes, as are the dressers. Come down whenever you are ready to,” she tells us, then turns to go back down the stairs.

I open the door to find a large four poster bed with a dark maroon-colored bedspread on it. The room only has one closet, but it’s huge. Eden’s things are on one side and mine on the other. I notice that in the back of the closet there are supplies such as gallon jugs of water and canned foods.

“Eden, why are there supplies like this I here, do you think?”

“This is a place where hurricanes come in on occasion, baby. Most homes have these things in them somewhere. You know, just in case. Once it’s known a hurricane is coming in, the stores get crazy and run out of things quickly.”

Eden opens the only other door in the room to find a decent sized bathroom with a stand up tiled shower. It’s not nearly what we have back at our place, but it’s nice. My parents, as usual, scale back on things they find pretentious. I, on the other hand, love having a huge bathroom with all the bells and whistles.

“Think you can be comfortable here?” I ask Eden.

Suddenly, he picks me up off the ground, holding me in his arms and spinning me around. Taking me back into the bedroom, he lays me down on the bed. He reaches down, taking my sandals off and running his hand up my leg. My heart is pounding in my chest. His eyes are full of desire.

He begins to unbutton his shirt. “Baby, as long as I’m with you, I can be comfortable anywhere. Now let’s break this sucker in.”

CHAPTER 44

EDEN

He’s drugged her! I can’t find her!

I run through the dark alley behind Bourbon Street.

She has to be near here. This is where I last saw her thoughts!

Alyssa sent the words, ‘I love you, Eden. My time has come, unless you stop this. I’ll see you on the other side, my love.’

With those words, she also sent the view she was looking at. The dark grey stone walls of the back of one of the many clubs along Bourbon Street.

I search as one of our doctors struggles to keep up with me. I know I’ll need his help once I find her.

This is all my fault. Why did I have to get involved with that family?

A dark mass looms in the distance. My heart pounds as I race to it. And there she is.

The doctor shouts, “Eden, let me see to her first.”

The look on his face as he turns back to me after he’s looked at her tells me all I need to know.

He rises and looks away as I dive to my princess’s side.

My body is shaking. It’s as if I’m being shaken. “Eden! Wake up!”

It’s Alyssa’s voice, but how can it be?

The smell of barbecue fills my nostrils as I blink my eyes open. The room is cloaked in orange light and a figure moves in front of me, the sun’s light behind it, making it hard to make out.

“Eden,” she says.

It’s my mate! She’s alive! It was all a dream!

I sit up. “There’s still time.”

Alyssa looks at me quizzically. “Still time for what?”

I shake my head to clear it before I grab her and pull her to my bare chest. Burying my face in her honeysuckle-scented curls, I breathe her in. “Alyssa, you’re in danger. We need Kyle here to help keep you safe. Laura, too. She’s key in keeping you safe as well.”

Alyssa frowns. “Laura? She doesn’t even know what we are, Eden. How can she help? And about Kyle. Well, things have been so much easier to take since he left. Unless it’s absolutely necessary, I don’t want him around. It’s just too hard,” she says as she drops her head.

She’s been doing that a lot since Kyle went back to Cloudcroft. The inner confidence she gained when we first transformed into the Phoenixes seems to have left her.

I reach out and take her delicate chin in my hand, making her look at me. “They love you, Alyssa. It would devastate them both if something happened to you. With their help, nothing will.”

“Eden, you need to show me your dream. I can’t make a decision like that without knowing what might happen to me.”

Now it’s my head which drops. “Alyssa, it’s hard for me to talk about it without getting upset. I don’t think it’s a good thing for you to see. That’s why I took so long in the shower this morning. I had a hard time getting control over my emotions. The idea of losing you is …” I trail off.

I can’t let myself think like that!

Alyssa walks to the chair where I threw her little summer dress right before I devoured her. “I’ve heard enough, as you’ve been talking in your sleep and even sleep walking, to know something happens to me. There’s a doctor you talk to, so it’s not good.” She pulls it over her head, then makes her way to the dresser.

Finding my shorts on the floor, I pick them up and put them back on. “More than hurt, Alyssa. You don’t make it.”

She stops looking through the drawer she opened and looks back at me. “I don’t make it? What could happen to me? It just has to be a dream, not a premonition. It can’t be my death. Not so soon. Longevity was promised to me. What about that?”

“Alyssa, the dream is too real, too vivid. It continues when I fall back asleep.” I explain.

She turns back to the drawer, pulling out a lacy pair of white panties. “What if you’re wrong and we get Kyle and Laura over here for nothing?”

I give her a frown. “I hope I am wrong, but I have to follow my heart on this. I can’t just do nothing and let this happen to you. I have an idea that might help you to come to grips with this. If you die, Alyssa, you know I’ll be dead within a day of you. Kyle may follow as well. We’ve never understood how his connection to you will be affected if you pass before he does. Is that what you want, for us to leave this earth, never having accomplished more than one task on this planet?”

She pulls on her panties and I nearly lose my train of thought. Her voice makes me look up at her eyes. “How do Kyle and Laura fit into stopping whatever it is that’s going to happen?”

This is where she’ll really fight me!

“Okay, here it goes. I’ve dreaded telling you this, Alyssa, because the answer is …I don’t know.”

Her slim arms rise up into the air as she shouts, “What? You don’t know? Are you crazy?”

“Something in my dream is why I say that, although I don’t know why. I say to myself in the dream, ‘If only Kyle was here. If only Laura had been with her.’ That’s why I think they’re key players in keeping you alive.”

“Crap, I hate this!” she says as she slips on her sandals. “I don’t know why he’s putting us through this. Why, Eden, why?”

I slip my T-shirt over my head and go to her, holding her to me. “Please don’t do that, Alyssa. Don’t question. It serves no purpose. For what reason, we may never know. It’s just something which needs to be done. Learn to have faith. Hasn’t anything we’ve been through brought that home to you yet?”

Laying her head against my chest, she wraps her arms around me and says, “What’s so wrong with me that I keep questioning everything over and over again? You’re right and I know it, but I can’t stop myself. In the very beginning, I had so much faith. I’ve lost my confidence as well as my faith.”

I rock her in my arms and place a kiss on top of her head. “You’re hiding from the pain, princess. You’re hiding from who you really are. Since Kyle left, you’ve changed back into the girl you were.”

Her body shudders and she whispers, “I miss him like you can never understand. Only I don’t want him around because it’s so damn hard. I hate myself for wanting him. I love you so much and I don’t understand how I could want you both.”

Her honesty fills my heart. “I know you love me, precious. Kyle is your primary protector and you two have to learn how to live with that. The attraction will have to be dealt with. You both are hiding from it right now and it’s not helping it go away.”

She looks up at me with those sapphire eyes, batting her dark, full lashes. Unshed tears make them glisten as she says, “I suppose you’re right. I’ll call him and tell him about your dream and the crazy man. I don’t know if Laura will want to come or not.”

“Bet she will, princess,” I say with a knowing smile.

That girl isn’t going to let Kyle come out here without her!

“We’ve been up here for hours,” Alyssa says as she pulls out of my arms. “I shudder to think what our parents are thinking about us right now.”

She strides toward the bedroom door and I catch up, slipping my arm around her tiny waist. My laugh is a bit on the evil side as I whisper in her ear, “Probably something terrible, like we’re up here making babies.”

She stops and bats at my chest with her small hand. “Don’t even joke about that, Eden. I forgot to pray before you devoured me while ago.”

“What? You usually pray before we, umm …” I say.

Her voice an octave higher than normal interrupts me, “Of course I do. It’s our only form of contraception. I hope Our Creator will accept an after prayer as opposed to my normal before prayer.”

I laugh and give her a little squeeze. “Princess, we have no control over that. You’ll just have to accept what happens. A baby wouldn’t be a bad thing.”

“We’ve been married just over a month, Eden. Let’s be us for a while before we have to be parents. I mean, damn, we’ve had a lot of transitions. First we get married, then we become giant birds. Adding being pregnant then having a baby to care for, well it’s just too much. I can’t handle anymore right now.”

I kiss her cheek as we trot down the stairs. “I love you, princess.”

“I love you too, my prince. If you care about my feelings, perhaps you could join me in asking Our Creator to give us more time before he bestows a gift upon us.”

I nod and smile, but hide my true feelings from her.

It’s not in our hands after all.

CHAPTER 45

ALYSSA

We go downstairs to find no one in the house, so we wander around until we see our parents out a door off the kitchen. “Look, Eden, they have a swimming pool.”

Eden opens the door. “I see that. Let’s join them.”

Lyle, saunters towards us, and says, “There they are. I was wondering if you were ever going to come join us.”

“We were tired from all the drama, Papa,” Eden says with a smile.

Lyle gives Eden the same devilish look Eden gets sometimes. “Tired? So that’s what they’re calling it now days?” he asks, then turns his attention to me. “Make it a baby girl, Alyssa. I want a sweet little girl to spoil.” My face turns beet red and my head drops like a rock. Lyle’s arm wraps around my shoulders, hugging me to him. “Oh, how I love to see her blush.”

I hit at him faintly. “You’re terrible, Papa,” I reprimand him, as my whole family laughs.

Eden comes to my rescue. “Papa, leave my wife alone,” he tells Lyle and then the rescue effort takes a bad turn. “There will be no babies yet, as my wife has come up with a new way to stay un-pregnant. She uses divine intervention—a prayer prior to marital relations is keeping her safe from becoming a mommy before she’s ready to.” They all laugh again.

Fantastic. I just found out my newly formed family is a bunch of real comedians!

“You guys should take your act on the road sometime or at least off a short pier into alligator infested waters,” I quip as I find I’m madder at my husband for divulging our intimate secrets than I am embarrassed.

Mom tries to help me by distracting the comedic line up that is my husband and Eden’s father. “Oh, come here my baby girl. Let me put some sun block on you before you burn out here,” she tells me as she pulls me away from the rat pack.

“Thanks, Mom. They’re brutal, huh?”

“It’s all in good fun, Alyssa,” she tells me as she lathers me up with sunscreen, then hands me the tube. “Go put some on Eden. I don’t want him to get burned either.”

I take the tube over to my wonderful, yet overly talkative husband as he sits in the bullpen with our fathers. I say, flatly, “I have to put sunscreen on you. Mom said.”

He looks at me and his naturally tan face has a slightly amused look to it. “I tan, Alyssa. I don’t need any.”

“Um … but Mom said, Eden. So … I have to. It’s for your own safety,” I tell him, with a fake sweetness.

“Oh, I see. Well, if it’s for my safety then by all means, please,” he responds, with the same fake sweetness to his velvet voice.

I take a nice-sized dollop of the white goop and place it on his nose. “There you go. All done,” I tell him as a smile crosses my face at how silly he looks.

He looks at me, then his eyes go dark. He leans over to whisper in my ear. “I see you want to play with me. You must feel like laughing since you’ve made me look funny for your amusement. I feel like hearing you giggle, Mrs. Fontaine. I think that will give us both what we want.”

My eyes widen as I remember the last time he wanted to hear me giggle. I almost peed myself as he tickled me.

I can see in his eyes that he’s about to pounce on me. I turn and start moving away from him to the safety of my mother.

I look back as I hear a chair scraping the cement. Sure enough, he’s getting up. If he’s already up, my mother isn’t going to stop him from getting me. I move faster to the side of the house, climbing the railing which runs around the porch. I see a large plant there, so I hide behind it. He walks past it.

Yes! I’m home free!

Then he turns around. “I see you, Alyssa. Don’t move.”

“No, Eden!” I shriek as I start to back out of my hiding place.

“Alyssa! Really, don’t move!” he yells at me.

“What is it?” I ask, remaining perfectly still as I see a worried look on his face.

Then I hear it—a loud humming sound. I raise my eyes to where it’s coming from to see a million red wasps on a massive nest, snuggled inside the plant I’m hiding behind.

One flies directly at my face. I move like lightning and hear the hum of them as they follow me.

I run as fast as I can, right past Eden as he reaches out for me. He runs right behind me as the mass of wasps chase him too. I get to the front door and fly into the house. Eden is right behind me, then turns to slam the door shut.

“Crap, those things are freaking fast!” he says, excitedly.

I start to laugh. He still has the sunscreen on his nose as he looks down at me, bringing his face close to mine. I wipe the white goo off his nose, then I close my eyes in anticipation of his lips touching mine.

His hands at my waist take my attention from his lips as he begins his tickle torture. I scream and try to wiggle out of his grasp, giggling like a maniac all the while.

“Stop, Eden, please!”

He lifts me up, tossing me onto the sofa, then goes crazy on me. “Eden, please!” I beg him.

He stops his tickling, but takes my hands up over my head, stretching my arms up and holding them down. “So, no more tickling, then, Alyssa?”

“Please, no more. I’ll be good. I won’t ever put stuff on your face again, ever,” I tell him, in hopes he’ll let me up.

He holds me still. “Do you promise?”

I nod my head. “I promise.”

His eyes turn from playful to serious. “Alyssa, what if someone other than me was holding you down? Do you think you could get away from them?”

“Eden, you’re really strong. Most people aren’t as strong as you are,” I tell him, then remember the fact that I’m pretty strong as well.

Who does he think I’ll be coming up against, the Hulk?

“I’ll lighten up my grip then,” he tells me as I feel a little less pressure on my wrists. “Now try to get away from me.”

I wiggle and move, but can’t pull away from him. I decide to go for the groin, but not hard or anything. He anticipates my move, though, then sits on me, holding my legs down too.

Now I really can’t move.

After a brief struggle, I give up. “I can’t get away from you, Eden,” I confess to him.

He lets my hands go and then stands up. “We have to get you some self-defense lessons. I’ll talk to Beck about it tomorrow.”

I sit up with a new realization that I’m completely incapable of defending myself. “Damn Eden, I can barely make it through his workouts. How can I add more to that?” I whine.

“You’re a lot tougher than you think you are. You’ll get through it,” he says as he lifts me up, placing me back on my feet. “As a matter of fact, you should ask Laura to take them with you. Might give her some incentive to join Kyle when he comes.”

“Did you forget where we are?” I ask him.

“This is a big house, Alyssa. I’m sure there’s at least one more bedroom available.”

“Um … I don’t even know if that would be appropriate. I mean, I have no idea if they’re, well, you know, still together like that.”

“Oh, I bet they are,” he says, with a smile.

Moving past him to go back outside, I look over my shoulder, and say, “He told me he didn’t know if he would stay with her or not. Our little situation has him confused and he’s not one to lead a girl on.”

I open the door to the patio to find dad pulling steaks off of the barbecue pit. “Ally, go tell Scotty to come eat dinner,” he calls out to me.

“Where is he?”

“His game room. Go back through the kitchen, then the living room. There’s a door under the staircase. That’s it,” he directs me.

I turn around to find Eden stopped right behind me. “Game room, huh?” he says as he raises his eyebrows. “I have to see it.”

We walk back through the house to find the door under the staircase, Eden opens it and says, “Wow, it’s like when the Wizard of Oz goes from black and white to full color.”

My eyes have to adjust to the complete darkness, only interrupted by the lights of scattered video games, television screens, and game consoles. The room is huge. I can hear Scotty before I see him. Then my eyes adjust and I finally see him. He has a headset on.

“Scotty,” I call out, but Eden stops me.

He puts his finger to his lips. “Shh, he’s online. Don’t embarrass him,” he whispers to me, then makes some hand signs at Scotty. Unbelievably, Scotty nods his head at Eden, then we leave.

“That cannot be healthy,” I state as Eden closes the door behind us. “Our kids won’t be doing any of that.”

He smiles. “Oh, our kids? So one day we will have kids? Like you’ll quit praying for no kids?”

“Someday, Eden. Not today though. Apparently I have to get buff and become a lethal weapon in order to stay alive,” I tease him.

CHAPTER 46

KYLE

After a whole month of not hearing a word or a thought from Ally, she called to tell me I need to get to her by the morning and she ruined my night.

I also have to do my best to get Laura to come with me, and that feat might prove to be a little hard.

When I left the mansion in New Orleans I was an emotional mess. Laura noticed how quiet I was on the jet ride home and tried to get me to open up to her.

Talking to her about my Phoenix problems is not a thing I’m allowed to do.

That burden is mine to bear. I’ve never felt more alone. I can’t talk to my Ally, the one person I’ve always been able to talk to about anything. It hurts us to be around one another. A deeper love for her, I’ve never had. Yet I can never have her the way I crave.

She’ll be in my life for a very long time. My vow to her gave me a long life—over a hundred years. Along with the gift of longevity, I also got a hell of a lot stronger, and now my plans to go play college football are over.

I’d probably seriously injur,e or maybe even kill, someone if I played.

My life is supposedly still mine to live where I want, how I want, and with who I want. As if that’s going to be so damn easy to do without being able to tell people who and what I really am.

How am I supposed to live a normal life now?

The Phoenix Foundation will pay everything for me since I’m Ally’s primary guardian and her top protector. I want more than to be a babysitter for my ex-girlfriend. But I’m stumped at just what it is I can do. I still have my scholarships to college and have no idea how I can get out of playing football if I use them.

My heart and mind have been numb for a month. A solid month with no real emotions flowing through me. My parents have accused me of using drugs. My father asked if I was smoking pot and my mother cried. She blames Ally for the change in my behavior.

Mom was never an Ally fan, for reasons I’ve never been clear on. My mom thinks Laura hung the moon and was so happy when we started seeing each other. They hang out a lot, going shopping and to the movies.

It’s probably my mother who’s kept my relationship with Laura going. I’ve been distant to say the least. I prefer to be left alone to read, play video games, or get on my computer to search for Phoenix legends.

I’ve become obsessed with the legends of the Phoenix and Thunderbirds. Now that I know the truth, they all seem like fairy tales.

Laura came to visit this afternoon, like she does on most days. I hung out with her for a whopping fifteen minutes before I palmed her off on Mom. I gave Laura the keys to my truck and asked her to go down to Alamogordo to buy me some new jeans and shirts. I gave her the credit card the butler, Niles, gave me before I left New Orleans and told her to take Mom and make a girl’s day out of it.

My endless supply of money is being questioned only minutely. My parents think it’s money I’ve saved from my jobs the last couple of years. I’ve been given a lot of pats on the back for how well I’ve handled my earnings, a fact which makes me detest myself.

I was on the internet looking up all things Phoenix related when Ally called. My heart stopped when I saw her name flash across my cellphone screen.

I answered it without using words. ‘Hello, Al.’ I sent her with my mind.

“Miss me?” she asked me out loud.

“So, what’s up, princess?” I asked as I closed my laptop.

A flash in my head showed me exactly what was up, as she sent me some weird scene with her lying in a dark street as Eden held her, and rain fell around them. A doctor stood near them, looking down.

Suddenly a short, balding chubby older man filled my mind. He carried some wildflowers as he walked into Ally’s suit at the mansion. Then there was a horrible scene of the guy doing terrible things to someone who seems to be his daughter.

Her words whispered through the phone filled my ear with an invisible heat. “I need you, Kyle.”

“Send the jet. I’ll be there by morning,” I said as fierce protection welled up in me.

“Eden says you need to bring Laura with you,” Ally told me.

“May I ask why?” I asked, thinking Eden would rather me have my own female to keep my mind on.

Her giggle hit my ears and my heart skipped a beat. “That’s not why, silly. Something in the dream told him she helps out with this situation. Somehow she keeps this from happening, along with you.”

“I’ll give it my best shot. I’ve been a bit on the cool side with her. I’m not sure about us at this point. My heart belongs to another, as you’re aware,” I said.

“There’s room in there for more. I’m proof of that. So you haven’t broken up with her?” she asked.

“It was you who said to take that slowly and think about it. She’s had so many guys do her wrong. I’d hate to be added to the list of guys who dumped her for no real reason. She’s a great girl, Al,” I said.

“Nobody knows that more than I do, Kyle. So how’s that going, then?”

“I palm her off on my mother a lot,” I said.

A long period of silence filled the phone. “Your mother likes her?” she asked.

“Likes her? I wouldn’t say that. She loves her,” I said, and immediately was sorry as the hurt Ally felt filled me.

“Wonder what I did to make her hate me.” Ally said.

“Al, come on, baby. You were meant for another after all,” I said.

“I know,” she said. “Anyway, try to get her to come. Don’t worry about packing anything. I’m getting the two of you some clothes brought over here, as well as all the other things you’ll need. The driver won’t be taking you to the mansion. We’re at my parents’ new place. I gave you separate bedrooms. That’s what you want, right?”

My head filled with her thoughts, ‘Are you two still sleeping together?’

Without hesitation, as if I could lie to her if I wanted to, I sent back, ‘Not since we left the mansion.’

An audible sigh rang in my head. “Not that it’s my business,” Ally said. “See you in the morning, Kyle. Bye.”

And that’s how she ruined my night.

I have to see her and stay with her, and Laura has to be there, making all this shit even harder.

If I could just tell Laura what we all are, things would be so much better.

The sound of my truck pulling into our driveway lets me know my mother and Laura are back. I walk into the living room where my father dozes in his recliner and an old western on the television blares.

The front door opens and Mom yells, “Turn that dang thing down!”

Dad jerks awake and looks at me as if I had something to do with how abruptly he was woken up. I shrug my shoulders at him. “You got the remote, Pop.”

After a search of his chair, he finds the remote and turns the sound down. “You didn’t have to yell, Gertie,” he bellows.

Mom drops several large bags on the couch. “You need a hearing aid, Joe.”

Dad mumbles something about not wanting to hear everything and Mom shoots him a look of irritation. Laura comes inside, holding more bags. I decide to turn on the charm, trying to get her to agree to go with me to New Orleans.

Taking the bags from her, I kiss her cheek. “Did you have a good time, baby doll?” I ask.

Her light blue eyes look at me with curiosity as she says, “Baby doll? It’s been a while since you’ve called me that, Kyle.”

I set the bags down and pull her up into a hug, lifting her off her feet. “I know and I think a break from this place would help our relationship.”

I spin her around and carry her off to my bedroom. “Kyle!” she shouts as her face turns red. “Your parents!”

I look back to see my mother beaming at us. “Never mind them, Laura. They love you and want us to be happy.”

Carrying her into my room, I kick the door closed behind us and lay her down on my unmade bed. Her blonde hair fans out on my pillow as she looks up at me with a twinkle in her eyes. “How sweet you’re being,” she says.

I sit down on the bed, and run my hands through her silky, soft hair. “I’ve been neglecting you. My mind’s been a mess. We’ve had an offer and I’ve already accepted for my part. I’m going to New Orleans early in the morning. Ally’s parents got a new house and we’re invited to go for a visit. She and Eden are there already.”

Laura looks away from me and her face is void of any readable emotion. “So that’s why the good mood. You get to go see Ally.” Her words are soft but full of hurt.

I kiss her cheek and lean my forehead to the side of hers as she continues to turn her head from me. “That’s not why, Laura. It gives us a chance to get away from here for a little while. We need that, don’t you think?”

“We need something, I agree,” she says, then scoots over, moving away from me. “Why is that do you think?”

Great! She needs to talk and we’ve little time to get things right with us before I need to leave with her.

“Things are different and I don’t do different really well,” I say as I stand up and pace around my bedroom. “That’s why I need to spend more time with Ally and her husband, so I can get it through my thick head she and I are over. You and I are together and I need to appreciate that.”

She turns on her side, resting her head on her hand. “You and I don’t have to be together. You go on without me and see if you miss me at all.”

I need her to go!

“Laura, of course I would miss you. Come on, go with me. It’ll be fun. She’s sending the jet for us. You and I can work through this little rough patch. I care about you a lot,” I say, then sit back down on the bed and run my hand up her tanned leg.

“You care about me. That should be enough, shouldn’t it?” she asks. “You have a bit of trouble telling me that. You don’t say it very often. Yet you have no trouble telling Ally you love her.”

Ouch! She’s not pulling any punches.

“You’d rather I tell you something I don’t feel yet?” I ask, taking her chin in my hand to make her look at me. “I care deeply about you, Laura. And may I add, you haven’t told me how you feel about me in a long time either.”

Her eyes narrow. “Kyle, I’m crazy about you and you have to know that. I come over here, uninvited, every day to see you. You don’t call me, take me anywhere, or walk me home. Yet I hang on, hoping you’ll get it that Ally has moved on and left you behind.”

My heart contracts at her words. She has done all that and I sit in my room and whine to myself how I love Ally. My life is going to always have her in it and it’s making me nuts. If I could only talk to Laura about this, things would be so much better.

Threading my fingers through hers, I look at her. “I know I’ve been a crappy boyfriend. I asked you not to see anyone else and have done nothing with you, left you dangling.”

“Yeah, you have,” she says. “Do you remember the last time we kissed?”

I nod, because I know it was the night before we left the mansion in New Orleans. Before Ally and I almost kissed.

“You love her and you still want her. I’m not good enough anymore,” she says, then sits up. “I have to admit, she looked fucking fantastic. With enough money, I suppose most women could look that good.”

“Money, huh? Is that what you think about her? It’s only money that makes her glow and shine like a star? Wow, Laura, some friend.”

Standing now, she makes her way to the door. “I’ll make this easy on you, Kyle. We’re over.”

What? Shit! What have I done?

She moves quickly to the front door. My mother looks up from her seat on the couch. “Are you leaving, sweetie?” she asks Laura.

Laura stops her hasty retreat and looks at my mother. “Yes, ma’am. I’m sorry. I’ll explain later,” she says, then turns to look back to me as I’ve emerged from my bedroom. “Have a nice time in New Orleans.”

She walks out the door, leaving my parents looking at me. My mother jumps up and runs at me. “What did you do to her, boy?”

I raise my hands over my head in an exaggerated shrug. “Hell if I know, Ma! I asked her to go with me to New Orleans where we’ll stay in the Devlin’s new mansion for a visit. How horrible of me, huh?”

“Ally’s? You asked her to go with you to see that girl?” my mother asks, then pokes me in my chest with her skinny finger. “You are an idiot, son! That girl is married. I knew she wasn’t the one for you. You got lucky when Laura accepted your advances.”

“My advances?” I ask

Mom turns to walk away from me, but I grab her narrow shoulders and spin her around to look at me. “She told me what you did to her, Kyle.”

My mother’s words make my world tilt on its axis. Laura told my mother about how we got together. She’s insane!

Mom looks at me, her eyes growing gentle and her words not coming out as harshly. “She’s a great girl, son. Let Ally go. She’s gone anyway. Hold on to Laura. She’s a keeper.”

I spin around to walk out the front door. I have to go fight for my girl. I’ve hurt her with my insane notion of Ally and a love which is nothing more than a connection for me to protect her.

Laura lives three doors down and although she walked out of my house with her head held high and no tears on her face, I see her leaning against the wall by her front door. Her hands cover her face and I know she’s crying. It is killing me, and I jog over, careful to be quiet so she doesn’t hear me and run inside.

Her cries are quiet,and her body shakes as I approach her. I take her in my arms, pulling her close to me. She buries her face in my chest and clings to me. “I love you, Laura,” I say, without knowing I was going to do it.

I guess that’s how you know sometimes. If the thought of losing them makes you weak, then it must be love. My mother’s right. Laura is wonderful and patient with a foolish boy who pines after one he can never have.

I have to get over Ally and be happy with who I have right in front of me.

The tears have streaked her pink cheeks as she looks up at me. “Really, Kyle?” she asks. “You aren’t just saying that?”

I kiss the top of her head “No, I’m not just saying that. I love you, Laura. When you said we were over and walked out, something in me broke wide open. I see what and who is important to me now.”

Her bottom lip quivers as she says, “I love you too, Kyle. I have for a while.”

She’s loved me!

Slowly, I lean to touch her lips with mine. Her arms reach up around my neck and she pulls me to her. It’s been so long since our lips have touched, and when they do, I fall apart inside. She makes heat fill my body.

She pulls away from me a little. “Kyle, I don’t want you to go to New Orleans.”

I press my forehead to hers. She thinks I only want to go see Ally and that’s not it at all. Maybe a form of the truth would make her agree to come with me.

“Baby doll, I didn’t tell you why we’ve been invited,” I say. “A man may be trying to hurt Ally. The father of an old girlfriend of Eden’s. The guy’s crazy. He raped his daughter and left her for dead. Now it seems he may be after Ally.”

She pulls out of my arms and turns away. “Are you serious?”

“I am. You can call her if you want to.”

She runs her hands up and down her arms as if she’s cold, but it’s nowhere near cold. She turns back and says, “I’m being a jealous ass and I’m done being that. You were right about one thing. What kind of friend am I? I love her too, and I should put that at the top of my priorities. Tell her I’m coming too.”

I smile at her as my heart fills with a new feeling for her. “You’re pretty fantastic, baby.”

She takes my hand in hers and pulls me into her house. “Mom and Dad won’t be back for hours. Why don’t you come in for a while? I want to show you how much I love you, then you can show me how much you love me,” she says, and I find I’m happy to hear her words.

CHAPTER 47

ALYSSA

I notice I’ve missed a call when I pick up the phone off my night stand. I hit the button to listen to my voice mail. A man’s voice comes out of the phone’s speaker.

“So they think that by moving you, it will stop me from getting you. I will get you, Alyssa Fontaine. You took my daughter’s place in that family. She should be living that life, not you. I should be living in that house, not you. I can’t wait to get my hands on you, bitch,” a man’s voice says. I realize right away it’s Darren Stiles voice on the recording.

I drop the phone, staring at it helplessly. I can’t believe what I’ve just heard. I find I’m shaking uncontrollably. That man did terrible things to his own daughter. What in the hell would he do to me?

Tears begin to fall out of my eyes without me even realizing it. I have to let them know. I pick the phone back up and take it with me. I find my father sitting with Lyle in the living room.

My voice is shaky as I call out to him, “Daddy?”

“Yes, sweetie?”

I hold my phone out to him. “He wants me.”

Lyle stands up quickly, coming to wrap his arm around me, and pulling me to sit down on the sofa with him. He holds me tightly to his side. I sink into his chest, feeling very drained. The reality that I could end up dead, and very soon, has hit me like a brick wall.

“Alyssa, you’re white as a ghost. Who wants you?” Lyle asks me.

“Press the voice mail button, Daddy.”

My father pushes the button. He and Lyle listen to the man’s message. My father’s face pales, then he stands up.

“I’ll call the police. I’m getting your mother, Alyssa. Stay with Lyle,” Dad tells me, then leaves the room hastily.

I find I’m suddenly sobbing. Eden’s father holds me close to him as he says, “Alyssa, we won’t let anything happen to you. You’re safe. You have to believe me. You are safe.”