Chapter Twenty-Two

AYRIE

“Elle sent a message, and she needs a ride from the warehouse.” Ashlyn came out onto the beach. We were all assembled, waiting for Elle’s return. I had given Kitty a ride on my back. She had decided she wanted to have wings when she grew up.

“I can run over and pick her up.” Nathaniel had been making a sand castle with his daughter, but he stood up and started getting ready to leave.

“That’s okay. I’ll get Elle myself.”

“Ayrie, I was hoping you would say that.”

I moved closer to him so we could talk privately. “I need a place to have a conversation without an audience, if you know what I mean. Is there somewhere between here and the warehouse where we could have a bit of privacy?”

Nathaniel thought for a minute. “Our planet is mostly open water. There’s an old guest house on the other side of this island. You should be able to spot it easily from the air. We keep it ready for guests, but we only use it when Ashlyn’s family comes over here. Ashlyn was just talking about the servants cleaning everything, including the bedding.” He waggled his eyebrows.

My mouth dropped open, and I stared at him.

“You don’t seem to think about the future much. If everything goes well, you’ll be in need of a bed tonight. I’m rooting for you.”

I closed my eyes. “All I’m thinking about is getting Elle to change her mind.” Unbidden, her image entered my head. She was naked and beautiful, just as she was the night we were together on the deserted island.

Nathaniel gave me a sympathetic look. “If everything works out, don’t wait. You should form a bond with her.”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”

“The guest house is the perfect spot for you. It’s a private place for you two to talk and do anything else that might come to mind.”

“It’s not a sure thing.”

“You should always be prepared.” He gave me a slap on the back. “Good luck.”

I nodded, said goodbye, and went to get my wife.

ELLE

Ayrie set us down next to a cute house on the island. I got off his back as quickly as I could. Being close to him was weakening my resolve. I didn’t recognize where we were, but it looked like no one would bother us. He had brought me here to talk. It was better than being at Ashlyn and Nathaniel’s where there were always people everywhere. If he ended up breaking my heart again, I wanted him to do it privately.

“Come on.” He took my hand and started walking toward the house.

I wanted to pull away from him. I was enjoying holding his hand too much. Something in the way he looked at me made me decide against it.

We walked together into the little cottage. It was spotless and smelled fresh as if someone had recently cleaned it and aired it out. I wondered how he had found the place.

“What’s this about, Ayrie?” I felt like I had to break the silence first. I wanted to get everything over with one way or another. I released his hand and moved across the room from him. “Why did you come down looking for me?”

“I might ask you the same thing. I heard you ran into Anders on the mothership.”

I blushed. “Ashlyn convinced me to come and talk to you.”

“About what?”

I shrugged. “You go first. We both have things we want to say.”

Ayrie nodded firmly and clenched his hands into fists at his sides. He was trying to work up enough courage to speak. His wings quivered. “I don’t know how to start.” He looked at me uncertainly.

“Just say it.” I felt like I might break into a thousand pieces at any moment. “I can’t stand the tension. I’m going to leave.”

“Don’t do that.” He reached out his hand to me. “Please don’t go, Elle.”

“You’re going to have to get on with it, then. The suspense is killing me.”

His eyes warmed with amusement. “I might mess it up, but listen to what I have to say. When I married you, I wanted to help you. You seemed so...”

I decided to fill in the blanks for him. “Desperate?” The truth was that I had been. But I wasn’t desperate anymore. At least, not in the same way.

“That’s one way to put it. I would have said you were determined to get out of your situation.”

“It sounds the same to me.”

He shrugged. “Anyways. I thought you were pretty. More than that, actually. Sexy. You intrigued me.”

He had never told me anything like this before.

“After we married each other, we didn’t sleep in the same room. We had to watch Arnon and Jayne being head-over-heels in love with each other and have the twins. They were everything we weren’t. It must have affected both of us.”

I stared down at my clasped hands and nodded.

“I don’t know about you, but I thought if I didn’t have any expectations, we would turn out okay. But we had ideas about each other. We just didn’t talk about them. You became bitter, and I was...”

“Aloof.” I looked up. “You were mean and ignored me.”

He held his hands up and a pained look passed over his face. “Okay. I deserved that. I thought I was protecting myself.”

My breath caught in my throat. What did Ayrie mean?

“Everything kept getting worse. I don’t know what made me invite you to Vandwa with me. It might have been how wistful you looked when you found out I would be apart from you. It occurred to me for the first time that you might care about me, even though you were cold and silent.”

“That was because I thought you didn’t want me.” He had shocked me into defending myself.

“There are two sides to every story, right?”

I pursed my lips together and shut up. I was supposed to be letting Ayrie talk.

“When we were on the island, everything changed.” He gazed off into space, trying to find the right words. “You acted so loving toward me.”

I had expected Ayrie to be the first one to show love so I could respond. I was an idiot. “I’ve always...” I couldn’t finish speaking.

“I was worried about you when you became sick. When you disappeared, I nearly went out of my mind. But I still didn’t realize it.”

Realize what? I didn’t say anything out loud, afraid of interrupting him.

“We had many brushes with death, and I still didn’t wake up. Once my brother pointed out I took all the good things in my life for granted, I finally saw things as they are.”

“And how is that?” I was unable to stay silent.

Ayrie’s fingers drummed against his leg. He came over to me and took my hands. I felt like I couldn’t breathe after the look he gave me. He swallowed and searched my eyes. I saw the fear in his face, and I still waited.

“Elle, I love you.”

I could feel my eyes widen, and my knees went weak. Ayrie must have anticipated my reaction. His arm was already around me, and he braced me against his body.

“Are you serious?”

He looked scared. “I don’t think that’s what you’re supposed to say. I’m opening my soul to you.”

I drew in a shaky breath. “Do you mean it?”

“Of course I do. Would I make it up?”

“No, but you might be saying it just to get me back.”

“Of course I’m saying it to get you back. I love you. I don’t want you to leave.”

His face fell. He slapped his forehead and turned away from me, brushing me with his snow-white wings.

He thought I didn’t care about him. What kind of a fool would ask if her man is serious when he told her he loved her?

“I’m sorry, Ayrie.”

“It’s okay. It doesn’t matter.”

“I’ve loved you since the beginning. At first, I needed anyone who could get me off Earth.” He gazed at me, questioningly, his eyes hurt and confused. “As soon as I saw how kind you were, I fell for you right away. I hoped you might feel the same about me. Everything seemed to have worked out for Jayne and Arnon, after all, and most of the other couples. I could tell that something was different about you. You were still friendly and kind, but there wasn’t a spark in your eye. When you decided we shouldn’t bond because you wanted to protect me, it was kind, but not what I was looking for.”

He shook his head and ran his hand through his hair, messing it up.

“Ayrie, our time on the island was like a dream. You were starting to act like you cared about me as more than a friend. After all our hard times together, I was floating on air. But even after all we had been through, you wouldn’t let me inside.” Tears came to my eyes. “I reached the end of my rope. I couldn’t do it anymore. I needed total commitment, and you wouldn’t give it to me. You held back.”

“You decided to get a divorce and set me free. I had broken your heart too many times. I think this was a mistake, Elle. I should leave.”

“It wasn’t a mistake. I was miserable without you.” I pulled on his arm, making him turn back to me. “I thought I had done the right thing, but I was a wreck.” My voice dropped to barely above a whisper. “No matter what happens, I can’t stop loving you, Ayrie.”

He had me in his arms and was kissing me before I knew what was going on. He pulled away and looked into my eyes. “I’m not going anywhere, Elle, and neither are you.” He swept me away in a mind-blowing kiss that held nothing back and wiped every thought from my mind except how much I loved him.