"For the last time I'm fine!"
"Are you sure?"
She glared down at him. "Emmett if you ask me that again I'm going to hurt you."
In an instant Emmett was a blur climbing up the tree silently and perched on the branch she sat on by the balls of his feet. "I just want to make sure you're okay."
"Okay bu—"
She placed her hand firmly over his mouth. "No."
Burnt gold eyes rolled but he nodded. She removed her hand. She gave Emmett a wary look, half-convinced he was going to ask if she was alright again. Emmett shifted so he was sitting on the branch across her and Anala gasped as he pulled her up and into his lap so she was straddling him. He grinned, dimples making an appearance on his flawless face. "Can I see them?"
Anala shifted and pulled off his shirt. She had been avoiding wearing anything that rubbed against her back. Not only did Emmett's oversized shirts fill the description, she knew he liked seeing her in them. She placed the shirt on the branch. Anala braced her hands on his wide shoulders and hissed at the feel of her tender skin splitting. It was nowhere near the white-hot shredding of the first time but it would take a few times before it wasn't this sore and there wouldn't be any more discomfort. Anala felt the bones in her back shift and her wings emerge. She flexed them, relaxing at the feel of the tendons rearranging around the bones and stretching the muscles from their confinement.
"They're beautiful. I can't wait to see you in the air."
"Not yet. I'm not used to them, and they aren't strong enough for flight yet." it had only been a day since her transition completed. Emmett reached out and touched her right wing. His other hand lifted, tracing the inner most part of the other, just where they extended from her back. His eyes, finally losing the last of the cerise hue, were following his hand. Anala shivered at the feel of his fingers running slowly along the feathers, the warmth of them spreading through the limb. Emmett's eyes met hers, hands pausing. Anala blinked, taken aback. Emmett was staring at her. She couldn't quite decipher the expression on his face. his features were mostly blank, not showing much of any particular emotion but his dark gold eyes were liquid pools, penetrating into her own deeply and making her feel strangely bare. Anala felt her cheeks heat and she suddenly started feeling self-conscious. Her wings tucked around her a bit, quivering unsurely.
"Why . . . why are you looking at me like that?"
"You're an angel."
She looked away. "No I'm not." Angels were creatures of light and purity. Divine beings. Her kind were a pale comparison to their once-blessed ancestors and she was far from something like that.
He took her hands and their eyes met once more. Emmett smiled serenely. "Yes, you are. You came into my life when I needed you most. I may not have known it at the time but I did, I needed you. I always will. Even in death you kept me going, gave me a reason to live, no matter how low I got . . . You gave your life . . . it's hard to believe you're really mine. Hell, love, you've got wings." He touched her heated cheek. "My angel," he murmured.
Anala looked down and his hand cupped her chin. "I love how even after everything, you still get that adorable blush on your cheeks."
Her face became even warmer in response. This would've been a good moment to say something clever but the flutter in her belly was making it difficult. She never got the chance to think of something as she found herself watching his mouth. There was a slight smile on the dark pink lips and Anala pressed her mouth to his, letting her eyes slip shut. She took his face in her hands as his larger ones held her hips. Anala gently suckled his bottom lip and a low rumble came from deep in his chest. The smooth, warm lips moved against hers slowly and she mewled as his hands moved to her lower back and her sensitive nipples rubbed against the fabric of his shirt.
Anala wrapped her arms around his shoulders and tilted her head back, staring up at the ever-cloudy sky. A flock of birds passed by far overhead and Anala's wings twitched enviously. She had memories, memories that now felt so distant due to having that life ripped away and lost to death, of flying. Of feeling the wind against her skin and wings detecting each shift in the air as she soared high above the earth. A big, warm hand pressed to her sternum and Anala closed her eyes at the pleasant feeling moving through her at Emmett's touch against her mark. She laid her hand over his.
"The girls are leaving."
"Are they?" Anala liked Tanya, Kate and Irina. It had taken a bit to get used to Tanya's overbearing personality, being leader of her coven, and it had definitely been strange after the situation with Kate but Anala had become fond of the three women. Irina was a clever woman with a wicked sense of humor and could definitely envision her and Rosalie being sisters. Anala felt her wings return into her back and pulled on his shirt.
"Carmen and Elazar are on their way back from Moscow and they want to be there to welcome them."
Anala nodded.
"Love, what happened last night?"
She wrung the hem of the shirt in her hands. "It was just a nightmare."
"You were terrified."
"They're called nightmares for a reason."
"Anala."
She didn't want to talk about it. She just wanted to put it behind her. A chill went through her, the phantom sensation of hot breath against her skin and clawed hands touching her making her feel physically sick. Emmett was looking at her expectantly and Anala shifted on his lap. "I just . . . my final memories weren't ideal." Those last months hadn't been ideal.
"You know you can talk to me about it, right?"
"Yes I know. I just don't like thinking about it." she didn't want to think about it. Those memories needed to be locked away and forgotten. She was here now. Carus was gone, she didn't have to think about it anymore. She didn't have to know that pain anymore. Emmett gave her a long look and Anala hoped he wouldn't press the subject.
"Okay."