Rodney answers, “We heard it.”
OMG! They heard it!
‘Taste the wine,’ suddenly fills my head, and I reach out to take the glass, taking a sip and finding it sweet and delicious. ‘Do you like it?’ runs through my mind. I turn to look at Eden and smile.
“I do,” I say, and he rewards me with a kiss on my cheek.
“This is fun,” he says as he raises his eyebrows.
Rodney gives Eden a wink, and says, “Just you wait until your wedding night. To be able to communicate with thought will prove quite stimulating to you both.”
I blush and look away, thinking about how men are always thinking about sex.
Grace surprises me as she speaks, “They all do, Alyssa. You’ll see soon enough when you can hear everyone’s thoughts.”
I giggle at the knowledge the couple across from us can hear everything we think. Eden looks at me. “This is so much better now you know everything about us.”
I kiss his cheek, “It is.”
***
After dinner we gather outside in the spacious back yard. If you can call it a yard. It’s roughly the size of a football field, a large and glorious swimming pool is lit up in the middle of it. The sound of the waterfall which flows into it makes a comforting sound in the night.
The Phoenix couple is about to give us a demonstration of their abilities which will soon be ours. “All you have to do to transform is picture yourself as the bird. You’ll look just like we do, but you’ll keep your distinct eye color,” Rodney tells us.
Grace smiles, and says, “You may wish to cover your ears, the boom is quite loud.”
I look at Eden and cover my ears as does he, and the rest of our family. Grace looks up and Rodney looks down, then two simultaneous claps of thunder shake us as they become two giant, blackbirds, and fly straight up into the air.
I uncover my ears to peer into the night sky. Their dark bodies disappear. A loud shriek makes me throw my hands back over my ears.
We all turn around to face the direction it came from to find them coming in low and landing just in front of us. They stand still and let us touch them.
I’m amazed by them, and the fact I’ll soon be one. Their feathers shimmer in the patio lights. So black their feathers are that they sometimes appear blue.
Gorgeous!
A small squawk comes from Grace, her head nods and I know she wants us to step back. Both birds close their eyes for about two seconds, and they’re back to people again.
“To return to your human form, you simply see yourself as that, and presto, your back,” Grace says.
Scotty gawks at them, and says, “If I hadn’t seen it, I’d never believe it. I wish I could tell my friends, but they’d call me a liar.”
Rodney looks at him. “You can never tell anyone. You can only talk about our kind with members of The Phoenix Foundation. They’re our protectors, and benefactors. It’s they who bought our homes and cars and pay for everything for us.”
“Homes?” I ask.
Grace puts her arm around me as she walks with me. “We have homes all over the world, Alyssa. We’ve taken the home in England for our children and their families to keep after our time as Phoenixes is over and your time begins. Other than that one property, the rest will belong to you and Eden.”
“I can’t believe it. Tell me, Grace, is it a dangerous life we’ll lead?” I ask.
“At times, yes. But we have a superior homeostasis,” Grace says. “Once I got knocked out of the sky from a great height by an airplane. I fell all the way to the ground, and broke several bones, and suffered from bleeding on the brain. I transformed into my human self once I went unconscious. Rodney was fine, and he got an ambulance and said I’d fallen from a helicopter we were riding in, but not nearly as far up as I really was.”
I look at her with sadness. “Oh, that’s terrible.”
“It all turned out fine. Thanks to our ability to heal faster than normal humans, I was better in a week. Thankfully we have doctors all over the world who are part of our protectors, and he was able to help me,” she says, then gives me a squeeze. “The doctor who cared for you after your little accident is one of them, as is your Doctor Baker, or Byron as we like to call him. Did you know it was me who stopped you from running into the path of that truck?”
“I didn’t know that,” I say, “But I have flash backs of the two of you being there, though I saw nothing at the time.”
“I caught you up by your shoulders flew up a bit with you. The fright must have made you pass out, and when I placed you on the ground you fell a bit harder then I meant for you too,” she says with a frown. “I’m sorry for that, Alyssa. I didn’t mean to. You see that’s why it’s time to let you guys take over. We aren’t as strong as we used to be.”
I pat her hand, and say, “You’ve done enough in your time, I’m sure. We’ll take over and make you proud, I promise.”
“I know you will, dear. In a matter of days the adventure which will be your long life will begin. I’m happy to have met you and Eden. The Phoenix legacy is safe with you two,” she says, with a hug.
I cannot believe it, I’m a legacy!
Chapter 28
EDEN
Never could I have imagined how complete I could feel. Alyssa has been enlightened, we are finally as we were meant to be.
I’m truly sorry I kept this from us both for so long. So much pain we’ve both suffered for no real reason. And now Kyle is attached to my mate forever.
Wish I’d seen that coming!
We’re on the jet headed back to Cloudcroft for Alyssa’s graduation. My parents came too. They’re enthralled with Alyssa, never having a daughter of their own to bestow dainty gifts and chat with.
I am not a chatter.
Instead of sitting with my mate, I’m playing video games with Scotty. He and I need to bond, Alyssa told me. He’s a nice kid, and he’s kicking my ass at this game, and I’ve been playing for years.
Alyssa sends me little thoughts now and again, I love you’s, and I want you’s. I send them back along with how I’m going to devour her tomorrow after we’re married.
She chats away with my mother, and I find it funny to send her a mental picture of me kissing her between her naked breasts as she tangles her hands in my hair. She turns back and gives me a wicked look. I wiggle my finger for her to come to me. Excusing herself from my mother’s company, she does as I’ve asked.
“Come, sit and play with me,” I say.
She sits on my lap and takes the controller from my hands. Scotty looks over at us for a second and rolls his eyes. “Lovebirds, yuk!”
I run my hand through my mate’s long, silky curls. I graze her shoulder with my lips and find myself beginning to get uncomfortable in my slacks. ‘Control yourself, Romeo,’ Alyssa’s voice tells me in my head.
‘Take me to the bedroom,’ I think back to her.
She returns with, ‘There is no way in Hell I’m going to do that with a plane full of people,’
I send, ‘They won’t care,’
She puts the controller down, giving me hope. Then she turns on my lap. “You’re being very naughty, Mister, Porno Thinker,” she whispers in my ear.
Porno! Really!
I stroke her cheek as I look into her spectacular blue eyes. They’re different now, so open and really seeing me. “After we’re married tomorrow, I’m going to keep you in bed for at least a week,” I whisper back.
She trails her finger around my jaw. “Glad to hear that.”
In an instant she sends me an image that makes me blush, it’s so naughty. “Alyssa!” I hiss at her. “That’s just too much to take. You have to stop, you temptress.”
“As you wish, sir,” she says with a wicked smile.
“Go back and chat with, Mother. Take your mind off such things. You’re killing me,” I say, and send her away with a small slap to her perfect ass.
The change in her is exciting. No fear, no doubt, no inhibition, sh
e’s real for the first time in her life, she’s letting her true self out, and it’s beyond beautiful.
***
We land and make our way back to the Devlin’s home. I’m staying in Alyssa’s bedroom with her, so my parents can have the guest room. This will make it so much harder than it has been to keep our virginity intact. Especially as my mate seems to tempt me on a near continuous basis.
Even now as she unpacks some of the clothes from her room at the mansion, and hangs them next to the plain clothes she’s worn her whole life, she sends me images of us.
Then she stops and looks at me, her mind blank to me. “I need to go talk to them before I see them tonight,” she says.
“Do you want me to come with you?” I ask.
“No. I need to do this on my own. I’m no longer hurt by their actions. I know why, and I need to let them know I’m fine with it. I’ll be back in a little while,” she says.
She picks up the keys to her Jeep, I place my hand on hers. Reaching in my pocket I give her the keys to my car. “Take the Jag, Princess. Retire that old Jeep.”
Her eyes light up. “Really, Eden? You’ll let me drive it? And all alone? OMG!”
I laugh at her over the top enthusiasm. “What’s mine is your, mate.”
A quick kiss she leaves on my cheek, then she’s gone. I hear her take two stairs at a time as she flies out of the house. Out the window I watch her walk around the Jag, trailing her finger over its curves.
She gets in, puts the top down and reaches into the glove compartment for her sunglasses. Once she has them on she looks like a model from a magazine. Perfect in every way.
Now that’s how my princess is supposed to look. Confident, happy, and out of this world.
‘Thank you, Eden. I love you,’ she sends to me before she disappears down the driveway.
I wander down to help Toni and my mother decorate a cake for Alyssa’s graduation. Our fathers are going over some plans for the wedding at the mansion tomorrow. I overheard them discussing security. They seemed a bit intense, and I want none of that.
After all the intense emotions I’ve had to endure since meeting my mate face to face, I’m ready for some relaxed time. Decorating a graduation cake for my princess sounds like just what I need.
“Hey, Toni, Mother. Is there room for one more decorator on this cake?” I ask as I enter the kitchen.
“Of course there is,” Toni says as she hands me some little, white candy pearls. “Place those around the edge, Darling.”
I open the container and begin pushing the candy into the icing. A bit gets on my finger and I bring it to my lips, licking it off. “Go wash that hand, son,” Mother says.
“Aw, I shouldn’t have done that,” I whine as I go to the sink and wash my hands.
“Where’d Ally go?” Toni asks.
“To see Kyle and Laura,” I answer.
Both our mothers look at me as if I’m crazy. “And you allowed that?” my mother asks.
“Yes,” I say as I resume the task of placing the candy pearls on the cake. “She needs closure with them.”
“Best to put them behind her. Her future is far from them, anyway,” Toni says as she dollops icing on a pedestal, creating a pink rose. “Again, Eden, you will never know how sorry we are for letting her and Kyle get close. At least that’s over.”
I give a chuckle. “It will never be over. They were more than close. They had real love for each other. He’s a permanent part of her now. Once we change, it will be even more cemented into her soft heart.”
My mother stops her icing piping and looks at me. “What are you talking about? That girl is completely enamored with you. There’s no room in her heart for another man.”
“But there is, and he’s there. He’s never going away. I’m okay with it. I have to be. It’s a part of her, and I have accepted it,” I say as I push another pearl onto the side of the cake.
Toni places the rose on the cake, then pats my back. “Ally told you this, Eden?”
I shake my head. “She doesn’t have to. I can see inside her mind now, since she’s been enlightened. I have the majority of her heart, and all of her soul. He only has a small piece of her heart.”
Mother dabs at the cake with a knife to remove a messed up line of piping. “Perhaps you're wrong, Son. Perhaps you’re seeing something which is not there. I can’t see her having love for anyone but you. You two glow with the connection you have. There’s just no room for anyone else.”
“I’m not wrong, and its fine. I can deal with it. I can also see she will never hurt me. Whatever their relationship is will not threaten ours,” I say as I place the last pearl on the side of the cake. “There, how does that look?”
Toni peers at my handy work. “Perfect. Is there nothing you can’t do, Eden?”
I laugh. “You know what I cannot manage to accomplish?”
“No,” she says.
“To beat your son at a video game,” I say, and she laughs.
***
The day marches on and Alyssa is not back yet. It’s been several hours. Though I’m not worried yet, I will soon be if she doesn’t return. I’ve sent out thoughts to her, but I suppose we’re too far away from each other to hear them. I hope that gets better after we change.
The home phone rings and David answers it. “Hello, Devlin residence.”
“Ally, where are you?” he asks.
“No, mam. Come home, we’re all going together," he says.
“I think that’s a bad idea,” he says then turns towards me, holding the phone out. “She wants to talk to you.”
I take the phone. “Alyssa?”
“Hey, Eden. I want to go with my friends to get our gowns on for the graduation. We’re hanging out, talking about our pasts and our futures, and I want to go talk to the rest of my class too. I’m going to miss them, you know,” she says.
“Of course, Princess. You do that. Have fun, and we’ll be there for the graduation. I’m glad you made peace with them, Alyssa. I’ll see you when it’s over,” I say.
“Okay, I love you, Eden.”
“I love you too, Alyssa,” I say then hang the phone up.
Her father stares at me. “You didn’t have to let her do that. You know you can make her come home and go with us,” he says.
I look into David’s eyes, because I know he’s raised her under strict conditions for my sake. I can’t blame him for being so over-protective, but I do need him to see the difference in being protective and being unreasonable.
“David, I fear you have never found the line between protection and unreasonable fears about her. She’s safe and with friends she trusts. This is an important day for her to share with those she’s grown up with. We have to allow her the space to have outside relationships, and interests.”
“You know I heard Kyle’s voice in the background, Eden. She’s with him,” David says.
“I know exactly who she’s with. We have no secrets between us, it’s impossible. She’s grown up with him and Laura and a lot more people she’d like to spend time with before it’s all over. Only I can stop her, and I won’t,” I say as I pat him on the back. “Now let’s get on that pit you have in the back yard. I’m dying to taste this bar-b-que your family raves about. Our Creator only knows how many people your daughter will invite back here to her graduation party.”
He lets out a laugh, then says, “You are something else, Son. So secure. I wish I could feel like you do.”
I wish he could too. I wish everyone could.
Chapter 29
KYLE
Holy Shit! Would you look at her?
I’m outside my house, in the driveway, washing my truck, and Ally just passed by, driving that guy’s Jag. The top’s down and her hair blows around her slightly. She looks so gorgeous I think I forgot to breathe.
Pulling the car into Laura’s driveway, three houses down from mine, she finds no cars there. Laura had to run to Alamogordo to get a dress for graduation, she won’t be hom
e for a couple of hours.
Ally pulls back out, and I’m sure she’ll pass right back by me, and ignore me.
I have to admit I was a complete jackass.
She most likely hates me, and I don’t blame her. My head has been messed up about what she’s done to me, but she didn’t deserve what I said to her. What Laura and I did was no one’s business but our own. I know now I did it out of spite.
To my surprise Ally rolls up, and stops, waving me over, she calls out, “Wanna go for a ride, Kyle?”
I saunter up to her and lean on the door. “Why, so you can go drop me off a cliff?”
The touch of her finger as she tweaks my nose sends warmth right through me. I take her hand and hold it to my cheek.
My God, how I’ve missed her!
She smiles at me, and my insides melt. “I’m not going to drop you off anything, Kyle. Come on, let’s go to Trixie’s and get something to drink, I’m buying.”
Though hesitant about this, I decide to go with her. There’s something very different about her. A certain look in her eyes.
Sure I’m still afraid she wants to get even with me. Maybe she’s going to poison my drink, try to give me the runs so I can’t go to graduation but I find her very intriguing, so I’ll risk it.
“Okay, Al, I’ll go with you,” I say, and let her hand go. I walk around the car to the passenger seat, and slide in. “Damn, this is the softest leather I’ve ever felt.”
She looks over at me as she slides her Ray-Bans back on. “I know, right?”
My God, she’s gorgeous! How did I never see her in this way?
She takes off, making me lean all the way back into the seat with the force. “This thing has a lot of get up and go, girl. You sure you can handle it?” I ask, and I think I want to tell her I’m sorry for telling her about me and Laura like I did.
She laughs, and something in my heart pinches. I find I’ve missed hearing it. “I made it this far, I think I can handle it. So tell me, Kyle.”
I look at her and wait for her to finish her obviously unfinished sentence but she doesn’t. “Do you want to finish what you want me to tell you, Al?”
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