Into the Light

139

Her face was tilted up, with her emerald eyes shifted colors in the moonlight. Her dark lashes framed her now hunter green eyes, and her full lips were parted slightly, as she took in the sight. The vision physically knocked the breath from my body, and I had to suck air into my lungs, deeply. "If everything is okay, then I'm going to let you get some rest," Ash replied. I heard him but his voice sounded distant. I heard the click of the door and it caught my attention. Ash had left and closed the door behind him. I walked up behind Anna and wrapped my arms around her waist. She closed her arms over mine and leaned back into my chest. "This view is so beautiful," she whispered, switching her eyes from the moon to the lake below. "Could you imagine seeing something like this every night?" "Yeah, I could," I replied. "I definitely want to settle down somewhere with a view like this one day." She turned in my arms and wrapped her arms around my neck, her eyes wide with surprise. "Really?" I nodded and smiled at the surprise in her voice. "Yeah. What's so crazy about that?" "Nothing," she replied, blushing a little. "I don't know, I just thought that you liked the city life." I smiled down at her, enjoying the little flip my heart did. "I do, but it's not somewhere that I'd like to raise a family, or even life for the rest of my life. I grew up in Kansas." Her mouth fell open a little in surprise. "Wait, didn't I already tell you that? Why are you surprised?" I asked. I was sure that I had told her. "Did you tell ghost me? Because real me doesn't remember a lot that happened with ghost me," she responded. I wanted to laugh at the way she had worded it, but I held it back. "But ghost you is how you met real me," I replied, as I tucked a lock of her silky hair behind her ear. She shivered a little and bit her lip. I would never get tired of the way she reacted to me. She leaned back to look up at me. "Are you sure you're real?" she asked, quietly. "Because, I'm not so sure that you aren't some kind of coma dream. Although, if you are a dream, I don't want to wake up." I rolled my eyes and looked away, while I flicked out one wrist to the side. "Stowwp," I joked. She giggled, making my heart do that flippy thing again. I looked back and met her soft gaze. She had a small smile on her inviting lips, but it was the look in her eyes that did me in. It was heart stopping. She was looking at me like I was, quite literally, the only person in the world. Like, she didn't know what she would do if I weren't here. "I love you," I murmured, pushing her hair behind her ear with one hand. She didn't look away, or even blush. "I love you," she replied, holding my gaze steady with her own. "If this is our last night on Earth, then I wouldn't want to be with anyone but you." My heart was really doing its own thing now. Jumping and flipping, beating harder. I was surprised she couldn't hear it, because it was thumping loudly in my own ears. I wanted to show her just how much I loved her and take her to bed. I couldn't do that though. Not tonight. She needed rest. While I could see all the love that she had for me in her eyes, I could also see just how exhausted she was. We all had a big day tomorrow, but she especially did. She was going to be face to face with her capturer, her torturer, and she was going to be fighting back against her. So, tonight was just going to be making sure that she rested. Besides, the need to be with her in that way again, was a good incentive for me to kick Lilith's ass. I leaned down and put my lips close to her ear. "We're going to have many nights together, you and I," I whispered, before pressing a soft kiss right below there. "In this world, or the next, I'll always find you." I leaned back a little so that I press my lips to hers, softly, savoring the taste of her minty chapstick, my tongue exploring with hers. My hands moved to her hips and I tightened my fingers a little, when her nails pressed into the skin at the bottom of my neck. The kiss ended just as gently as it had began. We held each other's gaze for a moment longer, before I let her go and took her hand. "We should get some sleep. Tomorrow is a big day," I said, leading her over to the giant bed. Her gaze went from the bed, then back to me, several times, before she cleared her throat and nodded. I knew what she was thinking, because I was thinking it too. What if this was our last night? What if this was our last chance to be with together, one last time. It didn't matter though, because I wouldn't rush through something that important with her. She might no longer technically be a virgin, but the second time was a lot like the first. Just a little easier. I would wait until I could savor every inch of her and worship her body like she deserved. Not this rushed frenzy just to get it done before we died. If we died, then our last time, our first time, was perfect. Plus, this house was full of ghosts that could be watching us and that was just a little too freaky. I dropped her hand, then tossed the silky blankets back, so that she could climb in. She turned and sat down, then looked up at me. "I don't have anything to sleep in," she said, like she had just remembered that small fact. I laughed a little and nodded. "I know. Neither do I. So, if it's going to bother you if I sleep in my boxers, tell me now." I watched her throat convulse, when she swallowed hard. My mind drifted to other not so holy places, so I looked back up into her eyes. "No," she squeaked. "That's fine." I smiled and nodded, then walked around to my side of the bed. I kept my back turned when I undressed so that I didn't embarrass her. When I was stripped down to my boxers, I lay down and turned towards her, onto my side. I hadn't realized that she was changing too. She wasn't looking at me, so I admired the curve of her thighs and her soft skin, as she shimmied out of her pants. Not until she stood there in her shirt and underwear, did she notice I was watching her.