Page 262 of Nobody's Girl

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.”