Chapter 519: Dream of Me
RETH
Reth hadn't thought he'd sleep at all. But then he was suddenly aware of being in the cave, in the pitch darkness, Elia's warmth beside him.
It took a moment of blinking to understand that he was back in the dream and she was there with him.
And she was crying.
"Elia?" Heart pounding, he reached over to pull her in, dragging her across the bed until her back was pressed to his chest.
She sucked in a breath and rolled over, her hands immediately going to his face, his hair, his neck. "Reth, you're still here?!"
"Love, I've been here—what's wrong. Why are you crying?"
"Because I can't go back, Reth!" she wailed, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face in his throat until he almost couldn't understand her words. "I can't wake up! I can't do it anymore!"
"But… but, Love you're here with me. When you wake up… you're here. You're home."
"Reth, this is a dream!"
"This is," he said, pulling his head back so he could comb her hair back from her wet face. "But you are here, in Anima, with me. Don't you remember?"
She went very still, staring up at him in the dark. For a moment he reminded himself that she couldn't see him—then he remembered, she had Anima senses now. Her eyes weren't searching the dark for him, she was searching his eyes for the truth.
He dropped a soft kiss on her lips, then pulled away again. "Elia, you're home. You're in Anima. We're in the furs together and I'm holding you and this… this is forever. I'm never sending you away again. It almost killed me, Love."
"It almost killed me too," she said and her breath caught. "I can't… I'm afraid, Reth."
"Oh, Love," he breathed, stroking her hair off her beautiful face and kissed her again. "I'm here," he whispered. "I vowed your life before mine, and I only mean it more every day. If anyone comes for you, they'll have to get through me first—"
"No, Reth, that's not what I mean," she hiccupped. "I'm… I'm scared of what's going on in my body. I'm scared I'm going to get lost in my beast forever. Sometimes… sometimes I don't want to be in my own skin anymore. Sometimes I just want to let her have everything and… go away."
His hands tightened on her reflexively and he had to swallow a growl. "Why would you leave me?" he whispered, surprised by the dart of pain in his chest at her words.
"I wasn't leaving you, Reth. You weren't there and I couldn't get to you, and I couldn't talk to you and I had no idea if you were even alive! And it just… it was killing me. I had to get away from the pain. It was making me insane!" she wailed. She pressed her face into his neck again, her tears trailing down his throat to his collarbones.
Panic fluttered in his chest. What had he done sending her over there? What price would they pay for it?
"Elia… Elia, look at me." He urged her to pull away, to meet his gaze in the dark. He stroked her hair back from her face and took one of her hands in his and kissed her fingers. "I'm here, Love. Look at me, feel me. Hear me. I'm here. This is the dream right now, but when you wake, I'll be there too. You're home, Elia. Getting here… it wasn't a dream. Being here wasn't a dream. You're home, Love. You're really home. And I'm never going to send you away again, no matter how dangerous it gets."
Her tears fell faster, but he could feel her softening, breaking, beginning to believe him.
"Come with me, Elia," he whispered.
"Where? I'll go with you anywhere, Reth."
"Let's wake up and start our lives again."
She sucked in and he shook his head. "Trust me. Do you trust me, Elia? Still? After all this?"
"What are you—of course! Reth!"
He nodded. "Then trust me: You are here, Elia. It isn't a dream. It wasn't your mind making things up. Your beast crossed the traverse—somehow—and you are here. And I am… so grateful. Creator's Light, Elia, you have no idea."
She spluttered into tears again, but for the first time she smiled through them.
"Are you ready?" he asked quietly, letting his voice go slow and soothing.
"I… I don't know."
"Do you believe me?"
"I believe that you believe it."
He chuckled and her eyes closed, joy passing over her face. "I love you, Reth," she whispered. "I love you more than anyone."
"And I love you more, Love, you know that." He took her mouth again, his stomach clenching and body hardening, shuddering with the sheer delight of having her in his arms.
Something inside her snapped and she opened her lips, taking his tongue with hers and whimpered into his mouth, arching her back to bring them against each other.
Reth pulled her thigh up and over his hip, her thick, round stomach between them like a ball of warmth. He curled around it, stroking her leg with one hand, cupping her face with the other, and kissing her like they were about to make love.
She shook, clinging to him, her voice high and thin.
If he didn't stop, he was going to take her right here, and that might just confuse her more. So he forced himself to stop kissing her, though his hand still gripped the back of her thigh, and his breath heaved.
"Are you ready, Elia?"
"For what?"
"We're going to wake up and you're going to see that you're with me. That we're together now. And we're going to face this. Right now."
She stared into his eyes hers still shining with tears, but she nodded her head. "I… just in case," she whispered, "Just know that I'm in love with you, Reth. I need you. No matter what happens, or where… where I go. I need you."
He groaned and leaned in quickly for one more kiss. "I need you too, Elia. It's why I'm so thankful that you're with me," he whispered against her lips. "Now, wake up."
******
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