The Anima [completed]

23.

"We will use glamour until we find you some new clothing." Alvar laughed and turned to Lucius.

They began to mutter under their breath, and soon they stood in simple jeans and t-shirts, and I was clad in shorts and a 90's band tee.

I groaned at his choice of band, in bright yellow red ONE DIRECTION across my chest. But I was quickly distracted by the most grisly, and yet handsome, looking young man with golden eyes and a long ginger beard. With a large nose and a thick head of red curls, it didn't take long for my mind to register who it was.

"Beast?" I asked in bemusement.

A wide grin answered me as the beast turned human stroked his hands down his chest, clad in a right leather jacket and motorcycle pants.

"Yes." He practically screamed, his voice so loud that we all covered our ears and groaned.

"Mmm, no talking for you today." Lucius mumbled, turning his back on the creature to begin walking towards the humans.

I had no idea where we were, but it was populated as the tall buildings spewed out hundreds of people onto the streets. It was loud, louder than it had been after the secluded past day in the woods, with only the bird's songs as music. I watched in amusement as Beast began to walk, almost like he was both limping and skipping.

"This way." Alvar waved us over and began to lead us into the city.

It was strange thinking that the portals, or 'holes' between the worlds are invisible and don't have a physical effect on the body. Someone could quiet literally just walk into another universe, another world, and be snatched up by hungry Gryphons as soon as they knew they were human. The number of disappearances annually worldwide was actually beginning to make sense.

I caught up quickly with Alvar, our shoulders brushing against one another as I leaned in close to his face.

"So what's the plan?" I whispered, revelling in the blush that crept onto his cheeks as my hot breath tickled the hair on his neck. He cleared his throat.

"We will find somewhere to stay until nightfall." He paused and raked a hand through his beautifully curly hair. "I think we could all use some extra rest."

I nodded, the screeching sound of human chatter filling our ears. I hadn't realised how melodic the Fae's voice has been until I had returned to my own world. The noises were sickeningly loud and intrusive and made my stomach feel uneasy. Even still, I managed to push it to the back of my mind and keep pace with Alvar, who remained powerful even in a human form. I reached out and intentionally brushed my hand against his, waiting for another reaction. Again, there was redness in his cheeks and he quickly tore his hand away from my own. That only made me grin.

I knew he had affection for me, but he was afraid to act on it. I wanted to let him know, let him see, that I was not afraid of him and that I wanted to know what it felt like to press my lips against his.

Beast grumbled and I realised my mind was still wide open. I shot him a glance over my shoulder with a grin and stuck my tongue out at him. It was strange, I had this sudden surge of self-confidence and assurance, like I should take what I wanted and not have to apologise for it.

"It's the power girl, it's getting to your head." Beast hummed in my mind. I just rolled my eyes at him and stuck my tongue out again.

It didn't matter if it was the power; I felt the best I had in a long time, and I wasn't going to just let that feeling go away willingly. The worry's and questions that lingered in my mind momentarily left and all I focused on was the creeping smile on the corners of Alvar's lips.

We came to a stop in front of a large building with a proportionally smaller sign that indicated it was a HOTEL. Clambering inside, Alvar quickly bought several rooms on a lower floor for the night with European money. That, at least, answered my question of where about we were, but I still had no clue where we needed to go. Lucius snatched his key from Alvar's hand and Beast quickly followed suit, leaving Alvar and I awkwardly staring at their retreating backs down the hallway.

"Well, that's surly a testament to our good company." I joked, causing a light laugh to fall from his lips.

"Come on," He reached out and grabbed my hand softly, "You need some proper rest."

Allowing Alvar to pull me down the hallway, I imagined what it would be like if we were here on a different scenario. If he were human, would this be where we kissed and stayed up all night, watching bad movies and ordering pizza? But I couldn't think like that, because he was not human, nor would he ever be. I didn't even know if I could still call myself a human.

"I'm not the one who needs rest." I grumbled as he unlocked one of the rooms and pushed me down onto one of the beds.

I bounced back up, a grin on my face as I slid my hands over his chest. His body stiffened, but he did not move away from my touch as he had before. I cocked my head and leaned into Alvar's body, pressing myself against his chest. His breathing hitched, but again he did not move, only stood frozen as I explored his body with my hands. I was close enough to kiss him, but I didn't want that right then. What I wanted was to know how he was put together; to explore his world with my fingertips. And so I did.

Sliding my hands under his shirt, I felt the muscles under his skin tense, creating ripples and texture as my fingers passed over his stomach. My hands travelled to his back as I moved around him, finding all the little scars on his body and some frightenly large ones on his back. I knew I could heal them if he wanted me too, but I also knew that a person's body was a home, a reflection of themselves. For someone else to change a part of you would be just as bad as giving him another ghastly scar myself. But I did find a knotted muscle in his side and my eyes snapped open when I realised he was in a small amount of pain.

My arms pushed out and he fell onto the mattress in front of him. he was shocked at my actions, but amused all the same, a smirk on his lips.

"What are you doing?" His slight accent was thick then, which made my heart flutter.

"Shh!" I snapped, hitting his hands away as they reached out for my face. I couldn't lose focus if I were to heal him.

I climbed onto the bed beside him and pushed him until he rolled over onto his back. I straddled his lower back between my legs and began to feel around the spot of pain for any more injury. But it was simple enough and just as soon as I closed my eyes and kneaded the knot with my mind was he healed.

"Okay. You're all fixed now." I said, proud of my work.

I yelped as he suddenly shifted from beneath me and turned the tables in his favour. In a simple manoeuvre I knew from my own MMA classes, he had flipped me over and was now in the small space between my legs, leaning over my body. Our faces were so close that I could see the individual eyelashes that framed his black eyes and the shining scar that sliced through his brow and ended just below his lower eyelashes. My fingers twitched, reaching out to trace the line. The humour in his eyes dropped and quickly turned intense. He pulled away suddenly as if he had contracted a disease, turning his back onto me.

"What's wrong?" I blurted, reaching out to grasp his arm.

"It's okay. You don't have to look at me." He said quietly under his breath, breaking my heart into a million tiny pieces.

"Oh, Alvar," I whispered, sliding off the bed and facing him. I placed a gentle hand under his chin and pushed it up. My other hand slid into his hair, brushing it away from his face and exposing his beautiful eyes. "You're beautiful."

Those words couldn't even begin to describe him, or the kiss that he delicately planted on my lips.  

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So they finally kissed! 

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xx Charli