Alberta

Chapter Forty One: Im free *

I dropped Teddy off at the airport for her evening flight back home to Oregon, and made my way back home. I couldn't wait to get changed, and to freshen up before I left again tonight to collect Allie from her flight from Utah at Ten.

As I drove up my street my mind wondered and my belly filled with a warmth at the thought of seeing Allie again, to kiss her and to hold her. It felt incredible to think after so many years of loving her that I could finally express it, every bit of it. To have her feel it too, that seemed beyond a blessing. I didn't know what I had ever done to love so deeply, and have it returned ten fold.

Im not sure what I saw first, the red of her hair or the smile on her face. That excited smile, it lifted her lips and drew me away from my body like an out of body experience. "Allie" I whispered to myself as I pulled in. She was sat on the steps, and her suitcase was sat beside her. The sun was filtering through the trees above her, making her appear speckled with bright light, like an angel delivered upon my stoop.

I jumped down from the car and ran, colliding with her and lifting her into my arms "what are you doing here" I ask questionably with an excited laugh as I spun her around. "I've missed you so much" I confess, stopping and letting her loose in my arms so that I can gaze at her.

"I wanted to surprise you" she said through a smile.

I inhaled deeply, sighing at the sight of her, and the heavenly aura that surrounded her as she cupped my face. Her eyes dip to my lips before she pulled me towards her. Her mouth brushes mine, her lips softly placing a kiss. My lips slip into hers, a longing caress cut short as she pulls away slowly "Willa... I'm here" she announces with relief.

I look back at her and nod "you are" I whisper.

Her thumbs caress my cheeks before she slips them down my jaw, my shoulders, and then my arms, causing goosebumps along my flesh as she finds my hands and squeezes them.

"Willa... im here and.... Im free" her words catch in her throat, perhaps trapped and then released by the emotion evident in her voice.

"You're ... free" I repeat slowly.

She nods, and the relief is evident in her face. Her nostrils flare slightly as the emotion releases. "Ben and I ... we are getting divorced" she confesses.

"What" I say stunned.

She nods so I will understand her. "it all happened when I got home. I have so much to tell you, but the only thing you truly need to hear is that...I'm yours... Willa....and we can be together..." she pauses for a second as I digest the information, slightly stunned, before she adds a little jittery with the relief, and the fact the moment was finally here "well there's a few rules we must follow first and I can't move here yet but..." and before she can finish what she is saying I lift her into my arms, her legs wrapping around my waist as I kiss her. It was a longing and enthusiastic kiss that takes her breath away, and leaves no doubt about my reaction to her news.

Her arms wrap around my neck, her fingers thread through my hair, our lips fall into a rhythm of sweet and wanting kisses that begin to deepen. Our mouths entwined in discovery, lips slipping between lips, tongues beginning to touch, a heat, a wave crashing against my body as Allies legs tighten against my small waist. My hands cup the top of her thighs and the base of her shorts, fingers curling over her curves and pulling her against myself. I sit myself down on the stoop, pulling her down onto my lap. My kisses slow, they soften again and I pull away with a smile, peppering her lips and her cheeks in loving kisses "I love you so much" I confess.

She runs her hands up and down my arms in soothing motions before arching back a little, her icy eyes wondering over my features, lifting to a smile, "feel this" she says taking my hand and placing it flat against her chest. Our eyes connect as I feel the intense thump of her heart against my hand. I take hers and place it on mine, she looks down as she feels the beat, the drumming, the tribal thump. "That's ours..." she says gazing back into my eyes "yours and mine..." she adds with a contented lift of her lips.