He pulled me into a tight hug and I glanced at Reahlyn, who smiled encouragingly at me.
When Willy then broke away from me, his eyes fell on Reahlyn, whom he regarded with tilted head for a while.
"The one who lets you fly, am I right?" he whispered to me, thinking Reahlyn couldn't hear us. But I knew better.
I bit my lower lip with a smirk and nodded slightly as we both stared at the beautiful man standing a few feet away from us.
"Yes, he is," I replied shyly, and when Reahlyn eyed me with a raised eyebrow and a smile on my lips, I immediately blushed again and looked nervously at Willy. "How are you doing?"
"It's always how you feel," he laughed, and then ran up to Reahlyn to have a chat with him about all things.
Apparently I was now the third wheel on the wagon!
We sat around the fire together and while Willy roasted some pieces of the fish and told Reahlyn about his experiences as a fisherman, I sat cross-legged right next to my wolf and rested my head carefully on his shoulder.
It was just relaxing to be here and just enjoy the moment, especially since being around felt so good.
Reahlyn swiveled his head in my direction briefly, then naturally took my hand in his and wrapped his other arm protectively around my shoulder, which made me take a deep breath and close my eyes as the tingling in my stomach spread through my entire body.
I just listened to them on the side, imagining Benjamin exploring the forest with us the whole time and escaping reality for a while while thanking God for sending me such a soul mate...
The first man who didn't want to own me. Who gave me the freedom I needed and who seemed more interested in me and my well-being than in my body...
It suddenly seemed so easy to be happy. As if life wasn't an endless struggle, but just one choice away from becoming completely beautiful.
Because every minute that dawns is a new chance to change your life...
After relaxing hours and nice conversations, we wished Willy a nice evening and walked back to his motorbike together.
The best part was that he still held my hand tightly in his, giving me a feeling of intimacy I hadn't felt before.
"Why are you actually the way you are?" I then asked him and looked up curiously, while everything around us slowly got darker and darker.
"How am I?" he asked immediately with a grin and then stopped to take my other hand as well so that we stood right in front of each other and looked deep into each other's eyes.
"You're not at all pushy and possessive like others."
His gaze suddenly became wistful and he avoided me for a moment before taking a deep breath and apparently searching for the right words.
"It's bad experiences," he whispered barely audibly, and I immediately had to imagine that there were others before me, which hurt my subconscious, even though it wasn't my right at all to be jealous, especially not of them Past. "No, not what you think," he tried to explain immediately and put his hands on my cheeks.
"I had a sister who killed herself and to this day I believe it was because she felt restricted. I don't want to do that to you, I don't want you to feel like I would you in any way Make pressure."
If only he knew that Alice's story was actually quite different...
"I'm very sorry, Reahlyn," I offered him my condolences and hugged him caringly. I didn't want to confess to him that I already knew because then the subject would come back to Esteban and I knew full well that it was a red rag for him to talk about him.
"It's okay, little one. It's been a long time," he breathed, gently patting my back as I nuzzled my face against his sweet-smelling sweater and closed my eyes. That familiar smell had the magic to really put my worries at ease, if only for a short time.
So we stood in a tight embrace for quite a while in the dark. Each caught in their own thoughts and yet together until he slowly pulled away from me and carefully lifted my chin.
"By nature, I would definitely have fallen on you a long time ago, believe me," he then smiled seductively and I felt my heart beating up to my throat at this idea, while my eyes kept glancing over his so beautiful lips flitted.
He did the same and ran his irises down my face as he placed his hands on my waist and pulled me even closer, wrapping my arms around his neck...
We just looked at each other, but in a way that seemed more intense than anything I'd experienced before. There were no negative thoughts, no doubts... just good feelings, which then prompted me to slowly stand on my tiptoes to kiss his cheek gently.
He looked at me with a beam that was full of love and made me just smile happily at myself.
"How did I earn that?" he asked, obviously amused, and I immediately gave him another one on the other cheek.
"Because you are you," I whispered, embarrassed, and just about to pull away from him a little when he pushed me against the wall of the shed behind me.
"You're not supposed to tease my self-control, little one," he breathed, stroking my flushed cheek gently, which made my breathing quicken.
"I tease you with an innocent kiss on the cheek?"
He moved even closer to me, pressing his body against mine so that I could feel his trembling and every muscle in his body, while his lips were only a few millimeters from mine.
"You tease me with your smell alone," he breathed and took a strand of my hair between his fingers. "Your way of looking at me alone. You have no idea what triggers it on me."
He let his lips glide very fleetingly, very gently over mine and when I wanted to taste his lips longingly, he pulled his head back and looked into my eyes full of desire.
"You really want that kiss, don't you?" he then asked me quietly with a dirty grin and I immediately nodded while pulling his hips closer to me.
"Absolutely," I breathed, but he just smiled and broke away from this heated situation, which had apparently taken over him completely.
"You have to wait for good things, little one," he turned back to me and held out his hand. "Besides, I certainly don't want to make out with you here. That doesn't suit a woman like you."
"A woman like me?" I repeated his words questioningly and took his hand to walk on to the motorcycle.
"You deserve better than being rushed to a dirty shed," he explained briefly and succinctly, and then turned to the front to carefully put my helmet on when I got to the bike.
Then things got really weird...
"Would you like me to drive you all in?"
Now I know why he suddenly seemed so nervous...
"You don't have to," I mumbled through the helmet's visor in embarrassment, but he seemed to want it anyway.
"I'll drive you. Get on."
He got on his bike and when I sat behind him I clung to him tightly while the engine started.
It felt like freedom, driving through Juneau in the dark, until it suddenly struck me that Pablo might see us and my chance to see Benjamin would just be gone.
"Reahlyn," I nudged his shoulder lightly, causing him to slow and almost stop. "You can let me out in front. I'll walk the rest!"
He nodded and rode with me to the next street corner, where I reluctantly got off and handed him the helmet.
"Thanks for a really nice day," I smiled wryly, considering the fact that it was now over.
"It'll be even more beautiful tomorrow," he whispered encouragingly, then pulled his helmet on to disappear into the darkness.