Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 5

anyone before you're ready. I chose a place on a lake because I thought you would enjoy it, after so long without such things." He reached over and trailed his fingers through the water, then brushed his wet fingertips across Renat's temple. "You can do this," he told Renat firmly. "You can do anything."
    "As long as I have you," Renat murmured, and Emiel's smile seemed to brighten the sky. "What does mostly human mean?"
    "Just what it sounds like. We have human bodies with human frailties. Human needs. But," Emiel said with a sly smile, "Our Father anticipated that this would get difficult sometimes, and so He left us with a little…reminder. Close your eyes."
    Renat obeyed, shutting lids that felt a little swollen from tears. Emiel shifted away for a moment, and when he came back to Renat's arms his chest was bare. Something soft fluttered against Renat's cheek, and when he opened his eyes he was looking into Emiel's grinning face, and surrounding them both were gently pulsing white feathers.
    After a brief moment of shock Renat tilted his head back and laughed. He laughed for what felt like the first time in his life, pure and joyous. The sound echoed across the water and slowly dissolved into the earth, a fitting introduction to the world for one of God's newest souls.
    THE END
    Author bio: Cari Z is a Colorado girl who loves snow and sunshine. She tried living the American dream for a while but soon traded it in for two years in the Peace Corps. She's back from Africa now, playing catch up with work, loving hot running water and writing for all she's worth.
    Contact info:
    Follow her blog for updates on her recent works at The Fictional Life of Cari Z , and check out her Website for a running tally of everything she's put out there and news on what's coming next. You can email her at [email protected]. In fact, please do! She'd love to hear from you. She also has a brand new Twitter account @author_cariz .
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IN DREAMS
    by Eden Winters

    For three sleepless days, the lyrics have been pounding around in my head. Every time I close my eyes, this is the face that I see. The music is pouring from me, dragging me in its wake and I can almost believe he is real, his haunted eyes singing to me .
    ~ Lexi

    genre: fantasy
    tags: elves; magic; hurt/comfort; abduction/kidnapping
    word count: 4,939
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    IN DREAMS
    by Eden Winters
    Callused hands smooth my sides, the scent of new mown hay blending with my lover's skin as he lays me down in the fragrant meadow. A ring of stones encircles us, shielding us from the world outside. He smiles down at me. His lips are full, his cheekbones high, a hood hides most of his hair. Wisps of ebony down escape the confines of the fine wool, lightly caressing his face. "I choose you," he whispers. "Tonight you are mine."
    He takes me, his face hidden in shadow. I cry out in my completion, a name falling unbidden from my tongue: "Alastair!"
    Afterwards he holds me, crooning a melody with words I cannot understand.
    A rooster's crow jolts me awake and the image dissipates like smoke on a morning breeze as it's done so many times before. However, this morning was slightly different, for this morning I hum the tune my nocturnal visitor sang to me and whisper the name "Alastair." A niggling of a memory dances from my grasp, vanishing in the mists of forgetfulness.
    Three nights. For three sleepless nights the phantom has haunted me with his sweet lovemaking and elusive lyrics that mean nothing yet everything to me. They plague me night and day – a mystery to puzzle out. Every time I close my eyes, I see old eyes in a young face, the curve of his cheek, plump lips. This man who lives each night in my dreams strikes a resonance in my heart that none at the tavern ever have. And his voice! He sings like an angel, filling me with longing until the music pours from me, dragging me in its wake and I can almost believe he is real, his fathomless eyes crying out to me. Who is this phantom who robs my sleep, and what does he want of me?
    The rooster crows again and I rise, folding my blanket and wiping hay from my braes before climbing down from the barn loft. A bit of cold water from the well brings me fully awake. Overhead, the last stars fade to nothingness, fleeing the rising sun. A few depressions of a pump handle fill the chickens' water bucket, and I fill another for the cow. The innkeeper and his wife pay me, not to milk the cow or gather the eggs, but to