The Life of Anna, Part 5: Emerged (38 page)

She’d fallen asleep over a half hour ago and
all he could do was lay there and watch her sleep, his heart full
of love and gratefulness that they were together again. He knew
she’d felt the bond restored as he had. He smiled, anticipating
seeing her wedding ring back in its proper place soon.

A soft knock sounded on the door. “Come,” he
called softly, hoping he wouldn’t wake Anna.

The door opened and Tony peeked his head in.
He saw Anna lying there and grinned. Not in lust, but in happiness
that she was back where she belonged.

“Are you going to deal with Jasmine?” Tony
asked in a quiet voice.

Fuck
. He’d forgotten about that
woman. He grinned at the idea that she’d heard Anna scream out in
passion as she came, and then shivered in blissful memory of the
sensation of being inside her body. Oh, he would do that every day
for the rest of his life and still not get enough.

“Yes. Is Sebastian here?”

Tony nodded. “He seems pleased.”

“He better be.” Alex grinned and sat up.
“I’ll be out in a moment.”

Tony nodded and closed the door behind him
softly. Alex stood and walked to his closet to get dressed in
something other than the wrinkled dress clothes that had been
tossed aside earlier. He glanced back at Anna’s small form in his
large bed and sighed in contentment.

Only a few more weeks and she would be safe
from Devin forever.

Alex walked into the family room and saw
Jasmine sitting on the couch, staring blankly at the TV that his
men were watching and laughing at. She looked up as he walked into
the room and started to give him a flirtatious smile, but he
frowned and she bit her lip instead.

Sebastian, standing in the back of the room,
gave him an amused smile when he walked in. “Feeling better?” he
asked.

Alex couldn’t suppress his grin and nodded.
Having Anna back in his life made him feel like he could take on
the world. “Is that a bad thing?”

Sebastian chuckled. “Not at all. She seemed
to enjoy herself.”

“These walls aren’t as soundproof as my last
house, eh?” Alex chuckled.

“No. And she’s quite an enthusiastic
lover.”

Alex frowned at his friend. “You
didn’t...while I was gone, did you?”

“Alex, I wasn’t here, remember? If I could
have been here, you would have been freed long before you
were.”

“I hate those rules.”

Sebastian shrugged. “I didn’t make them.”

“You slept with his wife?” Jasmine asked,
turning around on the couch.

Alex smiled. “Yes. In fact,” he motioned
around the room. “All of my men have. Granted, it was before we
were married.” He smiled, knowing Jasmine wouldn’t remember any of
it in the morning.

“She really is a slut,” Jasmine spat.

“And what makes you any better?” Alex
retorted.

She opened her mouth and then closed it,
clearly uncertain on how to respond. “I’m not a cock tease.”

Alex stared at the woman in disbelief. “You
do realize you’re speaking of my wife, right?”

Jasmine shrugged and stood, a seductive glint
in her eye. “C’mon, Alex. She can’t be that good.”

Alex stared at her for a moment and then
looked around the room. The other men were suppressing laughs and
the amusement struck him and he laughed. “She could make your legs
turn weak, and she doesn’t even like being with women all that
much.”

Jasmine rolled her eyes. “I doubt it.”

In a shallow moment, Alex wished Anna was
awake so he could prove her wrong. “You can’t have been that good,
otherwise my brother would have mentioned you.”

“
She
couldn’t be that good, or else
Kurt wouldn’t have come to me.”

“If my brother had slept with her, I would
have kicked his ass.” His eyes narrowed. “If I’d known he was so
desperate that he slept with you, I would have allowed him to be
with Anna.”

“You would have let your brother sleep with
your wife?” Jasmine’s eyes were wide.

“I know my brother cares deeply for her,
despite his behavior these last few months. He’d asked her to marry
him before, but—”

“Alex, why are you justifying yourself to
her?” Sebastian asked quietly in German. “You don’t need to prove
anything to her.”

Alex sighed and ran his hands through his
hair. Sebastian was right. He was acting shallow and foolish. “How
should we do this?” he asked in English, wanting to frighten
Jasmine before making her forget everything.

Sebastian shrugged and walked towards
Jasmine, studying her. “How far do you want to go?”

“What are you talking about?” she asked in a
nervous voice.

“You are a threat to the woman I love,” Alex
said in a menacing voice. “I will not allow any harm to come to
Anna.”

Jasmine’s face turned pale. “I wouldn’t
really do anything to her,” she squeaked.

“I won’t take your word for it,” Alex
growled, making Jasmine jump.

“Please don’t kill me,” she whispered.

Alex gave a wicked smile. “You haven’t done
anything to deserve that. Yet.” He felt his anger bubbling to the
surface. “And you won’t be allowed to get to that point.”

He glanced at Sebastian. They were going to
erase all memories of Devin and hopefully, make her into a more
pleasant person to be around. He was glad Sebastian was here. The
last thing he wanted to do was fry her mind.

Warmth surrounded Anna like sunlight on a
warm day. She stretched and then smiled at the sound of a deep
chuckle next to her. Alex! He was alive! She was with him, snuggled
up close in bed.

She slowly opened her eyes, wanting to
cherish every second of waking up next to her beloved husband for
the first time in years. The smile on his face and the love in his
eyes made her heart pound.

“
Guten Morgen
,” he said softly,
leaning down to kiss her gently on the lips. His arm was bent at
the elbow, head resting on his hand and his hand rested heavily on
her ribs. A good heavy.

“Good morning,” she responded. The corners of
his eyes crinkled as he smiled at her and she noticed a round scar
on his right side, just under his clavicle near his shoulder. Her
hand ran up his chest to trace the light spot with her finger.
“What happened?”

He looked down and frowned for a moment. “I
pissed someone off and they shot me.”

Anna’s eyes widened. “Oh, Alex.” She leaned
up and kissed the spot. “Did it hurt?”

Alex chuckled. “Hurt like hell, but no
permanent damage.”

Anna’s body tingled as she ran her tongue
over the slightly raised skin and pressed her body to his, sliding
her hand around his back.

“Mmm,” he rumbled and rolled to his back,
bringing her with him.

His cock teased her pussy and she squirmed
and tried to lower herself on his body to take him inside her.
Grasping her hips, he obliged, pushing her down; her wet, swollen
folds separated and allowed him in.

They both sighed as he filled her completely
and lay there for a few minutes, feeling each other in the most
intimate fashion. Anna’s head lay on his chest and she heard his
heart pounding. She shifted her hips slightly and the pounding got
louder and quicker.

She grinned and lifted her head to look at
him with mischief in her eyes.

“You did that on purpose,” he accused with a
smile. She shrugged innocently and his smile turned into a grin. He
mumbled something in German and grasped her hips, holding her still
as he slammed up into her.

“Oh!” she exclaimed in surprised passion and
sat up slightly, hands on his smooth, hard chest. She tried to move
with him, but his strong hands held her firm as he repeatedly
pounded his full length inside her. His abdominals contracted with
every thrust and the muscles in his upper body flexed as he held
her immobile. Her head fell backwards and she moaned loudly as he
took her with loving force. “Oh, God, Alex!” she screamed as she
came with such force it nearly blinded her. The colors exploded
inside her like fireworks, consuming her every thought and nerve.
His hands tightened on her waist, his fingers digging into the soft
flesh as he exploded inside her, shouting, “
Oh, mein
Anna!”

She slumped forward onto his chest, her
muscles unable to hold her body upright. Alex stroked her back
slowly and she listened as his heartbeat slowed. “I think that’s my
favorite sound,” she murmured, tracing a finger around his nipple
in front of her face.

“What is?”

“Your heartbeat. The most wonderful sound in
the world.”

“
Schatzi
...,” he murmured, squeezing
his arms around her.

“Can we stay here forever?”

His chest rumbled as he chuckled. “I would
love to, but you have class this morning and, as much money as I
donated to the Company, I don’t think Vincent would appreciate me
keeping his favorite dancer in bed all day.”

“You really donated a lot?”

He chuckled again. “I wanted to make sure I
could have as much access to see you as I could. Vincent offered to
rename the theater after me, but that’s not why I did it.”

“Does he know who you are? I mean, that
you’re my husband?”

“He knows that I know you and Aaron, but not
much more than that. I believe he will learn the truth this
morning.” He tugged gently on her hair and she lifted her head to
look at him. “Is that all right?”

Anna knew he was asking if she needed more
time to decide if she wanted to be with him. But she didn’t. She
knew that she was where she belonged. Her heart twinged with
sadness when she thought of Hugo, but she couldn’t change the
truth. She belonged with Alex.

She nodded. “You don’t need to hide who you
are. I am your wife. You are my husband.” She gave him a tender
smile. “I think I’d like to put my wedding rings back on.”

His eyes lit up and he grinned. “Oh,
Schatzi
. You have made me the happiest of men.” He kissed
her full on the mouth and then rolled her to her side. “Does that
mean you’re willing to live with me?”

“A wife should live with her husband,
shouldn’t she?”

“
Ja
. Most definitely.”

“I don’t have a housekeeper,” Alex said
apologetically, handing her a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt.
“Tony’s the shortest one among us.”

Anna barely heard him, her eyes being
transfixed on his chest. He was wearing only a snug-fitting pair of
dark blue jeans and he looked unbelievably sexy, she could hardly
think of anything else. “Huh?”

He chuckled and walked over to her, bending
down and kissing her on her mouth. “I like how you look at me.”

She shrugged sheepishly. “You are very nice
to look at.” She glanced up into his face. “What did you say?”

He laughed. “I said, I don’t have a
housekeeper. At least, not a live-in one. Frau Gersten would have
had your dress cleaned already.” He handed her the clothes again
and this time she took them. “I know they’re big, but I don’t have
anything smaller. I didn’t expect you to stay the night so
soon.”

Anna bit her lip. “Should I not have?”

Alex knelt down in front of her and cradled
her cheek. “I am very happy that you did. Very happy. I am even
happier that you’ve decided to stay with me.”

“Me too.”

Alex’s phone rang on the nightstand and he
reached for it. “Vati,” he said, looking at it. “Get dressed and
I’ll take you home so you can get to class.” He answered the phone
in German and stood and walked to the window.

After she pulled on the much-too-big clothes,
Anna went to the spacious bathroom and found a comb to work through
her hair and then washed her face as well as she could. Alex had
good skincare items, but they were not designed to remove
makeup.

Alex came in a few minutes later and wrapped
his arms around her waist. “Tomorrow you will have your own stuff
here.” He kissed her cheek and turned her around. “Vati and Kurt
arrived a little while ago. They left Chicago as soon as the
funeral Gathering was finished. They’re going to rest and then
perhaps we can meet them for lunch?”

Anna bit her lip. She still felt the sting of
hurt when she thought of Wilhelm and Kurt. “If you’d like,” she
said softly.

Alex cocked his head. “Anna, if you don’t
want to, say so.”

She swallowed nervously and stared at his
chest. “They...I know they didn’t do it on purpose, but they hurt
me. The last time I saw your dad....” She sighed. “I know I should
see them, but I don’t really want to.”

Alex tilted her head up and gave her a gentle
smile. “Thank you for being honest with me.”

“You can go, though.”

He made a face. “I’d rather have lunch with
you than them.”

Anna giggled, making him grin.

“How about I go to lunch with you, and then
while you are rehearsing this afternoon, I will go see them?”

Anna nodded. “I shouldn’t have rehearsal too
late, though. I’m not in Swan Lake.” Swan Lake was all this week,
except Thursday night, which was the gala and Hugo’s ballet.
“Hugo’s ballet will probably be right after lunch.”

He nodded. “I was thinking that I would call
Simon and have him arrange some movers to bring your belongings
over here, hopefully this evening. But if that’s not possible, then
tomorrow.”

“Okay.” She grinned. She liked that idea.
“Who is Simon? I mean. I know who he is, but what is his relation
to you?”

Alex chuckled. “Simon is the youngest son of
Edwin Reisig, Elder of Bavaria. He’s lived here for several years,
working for Deutsche Bank, and when I was planning on moving out
here, Edwin suggested that I get in touch with him. He agreed to be
my face-man.”

“I’ve met Edwin,” Anna said softly. “He’s
very nice.”

He nodded. “My father and he are good
friends. It was Edwin who asked around, seeing who would support
Vati in trying to reclaim you at Vitaly’s funeral.”