To Tame An Angel: A Femdom Fantasy Romance

Chapter Twenty-One

TANNOR

The dreamless sleep and peaceful feeling overwhelmed me as Nalla curled herself into my side. In my dreams, I felt my giant wings cover us, protecting her from whatever maladies lay outside the door. I tightened my wings like a shield, ironing them and creating a sort of fort.

She whispered my name, her breath a shadow against my chest. The feeling of safety and belonging was so overwhelming that I found myself completely happy for the first time in my life.

Truly, truly, happy.

A sigh left my mouth as a held her closer.

Then pain.

Pain like nothing I could compare rippled through my back. It jolted me awake, and I scrambled from the bed, collapsing on the ground. Nalla’s hands were there. She called my name; she begged me to tell her what was wrong. But I couldn’t speak. The pain split me in half, and I heard myself yelling as I felt bones breaking between my shoulder blades.

I arched, desperate for it to end, desperate for a respite as the agony climbed to new heights. Until all was darkness and I blinked, fearing I had gone blind. But I hadn’t. I was on the floor and the only sound I could discern was frantic breathing and a soft rustling of something soft. I pushed myself off the ground and found Nalla hiding in a corner. Her eyes were wide, panic on her face as she stared at me.

Had I harmed her?

For a moment, an apology nearly fumbled from my mouth, but the shadow of something moving in my spine startled me. I tumbled back, but instead of the ground holding me steady, my feet lifted from the ground.

Nalla gasped, staring at me with horror.

From the corner of my eye, I saw them.

My wings.

I felt them, for they were in me. They were me. They were part of my body’s composition. I felt them turn—no.

Iturned them.

At least my mind did. The pure white feathers greeted me. The tips were reticular freckled specks of gold.

Words didn’t come to me. I hadn’t seen them in over twenty years, but here they were, outside of my body, no longer dormant, no longer hidden and pushed into my anatomy.

I curled one to me and felt the feather, so soft and light but strong like an oak. I was… I was free. I looked at Nalla, at the horror she displayed, at how I frightened her.

“Nalla -”

She cried, pressing herself against the wall.

“Nalla, it’s me,” I swallowed. “You did this. You made this.”

I needed to hold her, to keep her safe within my wings and not allow them to touch her. But she shook her head, horrified, and I felt myself shrink, as if I could hide the wings, hide what I was.

Couldn’t she see that without her and her love and care, this wouldn’t have happened? That my gratitude was as high as the mountains?

“Oh gods, Tannor.” Nalla held her hand over her mouth and sobbed.

“Don’t cry,” I pleaded and took three steps towards her, needing to feel her, wishing her hands on my wings.

But she cried louder. “They’ll kill you!”

They could try, but I was free. I could escape. I could take Nalla with me, far from where they could ever find us. The sky was mine, and I belonged only to Nalla.

I reached out to her, my eyes pleading. “Come with me.”

She shook herself out of her horror and pushed away from the wall. She looked frantic, trying to figure out how to keep me safe without realizing that I could already care for myself.

“You need to leave. You need to escape. Today. Now,” her words were fast and panicked. “Right now.” She grasped a bag and gathered whatever food was left from the dinner trays. Apples, oranges, oat bread, shoving them inside with trembling fingers.

I took her hands, and she startled, staring up at me and my wings in horror.

“Look at me,” I urged her.

But her face crumbled. “I destroyed your life. Our chance of happiness.”

Pulling her close, I held her as she collapsed into my arms, her face pressed into my chest as I rocked her back and forth.

“No, the opposite,” I said.

“How can it be the opposite?” She stared up at me. “Your wings, Tannor! They’ll kill you. They’ll make me watch as they hack them off and you’ll die a slow, agonizing death. Please don’t make me go through that. Don’t make me live through that!”

She held on to me like I was the shore in a storm-ridden sea, like her life was slipping by. I murmured her name, understanding her fright, knowing it was all too much for her to take.

But I would escape. They couldn’t catch me even if they tried. Women couldn’t fly and the sky was mine to command.

“Let’s see if we can put them back!” She said with a suddenness. “I can use my magic! I can look up some books—”

“Nalla!” I grasped her upper arms and made her stop. “I don’t want them to go away. I don’t want them stuffed back into my body, like something I should be ashamed of. They’re part of me, what makes me Tannor.”

She didn’t speak, her face didn’t change. She was distraught. A fear curled itself in my belly and I felt my wings shiver and drop.

“Unless…” I could scarcely speak. “Unless you find them repulsive. I can understand if you find them ugly.”

I was desperate for her to accept me as I was, as I was born. With protruding appendages and all. I needed someone to love me whole, like I was. Like my mother never could, always staring at my wings in disgust.

“Repulsive?” Nalla asked in a whisper and her hands slid down my back, her fingers burying themselves into my feathers. We gasped; me at the feel of the intimacy, her at the feel of the downy plumage. “They’re the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen.”

I could scarcely believe her words, listening to her voice, feeling her fingers. Softly, she smiled. It wasn’t happiness; it was wonder. Fear was still clear in her eyes. Fear for my safety and what they would do to me.

Desperate to show her, I took her hand and led her to the balcony. She balked and hesitated, but I looked at her with reassurance.

“Trust me, as I’ve trusted you,” I said.

She met my eyes and slowly nodded, allowing me to lead her to the rail. I knew fully that her mother’s regiments had been posted below. To escape, I’d have to fly straight up, up into the clouds, into the cover of night. There was no moon, and the world was dark but for the torches lighting the gardens.

I pulled Nalla to me, holding her in the cool night, my wings covering us both. She stared around her with her wide, beautiful brown eyes. She was enchanting at this moment and without warning I kissed her. My arms surrounded her along with my wings, enveloping her and feeling like I was finally truly touching her. She sighed into my mouth, her fingers caressing the edge of my wings, pressing her fingers into the bone which sprouted the feathers.

Pleasure shot through me at the act, and I gasped into her mouth. When I opened my eyes, I saw a small smile flittering across her face. As if she’d discovered a new way to tease me. Without another word, I commanded my wings up, and we lifted into the air. It had been so long since I flew, we shot out of her home in a straight line, plowing through clouds. My powerful wings slid up and up above where no one had gone to in over a century.

I move us sideways, towards the cliffs and the forest. My wings took naturally to the skies. I breathed in fresh air for the first time in decades, overwhelmed by the sensation of freedom coursing through me.

I turned to Nalla, whose face pressed against my chest. Her eyes were wide as she took in the world from above. With a smile, I dipped suddenly into the trees, and she let out a squeal. It made me laugh, and she chided me.

“You’re only looking for me to punish you!” She said with a wobbly voice.

I was. I laughed more, without denying it, as we careened through the tips of the trees, startling birds. Through the land I flew and flew, discovering it at the same time as I showed it to her. With her in my arms and the wind on my wings, I felt reborn, like we could have anything we wished. Let the world destroy itself with its laws because no one could touch us here.

Landing on a cliff, I gently set her on her feet. She wobbled slightly, and the wind made her nightgown sheer. I backed away from her, staring at her smile of wonder. My wings gently flapped as I hovered over the edge.

“That was magical,” she said.

My wings landed me neatly next to her, and we stared at one another as we embraced. There was such happiness that I wanted to dance, and I’d never danced in my life. Reaching up on her toes, she pecked my lips, and I leaned into her sweetness. Her hair whirled in the wind, covering her eyes and face. We chuckled as I pushed it back, just to stare at her once more.

“Let’s leave,” I whispered. “Tonight. Now. Let’s not look back and find somewhere else to live. Even if it’s at the ends of the world.”

She gently cupped my face and studied me, the pads of her thumb brushing against my beard. For a moment, I felt shy, as she was relentless in her perusal of my face. She smiled, pressing against my cheek.

“If you leave without me, I’ll never be able to enjoy your blushes,” she said and leaned into me.

The need to deny the blushing scorched my tongue, but it was true. I couldn’t pretend it wasn’t. It was like I mattered to her, as she lingered on me with appreciation. There was still a sense within me that I wasn’t special. No one worthy of admiration or love.

“So I’ll have to go with you,” she said calmly. “Just to see your face.”

A lightness entered me, flowing through my veins. I seized her and my wings lifted us into the air. I nearly gasped in relief, for I wouldn’t be alone. We would be together. We would find our peace and our way in the world, and nothing could stop us. Her with her magic. Me with my wings. We would be unstoppable.

Her fingers curled into my hair. “We’ll go back, pack what we can. We don’t know how long it’ll be until we find a safe place—”

“No, let’s go now. We need nothing.” I knew that wasn’t true. We needed weapons, food, proper clothing. She couldn’t trapeze through the forests in her nightgown and me in nothing but pants with no boots.

She gave me a knowing look, and I sighed, relenting. I nodded and held her tight, turning my wings back to her home one last time.