Page 23 of Light and Shadow
Jax’s eyes darken, and his knuckles whiten on the glass. “Her minions are getting closer, but our magic is strong. Nothing without light can enter our domain. Selina has seen to it with the oracle’s help.” He looks at her with loving eyes.
“I pray the magic will hold long enough.” Selina’s lips pull into a frown. “Your father didn’t have news of you or your brothers. I hope they too have found a human woman willing to help.”
The Jersey Girl in me has her doubts. I mean, it’s one thing to convince one human woman to risk her life for an alien world, quite another to convince three. I may have come all this way for nothing, and with the portals out of whack, the chances of my getting home are even smaller.
Despite all there is to see and hear, my eyelids start to droop.
Selina gasps. “You’re exhausted. I’m sorry. We shall show you where you can rest, and have a fine feast tonight to celebrate your coming.”
The gray stone house is cool and comfortable, with three bedrooms joined by a large living area. Two couches and a chair are covered in moss-green cloth, and a braided rug in the center of the room reminds me of the one in my grandmother’s house when I was little.
My head feels fuzzy, and I’m not sure if it’s the cider, exhaustion, or that I’m going mad from so much information so quickly.
An elf with brown hair and green eyes shows me to my room. “My name is Baily, Miss Craig, and should you need anything, I live in the house to the right. There’s cider and wine in the cold box, as well as bread and butter in the larder if you’re hungry.”
“Thank you. I think, for now, I just need to rest. You can call me Harper.” Through the open door, the white fluffy bed almost screams out for me. I drift in its direction.
“Harper it is, then. I’ll let you rest. We’re all very glad you’ve come.” Her voice is filled with hope.
My heart clenches. At the bedroom door, I turn back toward her. “I’m glad to be here, but I’m just a woman. I’m no warrior, Baily. I have no idea how to stop a witch or break a curse. I came because Aaran asked, and he saved my mother’s life. I came because I don’t want this world to die because I was too afraid to try.”
What I admitted should terrify Baily, but she grins wide. “Maybe that you care about a race of people you knew nothing of is a kind of magic too, Harper. You’re part of the prophecy, and nowhere in it did it say go to the human world and find warrior women. It said to find the right women. I believe Aaran did that tenfold when he found you.”
I’m going to cry if I stay here another moment. “Thank you.” I back into the bedroom and close the door.
Ihave no idea how long I’ve slept when Aaran’s arms slip around me. “Is it time to get up?”
“No,mo chroi. Sleep. I just wanted to…”
My body responds as if he said make love, even though he didn’t. I roll toward him. “To what?”
A sliver of sunlight slips through the curtains and shines across his bright blue eyes, but there’s fear there too. “Know that you’re safe, you’re real, you’re here in Domhan.”
Somehow his fear makes me feel better. I’d hate to think I was the only one. I smooth his hair away from his forehead. “I’m real enough.” I touch his lips and press my hips forward.
He eases his knee between my thighs. “Why, Harper?”
“Does there have to be a reason?” Threading my fingers through his hair, I kiss his throat.
His cock is thick and hard against my hip as he leans in and grips the back of my head. Close enough to kiss me, he holds back. “There’s always a reason. I want you. You must know that. I’ve wanted you almost from the first moment I saw you.”
“Then why are we talking?” I kiss his chin then suck his bottom lip into my mouth.
Warm and welcoming, his mouth caresses mine, drawing low moans from us both. He breaks the kiss. “If you’re giving yourself to me out of fear, I’d rather wait for another emotion. Desperation, fear, and loss are the emotions I feel flowing from you, Harper, and I understand them. You’re far from home and everything you know. I want to comfort you. I want to be what you need. But sex should be more between us.”
“So elves only have sex for morally suitable reasons?”
His laugh is sexy as hell. “No, we have sex for all the reasons, including fun and lust.” The look in his eyes is intense as he stares into mine. I hear his voice in my head.“I just want it to be more between us.”
“You’re in my head? I heard you.” My pulse speeds.
“What did you hear?”
Maybe I have lost my mind. “You said you wanted there to be more between us. But you didn’t say it out loud.”
He kisses my cheek, my nose, and my lips. “That’s something new. Hearing entire sentences isn’t even something I’ve ever been able to do. Mostly I just sense feelings and the occasional ‘I’m going to hit him with a bat.’”
That seems like so long ago. “I would hate to die and never to have known what it was like to be with you.”
