Page 71 of Enchanting the Elf
“Communicating is not my strong suit, as we have established,” I say with a wince and rub at my chest. “I beg you to be patient with me. I have spent my whole life wearing a mask and suppressing my feelings. If I say anything that makes you upset, please tell me and give me the chance to fix it, knowing it was a mistake.”
I shift so that I’m fully facing Florence and I lace our fingers together.
“I always feel like a dark cloud and you are the brightest ray of sunshine in this world. I don’t want you to lose your shine because of me. But when I’m with you, it’s like a weight gets lifted off my shoulders, like you somehow pierce through all of my layers and give me a chance to just be me. I like the way I feel when I’m with you and I want you to like the way you feel with me. Please give me a chance to make you happy.”
“You know what?” Florence asks and moves to sit cross-legged, tucking the sheet under her arms before taking both my hands and looking me straight in the eyes, a righteous fire burning in her blue pools.
“What?” I ask nervously, my heart doing its best to beat out its way out of my chest.
“I wish you could see yourself the way I see you. It may feel like there’s a cloud around you, butyouaren’t a cloud. To me, you’re a rainbow. And on days when the cloud gets too heavy, I’ll be your umbrella. There’s no need to wear a mask around me. I like you cloudy, rainy, as well as the sunny version I got yesterday. I likeyou, Adelbert. You make me feel seen. I’m so used to taking a back seat to bigger personalities, and I’m totally fine with that because I don’t like being the center of attention. But somehow,you make me feel important, like I matter, and you always listen to me.”
Florence sits up straighter and squeezes my hands for emphasis. Her brows scrunch up with passion and her words ring with veracity.
“The way you make sure my mornings are perfect. The pastries. The sweaters. The teapot. Cooking dinner for me every night. All the conversations we’ve had over the months I’ve been here. The way you show me you care. All of that has added together to show me a version of you that you don’t show the world. I feel incredibly lucky,” Florence finishes fervidly.
“I’m the one who is feeling lucky,” I admit. “Things between us have been building over a long time.”
“They really have.”
“I do have to say, though, I think the bond is facilitating certain aspects too.”
“Yeah? Like what do you think?”
“I think it enhances our connection. Once we acted on our feelings, things moved much faster than they would have for couples without these bonds. It has happened with the other bonded pairs, like Sadie and Everett, too.”
“That’s true. I know you warned everyone not to have any physical touch in case it strengthens the bond. Looks like all that research was very accurate. There’s no way Dede would’ve just moved in with someone like a week after they met, but with Everett, she said it all felt very natural.”
“This is what I want you to understand, Liebling. The bond might be expediting our relationship, but I fell for you all on my own. Without physical contact. Without the bond influencing me. Over months of conversations and getting to know you as the lovely person you are.”
I reach over and touch the symbol on her side, tracing the sun, moon, and star aligned over each other, the twin to my marking.
“You know, in my family’s culture, it’s customary to get a tattoo of the family crest when you are appointed as a professor at Alberad for the first time. For the males, anyway. I have avoided thinking about branding myself with a daily reminder of my responsibilities for so long. When this fated mark showed up on my body, it felt like just another burden I have to carry, another choice taken from me.”
Florence’s empathy is so sharp that it pierces through my mental barriers for a second before I reinforce them again.
“But know, I would chooseyouover Alberad.” I enunciate each word carefully, making sure she understands the weight of the statement.
Florence sucks in a breath, her eyes wide and pulse hammering in her throat.
“Me?”
“You, Florence Everly. You’ve opened my eyes to so many new things and new possibilities. For the first time, I’m thinking about what my life could look like if I made choices for myself. Forus. And I’d like to. I don’t know what life could be like with me, or what kind of options I have in terms of work if I’m not following the expected life path that’s been laid out for me, but it’s something I would like to give some consideration to.” Hesitating for a second, I add cautiously, “That is, if you would be interested in exploring such options with me?”
Florence frames my face with her hands, her eyes misty but bright.
“Adelbert Alberad, you are so much more than your name and your legacy. You are a beautiful male, inside and out, and I think I’d just about follow you anywhere. Despite our initial challenges and misunderstandings, I really like living here with you. The forest feels like home and it calls to me on some deeper level, if that makes any sense. I’d never ask you to give anything up forme, so if you want to stay, I’ll stay. If you want to go, I’ll go. Together.”
“You mean that?”
“Why would I not mean it?”
“No strings? No conditions?”
“Baby, come on. It’s me.” Then Florence does the unthinkable—she straddles my waist and starts tickling me all over. Every inch she can reach gets tickled until I’m a squirming, laughing mess underneath her and her joyous laughter fills the air.
Chest heaving and with a genuine smile stretching across my face, my hands still on Florence’s hips. We pause the tickle fight and she props her hands on my bare chest. The air grows thick between us as we just take each other in.
“I love you, Florence.”
