Elfin Trilogy

Chapter 4-1

Chapter Four

“I’m scared; I won’t lie. But I can’t deny that a part of me—a part way, way, way, waaaayyyy deep down inside is slightly excited about the elves. Okay, and about Trik. Excited about some elves that want to wipe my existence from the face of the earth? Apparently, I’m a glutton for tragic endings. Who knew?” ~Diary of Cassie Tate

“Should I come back later?”

Cassie jumped and released a completely undignified squeal when she heard the deep voice behind her. At the same time, she jerked her shirt back down, as she was just about to change her clothes, and it was halfway over her head. Her hand went to the place over her heart as if to hold it in while it tried to beat out of her chest.

“How, what, where …” Cassie’s words quickly tumbled out as she shook her head and tried to process how the handsome man had suddenly appeared in her room.

“Your mirror,” Trik said in explanation to her unasked question as he pointed to the mirror above her dresser.

“What about it?” Cassie asked, finally finding her words.

“That’s how I got into your room. That is what you were trying to ask, right? How did I get into your room?” Trik crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall behind him.

Cassie stared at him. She realized he must now be in his human form, though he still didn’t really look any human she’d ever seen. Mere humans just weren’t that … gorgeous.

“I was trying to be gentlemanly by announcing myself,” he said. “Though now that I consider the situation, it would have been much more to my enjoyment to let you finish what you were doing,” he continued with a smirk.

“That would have been rude,” Cassie told him as she took an unconscious step toward him. She was drawn to him. Something in her longed to be close to him and she could no more turn away from him than she could separate her soul from her body.

“Why are you here?” she asked him.

Trik pushed off the wall and prowled toward her. Her breath quickened as she saw his eyes begin to turn from grey to silver. She watched in awe as his shoulder length hair extended before her very eyes, becoming so dark as to appear tinted purple. His skin became more bronzed and the beauty that was already painful to look at became even more pronounced. She lost her breath as she took him in.

“Wh-wh-what are you?” she stuttered breathlessly.

“I think you know,” he told her softly as he came to stand mere inches from her.

He reached up and brushed away a few wispy strands of blonde hair that had escaped her ponytail. Cassie tried to remember to breathe as she looked up into his handsome face.

“How can you be an elf? How is that even possible?”

“How can you be mine? How is that possible?” He leaned forward and placed his forehead against hers.

Cassie’s breath caught as she felt something pass between them. It was like her spirit was joining with his. She could feel something deep inside her flowing from her body into him.

“What’s happening?” she whispered as her eyes closed, giving herself over to the sensation.

“You are my Chosen.” Trik answered.

“What does that mean? Chosen what?” she asked breathlessly.

“My mate, the one being in the universe created to be a part of me as I’m a part of you.”

“We aren’t even of the same species, how can I be a part of you?” Cassie shifted, bringing her body in line with her head so that she and Trik were practically brushing against one another.

Trik’s hands came up and rested themselves on her hips. She felt his warm breath caress her face. She inhaled deeply, drawing in his smell and finding peace in his presence—peace and comfort that she had no idea that she had even needed.

“I don’t understand it, Cassie.” Her name on his lips was the most intimate sound that she had ever heard and Cassie found that she longed to hear it again.

“Cassie,” Trik said softly.

“Are you reading my mind?” she asked him, still not moving away from him.

“I can see your thoughts when I touch you, remember?”

“That’s sort of disturbing,” she told him as she opened her eyes and pulled her forehead back from his so she could look into his eyes.

“I won’t invade your most private thoughts; I could never do that to my Chosen.”

“How do you know? Have you had a Chosen before?” Cassie asked. Even as the words left her mouth she felt an illogical pang of jealousy at the idea of him being with someone, anyone else.

Trik’s hands tightened on her hips and his eyes narrowed. “We only have one Chosen.”

“Ever?” she asked.

“Ever,” he confirmed.

“What now?”

She watched in fascination as he licked his lips. She felt her face heat up in a blush when she saw a crooked smile lift the corners of his mouth. He’d caught her staring.

“Want a taste?” he asked her suggestively.

Cassie’s eyes widened. “Are you always this forward?”

“You were the one staring at my lips like they were a succulent feast. Not that I’m complaining.”

Cassie tried to pull away, but he refused to let go of her. Their eyes met and Cassie felt like she was falling helplessly into those silver orbs. She held perfectly still as his head dropped closer to hers. She knew what was coming and, though a part of her thought she should stop him, she made a conscious choice to ignore those reservations.

“Cassie,” his lips were less than an inch from hers.

“Yes?”

“How old are you?”

Cassie started to back away, confused by his question. Again, he refused to let her go.

“Eighteen,” she answered.

He grinned, a wicked, wicked grin that sent a shiver through her body.

“I’m going to kiss you now,” he whispered.

Before she could protest, if she had wanted to, his lips were pressed to hers.

Cassie’s body melted into his and she felt the strong muscles of his arms wrap around her in a firm hold. His chest flexed as he pulled her closer. Cassie let out a breathy moan as she felt his tongue brush against her lips and she opened her mouth without hesitation. She felt one of his hands slide up her back and then to her hair.

Trik grabbed her ponytail holder and slid it out of her hair. The soft strands of her blonde hair flowed like water over his hand. He raised both hands and ran them through her now loose hair as he deepened the kiss. In his long life nothing had ever felt as right as kissing the woman before him. If he had doubted before that she was his, he had no misgivings now. She was definitely his Chosen and he knew, right then and there, as she ran her hands up his back under his long hair and gripped his shirt in her small hands, that he would die for her, and, if necessary, he would kill for her.

He pushed her back until she was pressed against the wall and felt her body tremble against his. The desire that ignited in him was all-consuming and he knew that he would need to be careful and not push her too fast. He pulled back from the kiss and looked into her beautifully flushed face. Her lips glistened with moisture from their kiss and he didn’t try to hide the satisfaction in seeing the proof of her desire for him on her lips and in her eyes.

“Whoa,” she whispered softly.

Trik didn’t back away, but continued to press in closely. He smiled and stroked his fingers through her hair until one hand rested on the curve of her neck, his thumb brushing gently against her throat. He watched as she slowly began to bring her breathing under control and the intense need began to fade from her eyes.

“I think that would be an understatement, Arwenamin.” The endearment he used was an elfin term and he saw the question in her eyes.

“What language is that?” she asked, slightly in awe. “It’s beautiful. What did you say?”

Trik shook his head. “That is for another time.” It took every ounce of his control to step away from her and allow her some space. What he wanted, what his very soul was telling him to do, was to wrap her in his arms and take her to his realm where he could protect her from everything and everyone that could hurt her or take her away from him.

Cassie walked over and sat on her bed, pulling her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. She tilted her head as she watched the inhumanly handsome man walk around her room, inspecting his surroundings.

“So you’re an elf?” she asked unnecessarily.

“Yes.”

“What kind of elf?”

Trik turned slowly and his eyes met hers. “What do you mean?”

Cassie shivered under is unwavering gaze. “I mean … aren’t their different kinds of elves?”

“Who have you been talking to, Arwenamin? Who has been filling your beautiful head with such information? I doubt you would have come up with that on your own.” Trik walked closer to the bed as he watched his Chosen closely.

“I know some people who know some people,” she answered vaguely.

Trik let out a low chuckle. “You’re protecting them. I can respect that. However, you might want to pass on that they need to be very careful what they say and who they say it to.”

“Why? Are you going to kill them? Isn’t that what you do?” Her words weren’t accusatory, but she felt extremely nervous asking the question.

“My, my, you have been busy,” Trik circled the bed and came to sit on the opposite side, so as not to crowd her, attempting to ease the tension he saw in her shoulders.

“Whatever I tell you, Cassie, you need to understand that it changes nothing. You are still my Chosen and I will not give you up,” Trik told her with brutal honesty written on his face.

“Is that a threat?” she asked.

“No, Arwenamin, it’s a promise. I have no doubt in my mind that I do not deserve you. I have no right to you based on my actions in my very long life, but those aren’t reasons enough for me to walk away from you.”

“Well, tell me how you really feel.”

“I am of the Dark Elven. I serve the dark elf king, Lorsan, as his head spy and assassin.” Trik paused and waited to gauge her reaction to his words. She didn’t turn away. He didn’t see the expected disgust appear on her sweet face.

“Our enemies are the light elves. We have been enemies with them for as long as I can remember. We live in the Elfin realm, though on separate sides.”

“How do you get here, to my realm?” she asked.

The question caught him off guard. He hadn’t expected her to ignore the fact he’d just admitted to being assassin.

“We can use any reflective surface to travel between realms. Mirrors, glass, large pools of water, and even some metals and plastics will work. We just think about where we want to go, gaze at our reflection, and step through the material.”

“You can go anywhere in the world through a reflective material?” Cassie asked in fascination.

Trik nodded, bewildered by her response. “You did hear the part where I said I’m a dark elf and an assassin right?”

Cassie nodded. “I’m still processing that.”

Trik scooted closer to her on the bed. He reached out and tugged one of her legs down and took her bare foot in his hands. He began to rub it slowly and squeezed tighter when she tried to wiggle free.

“That tickles,” she said trying not to laugh.

“Try not to think about it.”

“Do you always do the stuff you want, even if someone else doesn’t want you to?”

“But you do want me to touch you,” Trik said with complete confidence.

Cassie’s mouth dropped open. When she tried to respond, nothing would come out. She could feel her face burning up as the blood rushed up her neck and cheeks.

“Now,” he started, ignoring her indignation at his comment and the fact that she didn’t deny his words. “Are we going to address the fact that I essentially just told you that I am evil?”

Cassie watched his hands as he rubbed her foot. She didn’t look into his eyes because she didn’t want him to see the fear there. He wouldn’t understand the cause. She herself didn’t understand. She wasn’t afraid of him. She wasn’t afraid he was evil or of the things he surely must have done in his past. No, she was afraid for something much more complicated. Cassie was terrified, because even though Trik had shared with her who and what he was, and made it clear that he was essentially evil, she still wanted him. She still wanted to be his Chosen. That terrified her. Deep inside, she knew she should be appalled at what he had told her. She knew she should be concerned, but the only thing that Cassie could bother to be concerned about in that moment was her strong desire for this beautiful elf to never stop rubbing her feet. Yep, that’s what scared her.