Chapter 6 #2
That brought a bark of laughter from Lisa, her eyes lighting up in a way that made Rezer’s cold insides warm. Sunshine, he thought to himself as he watched her. Once she’d composed herself, she lifted a brow at him, as if to say “call bullshit.”
“And the quiet,” he admitted. “When I’m here, the emptiness isn’t so loud. And the peace.” He knew there was longing in his voice. “You bring me peace.”
She moved before either of them acknowledged the shift, scooting to the edge of her seat and leaning over until her arm could reach him. Her fingers settled over his where they rested on his knee.
Rezer went still. He should have pulled away. Instead, he turned his palm slowly, deliberately, letting their fingers lace.
“I’m glad you keep coming back,” she said. “I like your company.” She paused, and then continued. “I want your company.” Her honesty was startling, but not surprising. Lisa was all things good. It’s what no doubt drew her first mate to her in the first place.
Something in him cracked. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” he murmured.
Her jaw tightened. “I keep every promise I make.”
The air sizzled with electricity as his gaze dropped to her mouth. “Lisa,” he said softly.
She made a noise that was very close to a whimper and called to the male in him.
The one who wanted to protect her from everything, provide for her, and be close to her.
He set his mug down carefully, stood causing her hand to drop away.
Took the two steps that put him right in front of her, then knelt down so he was eye level with her.
“This is a bad idea,” he said.
Lisa blushed. “Most of mine are.”
His fingers brushed her hair back, barely touching. “If I start this,” he warned, “I don’t know if I can pretend anymore.”
Her pulse thundered. “Pretend what?”
He cupped her jaw. “That I only come here for the tea.” Before he let her respond, before he allowed himself to change his mind, Rezer leaned in, and kissed her.
He didn’t rush her, and that was the thing that undid her.
His mouth came down on hers—slow at first, testing, like he needed to be sure she was real.
But he didn’t keep it slow for long. As if he realized she wasn’t pushing him away, Rezer pressed closer.
The kiss deepened, control slipping just enough to let heat rush in.
His hand slid from her jaw into her hair, fingers threading through it, tilting her head back as his mouth claimed hers with intent.
Lisa gasped into him, the sound swallowed as his tongue brushed hers, coaxing, then demanding. It wasn’t polite. It wasn’t careful. It was starved.
Her hands fisted in his shirt, dragging him closer, needing the solid press of his body to ground herself. He answered with a low, rough sound that vibrated straight through her, one arm sliding around her waist, pulling her flush against him. Oh. Yes.
The kiss turned heavier, devouring, and unrestrained. He kissed her like he’d imagined this too many times and finally lost the argument with himself. Like he wanted to feel her everywhere at once.
Heat pooled low in her belly, sharp and insistent. She arched into him without thinking, breath hitching as his grip tightened, possessive and sure. His magic stirred against her skin, dark, warm, restrained only by will. The world narrowed to sensation.
His mouth. His hands. The way her name almost slipped from his lips but never quite did. And then, something went wrong.
Lisa felt it before she understood it. A sudden cold threaded through the heat, subtle but unmistakable, like a shadow brushing the edge of a flame. Rezer stiffened against her, the kiss breaking with a sharp inhale. For half a second, she wasn’t in her apartment anymore.
She felt stone beneath her hands. Light pressing in from one side. Darkness breathing from the other and a door. Lisa heard voices, and felt feather light touches against her skin making her shiver.
Then Rezer tore himself away like he’d been burned. He stood and staggered back, chest heaving, eyes wide and too bright, as if he’d been yanked out of somewhere he hadn’t meant to go.
“Rezer?” she whispered, lips still tingling as she rose to follow him. “What—”
“That,” he said hoarsely, dragging a hand through his hair, “was a terrible decision.”
Her knees felt weak and she ignored the twisting in her gut at his words. “Strongly disagree.”
A strangled laugh escaped him, rough and unsteady. “You have no idea how badly I want to keep making it.”
Lisa put her hands on her hips and glared at him. The heat that he’d stirred in her began to chill as her ire rose. “Then why aren’t you?”
He met her eyes, something fierce and protective cutting through the desire. “Because whatever’s waking up inside me has now noticed you.”
The words chilled her more than the sudden absence of his body. “You think this . . . thing . . . is connected to me?”
“I think,” he said carefully, “that your light is bright, Sunshine. And whatever is calling me doesn’t like being ignored.”
She swallowed. “And kissing me makes it worse.”
“I think wanting you does,” he admitted. “And I don’t know what that means yet. For me or you.”
Silence stretched between them, charged, and unresolved.
He stepped back, forcing distance between them like it physically hurt to do so. “I should go.”
Lisa hated the desperation in her that wanted to reach out and grab him. She wanted to beg him not to leave her alone. “You’ll be back,” she said. It wasn’t a question. He’d started this whole mess and she’d be damned if she’d allow him to kiss her like that and then disappear.
His mouth curved, slow and unwilling. “Against my better judgment? Yes.” He continued to watch her, his stare heavy, and heated.
“I realize that you’ve already had a mate, a Chosen.
But he’s gone. That claim on you died with him.
I don’t say that to be cruel, Lisa. You’ve pined long enough.
I want this to be crystal clear to you.”
“What?” she asked, her heart in her throat as she forced herself to stay where she was.
“You said I’m not alone. I’m going to hold you to that. With those words, you laid some claim to me. Now,” he narrowed his eyes. “I’ll be back, not to visit or have tea. I’ll be back to claim you as mine.”
He crossed to the tall mirror that hung to the left of her door, magic already shimmering around the glass. He paused, one hand braced on the frame, and looked back at her.
“Try not to stab anyone,” he said.
She huffed softly, all the while her insides were doing a happy dance like a damn teenager with a crush. “No promises.”
He stepped through and was gone.
Lisa stood there long after the shimmer faded, fingers brushing her mouth, pulse still racing.
“Holy crap,” she whispered as her heart pounded painfully in her chest. Lisa hadn’t felt that kind of pull towards anything since, she paused her thoughts and felt a pang of guilt.
Not since her meeting her mate, her long-dead mate.
Rezer wasn’t wrong. She was no longer bound, and though she’d always love the father of her children, she couldn’t stay buried in her past. He wouldn’t expect her to.
He would however be annoyed that it was another dark elf she might be moving on with.
* * *
The forest felt different during the day. Not safer, just louder.
Sunlight spilled through the canopy in broken patches, dust motes drifting like lazy sparks. The trees hummed the way the old elvish forests always did, but today it sounded . . . watchful. Like they had opinions.
Cassie shoved a branch out of her face and exhaled hard. “If one more vine tries to trip me, I’m setting this entire forest on fire.”
Elora snorted behind her. “Please don’t, it might stop trying to trip us and escalate to homicide.”
Cassie stopped long enough to glare over her shoulder. Elora looked infuriatingly composed for someone who’d walked for hours, hair braided, eyes sharp, jaw set like she was going to war. Which, to be fair, she kind of was.
“You don’t even look tired,” Cassie muttered.
Elora raised a brow. “I’m a scorned woman, I don’t get tired. I get even.”
Cassie turned and kept walking. “That doesn’t make any sense.
You’re not scorned because Cush hasn’t done something worthy of scorn.
” She held up a hand to stop her best friend.
“He’s rocked your world in the bedroom a million times because he’s ticked off that you keep putting yourself in danger.
I’m not saying it’s right, but it hardly deserves scorn. ”
“Then what does it deserve?” Elora asked, lips pursed.
Cassie considered her words. “Purposful anticipation.”
Elora’s smile formed slowly as she realized what Cassie was saying. “Wow, Cass, marriage has made you a little tease. You’re saying I should keep him waiting as punishment for smothering me?”
“Not punishment,” Cassie shook her head. “Just a gentle reminder that he’s not the only one who can play that game.”
“Tempting,” Elora nodded. “But, I’ll be honest. I can’t really resist him, hence why he keeps getting away with it. Dude has bedroom prowess.”
“TMI,” Cassie said quickly.
Elora ignored her. “Hence why I’m on this little excursion. He can’t seduce me if I’m not around. Besides, proving to him that I’m capable of taking care of myself will be much more satisfying than denying him something I completely enjoy.”
Cassie threw her hands up. “TMI, again.”
“Your fault,” Elora pointed at her. “You brought up the spicy stuff.”
She wasn’t wrong. Cassie sighed and shifted her pack, ignoring the tug in her lower belly. The baby hadn’t made itself known physically, but her body felt . . . different. Fragile wasn’t the right word. On edge. Aware.
Elora hopped over a fallen log, landing lightly. “We should stop soon. Eat something.”
“You mean you’re admitting that you’re tired and your rage can’t be the only thing that keeps you going?”
“Cassie,” Elora warned.