Chapter 11 - Troy
I ran a hand over my face and turned toward the hallway. I didn’t want to fight with her. I wasn’t going to agree when I knew how she felt about me. Having sex with her, hating me, was not a line I wanted to cross.
I was trying to build a relationship with her, and doing that wasn’t a step we could take right now.
I didn’t think I could stomach having an intimate moment with her like that and have her look at me with hatred or contempt.
“Elize, wait.” I headed down the hallway and watched as she seemed to halt slightly in the middle of the hallway before she tumbled. She fell to the side, slamming into the wall.
“Elize!” I moved quickly, grabbing her before she fell, but the extra weight knocked me over, and we slammed into the small table that was pressed against the wall. I felt a sharp pain slice over my shoulder and down my side, but I ignored it.
“Elize!” I yelled her name louder, but she didn’t answer. As I turned her, I realized she wasn’t herself. Her eyes were wide, but she wasn’t looking at me. It was like she was staring into a void, but her pupils were large.
I shook her slightly, holding her tighter in my arms. “Elize, speak to me.” Panic set in, and I started to worry that something was wrong.
I don’t know how long it was, but it seemed like she was stiff as a statue forever. I placed a hand on her face and leaned closer. “Elize, please. Look at me. Elize! Please.”
Her eyes blinked, and her face softened. I watched as her eyes started to focus back. I relaxed, taking a breath in. I sank against the wall. “Jesus.”
She pulled a hand up to her face as she seemed lost. “Wha…”
“Are you okay?” I asked, cupping her face. “What happened? Do I need to take you to see a doctor?”
“I had a vision,” she whispered. “I haven’t had one of those in years.”
“Years?” I hadn’t known she had visions at all. Did all witches?
She nodded. “I don’t get a lot of visions. That was always more a Victoria thing.”
I took a deep breath and felt a sharp pain in my side. I turned my head and realized we’d crushed the table, and my shirt was ripped.
I winced as the pain increased. “Shit.”
She seemed to pull herself together and sat up. She turned, and her eyes widened. “You’re bleeding, Troy. Oh my god! Troy!”
I didn’t look at it. I was more worried about her. “I’m fine. I was scared you were going to fall and smack your head on the table. I’m glad I caught you.”
She blushed as she pulled back. “Let me look at that at least. It doesn’t look good.”
I tried to wave her off. “I told you I’m fine. I’ll heal fast.”
She smacked me on the arm as she pulled herself free. “Let me see if, Troy.”
I raised my arm, trying to let her see where the pain was, and she frowned. “That looks deep.”
I shook my head. “I’ll be…”
She pulled herself up before I could finish and started for the bathroom. “We need to clean it.”
“It’s just a cut, Elize.”
“You broke the table,” she said over her shoulder as she walked into the bathroom. She patted the edge of the tub as she opened the medicine cabinet. “You need to let me look at it to see if you need stitches.”
I wasn’t going to argue because I knew she wouldn’t let me win.
I pulled myself up and followed after her.
I paused in front of the mirror and couldn’t help but cringe.
There was a deep gash starting at the bottom of my armpit, and it went down my entire side of my ribs.
It was deep, and blood was trailing down.
You could tell I clipped the corner, and it drove into my skin, ripping as I fell.
“Sit.”
I sat as she pulled a rag up and dabbed the wound. I winced, and she frowned. “Does it hurt?”
“It stings.” I took a deep breath and looked at her. “What was your vision about?”
She glanced at me for a moment before she shrugged. “It was the same vision that Victoria had. But I was with Victoria, and we were leading the other witches into the woods. I could feel a dark energy in the direction we were going. It was like I was leading them into a fight.”
My eyebrows went up at this. The thing about visions was they could happen or they couldn’t. They could be extremely reliable, or you could change everything, and they never happened.
I frowned, knowing that I didn’t know much about her abilities or what she could do. I’m sure she’d learned new skills since the last time I saw her. “What else can you do?”
She raised an eyebrow at me. “What do you mean?”
“You have the ability to calm, and you have visions. So, I just wonder what else you’re able to do.”
She frowned, averting her eyes from me now. She grabbed some gauze. “I can’t do much of anything else. I can make potions, but I don’t know anything above basic spells.”
I didn’t understand. “Don’t you have magic?”
She nodded her head. “I do. I just… I don’t have the ability to use it.
” She blushed. “It’s not from the lack of trying either.
It’s like there’s a lock placed over it, and I’m unable to unlock it.
I was advancing for a couple of years, but when I tried doing anything a little more complex… I just don’t have the strength for it.”
She wrapped my side, and her fingers shook as she lowered her hands. “Which is why I suggested sex.”
I paused now. She still refused to look at me while she said it. Her face was beet-red now.
“Elize…”
“We’ve already established that your bonding isn’t complete with me without it.
And I know that it can… help me. Witches don’t have bonds as shifters do, but maybe the relationship between a witch and a shifter is delicate in its own way.
Maybe we need to be physical for me to unlock my own powers.
I understand it’s a line in the sand, but you’ve already made me your mate.
Why is this a part you refuse to agree to? ”
I frowned. “Elize, it’s not that simple. It’s sex.”
“And?”
I could see the look in her eyes. That desperate look. I knew where she was coming from, and I just wanted to agree. But it would change things. I was just starting to get her to talk to me. I didn’t want to lose that.
“Think about the pack,” she stated.
I scowled. “I’m not going to make this decision based on the pack.”
“This entire situation has been based on the pack. So, why change that now?”
I sighed and rubbed a hand over my eyes. She sat down on the toilet and twirled her fingers together. “If it’s an attractive thing…”
“Jesus, stop.” I looked at her. “If you bring up your looks in this.”
“Is that why you don’t want to? If it’s a problem, we can keep the lights off. We don’t have to look at each other. I can lie on my stomach even.”
“You think I don’t want to have sex because I don’t find you attractive?”
She shrugged. “I mean…”
I sat stunned. She seriously thought I was refusing because I didn’t want her. “Elize, I’m saying no because for a shifter, having sex is a very emotional and physical thing. You’re not just taking me to bed. You’re taking my wolf. And you know fully well how I am in bed.”
She blushed.
“I’m thinking about how you will feel when it’s over. If I were just thinking about the pack and what I wanted, I would have had you at the fricken altar. I would behave like a horn dog and let my wolf decide. But I don’t.”
Her face went another shade of red. I wanted so badly to tell her how I still wanted her. That I never stopped wanting her. But I knew better. It was unfair to admit that. Because I knew she didn’t feel the same, and it wouldn’t change things.
I took a deep breath. “I don’t want to bring you any more pain.”
She snorted. “Sex wasn’t painful.”
“I’m talking emotional, Elize.”
“Oh.” She fell quiet. “Troy, I’m a big girl.
I can take care of myself. I don’t need you to think about my emotions or whether or not I’m good.
That’s not your job. I’m saying I’m willing to have sex, and you should consider it.
Think about it as a transaction. A one-night stand that gets us both what we want. ”
I frowned, and she gave me those begging eyes. “Please? Nothing emotional about it. Just physical.”
My wolf was growling for me to agree. But I couldn’t, could I? I couldn’t seriously agree to this. I knew myself. One night was never going to be enough. It never was.
I still thought back to the first time we did it. If we opened that door, I would not be able to shut it.
I ground my teeth together. “Fine.”
She smiled. “Great.”
“But I’m making one requirement first. We’re going out to dinner first.”
She looked confused now. “What? Why?”
“Because if we just decide to have sex, it’s not going to be comfortable. It’s going to be awkward, and things aren’t going to work the way they should.”
She raised an eyebrow. “I don’t understand.”
I frowned. “Elize, I don’t do one-night stands. I tried. I didn’t get a hard up, and I think we both know enough about anatomy to know you need a boner to have sex.”
It wasn’t for the lack of trying. It was a year after she left, and everyone kept telling me to just get some. I figured they were right. So, I just picked a gal up at the bar. But my dick didn’t agree with the idea.
Her mouth dropped slightly, and she looked stunned. “Wait, you’ve never had a one-night stand?”
I shook my head. “No.”
She sat there stunned. “Never?”
I nodded. “Never.”
In truth, I’d dated little. After losing Elize, I tried to find someone else, but it was never the same. I’d only slept with Elize once, but that was all it took. I wanted her like a bad drug.
No one smelled like she did. No one laughed as she did. No one felt like she did. I knew deep down that Elize was the one I wanted. I couldn’t help but think about her during sex.
“I just can’t believe you’ve never had a one-night stand. You’ve dated, haven’t you?”
“Of course I’ve dated. I’m not a monk.”
I had three relationships. All of which were short. All of whom resembled Elize in some way. But I always ended things because, deep down, I knew they deserved better.
She chuckled. “You surprised me with that.”
I leaned forward. “And what about you, Elize? Have you dated?”
She laughed now and shook her head. “No, I haven’t. I put everything into learning and helping where I could. I didn’t have time to date.”
I watched the way she rubbed her fingers together nervously and the way her front teeth scraped over her bottom lip. I felt that twist in my gut. I wanted to grab her chin and kiss her.
“I guess I shouldn’t be making fun of you when I haven’t exactly done anything better myself.”
I smirked, finding I would let her tease me all day if she laughed like that. “You can make fun of me all you want.”
She gave me a soft smile in return. “It is nice to know you’re not a Playboy.”
I laughed at this and winced as I remembered the cut in my side. She pulled her hand up to cover a smile. “Sorry, I shouldn’t joke around.”
She pulled herself up. “So, how do you want to do this then?”
“Dinner tomorrow. I can make a reservation, and my side should be healed by then.”
She gave me a simple nod. “Alright. Then tomorrow.”
The following day, I arrived home after a meeting with Ivan. I quickly changed into a nice pair of pants and a button-down. I had made a reservation for us to have dinner at an Italian restaurant on the edge of town.
I headed out into the hallway and heard Elize’s door open. I froze and felt my eyes widen. She was wearing a long red dress that sparkled under the light. Her hair was pulled up into a braid that fell over her shoulder. She was wearing a large ruby necklace with black heels.
I felt my jaw drop open, and I stood stunned. I had only ever seen her in baggy clothes. This dress was tight, showing all of her curves, and my cock tugged up slightly.
She paused in the doorway and blushed. “Hey, didn’t see you there. You look nice.”
I blinked, still trying to find words. Elize had changed from high school. She had wider hips and a firm ass. Her breasts sat perky, and the dress cut low to give you a glance, but not low enough to plunge.
She waved a hand. “Troy? You good?”
I swallowed. “You look nice, really nice. That’s a beautiful dress.”
She blushed. “Thank you. I just bought it. I was worried it would be a bit much.”
I shook my head. “No, it’s perfect.”
She looked away, and I cleared my throat. “I made a reservation at the Italian place. I should have maybe asked whether you liked Italian. I can take us somewhere else if you don’t.”
She shook her head. “No, I like Italian. Are you ready?”
I nodded, waving a hand to let her walk first. As she turned into the hallway and walked down it, I scanned her. I watched her hips sway as she walked, her heels clicking on the wood floor.
My dick jerked, and I internally screamed. Shit.
On the plus side, you won’t have any issues getting my cock up. You’re practically aching to get between her thighs.
Think about something else! Jesus, anything else! You cannot go to dinner with a hard-on!
Elize made it to the door and opened it. “You coming?”
Fucking pull yourself together! You need to focus. This is a date, but also a way for me to start getting to know Elize again. This is the start of a new beginning, so put your dirty thoughts aside.
“Yes.” I shook my head and walked after her. “To dinner.”
We headed out to the car, and I could feel myself getting nervous. It wasn’t like this was new. We’d dated and gone out for dinner plenty of times. But this was new. We were different people now, and I wanted this to work. I needed this to work this time.