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Doubt leaked in and eroded the foundation she’d begun to build with him. She should step away. Relian might look like a twenty-something-year-old, but he was probably ancient enough to be her great, great, great...
Cal shuddered, this time not in pleasure. Though she was curious about his actual age, he likely gave new meaning to the phrase “older than dirt.” The one time she’d asked him, he hadn’t believed her ready for the truth. She agreed now. The probability of him being super old was one thing, but to hear it voiced as the cold, hard truth was another. She was making peace with this fact, but she’d be the first to admit she wasn’t there yet.
His hand stilled as if he sensed her indecision. She smiled slightly, and something loosened in her heart. She was here, in the garden...in Eria...with him. That was an unshakable truth. How much longer could she ignore what lay between them when it seemed everything conspired to bring them together? Shouldn’t she at least try to see where all this led? If it made leaving harder once her year was up, so be it. That might be a foolhardy way of thinking, but she’d worry about that later.
All she knew was that the denial of this chance, of this exploration, could well follow her around like a black cloud for the rest of her days.
Right now, he followed her lead. Her doubt fled. This moment, this finite slice of time happened at her discretion. Wanting to act before she regretted it or, worse, stopped herself, she slid both arms around his neck. A startled expression flashed through his eyes before it disappeared into the deepening gray of his iris. Satisfaction hit her. She could do this.
She pulled his head down toward hers, her eyes only open halfway. At first, the kiss was tentative. Soon, it deepened, lips opening and yielding to the other. First hers. Then his. Lost in sensation, she never wanted to wake from it. The rasp of his tongue inside her mouth melted her body into molten honey and wrung a sigh from her. He drew her lower lip between his teeth and delivered gentle nibbles before soothing the slight sting away with his mouth.
She pressed her body into his. The arousal that prodded her stomach told her he was affected as she was. He moaned and guided them to a nearby bench. After he pulled her down onto him, he settled her in his lap, her legs on either side of his hips and her knees on the stone. Her gown rode up to the back of her calves. Hopefully, no one would pass by or they’d get an eyeful of leg. Plus, their position wasn’t exactly modest.
His shaft pressed against her sex, and she groaned. Yeah, a very compromising position, one that had the heat flowing to her core. His arm snaked around her waist and anchored her firmly to him. He captured her lips in a demanding kiss, his other hand gripping the back of her head. She responded back to his nips and bites. His moans were the finest music she’d ever heard.
She placed her hands on his shoulders, but that isn’t where they wanted to be. And she couldn’t deny them their fun, so they slipped down farther, over his collarbones down to his nipples. He gasped into her mouth. After tormenting him for a few more seconds, she moved down and explored his ribs. Lean muscle rippled under her fingertips.
She meandered her hands up and pressed one flat against his chest, the palm resting over his heart. The beat was fast and strong, just like him. She rubbed against him, his member stiff against her. His hand slid up her leg and, once at the knee, snaked under the skirt of her dress. He drew little fiery paths over her outer thigh before his calloused fingers ghosted over to the inner portion of her thigh. There, his touch sent those electric currents straight to the area between her legs. When he ventured farther, her breath froze in anticipation. As his fingers slipped under the edge of her underwear, he froze.
He growled and drew his hand away, breathless, flushed, and looking like he could kill something. Her core clenched in need. Why’d he stop? She thumped her forehead against his breastbone. His fingers slipped under her chin, halting her actions and making her look up.
He pointed to a tree with a frown. The leaves rustled, and someone stuck an arm through the greenery to wave at them. As quick as it had appeared, the hand disappeared into the cover again. Cal gasped, warmth stealing over her face. “Oh.” Well damn, that put a damper on their heated moment. Their first time shouldn’t be aired on the Erian equivalent of a bad reality show.
Glancing around the garden, she couldn’t see anyone else, but that didn’t mean they weren’t there. If they hid in trees, who knew where else they might be? Relian held up four fingers. Four? Besides themselves, there were four others in the garden? Oh yeah, royally embarrassed now. No doubt she’d be known as that fast human woman who groped their prince in inappropriate places.
Her face still warm, she smiled wryly at her last thought. Inappropriate places, indeed, in more ways than one. And it was too soon. She may have decided to see where this thing went, but that didn’t include sleeping with him the moment they exchanged a few heated kisses.
With a groan, Relian ran his hands down her arms before he stood up and set her on her feet. Instead of letting her go, he held her close, his chin on her head. They stood there awhile. Her breathing mirrored his, choppy but slowing down as the moments ticked by.
He moved slightly, and she glanced up. His forehead came to rest against hers, and that kissable mouth curved into a pained smile. The infectious sight of it washed over her. Stifling a giddy giggle, she covered his lips in another kiss before they headed into the palace.
***
“You made out with him? You go, girl! How was it?” Maggie’s questions and comments poured out so fast, Cal could barely keep apace of them.
“Slow down. You’re way too excited about this.” She slouched against one of her bed’s posters, overwhelmed. So many emotions swam through her body, she didn’t know where to start or what to think. It felt like she and Relian had progressed way beyond kissing, but other than a few intimate caresses, they hadn’t. Still, something nagged at her. It’d been a close call. She would’ve slept with him if he hadn’t called a halt to their heated moment.
Relief and frustrated desire warred at that thought. It was too soon to take their relationship to that level. Sex would only complicate matters, especially if they didn’t stay together. And she still didn’t see how they could. With her past and their separate worlds, it seemed impossible. But that same past also reminded her that he was the male she’d literally been dreaming of for years. Oh, all that thinking made her head hurt.
“I’ve been watching you two dance around each other for long enough. If there’s a pointy-eared fellow for you, he’s it.” Maggie chortled from her chair. “Once you get over the fact he’s an elf from another dimension, it’s the perfect match. Arranged by the hand of destin— Well, the veil. But never mind that,” said Maggie, when Cal’s face darkened. “Maybe the veil was only a means to bring you two to the same place. If he were Earth-bound and going to our college, you would’ve met and ended up together, without any magical interference.”
“You think so?” Cal didn’t care for the thought that so much of her life may be prearranged. That went doubly for any relationship with Relian.
“Definitely.”
Maggie was one of her staunchest supporters in the whole Relian affair. She left it unequivocally clear if he made Cal happy, she’d give her blessing. Sometimes too enthusiastically. So many obstacles hindered a lasting relationship between them.
“How can you say that with such assurance? And he’s definitely not the next-door kind of guy, as you pointed out, which compounds problems.”
“He isn’t the guy-next-door type, but you were never this way with any guy you dated or they with you. I’m not stupid. I know the problems all too well. I’m here with you, after all, and see them with my own eyes. We don’t know how long we’ll be stuck here for sure, so I say take this time to see what develops with Relian. We’ll figure out the ‘ifs’ and ‘hows’ later if they arise. Who knows? This is faerie land, after all.”
Cal narrowed her eyes. “You’re going to get us in trouble. I have the oddest feeling that the king realizes what ‘faerie land’ means when you fling it around in his presence like a toddler with a new word. You just better hope he’s not biding his time until he exacts payment for your slights.”
Maggie waved Cal’s concern aside. “Pshh, he doesn’t scare me. He likes tormenting me too well to actually cause me any harm.”
“I don’t think he’ll hurt you, at least physically, but your pride just might take a dump in the mud if you’re not careful.”
“We’ll see. But let’s get back to you...”
