Promise Forever: Fairy Tales with a Modern Twist

by Pauline Creeden

  Merlin pushed a box in between them and only spoke as he was pulling tape off the box, “As I said a minute ago, even if I were interested, my body wasn’t. Look at me.” There was no hesitation; she snapped her head up out of the box and gave him her full attention, “Whether you want to hear it or not, this is my secret. The first time I’ve had an urge…my body has had an urge…in all this time was earlier today.”

  Anne was trying to digest what he said. Had he had an urge because of her? No fricking way. She wanted to distract herself before responding, so she dropped her eyes back to the box and looked through it with a sense of urgency she didn’t have before. She could feel him looking at her, but she didn’t dare look back up to him. Her hands circled something that was hard and surprisingly cold. She gasped when she pulled it out, “Look what I found.”

  Merlin looked in her hand. “Odd. This is an obsidian stone. The exact size and shape of the one we are looking for. But there is no magic to it. Why would your family have this?”

  Anne shrugged and kept going through the box. She pulled out a picture of a woman that looked a lot like her and Viviane. It was a black and white photo. In the photo, she held the rock in one hand and a book in the other.

  “Huh, I guess Viviane’s features are strong in her descendants.”

  Ann looked deeper in the box and pulled out a leather book that looked like the one from the picture. She opened it and looked at Merlin with giddiness like she had just won an award, “It’s a journal.”

  She started flipping through the pages and looked at him again with deflated eyes. “I don’t understand.”

  She handed Merlin the book and he flipped through. Only one word was written on each of the pages: Stone.

  Merlin flipped to the last page, and what he read confused him even more: The stone was in front of me the whole time.

  “I don’t understand what this means if you are saying that this rock is not the stone we are looking for.”

  Merlin flipped through the book a third time, “I don’t know what it means either.”

  Anne stood up and walked the window. “Um…Merlin?”

  Merlin’s head popped up from the book, “Yeah?”

  Anne stepped away from the window and whispered, “I think Arthur and his men are outside.”

  Merlin jumped up and looked out the window. Arthur held the spinning blade knife on a string. “Look at his blade, Anne. He scryed to pinpoint this location, but that’s as far as he can get. He knows our general vicinity, but as long as you stay behind my magic, he can’t find us.”

  Anne pulled Merlin away from the window. She cupped his cheeks and made him look down at her, “I don’t think he is going to be content with just sitting outside waiting for me to leave. He has been waiting for fifteen hundred years for this moment. He’s not going to stop. How can I kill him?”

  Merlin didn’t pull away from Anne’s touch, but he didn’t reach out to touch her either. Once again, he was paralyzed by the feeling of someone touching him. He couldn’t let her go near Arthur. Arthur would destroy her the moment she gets close. His heart started to pound. “You can’t.”

  Her forehead wrinkled when her eyes started to flash with anger, “What do you mean? Of course I can. You just have to tell me how. We have to put an end to this.”

  He finally reached out to touch her, but it was more to wipe the worry off her forehead and to pull her hands off his face. He didn’t release her hands, though. Instead, Merlin pulled her to the couch in the living room, taking her away from the view at the window. He stared at her hand and slowly intertwined their fingers. He took a deep breath before starting without looking up from their hands, “Arthur is full of magic at the moment. I don’t think you could remotely get close to him. Even if by some miracle you did, he would be next to impossible to kill. Magic extends life. How do you think I have been alive as long as I have?”

  “Viviane died.” She was barely audible when she spoke those two words.

  He asked her, “Did she, though?”

  She didn’t know how to answer him. She sat there staring at him He was still watching their hands. He finally looked up at her and lifted one side of his mouth in a crooked smile that led to one corner of his blue eyes, “She didn’t really die. She just spread her essence to her descendants. I can feel her magic in you, and I would bet that since you are all that remains of her, you would be hard to kill now. If Arthur got his hands on you…you would wish you could die.” His voice was so soft that Anne had to strain to hear his last sentence.

  Anne looked up to the window, imagining Arthur formulating a plan to capture her. Her body started to involuntarily shake. Merlin released her hands and scooted over to the other end of the couch. Even though she had been alone for quite some time, she actual felt alone the moment he broke contact with her. Just yesterday she was content being by herself. Now, she didn’t think she could cope with loneliness anymore. She looked over to Merlin with one arm stretched over back of the couch and the other on his far leg. Without thinking of rejections, she just did what she felt she needed: she stretched out on the couch and laid her head on Merlin’s thigh. His muscles tightened beneath her check. She didn’t care, though; she needed this.

  Merlin didn’t say anything or move a muscle for quite some time. He pulled her hair out of the knot on the top of her head and ran his fingers through her strands. For the first time since dealing with this situation, Anne relaxed. Together they could figure out how to stop Arthur. As long as Merlin stayed by her side, nothing could defeat her. She was sure of it.

  Chapter 6

  Silk.

  Her blonde hair felt like silk.

  After the shock of her putting her head in his lap, Merlin placed one hand on her hip. He watched the other hand in pure fascination at the contrast of her yellow strands falling through his fingers like sand in an hour glass. When all the sand fell, he grabbed for more for more hair.

  He repeated this process for some time until he heard her steady breathing. She rolled over in her sleep, her mouth just inches away from his zipper. Merlin thanked the fates that she was asleep, because there was no way he could hide his hardness so close to her mouth.

  He placed his hands under her head so she wouldn’t be disturbed, and shifted his thighs out from under her. She was still knocked out and had no idea he had moved. She didn’t even wake when he lifted her from the couch and carries her to the bedroom. The only time she even remotely woke at all was when he tucked her under the covers and tried to walk away. She grabbed his hand and muttered sleepily, “I don’t want to be alone anymore.”

  When he was younger and still had sex, he only had one rule. That rule was that he would never fall asleep with any lover. Sleeping was a moment of weakness. You lost control in your sleep. Others could take advantage. Merlin had seen it happen. He swore it would never happen to him. As much as he lived by that rule, he regretted that he never trusted anyone enough to sleep around them.

  He took off his clothes and put on some lounge pants. He lay down beside her on his back, putting as much room between them as the bed would allow. The moment he laid down, her hand reached out behind her until she found his bare chest. Anne scooted on the bed so that her back was pressed to his side. She was using one of his shoulders as a pillow. In her sleep she reached out behind her again to find his arm and managed to pull him to her. Anne had successfully made Merlin spoon with her.

  His face was surrounded in her silky hair, which up close smelt like his soap and her own unique scent of vanilla. He pulled her close and buried his face underneath her hair. He buried himself right on the spot where her neck meets her shoulders. His body didn’t require much sleep, and at the moment, there was nothing in the world that would let him sleep. He didn’t want to miss a thing. He was content with her body pressed to him, trusting him to keep her safe, while he allowed her to sleep her stress away.

  Anne woke up warm. She was too warm for just blankets. Anne looked down and saw Merlin�
��s arm wrap around her ending just under her breast. His entire front side was pressed to her back. She could feel his hardness nestled on her lower back. Her eyes sprung open. She couldn’t remember how she got from the couch to here. She was even in different clothes.

  “I used magic to change you,” Merlin said behind her. He was close enough to her neck that each word moved the hairs on her skin, causing chill bumps to form.

  She didn’t say anything. She didn’t know what to say. She was safe. She was comfortable. She was nervous. Unconsciously, she was running circles with her fingers on the back of Merlin’s hand. He didn’t move away from her, and when she realized what she was doing to him, she took that as encouragement to move her hands a little further up his arms.

  Anne turned around to face him, leaving a little space between them. She traced up his shoulders, to the tattoos that she hadn’t noticed earlier in the other room. The markings on his skin looked like an archaic language, “What does this mean?”

  “Those are protection runes of old, loosely translated as protection against those that mean harm to me.” He kept his eyes closed as he answered her question.

  Her hand moved to his bare chest. She knew that he was muscular from the back, but Anne wasn’t expecting sculpted perfection on the front. Her fingertips moved down the ridges of his stomach. She made it halfway down his abs, when his hands stopped her from moving. She looked up to Merlin, who had his blue eyes now open and looking at her.

  “If your hands keep moving, then I won’t be able to stop.” Anne watched his mouth move as he talked to her. He swallowed, and she could see his heart beating on the side of his neck. She leaned forward, mesmerized by his earthy scent. She was surrounded be it. Maybe it was the way she woke. Maybe it was how safe she felt with him. Maybe it was the way he smelt, but she had no answer for it. She didn’t want him to stop. She didn’t know what the future would bring with Arthur, but Anne knew that this very well could be her only time with Merlin. This could be her only time to feel wanted.

  Anne kissed his pulse and heard him inhale and exhale. She left soft kisses up to his ear and whispered, “Then don’t stop.”

  Faster than she was expecting him to move, he had her hands pinned up above her head with one of his hands. Using his magic, she was fully unclothed. She would have embarrassed about not having clothes on in front of him while he still had on his bottoms, but he was looking at her body in way that made her feel things she never thought she would experience. His pants were painfully tented with his obvious interest. Given what the future may hold, Anne felt incredibly flattered that he had picked her after his abstinence.

  He lowered his body weight onto her, and brought his gaze back to her eyes, “You sure about this?”

  She lifted her head as much as his grip would allow and stretched her tongue to his lips, “I have never been so sure of anything in my life.”

  His mouth found hers with so much force and abandon that if they were not in a soft bed, her head would have hurt by how hard she was slammed down. He put all of his missed two thousand years of passion, in that one kiss. She tasted blood in her mouth, and she didn’t care now. She was certain that she wouldn’t care that her lips would be swollen tomorrow. She met him with as much for as he gave her.

  Slow down. Merlin kept repeating that mantra to himself over and over again. He wanted nothing more than to bury himself in her, but she deserved more than that. He took his time. He watched her face in fascination the first time he touched her breast. Her body was made for his. This was what he was missing. His body and mind had known all along that somewhere there was an individual made to be his. He was rejoicing that he had finally found her.

  He wanted to savor every second. As much as he wanted to just pump into her, he took his time. He brought her to climax first with his hands. She reacted perfectly to his movements. Her body was responsive to him. She was his new ambrosia, and one time wouldn’t be enough. He had to taste her. As she was going through her second orgasm, he looked up at her face between her legs and couldn’t get enough of the expressiveness of her eyes.

  He climbed back up her body, just staring into her satisfied face. He let her take his body weight, positioning himself at her entrance. Merlin let his head fall to her forehead, so that the only place either of them could look was into each other’s eyes. He pushed himself into her.

  After all this time, he had finally found his home.

  Chapter 7

  She stretched, and for the first time in a long time she felt well rested and well used− perhaps sore in places she forgot could be sore, but well rested. Merlin didn’t miss a beat, but he didn’t forget a thing in his several thousand-year absentness. Anne rolled over to look at Merlin’s face, which was much softer while he was sleeping. She knew that this was too fast, but she had never felt this way about anyone. He made her think. He made her angry. But most of all, despite how he actually made her feel, he had kept her safe, even when he didn’t necessarily have to. He could have figured out a way to fix the stone issue without her. He had had fifteen hundred years to do so. Instead, he had opened his home to her. Despite everything going on in her life right then, she thought she loved him.

  Her stomach grumbled, breaking the silence. Anne pulled out another pair of jeans and a black shirt. After she was fully dressed, she made her way to the kitchen. She pulled out potatoes, onions, and eggs. Still high from the last night’s activities, she was going to make Merlin a hearty southern breakfast. She sliced the potatoes and onions and stuck them in the oven.

  Waiting was the pain.

  Waiting was what got her thinking.

  Waiting was what caused her to look out the window.

  Over the best night of her life, while she had selfishly been enjoying what Merlin gave her, Arthur was gathering people. Anne didn’t know these people, and it didn’t matter in the end. What did matter was that Arthur and his group had cut the heads off of at least twenty men and put those heads on a metal post. He had done this all within viewing area of Merlin’s front window. There was blood everywhere. So much so that the grass looked dark with thick, red honey.

  Anne dropped to her knees, gagging. She put her head on the floor.

  “Why?” she asked herself over and over again as she tried to control her heartbeat.

  While her heart was still beating erratically, she had an idea. She jumped up quickly, picking herself up off the floor. Anne quickly put on her shoes and grabbed the one item that could buy Merlin’s passage back to Avalon.

  “Here’s to my poker face,” she said as she twisted the doorknob before she could change her mind. Anne forced herself to leave the safety of Merlin’s magic.

  The smell of onions woke Merlin up. He felt his face lift into a smile. She was cooking for him. He stretched and thought of the events from last night. She had been well worth the wait. Viviane was right. Anne was much bigger than Avalon. His burden had been lifted last night. To hell with Arthur and his men. He would give it all up for her if she would have him.

  Merlin got dressed and slowly made his way to the kitchen, trying to figure out how he could convince Anne to go for round five before he ate. The eggs remained un-cracked in a bowl, and the potatoes were completely finished. He turned everything off and pulled the potatoes out of the oven.

  She must be in the shower. Merlin smiled and felt himself hardening as he thought of the new opportunity.

  She wasn’t in the bathroom.

  She wasn’t in the living room.

  She wasn’t in the gym.

  Merlin closed his eyes and used his magic to feel all the living beings in the house. She wasn’t in the house at all. Merlin looked out the window and saw nothing on his front lawn. It was a beautiful day, and his view was void of Arthur.

  Even though this was his least favorite form of magic, Merlin could track Anne because of what they had shared last night. He closed his eyes and spread his magic. She wasn’t far. In fact, Anne was just a few hundred feet away
at Stonehenge.

  Anne felt Merlin’s magic dissipate the moment she stepped out of the door. It snapped like popping a balloon. Once it was popped, the decapitated heads and bloody grass disappeared. It was just an illusion. The reality was just a normal day.

  “It was the heads, wasn’t it?” Arthur stepped closer to Anne.

  Anne didn’t say anything back, but just shook her head ‘no.’

  Anne could see how Viviane had found him handsome. He had given himself a much shorter haircut and had on jeans, a t-shirt, and combat boots. His facial scars somehow enhanced his beauty. Even though Anne was shaking all over, she stood her ground as Arthur approached her. His brown eyes even softened when he looked her up and down. She held her hand out, giving Arthur the stone she and Merlin had found in her family’s boxes.

  He stopped within an arm’s reach of her and looked at the stone. He smiled and looked back at her, “Do you think me a fool? That is not the stone I seek.” He didn’t say anything for a few breaths but just continued to look her into the eyes, his own face remaining surprisingly soft. When he finally did speak, his words surprised her, “Lancelot was right; you look just like her.” Anne’s clothes and hair were pulled toward Arthur as he took a big inhale. His body stiffened, and Arthur’s eyes changed. They were no longer soft and had an edge of crazy behind them. “You smell like him.”

  He turned and walked off. The fear that froze Anne was gone when Arthur turned to his men, “Lancelot…Percival…bring her to us.”

  Anne refused to be carried off like what had happened to Viviane. She dropped the fake stone, turned around, and ran. Behind where Merlin’s house should have been was Stonehenge. She was not sure what would happen when she got there, but Anne felt like the stones were where she needed to go. The moment she spotted the circular stones, her body gave her no choice but to head in that direction. Amazingly, she got there before the knights.