by Darci Darson
Alyssa was never allowed to drink wine but as Sheedra handed her a high silver goblet, she did not refuse. She did not want to offend her host. After emptying the first one almost immediately and answering Sheedra’s questions about Rav and Yasmeen, she felt light and happy, relaxed whilst Ettrian found a chunky blue blanket for her. He leant over her, wrapping it around her and returned to his seat, a gentle smile forming on his lips.
As the evening turned into the night a chill began to filter through the open windows. Alyssa replaced her towel with the blanket that tickled and scratched her skin, at that moment unconcerned about her far too unrestrained behaviour. Sheedra refilled her goblet and laughed as Alyssa was telling about her mum’s yelling and her grandpas’ difficult characters. She knew both Imre and Drasa only from Yasmeen’s memories but her storytelling was vivid and funny enough to entertain Sheedra. The apple and vanilla scents dispersed by the long candles placed on a large black and silver chest wafted with those of ripen fruits and flowers blooming in the garden as a light breeze ruffled net purple and grey curtains that danced like those in a ghost castle.
Ettrian remained silent and each time she looked at him, he had this tense and dark expression, very confusing for her. Looking around, Alyssa had the impression of a bit blurry and colourful surroundings whilst her nostrils filled with the earthy scent of soil entangled with the freedom of the sky that blended with a tingling and tantalizing musk. It hung heavy and unique around her and made her skin boiling hot. The air was getting dense and as if sensual. She heard Ettrian’s and Sheedra’s honest laughter like an echo from the distance and lowered herself to sit on the stone floor that was covered with a red and green carpet of flowery and serpentine design. Ettrian followed her and sat behind her so that she could rest in the angle of his body as his arms and legs guarded her frame on either side. She brought a goblet to her lips and sipped slowly. She did not want to get very drunk and humiliate herself in front of Sheedra. The progress of the evening awoke her curiosity and intrigued her. It also filled her with nervousness. Something was different and she was eager to explore it.
“You are the most beautiful creatures in the Seven Dimensions, you and your mother, Alyssa,” Sheedra said and she moved the table away to gaze at Alyssa and Ettrian with a mysterious smile forming on her lips. She seemed to be contented and amazed.“And your love is the most honest and lasting one. I wish you gave this love to...”
“Mother,” Ettrian interrupted her. “Alyssa is getting drunk.”
“I’m not getting drunk,” Alyssa protested. Ettrian’s closeness intoxicated her and the allure of his body blurred her mind; she was certain of it now. She was unable to focus around him like his aura enslaved her rational thinking.
“Yes, you are,” Ettrian said and took the half full goblet from her hand, placing it on the armchair. “You’ve had enough wine, Alyssa. Rav will kill me for even this one goblet.”
“He won’t,” Sheedra said, “don’t worry too much and enjoy this night and Alyssa’s company as much as you can. I can feel the vibrations of a big change. I wish that everything for you both was so simple and joyful like tonight...”
Alyssa sent Sheedra her brightest smile and leant backwards, pressing her naked back against Ettrian’s chest more solidly. She rested her head on his shoulder as her hands corrected the blanket over her breasts that tended to slid down despite her efforts to keep it in place. She had no idea what Sheedra was talking about but it did not matter. Her senses were hyper-aware of the warmth of Ettrian’s body radiating to hers and she felt his hand stroking her forehead and the side of her face. The brushes of his fingers were delicate and caring and at the same time, the world started pulsating around her and her eyes grew heavy. Each stroke sent a tickling laziness to her muscles. Ettrian’s hand cupped the side of her face and she rested her other cheek against the skin of his chest. Sheedra began to hum an elven song that flowed like a stream of sadness and Alyssa remained safe in the angle of Ettrian’s body with her eyes closed. It was as if in slow waves she was departing into a sleep, with each inflow her head hazier and her body more relaxed. Her cheek slid down to rest in the hollow of his folded arm whilst her body rolled on the side and curled in the space of his embrace. His hand caressed her other cheek as his warm breath tickled her ear.
“Sheedra is preparing the guest bedroom upstairs for you, Alyssa,” he whispered into her ear.
“My mum will kill me,” Alyssa muttered with sarcasm.
“She will kill me first,” Ettrian said and chuckled. “Stay with us. I will cook something nice for breakfast.”
Alyssa nodded and felt a whirl inside her skull as the warmth of Ettrian’s hand ran up and down her neck. His touch made the very atoms of her skin shake in anticipation. Everything inside her bubbled, boiled and awakened. She turned towards him and led by a sudden basic urge, extended her arm as her hand captured the back of his head. She pulled him towards her and their lips met. It felt a bit like a sudden tingling explosion clouding her head, at the same time her awareness was sharp enough to record the crushing strength of his mouth closing hers and the claiming fierceness of his tongue entangled with hers. Her back now pressed against the soft thickness of the carpet as Ettrian’s body covered hers and his hand travelled up her outer thigh, gliding over her bottom and wrapping her leg around his waist. He was stealing her breath as his mouth explored hers and she felt like she was falling down whilst the surroundings drifted towards her and away again. The kiss became deeper and harder and the touch of his hand against her thigh got stronger and almost painful. As their lips separated, he stroked the side of her face and said into her ear, ”I will take you to the guest bedroom. It’s very late.”
“Where is Sheedra?”
“She went to bed in the converted shed in the back garden, Alyssa. There is only me and you now.”
Her doubts that she was too close and too intimate with him faded away as Alyssa immersed her fingers into his hair and brought his lips back to hers. She was an instinct that sought satisfaction when her folded legs spread wide open. Ettrian gazed at her with a burning desire sharpening his expression and his mouth grazed her chin and travelled to kiss along the curve of her neck. He looked at her like he had never looked at her before and his grey eyes blazed as if they were bright silver flares now.
“You should get a proper nights rest, Alyssa,” he said with a warm gentleness, so unusual for him, cupping her face in his hands.
“No,” she objected firmly, wrapping her arms around his neck. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m staying with you for the whole night.” Scared and ashamed with her abrupt honesty, Alyssa covered her eyes with her palm but she had no intention to move away from underneath him.
“Are you sure?” he asked, lifting her hand and gazing into her eyes
“Yes,” she said and elevated herself to cling to him and bury her face in the angle of his neck whilst her arms wrapped around his chest. “I am a woman,” she added but sounded like a child, to her embarrassment.
Ettrian chuckled and whispered into her ear, “I’ve noticed that. Some time ago.”He covered her mouth with his, pinning her down to the floor and gifted her with another gaze that was dark, passionate, demanding. Through the wavy heat of her body, she felt his hand squeezing her breast and his lips grazing her nipple. When he entered into her, a thought coursed through her mind that it was not painful at all. He was gentle with her like he knew that she had never had a man before. His touch was full of slow tenderness and kisses softened as his hands entangled with her hair. He thrust in and out, slowly and smoothly and she pulled him closer to her, tasting this almost painful pleasure for the first time in her life. When his body shivered against hers as he climaxed, she wrapped her arms and legs around him and closed him in the captivity of her embrace. Their bodies sprinkled with droplets of sweat were as one. She sighed, crushed under the weight of his hard muscles. Ettrian elevated himself on his folded elbows placed on either side of her head and gifted her wi
th unhurried light kisses and his joyful glances. Finally, his body clung to hers in a more comfortable position and he rested his cheek on the area between her breasts.
Alyssa had an impression of time slowing down and stopping, preserving them in a sleepy detachment like they were somewhere else when a vomiting reflex surged through her stomach as though a reminder of reality and she said to him in a sharp voice, “Get off me, Ettrian.”
He lifted his head from the comfort between her breasts and cupped her face with his hands.
“Alyssa, listen to me...”
Another wave of sickness went through her stomach and she covered her mouth with her hand as she blew her cheeks and her body shook. Ettrian rolled away from her as she twisted her upper body in the opposite direction from him. Grabbing the blanket, she threw up into the hollow formed by the fabric in her hands. She heard Ettrian’s suppressed laugh behind her back as she knelt, bent forward and vomited whilst his hand smoothed along her back to give her comfort. When she finished with throwing up, she wiped her mouth with the piece of the blanket and wanted to die of humiliation. A weeping sound escaped her mouth as Ettrian closed her in his arms, sitting behind her.
“We both had a little bit of wine but it wasn’t that bad,” he said with sarcasm as Alyssa stifled a cry. “Alyssa, don’t worry. I will... clean this. I didn’t think that you were that drunk.”
“I’m not very drunk,” she whispered. “I don’t tolerate wine... I guess, like my mum,” she added. “She throws up after even a glass of wine.” She burst into tears as he lifted her to a standing position and scooped in his arms. She buried her face in her hands with the realisation that he carried her upstairs and she was still naked. As she allowed herself to glance at him through the blinding screen of her tears she caught his joyful glance in the dim light of the candles placed in four narrow niches of the wall. A sound of his sharp breath from the effort of holding her resounded in the silence as they moved upstairs. Entering his bedroom, he placed her in a four poster bed. His quiet humming transferred the magic of incantation to every molecule of her being as he covered her body with a soft, silky bed sheet. Wondering, why he had not taken her to the guest bedroom as planned before, she was filled with the delicate relaxing vibes of his song. She fell asleep at once.
As she opened her eyes and the sunny morning brushed her face with a burning heat filtering through the gaps between the heavy navy curtains, she felt tired but had no sickness or headache. Sitting up she rubbed her eyelids and hitched up the bed sheet as the sound of the strides behind the wooden arched door, startled her.
As the door swung open, she observed Ettrian walking inside with a tray of steaming food and her white dress thrown over his shoulder with her shorts on top of it. He smiled to her in an honest yet somehow suspicious for her way and sat on the side of the bed handing her the tray and placing the garments at her feet.
“I washed your clothes,” he said. “It’s so hot outside that they dried in an instant.”
She could see the drops of sweat prickling up on his naked chest. The air was in fact still and sizzling and a sweat rolled down her temple. She wiped her forehead, not sure whether the heat of her skin came from the summer sun or from within her.
“Thank you,” she said politely, shooting her scared glances towards him.
He seemed unconcerned, amused with her which was understandable as she must have been just the one of the hundreds of women who had awoke in his bedroom before. She had no intention of discussing the details of the evening with him as her goal was to forget this incident as soon as possible and to leave in the next instance possible. It was not a concern or regret about what she had done coursing through her foggy head as the last evening had been very pleasant for her. She would not have bothered if she had spent it with whoever elf man from the Alyssum Forest. She was disturbed by the thought that she had been with Ettrian and he was her parents’ best friend. This inappropriate desire for him scared her. She wanted him more and more with every moment that passed. Her whole being was on fire.
“I’m very sorry,” Alyssa muttered. “For the blanket... and for everything... else...”
“Alyssa,” he interrupted her in a bit sharp tone.
Her heart pounded and her breath stopped in her throat as he gazed at her with the dark intensity narrowing his eyes.
“Alyssa, I will speak to your father as soon as we return from the human town.”
“Where is Sheedra?”
“She left before the sunrise,” he answered and looked at her as if with reproach. “Alyssa, my house needs repair and more comfortable furniture, but I will deal with it as soon as possible. I haven’t paid too much attention to the house but the most necessary adjustments shouldn’t take more than two full moons.”
Alyssa was totally confused by his words as it seemed irrelevant in the view of her inappropriate behaviour last evening.
“I will explain everything to Rav,” Ettrian continued. “He may be shocked but should get over this.”
“What do you want to explain to my father?” Alyssa asked with a dread in her voice.
“I don’t want to keep it in secret, Alyssa. Your parents are my best friends and they should know first. Sooner or later Rav has to deal with this.”
“Don’t tell them anything,” Alyssa squeaked. The heat formed a thickening fog in her head and she could not clear her thoughts. Her parents would kill her as soon as they learnt about her shameful behaviour and this would destroy the friendship between Ettrian and them forever. She was responsible for this whole ridiculous situation and the guilt drummed inside her as her urge to stop him from revealing anything to her parents grew bigger and bigger.
“I have to tell them now, Alyssa. I want Yasmeen to help me choose proper furniture and the kitchen needs almost everything. Rav will help with the roof... You could think about new clothes and I’ll buy you a lot of new books.” He stared at her for a moment and asked, “How are you feeling?”
“I think I’m sick.” She had never been sick like humans but the stuffy hotness surging through her body seemed to resemble a human illness. “I will go home and rest,” she added, reaching out for her dress with the intention of putting it on but Ettrian tore the garment away from her hand and threw it towards the foot of the bed.
“Eat something first, Alyssa.”
As she put the veggies cooked in a sweet sauce into her mouth, her attention diverted to the delicious and soft taste of the dish whilst he watched her with a joy which was awkward. Enjoying every bit of this mixture of colours and textures wrapped in the dense, caramelly richness that exploded with the intensity of flavours, she emptied the bowl in an instant. In fact, her love for good food seemed to resemble that of grandpa Imre as Yasmeen had told her even though her body was attacked by an illness now.
“Maybe you would like to choose the furniture, Alyssa. I should have asked you first.”
“Why do you want me to choose the furniture?” she questioned but in fact, her head clouded with the strange fever seizing her organs and slowing her thinking.
“This is what married women do,” he said with a naughty flicker in his eyes.
“I don’t want Aymar,” she exploded. “My mum is married, she can help you.”
“Why are you talking again about Aymar?”he asked with a loud impatient voice.
“He still wants to marry me but I don’t want him. I want to go to the University.”
“I can... pay for the school teaching warlocks if you want to attend it. We will manage, it takes only three winters... Don’t worry about Aymar. I will talk to him.”
Alyssa felt like she was getting insane. Everything pulsated and throbbed in her head and she had no idea what was being happening or what was it that Ettrian tried to tell her. This heat of her body and mind took control and overwhelmed her. She wanted only one person in the whole world. Ettrian. She wanted him in a way that scared her.
“I need to go home,” she murmured, crawling from the b
ed and attempting to cover herself with the silky bed sheet. There was this overwhelming euphoric lust seizing her soul and body and she thought that she would die or boil. She was not able to comprehend anything.
Ettrian grabbed the bed sheet and jerked on the corner, exposing her naked body.
“I prepared a bath for you, Alyssa,” he said a bit irritated and held her hand, drawing her closer to him. She sighed when he scooped her in his arms and lifted with a gasp to carry her towards the door.
“You are heavy,” he said with a hint of humour.
“I can take a bath in my house,” Alyssa said and buried her face in his chest. The breeze coming through an open window cooled her insane senses for a moment.
“Don’t complicate things, Alyssa. Everything is very simple.”
She knew that she could walk away in any moment but somehow decided to stay in his arms. She had an urge to throw her arms around his neck and cling to him but instead cringed even more with the realisation that her only desire now was to stay in his arms forever.
They moved through the stairs and Ettrian swayed, leaning against the wall to catch a breath.
“Alyssa, you are digging your elbows into my stomach,” Ettrian said with humour as he corrected his arms.
Alyssa lifted her head and captured his neck as her chest clung to his. The feel of her sweat merging with his and the scent of his skin tantalized. To her horror, she was only thinking now of repeating every detail of the last evening.
“Why can’t I just walk?” she asked with amusement.
“The floor is too rough for your delicate feet.”
Alyssa burst into laughter and buried her face in his neck. Moving downstairs, they entered the square room in the basement that was filled with clouds of steam and the dim colourful light produced by the mosaic at the bottom of the pool. As he released her from his embrace, she immersed herself into the heat of water waving and glittering in pale blue, pink and green. She twisted her neck and glanced at Ettrian who was taking off his trousers. She jerked her head away from him and felt his closeness next to her as the splash of water echoed in the room. The pool was big enough for at least four people and the water reached up to Alyssa’s waist. She shivered when he pulled her towards him and poured a dark green fluid onto her head. She added a decent amount of water and started to massage her hair as a thick foam formed and her nostrils filled with a herbal scent.