by Casey Odell
Abandoning thought, her body leaned in those last precious inches and took the plunge. Her hands gripped the sides of his face tightly, fingers digging into silky hair as her lips pressed against his. His hands tightened on her waist.
It wasn’t that she hated him. Not at all-- but everything was happening so fast, she just wasn’t quite sure how she felt about him. However, her body told a different story. It shivered at his touch and all but begged for more. His kisses weren’t half bad either. No, scratch that, they were utterly intoxicating. It was downright lust taking over and she was helpless to stop it. And wasn’t so sure she wanted to either. He was stunning and they both knew it. She’d just been too stubborn to admit it.
Her hands slid down to his shoulders, the flower now long gone and forgotten, while one of his slid down her waist and down to the gentle curve of her behind. Claire pulled away sharply, eyes going wide.
“Sorry, my hand slipped,” he said, amused, and removed said hand. “I must still be thinking about yesterday.”
Claire could feel the heat rise to her cheeks again. His overconfidence drove her wild sometimes, in a bad way and, oh no, in a good way. His mouth found hers again, and his hand stayed faithfully at her waist while the other decided to explore more northerly territory as it slid its way up her side and over her shoulder. It finally came to rest just above the bandage on her right arm. Fingers tugged gently at the tightly wrapped fabric. Claire pulled back again and snatched her arm away to hide it behind her back.
Farron returned her look of surprise with one of his own. “What’s wrong? Did it not heal yet?”
Claire eyed the elf, her eyes narrowing a little as her mind rose back to the surface. “What do you want with me?”
He was taken aback. She hadn’t meant to be so blunt, but she had to know. Especially after the last debacle. The list of people she could rely on had shrunken considerably in the past few days, although he was one of the few still on it, much to her surprise. But if he wasn’t loyal to Aeron or the Elvin king, then who exactly was he working for? His intentions weren’t exactly clear, and all of this could just be a ruse to help gain her trust. It was probably time she took his advice about treading the waters more carefully; she was in deeper than she liked and the water was rising fast.
“You don’t have to show me if you don’t want to.” He tried to hide his disappointment with a smile.
Claire took a deep breath. “When are you going to tell me? I need to know what I got myself into.”
A series of emotions played over his face before he settled on her favorite, cocky grin and all. “Claire, I’m still trying to get you to like me.”
“What makes you think you’re any good for me?” She remembered what he said about Maria’s daughter.
“I’m not,” he admitted. “But you’re not any good for me either.”
She repressed the urge to hit him. Who knows, maybe the damn elf was right. With a deep breath, she asked, “Can I trust you?”
“I really want you to, Claire.”
She studied his face for a moment, his eyes holding hers patiently, calmly. Finally, she sighed and held her bandaged arm up between them. She might as well. Who else did she have?
A slight tension eased out of the elf before he took her arm. His fingers worked fast on the tightly wrapped cloth. It was about time she faced the truth and see the damage that had been done.
A pink scar bisected the intricate mark, starting on her hand and trailing past her wrist to end halfway up her forearm. The thin dark lines on either side were uneven and mismatched.
Farron traced a finger along the scar lightly. “Does it hurt?”
“Sometimes,” she said, her eyes resting on her arm. “Do you think it still works?”
A brief flash of surprise crossed over his face. “I don’t know, but it’d probably be wise to avoid large felines for the time being.”
“You’re not funny.”
She watched him as he examined the mark more thoroughly. Worry slowly started to fill his eyes, his careful mask betraying him, and Claire’s stomach sank. She swallowed hard, the realization hitting her like a ton of bricks.
“You knew all along, didn’t you? What I am, what this is…”
He looked up at her, eyes slightly wide.
She waited. If he really wanted to start winning her over, he was going to have to start telling her the truth, even if she didn’t like what she would hear.
“Yes,” he said and looked down. “That’s why I volunteered to go on the mission. I knew I had to get you away from them somehow. I still don’t know exactly what the forest elves want with you. I can guess though.” He looked back up at her, the worry gone, replaced by a fierce spark. “Claire, I wasn’t lying when I said I wasn’t the worst person to get their hands on you. I was able to rescue you from the General and his little friend, but now that they know what you are capable of, they won’t just let you slip away. And they’re not the only ones. There are people far more dangerous than those two that’ll come after you. People that not even I can protect you from. People that would kill me to get to you.”
“What--?” Claire’s knees weakened. The water just rose above her head. “Those men?” she asked, remembering the thieves.
“Yes,” he said solemnly. “I don’t suspect they’d give up so easily.”
“They know what I am?”
He nodded. “Better than I do, I’m afraid.”
Her head spun with all the new information.
“I know you are worried about your mother, but she did send you away that night for a reason. She wanted you to be safe. It might be best to lay low for a while, at least until things die down a little bit.” He gave her a hopeful smile. “Don’t worry, Fran always keeps her word and she’s good at what she does. I’m sure she’ll find your mother, or at least a lead.”
She was speechless. The weight of his words crushed her, leaving her almost petrified. She was in far deeper than she could have imagined. Her stomach twisted in knots. She wished she could get mad at him, for not telling her this, for still keeping some things from her, for getting her into this mess in the first place, but she couldn’t. He was probably her only ally at the moment-- that is unless, he was planning on using her himself.
He gripped her shoulders tight, bringing her back to the present. “I’ll try my best to keep you out of the wrong hands, Claire. That is, if you let me. I understand if you want nothing to do with me, but please let me at least do this. I’m sorry I lied to you. I just thought that it would be easier to protect you, the less you knew. You’ve already been through so much, I… I know how much you just want to return to your old life, but--”
“That’s not possible now…” she completed his sentence. Grim reality settled in. Although she’d always known in the back of her mind that it wasn’t possible, it was an entirely different matter when it was staring her right in the face. “Why are you doing this? Why are you willing to help me?”
“I should have let you go that night in the forest.” His grip tightened on her shoulders. “But I couldn’t. I knew that if someone else were to find you…what they would do with you. I know what it’s like to be used. I thought that if I could save you from that, I could make up for some of the things I’ve done in my past.” He took a deep breath and looked down again. “I ran away from my problems, my past, my life, but you gave me purpose again. I am sorry for getting you into all of this and for lying to you, but I do not regret it. I don’t regret meeting you.” He brought her hand up to his lips and kissed it, soft and lingering. “I don’t want to see you get hurt again, Claire.”
It took her a moment to remember how to breathe again. She didn’t know what to say after all that. What could she say?
“And I believe I still owe you a giant feline.”
And a good old fashioned beating, she wanted to add, but didn’t. Her new powers would surely make his offer to beat him up all the more satisfying. But then again, he might enjoy that too mu
ch now…
“This place, we’re safe here. No one would attack a Haven, unless they were desperate enough. But we can’t stay.”
“Why not?” That seemed like a good enough plan to her.
“I can’t endanger Maria like that, not after all the help she’s given me over the years. A Haven is a place for healing and for rest. It’s not a place for fighting.”
“Then where?”
He shrugged and ran a hand down his face.
“Where were you bringing me before? Do you know?”
“Uru Baya, far in the northern Solinian Mountain range. There was an Elvin elder there that had been alive back in the age of magic. They thought he would be able to tell them what you are…” he paused and searched her face, “and how to use you.”
She swallowed, though she was not surprised. “Was?”
“No one’s heard from him in years.”
“Why don’t we go there?” Maybe she could find some answers out for herself.
He raised an eyebrow. “It’s deep in the mountains, Claire. Not only is it very cold, but it’s also very high. And I don’t think you’d be very fond of either. Besides, there’s no guarantee the elder would even still be there, or help us.”
“Oh.” She looked down, trying hard to think, but she didn’t know the region well enough to make any suggestions. “It seems that once again I am at your mercy.”
“You make it sound like it’s a bad thing, Claire.”
“It is. Who knows what you’re going to do with me, where you’ll take me. At least make it somewhere nice. With a bath, and a nice soft bed. If I’m going to be hiding, I might as well be comfortable.”
“I think I know just the place.” A slight smirk slid across his mouth and a pang of dread shot through her stomach.
She eyed him carefully, hoping his idea of a nice place didn’t include another city full of brothels and gambling.
“So tell me, Claire, how’s your green thumb?”
Uh oh, she wasn’t sure she liked where this was going already. Hard manual labor didn’t sound any more appealing either.
“Just remember, Farron, I can take you up on your offer at any moment.”
He just laughed, but she could have sworn she saw a hint of fear. A teeny tiny hint, but it was enough.
~*~
Connect with Me Online:
My Blog: http://caseyo139.blogspot.com/
Also check out my Story Inspiration board over at Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/curlyq139/story-inspiration/