“Irrational clinginess,” he repeated and it sounded so much more ridiculous coming from his mouth.
Cassie frowned at him. “Don’t judge my choice of words, quiver boy,” she growled which only caused Trik to laugh.
“Kitten and her claws,” he chuckled.
“Just promise, you will sleep with me tonight,” she implored him with what she knew was a whine but she just didn’t have the energy to care.
“Oh, how I have longed to hear you say those words,” Trik groaned as he peeled his shirt over his head.
“Uh, Trik, I was…I meant…not…,” she stammered as she took in his very chiseled, very muscled, very lick-able physique.
He pulled back the covers and climbed in next to her and wrapped an arm around her waist pulling her down next to him. She was still sputtering when he used his power to put out the lights.
“You’re just too easy, Baby,” he teased her as he tucked her in close to him. “And yes, I do wish that meant being easy in multiple ways, not just easy to tease. Now go to sleep. We have a busy life ahead of us, and I don’t need you falling asleep when I save the world.”
She couldn’t stop the school girl giggle that bubbled out of her. He always knew exactly what to say and exactly what to do to put her at ease. Awesome, freaking elf boyfriend, she thought to herself with a mental snort.
“Yes, I am,” he murmured against her neck where he had buried his face.“Now go to sleep. You can think about my awesomeness tomorrow.”
Though she was smiling to herself, she let out a huff. “Is it me or has the bossiness gotten worse since you got your crown?”
Trik pinched her butt, drawing a yelp and then giggle from her. “Woman,” Trik growled low, “go to sleep, or I will find a way to exhaust you until you can sleep.”
Cassie stilled instantly.
“That’s what I thought,” Trik rumbled.
Still grinning, she wrapped her arms around the one he had stretched over her stomach and snuggled back into him. His warmth enveloped her in a cocoon of love, and as his lips pressed against her neck, she felt her heart swell and wondered if Dr. Seuss had it right when The Grinch’s heart grew from love. She felt as if her own heart was going to burst straight out of her chest. As she finally drifted off to sleep, she let go of her worries, let go of her fear, and embraced the hope that had been set before them today in the form of a people willing to forgive their king and fight for a world they didn’t belong to.
Chapter 6
“Note to self: Laugh about the idea of a soul mate because really the joke is on you. Meanwhile, the powers that orchestrated this little fiasco are laughing their asses off while you try to keep from jumping his bones and he tries to keep from killing everything that breathes too closely to you. Ahh, good times.” ~Elora
“We ready to do this?” Elora asked as she poured herself a glass of milk. She rubbed her head absently, trying to push away the dull ache that had taken up residency there.
“Are you alright?” Cush asked her as he watched her from his leaned position against the wall.
Elora glanced over to him, her glass frozen in mid raise to her mouth. “Uh, I suppose so. I’ve got a little bit of a headache and the world is going to pot because of some liquid poison and a delusional elf king, but otherwise I’m peachy keen.”
Oakley let out a derisive snort as he looked from her to Cush. Elora chose to ignore it, not that it was hard since Cush had suddenly pushed away from the wall and was walking towards her with a frown plastered on his beautiful face.
“You have a headache?” he asked her and the concern that shown in his eyes melted her heart.
Damn hormones, she thought, knowing full well it had nothing to do with her hormones, or almost nothing.
“We don’t get headaches,” he told her.
Elora’s head tilted back to look up at him. “Ever?” she asked skeptically.
“Can you ever remember being sick?”
Elora thought for a moment and then thought some more. Her eyes widened as she realized the answer to his question. “How have I never noticed that?” She looked over to Lisa who was sitting on the counter, looking more like a teen than a mom. “Am I that dense?”
Lisa laughed. “No, Elora, you just didn’t think about it because it wasn’t something we ever brought up. No one was ever sick in our house.”
“But Cassie’s been sick before,” she argued.
Cush took a step closer to her, obviously not liking the fact that she wasn’t giving him her full attention. “The point is that you shouldn’t have a headache.”
“Point or not, the fact is…,” she snapped, “is that I have a headache. So instead of standing there glaring at me for having something that I can’t control, how about you get me a Tylenol, Motrin or a hammer.”
He tilted his head at her.
“Don’t do it,” Oakley muttered.
“Why would you need a hammer?” Cush asked ignoring her brother who was now shaking his head.
Elora grinned at him and cocked a hip out to the side as she crossed her arms in front of her. “Because then I could hit you with it and your head would hurt too.”
Cush’s lips tightened. “And what would that accomplish? You’d still have a headache.”
“Misery loves company, Elf Boy.” She winked at him and then gulped down her milk. Leaving him in his stunned silence she walked around him and smiled at her brother who was chuckling under his breath. “Alright people, let’s get this show on the road. We have a book to translate, portals to open, and lives to save. No time for dilly dallying.”
“Who is she and where did my sister go?” Oakley asked Lisa.
Lisa smiled. “She’s still her, but now she has that,” she pointed at Cush who was staring after Elora, “to contend with, and it’s bringing out her spunky side.”
“You say spunky, I say horny, but who am I to mince words?” Oakley joked.
Cush glanced at him from the corner of his eye.
Oakley shrugged. “Just calling it like I see it. You might want to make sure to lock your bedroom door at night or you might find yourself being mauled by a half elf.”
“She just said she wanted to hit me with a hammer,” Cush pointed out dryly.
“To Elora, that’s foreplay,” Oakley retorted just as dryly. Rin who had been quietly listening to everything spewed orange juice everywhere at Oakley’s declaration.