Chapter Fifty-two
Never have been a dancer and feeling queasy, body overwhelmed with the rousing magic, Nara took a step back from the crowd. She felt if she stayed any much longer she might pass out from the magic. She looked at the elves around her. How were they able to dance with the magic feeling like a hurricane? She turned around. She was going back home, well hoping to do so if she doesn’t get lost in the mist. She took four steps and halted. “You” she whispered shout. The elf glanced around then back to her. “Me?”
“Yes, you,” she said, wincing a little as she struggled to clear the fog in her mind. The silver haired elf drew a little closer to her and smiled slowly. “So, you still remember me.”
“You are alive” Nara gaped, a wave of relief and astonishment washing over her. The elf’s silver eyes glinted sharply against the blue mist. “Alive and well.”
He cocked his head to the side, the space between his brows bunching. “How is the boy?”
The question sobered her momentarily, her features turning grim. “He’s dead.”
The brightness in his eyes dimmed. He solemnly said. “I’m sorry.”
“Me too,” Nara muttered.
His eyes gazed at her briefly before moving back to hers. “You have company.”
Twisting, she looked back over her shoulder. There was no one behind her. Nara turned back to look at him. She frowned. He was gone. Her eyes darted around.
“Hello” his voice rumbled, sinking softly into her. Nara turned, tilting her head and met Calemir’s eyes.
“What is it?” Calemir asked, sensing her unrest and seeing it in her sparkling brown eyes. Although thoughts etched on her features, there were still traces of effects of magic on her. Her skin was glowing. She pursed her lips and shook her head lightly, murmuring. “It’s nothing.”
“It’s just a man I met before. I didn’t tell you but when the cursed spirit attacked, there was also a man. He had been the one who had urged me to leave with the boy. I left him fighting the bastards” she explained when Calemir kept watching her, his dark gaze unwavering. “I had thought he had died too, but then I just met him here.”
“A human?”
“No, he’s an elf.”
Calemir looked around. “Where is he?”
“I don’t know, he disappeared in the crowd,” Nara shrugged.
“You sang well” she added after the tension between became too much. Calemir made a puzzled face.
“You sang well” she repeated a little louder over the loud singing.
He made that puzzled face again. Nara almost rolled her eyes, did he not genuinely hear her? She waved her hand in the air “never mind”. She wasn’t going to compete with the music.
Pfft for someone with long ears, he couldn’t even hear her, she scoffed. He leaned in toward her, the side of his jaw brushing her own as his spoke against her ear. “Tell me.”
A shiver ricocheted over her body. Nara unglued her tongue from the roof of her mouth. Her cheek grazed the skin of his jaw as she whispered back. “You have a lovely voice.” Nara grew still when Calemir pulled back and looked at her. Her eyes dropped to his hand that was reaching for hers. Calemir trailed his fingers over her arm down to her wrist which he gently grasped and pulled her to him.
Nara blinked in shock, her hands instinctively going to his chest. Although she thought of pulling back, Nara instead gazed into his face, into eyes that she could get lost in even though they told her to stay away. Warned her to be careful of their owner. “I-” she started, but he cut her off. “You” Calemir stated almost accusingly, causing her to jerk her head back a little. “Why can’t I stop thinking about you?” he questioned. She dropped her hands from his chest. The fingers on her wrist squeezed lightly. “We rarely see each other or spend time together. It shouldn’t be but gods you occupy my mind...”
Nara watched him intently as he swallowed, struggling to find words. Calemir’s eyes smoldered his voice turning gruff. “You are the last thing I expected, but I want you. I want to do a lot with you. But right now, the thing I want most is to kiss you.”
Nara felt everything fade away except for the pulse thrumming at the base of her neck. Stomach quivering, and scared out of her skin she did one thing. “Kiss me” she whispered.
Calemir released a deep breath. He lowered his head, watching her the entire time to see her reaction. His lips brushed over hers gently. Closing his eyes, he brushed his lips over hers again gently, coaxing. Her chest felt so hot and tight, her muscle tense with anxiousness she thought she might die from air deprivation. Unclenching her fist, Nara rested her hand on his shoulders. She kissed him back. She gasped when he brought his other hand and cupped her other cheek and kissed her back hard. He took her reaction as an opportunity to slip his tongue into her mouth. Nara moaned and brushed her tongue with his almost timidly. He made a sound at the back of his throat. Nara slipped her tongue more, seeking the taste and warmth of his mouth. Calemir grunted and tilt his head to the opposite. His kissing turned from chaste to hungry in a second. Nara kissed him with the same intensity and made a small whimper like sound when he teared his mouth away from hers.
Calemir looked at her as he calmed his ragged breathing. His gazed dropped at her mouth as she licked her lips, seeking the taste that was left of him on her. Calemir averted his eyes and looked away from her for a moment before he dived back in and devoured her again. She had tasted sweet like a ray of sunshine and wine. Her taste had burned its way in his throat. Heat sank in his body, magic and the natural arousal of his body darkened and coursed in his blood. He wanted to have her so bad that he was hanging on a thread of sanity. He could just make her feel what he felt. Calemir returned his gaze back to her flushed face. “The celebration doesn’t end until tomorrow. You should go home.”
The lust in her features faded a little at his words. Nara had enjoyed kissing him that she had wanted to ask him to do it again. But reading between the lines, she understood that he didn’t want to do it again. It seemed he didn’t want her around either. Was he regretting? The thought cooled the heat churning in her stomach and spreading over her skin.
Nara pressed her fingers to her forehead. “You are right, I should leave. I’m tired” she lied.
“You'll be all right by yourself?”
Nara almost scowled at him. One minute he was chasing her away and the next he was acting worried for her. He was giving her a whiplash as if the magic wasn’t doing enough. She was having a hard time to discern where the influence of magic ended and where her emotions began. Everything was a mess and complicated like a ball of yarn.
“I’ll be okay. I don’t think it’s going to be hard not to bump into someone in all this mist” Nara said sarcastically.
Calemir rubbed the back of his neck, the idea of her going back home alone not sitting well with him. The magic around them lowered people’s inhibition, making them vulnerable to act recklessly. And contrary to the way most of his people treated her nicely that didn’t account for everyone. Some were merely tolerating her presence and given the opportunity they could hurt her. Furthermore, he could see she was barely keeping steady on her feet. Not accustomed to such powerful magic, he was confident she felt inebriated, and as she continued to stand here, she could pass out. He finally decided. “Let us go.”