The walk back dashed by in a blur. Butterflies flew in my belly. All I could do was chance glances at the beautiful male beside me and…desire him. Truly want him. The pure want ofhim gobbled me up until I was nothing more than a burning flame. I tripped, almost taking Elden down with me.
A fumbling, bumbling flame.
We reached the door of our room, and I turned to face Elden. Heat rolled through me. I had to look in his eyes just once. Just to see if he felt the same. Passion and longing roared through me with an acute fire. Elden’s gold eyes met mine, so very high up, but all I’d have to do was hop up on my tippy toes and his lips would be on mine.
“Elden?” I asked through heavy breaths.
His eyes grew soft. “Yes, Noelle?”
The intensity of his gaze stripped me bare. I didn’t know what I wanted to ask. All words had flown from my mind and there were only his eyes, his mouth, and my bated breaths in the crisp autumn night. Our bodies pressed together as he leaned over me. His gaze lingered on my lips?—
A kiss. It was all I wanted; all I could think about. I stood up on my toes and reached around the Elf King’s broad shoulder. His breath guttered as he closed his eyes. He wanted me too. I felt it in the air. The tension between us was tangible. As delicious as a golden-brown pastry. I leaned in and?—
The floor fell from beneath my feet as Elden lifted me into his arms. He carried me to the bed, then slipped off my shoes. He gently tucked the blanket up around my neck, then rushed across the room and busied himself with kindling the fire.
What?
I blinked, surprised at the speed in which I was so thoroughly rejected. I shivered as I lay wrapped in a blanket so all together cold and alone.
Minutes later, the fire blazed, and I was all at once freezing and burning hot. Depression hit like a punch to the face. Who was I anyway? To think I could love the king? To think he wouldwant me? I was a nobody human. A tiny little baker, as he was so often fond of reminding me.
“What was in that potion, anyways?” I grumbled as chills wracked through me.
“Ah,” Elden said knowingly from where he sat before the crackling fire. The warm oranges and yellows of the flame flashed on the greens and gold hues of the rich fabrics. “You must be coming down from the effects. Don’t worry, the chills and…feelings will subside after a good night’s rest.”
“Feelings?” I croaked and rolled in the bed; blanket wrapped tightly. “I feel terrible.”
“The way Jel explains it, the blight is a curse of evil. Of darkness. So, he fights back the darkness with light and goodness.” Elden’s deep voice rumbled through the room vibrating my very bones. “But a little too much of that goodness, that light, and you forget all of your doubts. You can act a little too strongly without thinking through the consequences.”
Like trying to kiss the Elf King in front of the bedroom we shared as fake husband and wife. I moaned in complete embarrassment and covered my head. Why? I hadn’t even tried to hide my desire for him.
I would never be able to face Elden again. This was going to be a very long fortnight, indeed.
A low chuckle sounded from the other side of the room. I further buried my head in my blanket and wished for the ceiling to collapse on my bed and put me out of my misery.
“I have made vows, Little Baker.” Elden’s voice rolled like the crackling fire. “Vows to remain chaste until I am wed.”
I blinked at the forward words of the king, blushing furiously. I’d only wished to kiss him, hadn’t I?
My smile softened. “I made promises, too, king. And I intend to honor them as well.”
It was the way of both the humans and elf. The elves had different ceremonies and customs than marriage, but it was the same concept. You chose the person you would commit your life to and became one with them after the ceremony.
I felt that now. That pull to Elden. That need to touch him. But I would not, especially when my mind was potion-addled.
“I am happy to hear that we are in agreement on that matter,” Elden scowled through a smile.
“Yes,” I said, then muttered “unfortunately” under my breath. This potion was dangerous!
I threw a hand over my mouth, then covered myself in my blanket.
A rumbling laugh from Elden indicated that he’d heard me. I shivered in my blanket in the strange after effects of the medicine as Elden found a spare blanket and grabbed a pillow from the bed. He situated himself before the fire and said, “Sleep well.”
The Elf King slept on a floor while a mere human baker took the bed? He’d told me he would earlier today, but watching as the Elf King gathered up blankets and pillows to make himself a bed on the floor was something else entirely. This was strange. Unexpected. Kind, even.
“Sleep well,” I said, oddly touched through a yawn as the fire danced along the intricate tapestries.
Sleep followed blessedly soon after. I welcomed the oblivion.
