Samhain Publishing

Talia moved to the window and watched as Calion jogged into the trees. A moment later she was all alone. Panic seized her, but she fought it down.

“I’ve made it through being kidnapped by orcs, flying though the air on a rope, being kissed witless by a very handsome elf and watching a living tree grow a door. I think I can manage being alone for a little while.”

She stared out the window, noting the exact place her rescuer entered the forest. As she turned, she saw Calion’s cloak sitting outside the treehouse in plain view of whoever might happen by.

Knowing the cloak could signal their location to any marauding orcs, she opened the door and ran to get it. She made sure she left the door open, but when she turned around with the cloak in her hands, the portal had vanished, leaving her standing outside, terrified and trembling.

She whimpered in fear and ran back to where she remembered the door being. There was nothing but rough bark beneath her questing hands.

“The door…” she breathed. “Where is the door?” She searched for several tense moments before accepting the fact that without a warm body inside to keep the door open, the tree closed back down. Talia bit her lip, drawing blood. The pain cleared her mind. Somehow she needed to get back inside.

Swallowing, she placed her palm against the tree as Calion had done. Wetting her lips, she tried to remember the words. “Ummm… Malesia…Ai shael Malesia.” She felt the same tingle in her hand, but nothing.

“Come on,” she begged. “Remember me?” She tossed the cape over her shoulder and put both hands on the tree. “Again… Please! Malesia…Ai shael Malesia.”

She stumbled back as the tree heaved and then the door popped into view. “I did it!” Talia did a little jig, clapping her hands in joy.

Her jubilation was cut short as a hand spun her around and then grasped her arms in a bruising hold. She cried out in relief when she saw Calion, but went still when she saw he was in a towering rage.

“What did you do?” he shouted at her, shaking her like a rag doll. “Tell me immediately!”

He’d been half a mile into the forest when he remembered his cloak. When he stepped back into the meadow, the first thing he saw was Talia opening the Malesi tree, something that should have been impossible. Fears, doubt and confusion rushed into him all at once. Something was going on and by the goddesses, he would find out what.

“Stop it! Calion, you’re hurting me.” She tried to wriggle away from him without success.

He gave her another hard shake. “I asked you a question. What is happening here? How did you open the Malesia tree?”

Fear and pain colored her eyes a dark emerald. “I saw the cloak. I knew it wasn’t safe to leave it outside, so I came to get it. I didn’t mean to get locked out! It just happened. I’m sorry.”

All at once, Calion realized he was hurting her and his hands immediately gentled. “What about the tree, Talia. How did you open it?”

“I remembered the words. I’m sorry. I was a-afraid and I wanted to be inside. I just s-said the words and the door came back.”

He only stared. She’d just turned his world upside down. Only an elf could open a Malesia tree. He knew that as well as he knew his own name, and no matter how much he may want her to be, Talia was no elf.

When he released her, she stumbled away from him, running through the open door. Lost in thought, he rubbed the fire that burned hotter above his wrist. He stepped inside to see Talia against the far wall looking at him with wary eyes.

“Kydaer ol ei plyi,” he swore roundly, making her flinch. He’d hurt her and now she feared him. The thought stabbed at his heart. Ignoring her fear, he went to her and took her in his arms. She didn’t fight him, but held herself stiffly, her face turned away. With a gentle finger, he turned her face back to him.

“Tia maer… Forgive me. Again I spit angry words at you. I am sorry.” When she just looked at him, he placed a gentle kiss on her lips and felt them tremble. “You frighten me.”

When she jerked in astonishment, he smiled. “You are a human, Talia. Yet you are in my world and are doing things you should not be able to do. It is unnerving.”

“I don’t understand,” she said softly.

He bowed his head until his forehead touched hers. “You are connected to this place in a way no human has been before. First, you tell me you sense magick and now you can open a Malesia tree. It is impossible.”

“I just did what you showed me,” she objected. “I spoke the words, felt the tingle and then it opened. Although, I did have to say it twice.”

“Felt the…tingle?”

“Yes.” Talia nodded. “I felt it the first time when you opened the tree. We were holding hands, remember?”

“And you felt it again, when you did it on your own?” She nodded again slowly and he sighed. “You must have absorbed something when we opened it the first time together, but that is not supposed to happen. You are human!”

“You keep saying that! Like it’s a disease or something.” She tried to pull away, but Calion held her tight.

“Not a disease, but it is something!” The elf felt frustrated with all the unknowns. Plus, there was the pain in his arm and wound, as well as the need that slammed into him each time he touched her.

He knew the stories about elves who wanted to mate with humans. Tall tales that young males tried to scare each other with. Legends of your cock turning green if you let a human female hold it, or even worse, it falling off if you actually mated with one. But now, with the reality staring him in the face, he didn’t know how to feel. Everything in him wanted to mate with this female, no matter how strongly his mind warned against it.

With another oath, he pushed her back against the wall with his body, letting her feel his arousal. He crushed her mouth with his, taking her head and holding it so he could slant his lips over hers. His tongue probed her soft lips, demanding she open to him. When she did, melting against him, he groaned and devoured her.

The change came so suddenly Talia didn’t know how to deal with it. First angry, then gentle and now angry again. But as his lips mastered hers, she realized she just didn’t care. She knew he was angry for wanting her because she was human, but she didn’t care about that either. He’d rescued her when he didn’t have to and he made her want to totally surrender to a man for the first time in her life.

He’d protected her and then infuriated her and then kissed her so beautifully, she wanted to die from his caresses. She didn’t care he was an elf. When he touched her like this, all she cared about were the feelings that sprang up between them.

Calion groaned when he felt Talia’s arms wrap around his waist. Passion flared as her peaked nipples brushed against him. Wanting, desperately needing, he dropped a hand from her face and took one of the sweet mounds into his hand and squeezed. She arched against him, crying out his name, and her knees buckled. His mouth continued to ravage hers as he held her against the wall. He brushed a thumb over her nipple, bringing it to an even harder point. He shifted, treating the other side to the same mind-numbing pleasure. She writhed against him, moaning into his mouth and he could feel her nails digging into his back. She was so responsive it drove him crazy.

His cock was so hard he hurt, and he wanted to drive himself into her, over and over again. He was blind to everything except his own passion. As he began to unfasten his pants, he heard the faint nicker of a horse. He stopped for a moment, shaking his head, but Talia moved against him and, lost, he covered her mouth with his one more time.

He began to lift the flimsy gown and take her against the wall, when the nicker came again, this time more insistently, and they both froze.

Calion swallowed. He wasn’t sure whether to curse or thank Roch’mellon for his sudden appearance. All he knew was he was in an agony of mating need, something he’d never felt before in all his years of life, and for this woman.

This…human.