Infiltrating his soul by looking through their windows clouded with stormy gray, I infuse what I'm feeling into him, trickling my passion and excitement into his spirit.
Watching his eyes glaze and his scowl melt to serene, he inhales as if he's been deep underwater for an eternity.
Blinking, his irises clear to smoky quartz, and he looks at me as if seeing me properly for the first time. Magnetism boils our blood into unstable magma, calming in the lazy breeze when our lips meet and hands find purchase, sucking air out of each others lungs, our hearts pounding fiercely together in love's percussion.
Tumultuous breathlessness dances between our lips until we are panting into the gossamer garnets flirting around us.
My veins are sparking with his touch, with the precious expression he's bestowing on me. Holding my face so tight my cheeks squash, he bows his head to stare deep into my eyes, the pulse in his neck drumming erratically. “It's tae early, but I willnae live with mysel' if I dinnae say it.”
Adoration gazes at me from his height, long blond tendrils of baby soft hair trickling around my eyes as he holds me his prisoner, restraining himself I know, I can tell. He's feeling it. He's feeling the power surging around our feet, twining our spirits into the nirvana of floating glory.
“Ellindt, tha gaol agam ort.”
It's a lover's whisper, a heart to heart cord which binds and locks destinies together. I don't know what it means, but I feel it. It burns liquid fire from his hands, shooting it deep into me and impaling the top right chamber of my heart, feeding my spirit with the first shock from eternity's defibrillator.
Catapulted onto a crest, I feel like we're body surfing together on a cloud of fireflies. The canopy above us pinwheels and I know for a split second I'm in his mind, in his heart, in his forever, vibrating our souls into an intricate tapestry of love notes plucking a tune only our spirits can hear, but which for this infinite second tears me apart and reseals me back into the sarcophagus of his kiss.
Bracing my hands against his chest, I'm weightless when he lifts me, circling with me while his lips hungrily forage for kisses.
My ears are buzzing and my pulse has become a blizzard of bliss. Out of my periphery motes blaze into shooting stars, plummeting down around us, trapping us in a tunnel of cascading dreams.
Velvet wet softness glosses my lip with the tip of his tongue and my head is too heavy to hold up against the onslaught of his delicate invasion. My head lolls and I stare up at comets free falling through the night, spraying embers of cosmic celebration to ignite the night.
It's a portent. Confirmation that this attraction is sanctioned by the ones who control it all. They control our yesterdays and tomorrows, manipulating us so we'd meet, and when we did we fell so hard we grazed our knees in prostrate adoration before the beauty shining out of each others eyes, marrying our souls.
Knotted together by arms and breath, lips and hands, I'm alive, in love... and if this is love I never want to fall from this Highland mist to breathe the smog of mediocrity.
The earthly aura around us begins to pulsate, brightening and dimming like a silent alarm system jamming the frequencies of our magical moment.
Slowly, gently, he disengages, looking into me as if my soul is scrolled out for his fingers to read in blindfolded braille.
We resonate, we fit, we were made for each other. The warm and sensitive soul captured within my tall highlander holds me in his gaze for a quantum year, and in his sight I am cherished, treasured, precious.
It thickens my breath and stings blessed humility in my eyes.
I've lived for a second, and I've lived for eternity, to find this. To find him.
Bending, he presses one more warm kiss on my mouth, staring up when he stands straight, holding his hair back with a hand on his head, looking as if he's beseeching the gods to restore his pride, before he exposed his vulnerable soul and all its sanctity to me.
Glancing around, the night is bright with blistering scarlet, and I know that no matter how long I live this will be my sanctuary. He shared it with me, leading me softly over virgin earth to spy on creatures fey and furry, and now like him it's buried deep in my spirit, where it will always be my treasured safe place.... my happy place.
Chapter 19
Ellindt:
The forest floor throbs with sanguine vapor, bidding us to follow the clandestine path to the Vamporium. It's an irresistible urge calling to me, beckoning us to delve deeper into the enchanted woodland.
My pulse still skips from the delirious feast of his kisses, his firm hold, the strength he swathed around my body to infiltrate my heart. I watch him gather his composure in silent appreciation.
If I'd sat down and made a list of the virtues I wanted the perfect man to embody I wouldn't have come nearly close enough to the sublime potion which is Douglas MacLeod.
The dazzling naga-balls skimming the ground are becoming frenzied and disturbed, and it's with fascination that I watch the orbs helix and smash into our legs in breaking waves of frolicking fire.
Glancing up the path to where they lead, I can see the incredible glow of foxfire. The bioluminescent fungi radiate fairy light into the deepest pockets of night. It's magical and I desperately want to run up the trail of light, impatience now screeching long claws across my consciousness.
Staring back at Doug, I wait for him to look away from the séance in the sky, back to me.
Willing him to trust me, I spread my desire across the suspended pond of plasma to sift softly into his skin.
Look at me, we have to go.
I can't pinpoint why but I sense danger creeping up on us and I cannot abide stalling a second longer.
He snaps his focus onto me as if immediately aware of my urgency, sensing it.
Smiling at how in tune we are, I offer him my hand, “We must go.”
Nodding once, he grips my fingers in a biting snare, his tension coiling up my arm to wrap constriction across my chest. Hand in hand we walk swiftly through the lambent lava, quickly reaching an open dell with a mound pillowing the bed of matted moss. Steps lead down and from them emits a soft ruby mist of warm invitation.
To me it smells like cherry ice-cream drizzled in caramel. Inhaling, my mouth watering, I take the first thick stone step.
The chiseled granite is gilded with a border of red moss, lushly hushing our footsteps into the cavern beneath.
He halts, staring up again at the open sky glittering stars across the glade, wistfully gazing into the depths of space as if saying a final farewell to his planet.
Looking forward again, his hair mirrors the movement by cascading in rivulets to his chest. He glances at me, giving me a brave smile.
I know he's afraid, but he's still choosing to trust me. He wouldn't do that if he didn't have some marrow deep feelings for me.
The thought bombs my bones with affection and I have a bubble of love blossoming inside me, spreading into my smile.
Catching my eye he smiles back, this time with the secretive adoration only two people in love can share.
It seems to calm him because his clamp on my hand lessens, relaxing to normal while we traipse stealthily into the haven beneath the beyond.
*
Roderick:
Hearing a scuttle to my left, Ah track the movement, moving slowly and deliberately, staying low.
My gut is never wrong and it isnae mistaken this time. That lass is fey, Ah'd bet ma trophy on it.
Creeping through the shadows, careful not tae slip on moss or tread on twigs, Ah panther through the ancient sentries with their rough bark. The birch trees help tae reflect the light, and Ah use them tae keep ma bearings.
The sound of movement is louder, forcing me tae slink, scooting up behind a rock and peeking over it, catching ma first glimpse of two silhouettes on the trail.
Found ye, ye hairy baw bag.
The moonsilver hair is undoubtedly Ellindt, and Ah'm guessing that'd be Dougie with her.
Worriet about that devil with the red eyes, I glance warily behind me, making sure Ah'm still alone. Nothin' moves, just the mildest of breezes, and luckily fer me it's passin' downwind.
Her voice reaches me, and it's like a haunting melody played by Pan on a midwinter's night. Ma best friend's enchanted by an untrustworthy, and Ah dinnae care how he reacts, Ah've got his back.
The haze between the branches has a strange fiery glow from the full moon, making stalking the lovebirds ten times harder than it normally would be.
Mebbe if Ah circle tae their right, Ah can get the jump on them.
Stepping cautiously, Ah shadow closer, sticking low tae the ground so Ah blend in with the scenery if they should chance a look this way.
Ah'm almost on them when they stop in a clearing and Dougie looks up, and then in the time it takes me tae squash ma sneeze, the lad has vanished!
Panicked, Ah charge intae the clearing, looking at the faery mound she's pulled him intae.
Oh Mary, that lass has kidnapped Doug!
Now what dae Ah dae?
Ah dinnae know the code, or know how the hell tae get in there efter him. Ma mate needs rescuin' and there isnae a national helpline to send in the dragoon terrorist squad.
C'mon Roddie, think ye nit! There is a way, Ah know there is.
Oh wait, Ah vaguely recall the area code to infiltrate a faery mound. It has tae be full moon, and yer supposed tae go three times in a certain direction tae reveal the door.
Walkin' slowly around the wee hill, Ah look fer any sign of an entrance, but there's a whole lot of nawt. Scratchin' ma heid, Ah glance at the trees, maekin' double sure Ah'm still alone.
Aha! Got it!
Ye ha'e tae walk deosil around the mound. Now which way is deosil again? Fer shite's sake, Ah cannae believe Ah'm even daeing this.
One direction is deosil, the opposite is widdershins. Now, Ah know that one is clockwise which moves in a sunward direction, and the other is counterclockwise. Now, Ah'm imagining that counterclockwise is a wee bit like playin' a record backwards. It's bound tae be evil.
Looking up, concentratin' Ah follow the moon fer a few moments. The moon goes the same way as the sun, so that would be deosil. So Ah'm gonnae go this way, Ah say tae mysel' pointing clockwise.
Noddin', Ah take a booted step tae the left. Oh heck, how will Ah know where Ah started? Ah need a wee pointer, like a stone or somethin'.
Scrummaging fer a fair sized pebble, Ah place it where Ah was standin', upside down so Ah know it's ma stone. Wet side up. Okay! Off we go laddie, this is circle one.
Marching around the silly patch of moss like a complete mental patient, Ah gae on tae circle two.
Somethin' should start tae happen now. Ah'm on circle three, and if this is a faery mound and Ah'm gaein' in the right direction, then Ah should start tae feel a shift in the atmosphere or somethin'.
“Well look what we have here.”
Mid-step Ah freeze, ma heart burstin in fright.
Carefully, s-l-o-w-l-y, Ah turn tae face the voice, shivers shakin' ma bones when Ah stare intae the black eyes of the Clootie fraem last night.
The tall troll steps intae the clearing, moonlight cresting his coal hair, his eyes flickering betwixt red and black. He stops, folds his arms, and regards me levelly, “Stay away from her Roderick MacDonald.”
Ma ears are drummin' so loud Ah can hardly hear him.
“How dae ye know ma name?”
“I'm immortal, I'm tapped into forces you do not and cannot comprehend. Now go back to wherever it was you came from and leave my kind alone.”
“They're not your kind,” says behind me, and Ah spin, vertigo chasing ma blood tae ma feet when Ah face the other man with the white eyes.
Ah dinnae stand a chance against these two.
“She is mine Arelstin. Take your best shot and you'll still lose.”
“You're missing the point, Zarak. We have the slight problem facing us of a midnight stalker trying to find a way into our haven,” says white eye.
“Roddie?” sings across the night, and Ah'm helpless, ma body movin' of it's own accord, swiveling on ma heels tae stare at the goddess emerging fraem the trees.
“Selene!” Ah gasp, worriet fer her.
“Who are you talking to?” she smiles, cocking her head and wandering closer, long legs as naked as her feet underneath a blue kimono that stops mid-thigh.
Swallowing thickly, Ah gesture behind my shoulder, “Tae them.”
“Them who?” she whispers, stepping so close I can smell her perfume and feel the breath of her words on my neck.
“Clootie and white eye.”
She looks around, laughing softly, “You have a wild imagination. How much have you had to drink?”
Disbelief rages through ma body and Ah hinge back tae the dude behind me, and he's gone. Ah'm alone with her.
This disnae make sense. Nothing makes sense anymore.
“Come on hot shot, let me take you home and get some coffee into that bloodstream of yours.”
Looking down at her, confusion is addling ma brain. They were here, Ah know they were! It wasnae my imagination. Ma thumpin' heart is proof.
Then it hits me. “What are ye daeing wonderin' the woods in nothin' more than yer gown?”
Linking her arm in mine, coaxing me away from the faery hill, she steps with me back toward the path, “We all have our little secrets. Mine is as simple as I love the forest. I live here for the express reason of being able to walk the glades on a full moon. Winter's on it's way and I'm a bit of a hippie. I wasn't expecting to bump into anyone.”
She smiles as if embarrassed tae be caught, and Ah'm lost in her eyes reflecting the light fraem the moon. She's gorgeous, and smells even better.
“Yeah, Ah suppose coffee can't hurt,” Ah play along, conscious of the way her body is pressed up against ma arm.
She's takin' me home. Ah'd consider that the most successful victory of ma day.
Ah lose her words as Ah double check around us, looking fer the lurkers, but they're gone.
Och, mebbe Ah really am losin' ma mind.