Terran Times 18 - Emerald Envisage (17 page)

What the hell?
If she didn’t know better, she would have sworn he was toying with her and trying to get her to follow him. “You arrogant jerk,” she growled under her breath. “I am so not in the mood for games.”

Now she wanted to catch up with him to yell at him, not talk to him. Slipping her high-heels off, she took off after him in her stocking feet. Even as she ran
,
Korin knew she was being reckless, but she couldn’t stop herself. More than once her brother, Loredean, had told her that her curiosity would get the better of her. This could be the time when that happened.

She rounded the corner and ran into the strange elf’s back. Recovering, she spotted what had made him stop. A trio of Red Ones were fanned out in front of them, daggers out and ready to attack. Looking around, she saw they were in an alley and no humans were around to witness their situation. She shouldn’t have been surprised, the evil elves always seemed to attack when there were no witnesses.

“Stay behind me,” the male muttered out of the side of his mouth.

She was still pressed up against him and despite the dangerous situation, she couldn’t help but notice how good he smelled. It was a mixture of pine, woods
and earth and it was way too nice. With a slight shake of her head, she forced herself to concentrate on what was happening around them.

A distraction now could be disastrous.

“I know how to fight,” she argued. Her brothers had made sure she could handle herself in a battle. Unfortunately, she had been forced to put that training into use more and more lately as the attacks on her family had increased.

The male gave her a lazy smile. “Really? What are you planning on using to fight with?”

She raised one of her shoes and realized what an inadequate weapon it was. “I could poke an eye out.”

He turned to give her an incredulous look and the Red Ones saw it as an opportunity to attack. Two of them moved in on the male and took him down while the third started to stalk her. Moving quickly, Korin lifted her skirt and pulled out her real weapon she always kept strapped to her thigh.
Never leave home without it.
It was a green hilted dagger that had belonged to her father. She raised it and got into the best fighting stance she could manage with in her business attire.
Why couldn’t they have attacked on Casual Friday? It would have been easier to rumble in my jeans.

“Where’s your brothers and sisters, little one,” the monster asked and tilted its head in a questioning matter, the stringy hair swung to the side, brushing against its shoulder. It was dressed the same way all the Reds did, in a tough looking black leather number with metal spikes protruding from its neckline and belt. She could never tell the males from the females because their facial features were so distorted by their protruding jaws and large teeth.

Never taking her eye off her opponent, Korin moved back in order to give herself more room to fight and stepped on a broken beer bottle. The glass sliced into her foot and she tried hard not to wince in pain.

The Red’s nostrils flared and it let out a sniff. “I smell your blood, wee water baby. Soon I will taste it
,
too.”

“Oh, shut up already,” she spat. Lunging forward, she brought the dagger up in an arch. The blade sliced into the Red’s chest, going from its waist to its neck. Blood spurted out, some of it hitting her white blouse and tan skirt. “Oh, looks like you’re the one bleeding, you disgusting fashion disaster.”

A chuckle to her right told her the mysterious elf heard her comment. Darting a glance his way, she saw one of the Reds on the ground bleeding and the elf handling the other one with ease. He fought with a short sword similar to the one her oldest brother used.

The scattering of gravel told her that her wounded opponent was moving to attack again so Korin spun and delivered a roundhouse kick to its face. The impact jarred her cut foot and she let out a low hiss of pain. The kick had the desired effect though, the Red staggered back several steps and
,
before it could recover, she slashed with her dagger again. The new slice mark crossed over the old one, making a nice X.

“This isn’t over, tell your siblings that,” the monster snarled as it raised a clawed hand up to clutch at the wounds. On a human, the injury would have been fatal, but since the Reds were elves and immortal, it merely hurt like a son-of-a-bitch. At least, Korin hoped it hurt like a son-of-a-bitch because her foot sure did.

The Red flashed out of the alley and it took its two buddies with it, leaving Korin and the male elf the only ones there. Since her skirt was already ruined, she used it to wipe the blade clean before slipping it back into the holster at her thigh. She blushed when she noticed the male was staring at her. He had the most intense green eyes she had ever seen and they were hooded with desire.

Dear Goddess, he was even better looking up close. His hat had been knocked off during the fight and she could see his hair was a deep, jet-black and just long enough to fan the sides of his face. The most magnificent pair of pointed ears poked out and she had the insane urge to run her tongue along the outside of them. “What’s your name?” she asked, licking her lips as she eyed his mouth. What would it be like to kiss him? Would he be a gentle kisser or a demanding one? Her heart gave a little pitter-pat as she realized she didn’t care what kind of kisser he was, just so long as he did it to her.

“Hunter,” his voice was smooth and sensual. A mixture of sex and hot fudge. “What’s yours?”

For a brief second, she thought about giving him a fake one, that was what her brother had always instructed her to do if she ever ran into one of her own kind. But she didn’t want Hunter to be screaming the wrong name when they had sex. And that was what she’d decided they would be doing within the half hour. “My name is, Korin.”

“I have a question, Korin.” The way he said her name made her shiver with desire. He seemed to savor each syllable like it was fine cuisine. “What is an elf doing working at a bank?”

“What’s an elf doing shopping in a human store?” she countered. This time it was she who took the step forward. They were now standing inches apart, her face so close to his muscular chest she could feel the heat coming off him.

“I’m probably doing the same thing you are, just trying survive.”

His arms circled her waist and she couldn’t help but sway into his body. As soon as her breasts touched him, the nipples hardened and she ached for him to caress her more intimately. “Why were you teasing me?” her voice was nothing more than a throaty whisper now because she was so aroused. A slow sensual smile came over his lips and she got wet between her legs as she thought about what he could do to her with that mouth.

“How am I teasing you?”

“Quit being coy.” She splayed her fingers over his warm biceps. “You were trying to get me to follow you. Why?”

“So I could do this.” His lips slanted over hers as he captured her in a carnal kiss.

Shocked, she stiffened at first, but then she relaxed and allowed herself to enjoy the moment. A hungry moan slipped out of her and she was so aroused that she didn’t feel embarrassed by her lack of control. With a sigh, she gave herself completely over to the kiss, parting her lips so his tongue could slip in. Hot desire pooled in her stomach and traveled lower until it seemed to throb in beat with her heart. She wasn’t completely innocent, she’d known a few human lovers in the past, but none of them compared to the way Hunter was making her feel now.

A gentle tugging at her waist told her that he was untucking her blouse. Things were going so fast. She should stop him. If her brothers found out she was even talking to another elf
,
let alone making out with one, she would be in so much trouble. But she wasn’t a youngling to be ordered around anymore. She was a full-grown female who had unanswered desires and she knew Hunter was the only one who could satisfy them.

His hand shot up the back of her blouse, his touch making heated contact with her cool flesh. “You’re so soft,” he marveled as he started to rain kisses down her jaw line and then her neck.

Tilting her head to the side to give him better access, she shivered as goose bumps appeared on her arms. “You’re so hard,” she countered. A gasp came from her when he started to suck on her neck.

“You have no idea how hard I am.” Taking her hand, he placed in on the bulge in his pants.

Her heart thudded in shock, when she felt how large he was. Korin gave him a gentle squeeze and felt a small triumphant surge when he sucked in his breath and closed his eyes. “I don’t usually do this kind of thing with strange males I just met,” she confessed with a nervous giggle. She almost didn’t recognize her laughter because there was a sultry edge to it. Before now, the only one she’d ever heard pull off a sexy laugh had been her sister, Nivian. Feeling embodied by her new found sexual prowess, she rubbed his cock again, leaning forward so she could give his neck a love bite.

He groaned with appreciation. “I know you haven’t been with another male elf.” Now his hand was on her stomach and he was moving it slowly up. “I would smell him if you had.”

She pulled back, surprised. That little tidbit of information was news to her. “You would be able to detect another male’s scent on me?”

“Yes, it’s something all our males can do. I can smell your brothers’ scent on you, but it’s subtle and not as strong as a lover would leave. When we find a female that we want to make our life mate, we make sure we leave our scent on every inch of her so every other male she comes into contact with knows who she belongs to.”

Another shiver danced down her spine. “Every inch?”

He leaned forward, so his body was pressed tighter to hers. “Every. Single. Inch.”

The scent of pine, woods and earth grew stronger, or maybe she was just imagining it. His hand was still up her shirt, his fingers spread out on her stomach and she trembled a bit under his touch as she imagined him touching her everywhere. He stared to nibble on her earlobe before he ran his tongue over the point on the top. No one had ever done that to her before and she wasn’t ready for how good it would feel. Her knees buckled and she would have tumbled to the ground had he not grabbed her tighter around the waist to support her. “I never realized that our ears were an erogenous zone,” she panted.

“How is it you don’t know much about elves?” he asked suspiciously.

Not willing to admit to him that she knew squat about her heritage, she distracted him with another kiss. This time she took the lead, exploring the inside of his mouth with slow, gentle sweeps of her tongue. She started to stand on tiptoe so she could get even closer to him and gasped in pain when the movement aggravated her injury. He pulled back and looked down at her foot with a frown on his face.

“I stepped on some glass,” she explained, slightly embarrassed she had been stupid enough to walk around an alley with no shoes on.

“Let’s go back to my place. It’s close by and I can bandage you there.” Before she could argue, he scooped her up in his arms and started to carry her, cradling her gently to him. He was even considerate enough to stop and bend over so she could pick up her discarded heels.

“Do you think more of the Red Ones will come back?” she asked, nuzzling into his chest.

“Red Ones?” There was a hint of amusement in his voice. “I didn’t realize we just fought a group of communists.”

She felt a warm flush build up on her cheeks. “That’s what we call them because of the color of their eyes.”

“We? As in your brothers and sisters?”

She kept her face hidden so her expressions wouldn’t betray her. He was walking down the sidewalk that lined Main Street and she was sure they were beginning to attract attention, but he didn’t seem to care. “I never told you I had family. What made you think that?”

“I heard the Fire Elf inquire about them. That’s what those things are really called.”

Unable to stop her curiosity, which had got her in this mess in the first place, she asked, “Why are they called that?”

“Their element is fire, although you usually don’t see them out and about much. They crave heat so they live in the desert,” he replied simply, shifting her in his arms to get a better grip. “There are four different types of elves. The Fire Elves are one, which you seem to know quite well. Then there are the Water Elves, which your blue eyes tell me you are. I am an Earth Elf, we live in forests and jungles.”

“And you all have green eyes,” she finished, catching on. Some things were beginning to make sense. “What is the fourth one?”

“Air, they live in the skies and are rarely seen.”

“So they’re snobby elves then?”

“Very, they never let us eat at their lunch table,” he teased before giving her another scorching kiss.

She returned it eagerly, all the while processing what he’d told her. In her family, some of them had blue eyes, while others had green. So did that mean they were mixed? When he pulled back, she asked, “Is it common for different types of elves to become life mates?”

“It’s frowned upon,” he admitted.

“Then why are you taking me home?”

“I was never good at following the rules.”

Korin rested her cheek against Hunter’s chest, savoring the feel of him. She could have stayed like this forever, in his arms, swaying gently as he walked, the sounds of the occasional car swishing by as the summer sun warmed her.