Tamed by the Prince (Elven Lover) (9 page)

T
he music thumping
out of the speakers was too loud for Cherry. She was not really a Heavy Metal fan anyway. It was a very lively party and the atmosphere was chilled, but she felt a bit out of place. As it was a private party there were quite a few drugs being passed around and alcohol was also flowing plentifully. Cherry had strictly stuck with lager. She knew how much of that she could take. She was also making absolutely sure that no one put anything into her drink. She had no wish to be rendered powerless by some bloke with drugs. She should not have come here. It had been a stupid idea.

Cherry spotted Molly coming out of the toilet and went up to her.

“Hey, Molly!”

Molly turned round to face her and swayed a little. She was clearly beyond slightly tipsy.

“Hey, sweety! Are you having a nice time?” she babbled and giggled as a bloke smacked her bottom as he walked by. “Later, sweety! I just need to chat with my friend,” she called after him.

Cherry rolled her eyes.

“What is it, my lovely?”

“I don’t feel good. I’m going home now,” explained Cherry.

“Should someone go with you? It’s dangerous for a girl on her own.”

“It’s not necessary. I’ll take a taxi.”

“Good! Do that.” She hugged Cherry and gave her a kiss on her cheek. “Take care!”

“I will,” Cherry assured her.

Luckily she did not have to wait long for a taxi to arrive. She raised her arm and waved. The taxi stopped near her. Relieved, she got in and gave the driver the address. It was a relatively short journey, but as Molly had said, at this hour it was dangerous for a woman to walk the streets alone. Cherry was not a nervous person, but she preferred to go by taxi. Caution was better than hindsight and Cherry had had enough bad experiences with men.

“Here we are, miss,” said the taxi driver, pulling her from her thoughts.

Cherry paid the driver and got out. She quickly unlocked the front door and hurried into the hallway, locking the door again behind her. Then she mounted the creaking stairs to the second floor. As always it smelt musty in the old stairwell.

As she entered the flat she breathed a sigh of relief. She closed the flat door and turned the key twice.  For some reason she had a strange feeling today, as if something was going to happen. It did not help that she was now completely alone at home. The others would very probably not come back till early morning.

Perhaps a glass of warm milk would help to calm her, so that she could sleep. As she put on the light in the communal kitchen she uttered a startled cry.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, her eyes wide open in shock.

Merlon looked at her with concern. She was so pale. If she were to faint into his arms then he would not need to use his special elf-look to make her unconscious.

“I can’t live without you,” he said simply.

“I … I wrote to you to say that it wouldn’t work for us. It’s just …”

She did not manage to finish her sentence. Merlon took her up in his arms. It was definitely safer for him to make her unconscious than for her to faint. Then she would not wake up again until he wanted her to. That would give him time to arrange everything so that she was comfortable. His hunting lodge was a little neglected and he had had no time to tidy it beforehand. Merlon smiled as he realised that he would previously have never wasted a thought on whether his lodge was tidy or not. What would his mother say to that? He shook his head over the strange path that his thoughts were taking.

When Cherry woke up it was dark. She had clearly not slept for long. It did not look as if it was going to get light very soon. She turned her head to look at the clock but there was no digital clock shining green through the dark. It was altogether much too dark. She could not even see the window that was usually lit up by the neon advertisements and the street lamps. Her heart began to beat rapidly. She was certain that something significant had happened that she could not remember. Had someone put something into her drink after all and was she now lying in a dark cellar or something? No! She was definitely lying in a comfortable bed and it was pleasantly warm. It did not smell like a musty cellar either – but rather of wood smoke and a little of leather and animals. To her relief she was at least clothed, as far as she could tell. She sat up and felt around her. She seemed to be lying on silk sheets, or at least satin. In any case, these were not her simple linen sheets. Suddenly she touched warm skin – silky smooth, firm skin over hard muscles. She screamed in shock.

The person next to her suddenly got up.

“What is it? Were you having a bad dream?” sounded a voice that was well known to her.

“Merlon?” she whispered, confused.

“Yes. I’m here. Don’t be frightened.”

Suddenly she remembered. He had been waiting for her in the kitchen. She had said something to him and after that she could remember nothing. As if she had fainted.

“What are you doing here? What’s going on? Where am I, damn it? Put the light on, now!”

Merlon put his arms round her but she pulled herself away from his embrace.

“Put the light on!” she cried almost hysterically.

“It’s OK. Wait!” said Merlon, and she felt him getting out of bed.

He could clearly see in the dark because she could hear him rustling and rummaging about until a match was struck, and a little later a candle shed a gentle light. Merlon lit two more candles and the room became bright.

She was in a small room with wooden walls on which there hung various furs, stuffed animal heads and antlers. It was clearly a hunting lodge. Where had he dragged her off to? How long had she been asleep? She carried on looking round the room. The bed that she was sitting on was a large four-poster bed. There were several trunks and a small table with two cushioned chairs. She could see a fireplace, but there was no fire burning in it. Her gaze finally returned to Merlon who, in his elf form, was leaning against the table, his arms folded over his naked chest. He was wearing tight, knee-length trousers, and was otherwise unclothed.

“Where are we?” asked Cherry, her tone sharp.

“In my hunting lodge.”

“Where? Where is your hunting lodge?”

“In Amarantus in the Smarag mountains.”

Cherry grew pale and her heart began to beat rapidly.

“Does that mean, … that we … are in your … world?” she uttered with difficulty.

“That’s right,” Merlon calmly confirmed.

He watched her with his elfin eyes with their unusual golden pupils. Cherry did not know whether to laugh or cry. Should she throw herself around his neck because she had missed him so badly? Or should she throw herself
at
his neck for simply abducting her?

“Why did you do that?” she whispered, upset.

His gaze bored into hers and she closed her eyes, annoyed. These strange pupils had hypnotic powers and that was making her still more nervous than she already was.

“Because I could not simply let you walk away,” he replied in a hoarse whisper.

Cherry’s heart beat faster. She did not dare open her eyes and look at him. When he suddenly took her in his arms she screamed in shock. She had not heard him approach. His lips stifled her scream. The initially hard, almost punishing kiss gradually became gentler and she relaxed into his arms. With a quiet groan she fell against his hard body. Her soft figure fitted into his hard figure until they seemed to have melted into one collective body.

She could feel desire charging though her veins like electricity, making her body tingle. Her body could remember all the exciting things that Merlon could do to it. Panic arose deep down inside her. What was she doing here? She had never wanted to see him again and she was on the point of giving herself to him once again.

She pushed him away from her roughly and, breathing heavily, she gasped for air. Merlon looked at her, confused.

“Stop! Why did you bring me here?” she again demanded to know.

“I’ve already told you. I couldn’t let you go. I had to see you again.”

“Why?”

“I missed you. Haven’t you thought at all, then, about the beautiful days that we spent together?”

“Yes, I have,” she said dryly.

Cherry’s heart almost stopped. He did not say that he loved her. He had missed her. He had thought about the days of passion with her and wanted to see her again. Was that it? She could not ask him. She could not lay bare her emotions and ask him how deep his feelings for her were. But would he not have said if he loved her?”

“Cherry,” he murmured and wanted to pull her to him again.

“I can’t!” she resisted and turned to the side so that she did not have to look at him.

He was too damned attractive. She desired him against all reason and she knew that her body would give her away if she was not careful. Damn it, how could she trust him when she could not even trust herself?

“I know that you haven’t had good experiences, but I’m not like Justin. I would never hurt you.”

‘Not physically, but sooner or later you’d break my heart. If you haven’t already!’

“I … I demand that you take me back immediately!”

Merlon sighed.

“I can’t,” he whispered and climbed out of bed.

Without looking at her again he left the room and bolted the door behind him. Cherry threw her hands up to her face and began to sob.

In frustration Merlon wandered up and down the big lounge in his hunting lodge. His heart was pounding and his innards felt as if they had knotted. He was not sure what he had expected, but definitely not this rejection. He felt himself about to growl. What should he do now? If anyone found out that he was holding a human woman captive here he would be in such a lot of trouble that his little slip-up in the palace would, in comparison, seem like a harmless, childish prank. This time his father would not grant him a pardon and even his mother would not be able to do anything for him. For the abduction of a human being he would definitely be given the death penalty.

“Damn it!”

He had not counted on it turning out like this. He had planned to make love to her until she finally agreed to never leave him again. But what was he supposed to do now that she had pushed him away like this? He could hardly take her by force. If only he had not listened to Coreena. He should have tried to simply forget Cherry. But he could not do that! This was precisely the problem. Cherry was constantly in his thoughts. She was under his skin. In his heart. She was like a parasite attacking his whole body. Nothing could free him from her any more. And he did not want that anyway. He wanted her to share his feelings. He did not want to believe that it was only sex for her. What prank had fate played upon him, giving him a mate that did not return his feelings? Was he damned?

“Damn your stubborn heart, Cherry. I’m not giving in. You belong with me,” he murmured quietly.

He glanced at the bolted door, behind which Cherry was locked. At least he had her where she belonged. In his bed! A sensual grin appeared on his face. He would fight with all his might, even if it took weeks, months or years. She was stubborn? Fine! He was, too. Let’s see who is the most stubborn. In a much better disposition he left the lodge to get something to eat.

Someone saw the elf prince come out of his hunting lodge and disappear into the forest. It was not unusual for Prince Merlon to spend time in his hunting lodge, but this person just had a feeling that something was not quite right here. When a banging sound could be heard from inside the lodge, followed by a lot more such sounds, the person knew what it had sensed. Prince Merlon was not spending time in the lodge alone. Someone was with him and judging by the sounds this someone was in the lodge right now.

“Let me out! Damn it!” sounded the voice of a woman suddenly.

“So
that’s
how it is,” the person said quietly to itself. “Have you brought yourself a plaything from the world of the humans? Very silly, Your Highness. Naughty,
naughty
boy.” The person uttered a joyless, quiet laugh. “I’ll have to do something about this.”

With these words the figure turned and crept quietly away.

Cherry looked around in horror at the chaos that she had created. It was not like her to get so enraged. But the fact that Merlon had simply abducted her and brought her here was driving her crazy. He was not even responding to her calls, but had just locked her in here. The only window in the room was closed with shutters from the outside. She could not get out of here without help. An unpleasant thought crept into her mind. Could he have left her all alone? Had he simply left just because she had not fallen joyfully into his arms? Well! She had, in fact, fallen into his arms, she had to admit to her shame. When he was near her she could not trust herself. That was precisely the reason why she had sought distance and left New York.

At least she had stopped him this time. She should actually be proud, but the only thing she was feeling was an empty feeling of loss. She sank onto the bed and closed her eyes. Hot tears surged from beneath her closed lids and ran down her cheeks. She had wanted to protect herself from this pain by leaving New York, but she had fled too late. And she had not run far enough away. She wondered how it had been possible for Merlon to find her? Would he have found her anywhere? And the same questions again and again – What did he want of her? What did he feel for her? After all the brooding, and exhausted from crying, Cherry finally fell asleep.

Someone was shaking her gently by the shoulder and she awoke from her dream. It had not been a violent nightmare, like the dreams about her stepfather or Justin. Nevertheless the dream had upset her deeply and her body was covered with a fine film of sweat. She had last had this dream as a child. She was walking through the house looking for something. She did not know what it was, only that she could not find it. The strange thing about the dream was that the rooms kept on changing and when she wanted to go out of the front door her legs gave way on the threshold. She was not able to leave the house.