The Matchmaker's Mark (32 page)

He understood. "You've survived a few hurricanes too?"

"More than a couple. Officially, I've only been in the area long enough for Hugo."

"Got it." Details he needed to file away so he could make a seamless transition into her life.

She wandered up the gazebo steps and he pictured her as a bride, under a bright morning sun, with a sunny smile just for him. Any man should be petrified of being tied down, instead, he worried he'd never reach such a blissful reality.

"There's so much other stuff here, mired in history, that my eccentricities went relatively unnoticed."

"A relief I'm sure," he teased.

"For my father." She sighed. "That's what I used to think. He showed me differently." Her fingers went to the mark Dare knew was under the sleeve of her jacket.

"Does it make a difference to see the truth from a new angle?"

"It shouldn't, but it does. I felt miserable and selfish." She sighed. "Worse, I felt childish."

"You are young. We both are compared to our elders."

"Like you'd be just fine with it if someone made you feel small and petty."

She was in a rare temper, hands on hips again, chin high, daring him to take a shot. He did, moving in for a kiss that started light but as her fingers dug into his shoulders and his hands cupped her bottom, it moved into dark, needy, uncharted territory.

"We're in public," she gasped when he eased back a fraction.

"It's the off season."

Lily giggled. It was impossible to hold back, to keep herself from enjoying him. Oh, she wanted to, had tried desperately to put up a wall that would protect her from the inevitable pain when he left. But it was crumbling fast.

"You know all those feelings are normal," he said, wrapping his arms around her.

He made her feel so safe and yet it twisted like a knife knowing it couldn't last.

She sighed. "Showing feelings isn't the way of my father's people. It's not your way."

"Elves feel, Lily. It's when the feelings get control of the magic that there's trouble."

She turned away from him, refused to be lectured yet again. She left the gazebo for the more appropriate venue of the nearest cannon. Conflict was healthy and if having a fight was the only way to make a clean break, that's what she'd do. If she could just find the right words to make him understand she was trying to do the right thing. She didn't want to be his assignment, to trap him by her childish wish or the protocol of the royal house.

For just a moment, as she watched him approach, she indulged in a quick fantasy of what could be if she hadn't been a messed up kid or grown into a greedy woman.

His long, easy stride was every fantasy she didn't fully understand until she'd met him. The intensity in his eyes, the sheer determination aimed at her, sent butterflies swirling in her belly. She steeled herself for his touch as he joined her, but it didn't work. Awareness tingled from their joined hands up and over her entire body.

Lily pulled away. "Guess I proved I'm still a child, stomping off like that."

"Why won't you tell me the truth?" His quiet voice whipped at her with barely leashed temper. "I think I deserve that much."

"You deserve more," she cried. "That's the point!" She spun away, putting the cannon between them, but when she looked back at Dare, he was staring up at the broad canopy of oak branches above them.

Silently, she prayed he would understand. "You deserve to be with someone by your choice, not because it's best for anyone else. Though I can't possibly be best for your house." She shook her head and got back to the point. "You shouldn't have to spend your life babysitting me."

"That wasn't my plan."

"But you don't have a plan," she protested. Best to blurt it out and let him hate her. "You aren't the planner here." She circled her hands between them. "This is my fault. I made a dumb, childish wish and here you are. Compelled to be here, not by your choice or free will, but by me."

She couldn't bring herself to look at him, the tears in her eyes made it impossible to see anything clearly. So she waited, feeling the silence press in on her, wondering how – when – he would react.

She was being ridiculous, as childish now as she'd been back in that meadow, wanting the right someone to understand her and love her for all the reasons everyone else used to push her away.

"You think pretty highly of yourself."

She was so relieved to hear his voice, it took another moment for the words to sink in. "Hold on a minute."

"Oh, I intend to hold on for longer than that." Somehow, he'd rounded the cannon and wrapped her in his arms. He turned, leaning back on the cannon, pulling her close to rest her back against his chest.

Tenderness swamped her.

"Just listen."

She nodded, her throat too clogged to speak.

But he didn't say anything and she wondered what he was up to, until she felt a ripple of laughter in his chest.

She peeked over her shoulder, confirmed that he was studying the trees.

He didn't want her to listen to him, he wanted her to listen to them. Oh, she hadn't tried to talk to a tree for decades. She enjoyed their peaceful company, but she was only half elf and this was such a human world, and she'd never been all that good with it.

"Shhh," Dare said. "Just take a breath."

Lily did as he said, trying to relax. Then she heard it, like the soft breeze off the ocean ruffling the leaves, the tree's heart brushed across her mind.

Joy, and yes, laughter bubbled through her consciousness. Delighted, she reveled in the feelings, without trying to understand a purpose or decipher a message.

It was glorious, and so very right. Except she wasn't sure about the right part. She wanted Dare, no question, but she couldn't take advantage of his being compelled.

Pushing her thoughts aside, she kept the trees at the forefront of her mind, listening to the history and tales of all they'd seen from the humans who lived and died so quickly at their feet.

"Am I only hearing them because of you?" she asked, unsure of the answer she hoped for.

"You're hearing them because you wish to."

She stiffened, but his big hands lifted and coasted from shoulder to wrist, calming her again. It was the 'wish' word. Had he used it on purpose?

But she knew better, having spent many an afternoon down here trying to talk to the trees, wishing to hear them and therefore be more like her father and worthy of the acceptance of his people. Her eyes fell to her arm and she envisioned the intricate tattoo her father had created. He'd done so much to protect her, to ensure she would be accepted in good time.

The trees whispered again. Dare was quiet behind her, but she didn't need to look to know he was still gazing upward.

She looked at his arms, at the place a mark would be if they were formally matched. No matter what Amy had said about choosing, Dare wasn't marked.

It didn't seem fair, this lack of confirmation, this complete confusion.

"You're not listening," Dare scolded, stroking her palms with his thumbs.

She tried to shut down her racing thoughts and her distress. "Don't you wonder – "

"Shh. It's not time to talk."

She didn't hide her irritation, but he tickled her ribs, and catching her hand when she squirmed, he led her away from the cannon toward the massive trunk of the nearest tree.

She hesitated. "You're not taking me through are you?"

"In broad daylight?" He gave her a panicked look, one she was sure he'd never experienced for real. "I've got no wish to be banned now. Not just when I've found you."

Oh, she wanted to believe he meant it! Letting him tug her to the ground, she settled close to him and when he released her hand she felt the lack of contact like a cold rain.

"I came here the day after we met in the cemetery," he said.

His voice was so soft, the voices of the trees softer, the air so very gentle, Lily thought she'd be happier just drifting off to sleep.

But avoidance wouldn't accomplish anything, and the images sifting through her mind startled her.

She saw herself as a child, dancing in the clearing, saw herself making the wish…

"How do they know about this? About me?"

Dare winked at her. "My fault. When I came down here, frustrated with Amy, I finally realized who you were and why I felt drawn to you."

He knew? Stunned, she tried not to let her mouth hang open like a broken snapdragon.

"You've haunted my heart and my dreams for too many years, Lily. I've no intention of letting you get away."

"But it's false!" she blurted, immediately wishing she could take it back.

"It's as real as right now," he insisted.

"I made a wish."

"But so much more than a wish reached me."

When she risked a glance he wiggled his eyebrows, making her laugh. "Why are you okay with this?"

"Because this is part of who you are. Because I've seen people do things against their will and wish or not, you wouldn't be able to push me where I don't want to go."

"Really?" She watched him nod, let the power ripple around them. "Did you want to go parallel?"

He mouthed the word, staring at her, but she saw the gleam in his eye. Daring her to continue? Or stop?

It was a risk, but wasn't everything worth having? She'd only experienced the sliver of space between the elf world and the human world once before. She'd been a teenager and Cade had been showing off for a girl. She'd been with them, giggling as people came and went with no clue they were right there. Then Cade and his girl had slipped on, and she'd slipped back to the human plane. Bound by her father's protective measures.

But now she was pulling them away from the world of people, not quite to the world of elves.

Her power, her awareness held them in that silvery fog between the realms. She saw the smug expression on his face and couldn't feel irritated. He'd been coaching her to embrace her power; it seemed right that he'd be pleased with her success.

"So did you want to be here?"

He brushed a kiss over her knuckles. "I want to be wherever you choose to be, Lily."

In this quiet place of not quite existing she heard the simple truth of his words, the depth of his feelings.

She couldn't address it directly. "I always wondered why I couldn't come here at will," she admitted, continuing when he arched a brow. "I'm a halfling and this is sort of a half world."

"You've got it backwards," he said, drawing her close. His warm hands were delightful against her chilled skin. Sitting in the parallel was like sitting in a thick cloud bank.

"This world is more real than any other, just because you can find it. You're not half of either race, Lily, you're complete and whole as your own person."

That he could see her that way, would say the words she didn't realize her soul needed to hear, warmed her more than even his hands on her skin. She leaned in close, snuggling as they rested in the quiet.

"So where will we live?"

She glanced up at him, the only solid form in this parallel place. "You really intend to stay. With me."

"You have my heart. Even before I knew what that meant, before I traveled with Camille, my heart was safe with you."

"And your family?"

He kissed the tip of her nose. "You are my family now. My parents are thrilled I'm done with Camille and as for any obligation to my house?"

She nodded, prodding him to just say it.

"Look around, love. You've got plenty of magic to boost any house of elves. Probably enough for all of them."

She huffed on her fist, polished the fist on her shoulder. "I am all that," she joked.

He laughed. "Now that you know it? We're all in trouble." She squirmed, but he pinned her to the ground, stared into her eyes. "No wonder your father held that secret close. You're a force, Lily. An absolute force."

She studied his eyes, saw the greater force, the stronger magic, of love and sighed with absolute contentment. When their lips met in a kiss packed with promise and hope, she knew the finest fulfillment of her every wish.

"Lily?"

His lips were wandering over ear, but a small stain blooming inside his wrist held her attention. "Yes, Dare?"

"Do you think you can get us out again?"

"Sure." She kissed him, sharing all the happiness in her heart. "In just a minute."

The End

About the Author

Regan Black is dedicated to providing action-packed stories with a paranormal twist so readers of all ages can savor a fantastic escape from the daily routine. Raised in the Midwest and California, she currently lives in South Carolina and balances the bliss of writing with a household of engineers of all ages and an impressive domestic zoo starring