Bound by the Mist (Mists of Eria) by Kumar Lisa

Author:Kumar, Lisa [Kumar, Lisa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2012-01-24T08:00:00+00:00

Chapter 21

Relian took in the smaller form at his side. Cal stood close—so close he could brush his side against hers if he desired. And, oh, how he desired! He fisted his hands to keep from reaching for her. Those stubborn appendages seemed to take on a life of their own if he didn’t.

She’d touched him with increasing frequency since that day by the waterfall, and he’d been happy to return the favor. The fateful events of a week ago broke some reserve in her, anchoring her to his side more fully than anything else ever could have. But they never progressed past innocent caresses on the arm or cheek. He feared pushing her, so he’d go at her pace—for now.

It was strange. Time had never been much of a concern to him before. Why would it? His kind measured the passing of time by years, centuries, and even millennia. Minutes and seconds had rarely seemed important until now. Now snatched moments were all he caught with her. And he wanted to pass each and every one of them caressing her skin. The very tension of it hummed through his veins.

These times with her were both his pleasure and his torment. He gritted his teeth. The need to touch her grated like a wound, yet so did her absence. He could count the days she’d been in his world.

Twenty-one days.

Three weeks.

Was that all? Just three weeks of his life? He took a calming breath and resisted the urge to run his hand through his hair. If he did, he’d probably tear it out. When had he started to count his days as if they were precious things to him, to be numbered and neatly ordered?

This was the mortal way of tracking time, but it had never been his way, until now. But it was never meant for an immortal mind to be confounded by the reality of finite time, at least as it stood by mortal concept. To live so fettered by time’s bonds confused his kind. Yet humanity always seemed determined to ignore its existence. He shook his head.

How could they do so with such temerity? He’d forgotten this aspect of humanity, as he’d been a young adolescent when the separation occurred. Indeed, he’d probably been too young to notice. Young elves were much akin to their human cousins in terms of growth, only it took them centuries to obtain full adulthood and mortals a score of years.

Twenty-one days she’d been here. And how did Cal view these days? Even from her perspective, that couldn’t be long. Was acceptance coming to her? Her capitulation to his presence signaled she was, as did her proximity. But he still desired more from her. He wanted to be with her; he wanted to be in her. As many times before, he slammed the steel door shut on his mind and willed his nether regions to behave. He’d no right to want what she wasn’t yet willing to give.

But then again, how did

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