Within the Darkening Woods (Twisted Worlds Book 1) by Scarlett D. Vine

Author:Scarlett D. Vine [Vine, Scarlett D.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Parker & Wilson Press, LLC
Published: 2024-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter nineteen

Amber

Time had never moved so slowly. The days before the festival were sluggish, long hours stretching into endless days.

I had to pretend to be something I wasn’t and hide most of my feelings, no matter who I was around. Even Eldrin. I didn’t want to end up as another skull on Vanir’s throne.

Damn, was that how he got all those skulls? Bad breakups?

And then there was that awful dance, that testament to elven flexibility. I had practiced the dance many times until my arms ached and my feet went numb, Eldrin watching me with a small grin. With his eyes on me I came alive, exposed in the best way. And at the end of each session he would give me a compliment, step just a little closer than he should, and then back away, leaving me untouched in the cool fall air. Empty.

Sometimes I would go with Siliana and watch him train, and I saw again and again how he was able to deftly remove my attacker that night. He was able to duck a blow, take his opponent’s arm, and throw him to the ground in the time it took me to blink. With unnatural grace he caught daggers flung at him in midair, and threw them back at another target, hitting it right in the center. His bare skin shone in the sun, a sheen of sweat covering him while he maneuvered his opponent. And yes, I couldn’t but imagine myself in the opponent’s place. I’d be wrapped around him, his glistening skin pressed against mine, his arms delving around and enveloping me. He could move me so that I was bent before him, my skirts hiked up, my legs—

“Staring at him won’t make him come any closer,” Siliana had muttered from her place at my side at the training ring. “This was a horrible idea.”

“No,” I had said, “this was excellent.”

And when the matches were done and Eldrin strode towards us, it took all of my restraint not to embrace him.

“You did well,” I said.

“Just well?” he asked with a smirk.

“‘Well’ is plenty enough for all of us,” Siliana said, rolling her eyes.

I smiled at Siliana. I had to ignore the way Eldrin locked eyes with me, as if he was thinking the exact same illicit things.

Tomorrow it would all change. It had to change—I couldn’t remain this desperate to touch him for much longer, to have him whisper his desires in my ear. To pin me underneath him, and feel his hard length against me. The dance had to accomplish what we wanted. Would it work? Siliana had instructed me as best she could, and by this point I could shake the maple leaves like I had been doing it my whole life. I wasn’t as tall and graceful as the elves, but I knew how to make a leaf vibrate.

More practice wouldn’t help me. It was time to rest before the day that would decide everything. Ha—as if I could relax. So much depended on tomorrow.

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