Page 8 of Out of Time (The Ice King Chronicles #3)

Glorfindel

“Beats the hell out of me.” Ethan said, not looking at me. “I don’t even like you.”

“Good,” I said, badly stung by his words but trying not to show it. “Because I don’t like you either. In fact, I may have mentioned this a time or two before, but I really hate you.”

He snorted and my face burned. We both knew that was a lie. He took a long swig of his beer and slammed it down on the table. Then he looked up, and we stared at each other. His dark eyes flashed some message to me I couldn’t quite decipher, but it had nothing to do with hate. My nerves were humming so loudly I thought he must be able to hear them. There was something almost tangible in the space between us again. Inside me was an instinctive, totally sexual, unspoken yearning for him that I’d never had before with anyone else. I wanted badly to lean across the table and ask him to kiss me some more.

“Look,” Ethan finally said, running a hand through his hair. “Let’s start over. I agreed to do this, so I’ll try harder, that’s all. Drogheda threw me a curve when she didn’t do anything to alter your appearance at first, but I understand you’re trying to break a curse and you have to look a certain way.”

“That guy in the store who talked to me today was going to ask me out. I could tell.”

“You don’t even know that guy. He could be a serial killer.”

“A what?”

“Someone who would take you off somewhere and kill you and then chop your body up in little pieces and stuff you up a drainpipe.”

My eyes got so wide I thought I’d hurt myself. “But why would he do that?”

“Who knows? You shouldn’t try to date anyone until I check them out thoroughly for you. Besides, I’m not convinced we’ve done everything we could to break this curse.”

“You’re not? I thought when you did the candle thing…”

He shook his head. “Inconclusive. There’s still something inside you. It doesn’t seem like a spell, but it’s there. The little reversing hex I sent may have worked, but it definitely wasn’t enough. I can try a more powerful spell, if you like.”

“You can? That would be good. Drogheda said your magic is really strong.”

“I said I could try to break it. Then, if it doesn’t work, at least we’ll know Drogheda was right, and the only way for us to break this is by you falling in true love.”

A serving girl appeared at my side. Interrupting us to give us folders of some kind. “Can I get you something to drink to get you started?” She asked me, while putting the folders down on the table. “And another beer for you, sir?” she asked, looking at Ethan.

“Whiskey for me,” I said, but Ethan shook his head.

“He’s kidding. He’ll have a Coke.”

“Oh. Okay then. Take your time with the menus, and I’ll be back in a few.”

Ethan shook his head at me. “What part of ‘you don’t have any ID’ did you not understand?”

“I don’t even know what that is, except it has something to do with a certificate that you said I don’t have either. Maybe she wouldn’t have asked like the bartender did. She didn’t ask you for any.”

He sighed. “She will. She would have asked you too, Glori.”

“Oh.”

“Look, in America, and all the world now, you need some form of Identification. Something official to prove who you are. Mostly we use a driver’s license here in the US, but I can take you to get just an ID card—if I have your birth certificate. A piece of paper saying where and when you were born and who your parents are.”

“Can’t I just tell them?”

“No. It has to be official. We’ll need to conjure something up.”

“Why on earth would anyone need to know all that anyway?”

“I don’t know. They just do. In the case of a bar, like this one, it tells them how old you are, and if you’re old enough for them to serve you alcohol.”

“How old do I have to be?”

“Twenty-one. And before you start, I know you’re much older than that, but you don’t look it. You have to have proof of age.”

“You don’t think I look it?” I asked coyly, looking at him from under my eyelashes.

I was angling for a compliment, but instead he just glanced at me. “They check everyone who could be under forty.”

I frowned at him. “Forty!”

“You’re actually much older, Finn.”

“Yes, but I don’t look it. You just said so.” I pouted about it for a minute. “This is really most inconvenient.”

“Yes, well...Drogheda should have thought of all that before she brought you here.”

The serving wench appeared again with a glass of some dark liquid over little pieces of ice that she plonked down in front of me. I looked at it suspiciously as she chattered.

“Can I get you gentlemen started with an appetizer?”

“No thanks,” Ethan said, glancing over at me. “What kind of sandwich do you want? Beef, chicken, turkey?”

“I’m partial to venison,” I said hopefully, but Ethan shook his head. “Rabbit, then? I like a good rabbit stew.”

“Sorry, he’s not from around here,” he said to the girl who was looking at me oddly. “He’ll have a hamburger. Medium well, with cheese. And an order of fries. I’ll have the grilled chicken salad, please, with Ranch dressing.”

He scooped up my folder and handed both of them to the girl, who glanced at me strangely again before she turned away.

He sighed and rubbed his forehead. “We don’t normally serve venison or rabbit in our restaurants here, Glori,” he explained.

“Well, how was I to know that?”

He blew out a breath. “Just follow my lead next time. I offered you beef or chicken or turkey, remember? I told you before. Do not improvise.”

I gave him a sullen glance and tried my drink. It was really sweet, which I liked. My people are partial to sweets. But it had a sharp, bubbly taste too that would definitely take some getting used to. It wasn’t bad, but definitely different. I was very aware of Ethan sitting next to me. The tavern had no real ceiling, but they had built a covering over some of the tables that were angled in a way that they overlooked the square below. The weather was quite nice. Dusk was falling, so it wasn’t too hot, and our table was one of the ones covered. A soft breeze was blowing.

It had been morning when Drogheda and I had arrived, and I hadn’t had anything to eat since I left the palace. It was now early evening, and I realized I was famished.

Still, I wasn’t prepared when the serving girl set our plates down in front of us. Ethan had a huge bowl with greenery and bits of charred looking chicken, but I had a plate with an enormous, fat sandwich on round bread and another plate full of sliced, fried potatoes.

“Is there anything else I can get you, gentlemen?” she asked, and I just stared at her. She’d brought enough food for three or more people.

“No thanks,” Ethan said and picked up his fork and knife. “Something wrong?” he asked.

“This sandwich is so large. How can I fit it in my mouth? And why did she bring me so many potatoes?”

“Just eat what you can. And mash your sandwich down a little with your hand if it’s too big.”

I did the best I could and took a bite. It was pretty good, and I was really hungry, so I ate most of it, washing it down with the sweet drink. I tried one of the potato slices, which was hot and salty and better than it looked. It practically melted in my mouth, but I still couldn’t eat all of them.

Across from me, Ethan ate his salad, as he called it and watched me with a dark, unreadable gaze.

“Did you like it?” he asked when I was finished.

“Oh yes. It wasn’t bad at all. The meat sandwich was a little greasy. It didn’t taste like ham though.”

“No, it’s ground beef.”

“Why did you call it a hamburger then?”

He smiled and shook his head. His smiles were so rare that when he finally graced me with a genuine one, it made me feel strangely unsettled. He was far too good looking when he smiled, and I didn’t like the way it made me feel. I wanted him to kiss me again, and I had no idea where that was coming from.

“It’s just the name for it,” he said. “I don’t really know why. I never thought about it before.”

I gazed out over the railing at the square below us. It was just beginning to get dark, and a few streetlights had winked on. It was a nice scene to look at, with late shoppers bustling past with their packages and bags. The square was still full of people, and the little rooftop tavern was beginning to fill up.

“We’d better go, if you’ve finished,” he said. “Marcy said she had a date tonight, so I told her and Dee to go ahead and lock up.”

“With the ogr—I mean, with Pat, yes?”

“I know Pat can be a bit much to get used to, but she’s not all that bad.”

“Not exactly a glowing recommendation. But I guess I’ll take your word for it.”

“She was probably just a little jealous when she saw you. The way you look is kind of a lot to take in.”

“You mean you think I’m beautiful?”

His face turned a little red and he gave a slight laugh. “The things you say. Men are handsome, not beautiful, and besides, you’re well aware of how you look.”

“You said I was beautiful when you kissed me, though. Just before the water came down from the ceiling.”

He shrugged. “You are good looking, but I didn’t mean anything by that. You misunderstood,” he said, blushing again and getting up quickly. “Come on, let’s go.” He threw some of the paper money they used here on the table. “Marcy will probably be gone by now and that’ll just leave Dee in the shop, tallying up for the day.”

I got up without another word. Misunderstood his tongue in my mouth? He didn’t want to talk about kissing me and that was all right, I supposed. The situation was confusing to me too, since most of the time he treated me like a nuisance and a bother. I followed him, and as we got to the bar, I saw the bartender give me a strange look. Was he remembering?

Just then a customer sitting at the crowded bar, but way at the end, yelled something to him. The bartender turned a furious face toward the man. “Give me a fucking minute, asshole!”

Everyone at the bar, including the man he yelled at looked shocked. Then the man jumped to his feet, yelling. “Who the fuck you calling names, motherfucker? Come down here and say it to my face!”

The other people at the bar started looking uneasy and a woman was pulling at the man’s arm, trying to get him to sit back down. The bartender pulled what looked like a truncheon or nightstick out from under the bar. I’d seen mortal policemen use them to maintain public order on the occasions I’d had to visit the mortal world in the past. In the right hands, they could be harmful or even deadly weapons.

The bartender charged down toward the man at the end, brandishing his club threateningly and yelling profanities, and that guy started climbing over the bar to head him off. I heard one of the serving girls scream. People started pulling out their little “sell phones” again and some of them were talking into them, maybe even calling the authorities. Other men wearing a similar shirt to the bartender’s came running toward the fight. Inside me something stirred, and a little giggle slipped out. I saw Ethan glance down at me in surprise, and then he held up a hand and murmured a similar spell to the one he’d used on his shop that afternoon.

Instantly, everything froze. He was still murmuring spells beside me and then he snapped his fingers, and everything clicked back into motion. I stared up at him with a feeling of...frustration. Maybe even anger. I had wanted to see what would happen, and it was a huge letdown when nothing did.

The bartender looked down curiously at the club in his hand like he couldn’t quite figure out how it got there, while the other man climbed down off the bar and quickly took a seat beside the woman again, his face red with embarrassment. Others were blinking and looking around in confusion.

Not Ethan though. He jerked me furiously toward him and put both hands on my shoulders, staring down at me. His gaze searched over me, like he was looking for something.

“What was that, Glori? What did you do?”

“Me? I didn’t do anything,” I protested, feeling unjustly accused. “Why do you think I had something to do with that?”

He shook his head, and then grabbed my arm to hustle me down the short hallway. I thought we were headed for the stairs I came up, but he stopped in front of a double set of doors I hadn’t paid any attention to before.

“We’ll talk about this later. For now, let’s take the elevator,” he said, as he pushed a button and the two doors slid apart with a whisper of sound.

“What kind of magic is this? Are you doing it?”

“No,” he said. “It’s not magic. It’s a modern invention. Motors and pulleys control this box that moves between the floors. We can ride it. Come on, it’s not anything to be scared of.”

“I’m not afraid.” I stepped past him, and the doors closed on us. He reached over to punch a button on the wall and the little room we were standing in started to move down. Despite my best efforts not to be, I was a little unnerved as soon as the room started moving, I grabbed for Ethan’s arm. He slid his hand around my waist and pulled me to him. It felt good and natural to be so close. I thought I could learn to like it.

When it stopped, the doors slid open and mortals were standing outside, looking in at us. Ethan guided me out past them, his arm still around my waist. The mortals all stared at us, some with wide eyes, and I took offense. I pulled away and started to go back to ask them what they thought they were looking at, but Ethan whirled me back around and tugged me outside.

“Look at you, always ready for a fight,” he said when he had me outside. He was frowning at me and drew me over toward the buildings and the outside of a shop that was closed for the evening.

I thought he was mad about my reaction to the people. “I didn’t do anything, but they were all looking at me.”

“Yes, because of how you look. I told Drogheda I should have tried that spell again to tone you down more.”

“What do you mean? That they liked the way I look?”

“They probably thought you were some famous actor or model.”

“Some what?”

“Don’t worry about it. You’re conceited enough as it is. Now tell me what happened in the bar just now. What did you do?”

“I didn’t do anything!”

“Glori, I know that came from you. I was standing right beside you.”

“No!” I protested, shaking my head. “I never did a thing. Why do you always accuse me and think the worst of me? That bartender was crazy. I told you so!”

“Lower your voice. The bartender was fine until you walked past him, and I felt the ill wish fly right out of you.”

“But I didn’t. I swear it.”

He peered into my eyes again and he must not have liked what he saw there, because he frowned and shook his head again. “We’ll discuss this later. For now, you stay inside the shop until we can get this straightened out. Do you understand?”

“Yes, I understand,” I said peevishly, feeling a fresh surge of anger toward him.

He pulled on my arm a little roughly. “Let’s go.”

I stomped along beside him on the short distance back to his store. The lights were still blazing inside, and Pat and Marcy were standing in front of the counter as we came in. Pat was looking pointedly at her watch. She shot me an evil glare and Ethan tightened his hold on my arm.

“Sorry we’re a few minutes late, Marcy. I told you, you could have gone on ahead.”

“No problem,” she said, smiling like she always seemed to. “Dee was in the back with a customer, so I had to wait, but it’s fine.”

“We better hurry, Marcy. We did have those reservations,” Pat said, frowning right at me. I frowned right back and threw in a curl of my upper lip for good measure. The creature made a fist but lucky for her she didn’t try to use it. Marcy saw it though and quickly put her arm through Pat’s and began to pull her away.

“Well, since you’re here, I’ll say good night. I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said brightly.

Pat gave me the evil eye all the way out the door. I wished hard that she’d run into the door frame, but alas, it didn’t happen.

“Did you see that?” I asked Ethan, my hands twitching to put a spell on her. Ethan had forbidden me to make her a frog, but what about a worm? Or maybe a crow. I thought I could manage either of them, and he hadn’t exactly said not to. At least not specifically.

“I saw it, but you need to settle down. Pat isn’t an easy person to get along with, I admit, but you can’t go around turning people into things just because you don’t like them.”

“I don’t see why not.”

“I hope you’re kidding. Now come over here to the cash register, and I’ll show you a few things about it until Dee comes out.”

“I thought you wanted to talk to me.”

“I will, but later. I need to speak to Drogheda first. Now, come on.”

“But …” I protested, pulling back. “I thought you just wanted me to just clean and sweep.”

“I’ve changed my mind. That’s not working out too well, so maybe you can do this if we get super busy. Now let’s go over the money.” I gave a heavy, drawn-out sigh and saw his lips twist. Sadist.

He pulled me over to the counter and the “register,” and thus proceeded the driest, deadliest and most boring thirty minutes I’ve ever spent, while Dee took her sweet time and Ethan lectured me on how to recognize each denomination of bill and coin ad nauseum . Then he went on and on about how to make change for each of them. Then he started on credit cards and debit cards and how to handle each. He even went over how to take care of a declined card and how to handle a disgruntled customer if and when said card was declined.

The machine he had on the counter did most of the work and even told me how much change to give back if the customer used cash, so I didn’t see what the big deal was. And if someone got upset about their cards, I knew how to handle that too, except when I said so, I got another lecture on getting along with mortals and not exposing my magic and how the customer was always right.

I didn’t think that was true, but I saved myself the extra lecture just by smiling, nodding and agreeing with everything he said.

Dee finally came out of the back and spent some time with the customer, an older lady with gray hair, looking for some candles to use for spells. They discussed the merits of each color while I sighed and whined and complained softly about how much my feet were hurting and why were they still dithering around over candle colors. Ethan ignored me.

Dee finally came over and checked out her customer, pocketed her generous tip and eventually left for the evening with a little wave. Ethan locked the door and put up a sign, but still, we stood there at the register.

Empires rose and fell, new stars were born and subsequently died, and still he kept me standing there, making change and practicing every possible contingency, until I prayed for death to take me.

Finally, he sighed and said, “Okay. I guess you’re close to being ready. I’ll let you try with Marcy tomorrow. If you can do it, then she and Dee will be free to straighten the stock and do the readings.”

“What about the sweeping?”

He gave me a mischievous smile. “I actually have a cleaning service who does that.”

I thought I showed remarkable restraint in not zapping him or trying to anyway, but I did give him an outraged glare.

He laughed at the look on my face and went over to lock up the doors. “Come on, let’s go upstairs. I’ve worked you enough for one day.”

We got to the top of the stairs, and I turned to him to say goodnight. He muttered something in reply, and we both went to our separate rooms. I remembered that I’d forgotten to ask him what time I needed to come down in the morning to go to work and went back to his door to softly knock on it.

He opened it, took one look at me and groaned. “What do you want now?”

“I had a question, but just forget it.”

“No, go ahead. Ask.”

“No, I don’t want to anymore.”

“Damn it, just ask me!”

“No!” I turned to go, but he pulled me back to him.

“Damn you!”

“Don’t curse me!”

I pulled back my fist to hit him, but he twisted it behind my back. We stood staring into each other’s eyes for a moment before he wrapped his arms around me and picked me up. My legs went around his waist, and we stumbled together inside his room.

He carried me over to his bed and we fell down on top of it, with him already pulling at my clothes and me frantically trying to help, though he pushed my hands impatiently away. Then somehow my clothes were off, and I was naked under him, and we were both looking at each other, out of breath with our chests heaving. I held my arms out for him again, because I needed to touch him like I needed breath in my body. But he pinned both my hands over my head, nuzzling my neck like he couldn’t help himself.

He was on his knees leaning over me on the bed by that time, running his hands all over my skin, while still making my temperature rise. I didn’t try to move my hands and just let him have his way with me. He groaned his approval. He was making my whole body feel languid and his kisses had a drugging effect on me. His mouth was so warm and soft. I heard myself whimpering and begging a little. Ethan moved his big hands under my ass, and they gently, maddeningly massaged the naked cheeks. I’d never felt this lightheaded, toe-curling compulsion to be ravished by anyone before, not with anyone else I’d ever been with. I lifted my legs and wrapped them around his hips, digging in my heels.

“Make love to me,” I begged him shamelessly, rutting against him, wanting, needing to feel him inside me. I kept trying to reach for his cock as if I could pull it into me. “Please,” I begged him, “I’ve wanted to make love to you from the first time I saw you.” I never thought I’d ever beg a man this way, but here we were.

“Put your hands back over your head. And I’ll give you what I want you to have.”

I shuddered at his words when normally they might have made me mad. I gazed up into those midnight eyes of his and moved my hands like he’d told me to. It would have taken a much stronger being than I was to feel the tip of his big, hard cock straining against my entrance and deny him anything he wanted. He gazed down at me then and claimed my mouth in a searing kiss. It was the most powerful one between us yet, even hotter than those we’d already shared. Ethan was kissing me like he owned me. I’d never felt that from anyone else. Not ever, and it was a wonderfully seductive feeling.

He kissed me until we were both panting hard, and I realized that for the first time I really was not in charge of anything, and totally at his mercy. But it wasn’t a frightening place to be. I knew he would take care of me.

When had I had time to start trusting him? Did I trust him? I heard myself sighing softly and stopped struggling with every emotion I was feeling. I gave in to all of it and I allowed him to have his way with me.

“That’s it,” he whispered in my ear. “Relax. I got this. I’ve got you, and I know just what to do with you.” I shuddered again and he slid his lips over mine, kissing me deeply. He trailed kisses down my throat and wound up at my nipple, sucking it into his hot, wet mouth and making my head spin. I arched up against him and cried out his name over and over. Finally, finally, he reached toward the bedside table and brought out a tube that I thought must have some oil in it. I didn’t need him to use anything to cover himself because I was impervious to mortal diseases, as he probably was too.

He knelt over me and pushed my legs apart, and then spread some of the slick whatever-it-was onto his hands. He lavished it on my entrance, rubbing and massaging as he went and I strained toward him, crying out at how good it felt. Still, he made me wait while he carefully opened me, stretched and massaged me even more. I arched my back and tried to hump his hand.

“Be still,” he chided me. “This will happen when I say so and not before.”

How could I be still while he was doing that to me? I thought I’d go mad. I thrashed my head from side to side and dug my heels into the mattress. Finally, when he was through with me, he pulled my ankles to his shoulders, and scooted me down the bed and into his lap. I began to moan and thrash, and he bent over to bite my nipple hard enough that I cried out.

“Behave,” he said and began rubbing the tip of his cock over me again and again. I thought then I might truly go insane, but finally he began to ease himself into me. The burn came, because he was so large, but he took things slowly, caressing me and stroking me when I whimpered and moaned. He filled me slowly but inexorably until our groins were brushing against each other. I could feel his coarse hair against my ass, and I cried out with pleasure.

He was larger than anyone I’d ever been with, and I could see why he’d taken the time to prepare me. It hurt a little, but I quickly got used to the feeling of being so full. I thought I could easily learn to crave this from him, though I’d never particularly liked it before. He took my mouth again and there wasn’t enough time to breathe between kisses. I was pushing up desperately against him, trying to keep up with him and he was slowly, rhythmically fucking me into oblivion.

I felt my orgasm gathering inside me like a storm long before it finally came. Ethan was no longer touching my cock, but when he saw my excitement, he finally did again, stroking me insistently. My orgasm slammed into me so hard I thought I might pass out, and I strained and moaned and cried out his name as I came. He was right behind me, pushing into me so hard I thought I saw stars flashing on his bedroom ceiling. His wet heat flooded me inside and soaked my thighs.

My head thudded back against the pillows and my breathing was a series of little gasps and shudders. Ethan held me through it, stroking me and murmuring to me.

He fell down beside me, and I felt suddenly bereft, unable to bear being parted from him so soon. I reached for his hand. He took mine and kissed it and then pulled me over on top of him where he sprawled a leg over mine. We were plastered together, and I had come so hard I felt totally drained. My eyes began to close despite my best efforts to stay awake. He was soon breathing deeply though, so I snuggled into him, and I drifted off to sleep minutes later.

Sometime much later—it had to be in the middle of the night—I awoke to see Ethan sitting up on the side of the bed, his back to me. I sighed as my heart sank.

“What’s going on, Ethan? Are you getting up so soon? It’s the middle of the night.” He didn’t answer and my heart sank.

“No, wait! Don’t tell me. You have regrets ,” I said, drawing out the word dramatically. “And you think this was all a big, huge mistake. I even know what you’re going to say. ‘It’s not you, Glorfindel; it’s me. I’ve heard it all before.”

Ethan turned around and gazed at me, a little smile playing around his lips. “It isn’t me, actually. And I’m pretty sure it is all you.”