Page 34 of Uprooted
Aro
I barely crack my eyes open to watch Elowen try to move silently around my room and out the door.
It’s laughable how she thinks she can slink away without waking me up.
I nearly stopped her from leaving. I can’t imagine anything better than waking up with her in my bed, listening to her breathe with her warm body pressed up against mine.
We both need to process what happened last night.
I wasn’t lying when I said everything faded into the background the moment I met her.
I don’t see that changing. She tried to remind me she’d be going back to Earth soon.
I’ve decided that doesn’t work for me. I can’t make her stay, but I can be pretty persuasive.
It was clear what she wanted when she climbed out of the pool and pounced on me.
I liked how assertive she was. It took every ounce of strength to resist giving her what she wanted.
My self-control hung by a thread. Every time she arched her body against mine, that thread was pulled tighter and tighter, ready to snap.
She wasn’t in her right mind, and I’d be the worst piece of shit to take advantage of that.
She slept like a rock the moment I laid her down on my bed.
I briefly considered giving her the bed and finding somewhere else to sleep, but I ultimately wanted to be here if she woke up and needed something.
I remember what it was like when I took the lumen’entem years ago.
My visions were a series of brief moments.
Some were violent, like I possessed a terrifying power.
Other times the visions were peaceful. Scenes so beautiful they drew tears from my eyes.
Eons of time flashed before my eyes in an instant.
I watched history pass before me. I saw my world change over millennia.
It was more than my mind could comprehend at the time.
I still struggle to understand most of it.
I know Elowen must have gone on an incredible trip. She floated in the water for a long time quietly humming and mumbling here and there. I wonder what the lumen’entem showed her. Maybe I’m a selfish bastard, but all I can hope is that it showed her a future here, with me.
* * *
A bang on my door interrupts my self-reflection. There is only one person I’d be happy about knocking on my door this early, and she just snuck out moments ago.
“You’re lucky. If you had pounded on my door like that ten minutes ago, I would have knocked you out,” I say as Tai walks in and sizes up the room. “She’s not here.” I have a pretty good guess about who he’s looking for.
“I distinctly remember having a conversation about you being careful with that one. I’m worried you have a misunderstanding about what ‘careful’ means.
” He sits on the only chair in the room.
He kicks his feet out and casually picks at his nails.
He’s making a lot of effort to appear relaxed, but I’m not buying it.
“And I distinctly remember telling you not to worry about it.”
“This isn’t a joke, Aro. There have already been consequences from your little crush.”
“I know,” I say tersely. I don’t need to be reminded of what happened with Andi. "Why are you being such a narc about this? Not to be a dick, but this really doesn't involve you."
"You know what? You're right. It doesn't involve me. But I know first-hand that one bad decision follows the next and you're already pretty far down that path. How many rules have you bent or broken for her?"
I stare back at him, unwilling to answer that question.
“They will never accept her,” Tai says.
“Who the fuck is ‘they’?” I snarl at him. My eyes narrow on him, trying to discern if he includes himself in the category of those who won't accept her.
“‘They,’ ‘them,’ everyone out there.” He motions all around us .
“Then it’s a good thing it doesn’t matter because I accept her. She belongs with me.”
“You have a briefing to lead in twenty minutes. I suggest you get your shit together and focus on your job because it’s rapidly coming to an end. When it’s over, you’ll be expected to act like a leader, and not sulk around like a cub who didn’t get his way.”
“I don’t sulk.”
“And that is because you have always gotten what you wanted. But that isn’t going to happen with Elowen. She is going to leave and there needs to be something left of you when she does.”