Forever (2 page)

“Just look at me—at my eyes.” She
widened her smile. “Only at me.”

From somewhere the mysterious music
began again, and she relocated her hand from my face to my shoulder. I froze
for a moment, but with her reassuring nod, I stepped forward.

I was surprisingly nervous, wondering if
she could feel the tremors in my hands, or if she noticed my sloppy footwork. I
glanced down at my feet, an apology forming on my lips, but she shushed me.

“Only at me,” she whispered again.

I met her eyes once more, and the world
fell away as we connected. The music swelled, and suddenly I knew just what to
do. I courageously took more control of the dance. Twirling her away from me,
my eyes followed her every move. My skin delighting in the fire that hers
created as she returned to my arms. And so we danced, never looking away from
each other, until the music came to a sad stop and we stilled.

“Emilee.” She softly panted.

I looked at her, confused. “What?” I
tried unsuccessfully to catch my breath.

“My name is Emilee.” She laughed, only
this time it sounded like bells in my ears. “You’re forgetful, aren’t you?” She
bit her bottom lip and raised her eyebrows as she tried to silence her mirth. I
could feel myself salivate as I looked at her mouth. I wondered what it would
be like to kiss her.

What the heck is happening to me?
I chuckled
nervously, trying to redirect my attention. I enjoyed how free I felt—how
different it was to laugh with her. I didn’t like the sudden intimate thoughts
that kept bombarding me. “Nice to meet you, Emilee.” I bowed low and swept my
arm out to the side. My mischievous personality resurfaced. I could play a part
in her jest. “My name is Raith.”

As I expected, she giggled and curtsied,
enjoying the game we had begun without meaning to. “It’s nice to meet
you . . . Raith.”

She grinned, and suddenly began to fade
away.

“No!” I said, trying to hold on, not
ready to leave her yet. I grabbed for her waist and tightened my grip on her
hand, but it was no use. I felt the familiar sensation of our minds pulling
apart, and I was by myself at the edge of the woods. The sun was rising, and I
realized Emilee had woken up. I had spent the whole night in her dream.

I flopped down into the tall grasses and
leaned up against a tree with my arms behind my head. I sighed contently and
decided right then I would go to her again this evening with the hope she would
still be able to see me and we would dance again.

Chapter Two

I waited eagerly for the night to come.
A daze overtook me during the day and caused me to stare at nothing as I
remembered the feel of Emilee’s soft touch. Her perfume stuck in my nose, and
her laugh played over and over in my head. When the suns last rays slowly faded
from the sky, I practically ran down the magical path which led from The Glen.
I felt the edges of several mortal dreams tug at my consciousness, all of them
much more promising than what I saw during my perusal the night before, but
they were all pushed aside. I wanted a whole night with Emilee again.

As I approached the line of thinning
trees at the edge of the forest, I closed my eyes and reached out with my mind
to feel for her. I fervently hoped she wasn’t one of those people who stayed up
until midnight, and I was happy when I found her almost immediately, already
sweetly dreaming. I relaxed and slowed my breathing as I carefully merged with
her mind and found her dancing in the ballroom again.

Tonight she wore a Spanish style red and
black ballet dress. There was a normal skirt that reached to her knees in place
of a tutu, swaying perfectly with her long legs. She wore red pointe shoes, and
her hair hung curled and free as the night before.

She is so beautiful.
I smiled at my
sudden thought. Normally, I only favored my own species with that description,
but it was true—she looked divine. I couldn’t remember a time I’d seen anyone,
human or Fae, look like this. I wanted to touch her again and feel the fire,
which had rapidly spread between us. I altered my own appearance to match her
chosen apparel, wearing pretty much the same thing as the night before, and
stepped out into the light once more.

Emilee continued dancing with the fast
pace of the music as if nothing had happened. She turned more towards
me—concentration etched into her perfect features—but still did not give any
sign that she saw me there. A crushing wave of defeat slammed into me.

Can she no longer see me?
It seemed like
a cruel punishment my mother would inflict upon me. I had been granted one
amazing night with the only woman I’d ever wanted to spend an indefinite amount
of time with. Curling my hands into fists, I turned to leave. I needed to punch
something.

I couldn’t understand what was happening.
Why did I feel this way? Why was I so upset that one mortal couldn’t see me
when none of them were supposed to in the first place? The threads that held
our minds together began to slip away, and I wished I could jump right out, but
I didn’t want to cause her unnecessary pain or to wake up because I was
careless. Each piece of her that separated from me left invisible scars of
pain.

“Raith?”

Every thread snapped into place, the
ground shook, and my breath was knocked away. I was in trouble and I knew it. I
should not have felt the way I did when she said my name.

“I’m here,” I said coming into the
light. She looked a little dazed. Guilt seeped into me as I realized I’d come
back in too fast for her. Doing so agitated her subconscious and made it hard
for her to focus. “Uh . . . I thought you hadn’t seen me, and I
didn’t want to interrupt,” I somewhat lied as I gave her time to gather
herself. Finally, she shook her head and smiled sweetly, making my insides
churn.

“I almost didn’t see you,” she admitted.

“Oh.” She was all I thought about and
instead of feeling the same, she seemed to have forgotten me. Great.
Calm
down. It’s no big deal. Besides, she doesn’t even know that you’re real,
I
reasoned.

“I was caught up in my dance,” she
explained after an awkward pause. An apologetic grin spread across her face and
she shrugged, running her fingers through her hair.

“You . . . I
mean . . . it . . . was very
beautiful.”
Nice, apparently we’re working the embarrassing stalker angle
tonight.
There was another long silence growing between us, and all I could
think of was how her skirt was hugging her hips. I realized I was staring with
my mouth slightly open. Snapping it shut, my face burned as I looked at the
ceiling, floor, mirrors, and anywhere else that wasn’t her.

“Nice place, right?”
No. No, no, no,
no, no, I did not just say that!
Everything was going wrong! Of course I
hadn’t really planned anything for the night—just dancing. Maybe I should have
planned what to say too. An idea struck me, and I breathed in some courage—I
hoped.

“Nice weather we’re having. How about
that sports team? Did you know plants use photosynthesis to survive? I really
don’t know what else to say, so let’s dance now, okay?” I said the last part so
fast it took her by surprise. Without giving her time to think, I quickly
closed the space between us and grabbed her hand. There was a flash of shocked
silence, and then she began to laugh loudly.

“I see what you did there.” She placed
her other hand on my shoulder.

“I know. Now, if I could just get some
music, we’d be over our awkwardness and into the fun stuff.” She shrugged her
shoulders a little, a smile still gracing her face. I looked into her eyes, the
light in them causing me to grin as well. I wanted desperately to touch her face,
and discover if it felt smooth like her dress did against my hand. Her cheeks
sparkled slightly. Whatever makeup she wore was perfect for the room’s
lighting. She returned my gaze, a look of amusement and study on her face.

“Raith?” she said softly after a few
moments.

“Yeah?” Even her voice was beautiful.
There
must be girls dying to be her everywhere she goes.

“The music started like two minutes
ago.”

Oops.
And the stalker returns.

“Sorry,” I mumbled as I blushed deeply.

“It’s ok.” She laughed. “Now, let’s
dance!”

That was all the prompting I needed. I
had some experience with lifts and special movements from rituals, which I’d
been a part of. The Fae were big on dancing; me, not so much—‘til now anyway.
The music was going, so we just started on the next downbeat.

The tune was a tango, played on the
guitar. I was eager to show off my moves. I’d felt a little under qualified the
night before. I pulled her closer as we got going, reveling in the feel of her
whole body against mine. She was warm, soft, and still so strong in the way she
danced. Every step was precise and I made sure not to miss any. I felt a rush
with every count, every touch. My body begged to bring her closer and hold her
tighter. The fire her touch created was burning out of control. It felt like I
would burst from the flames inside me. My breath was coming in short gasps,
thankfully covered by the intensity of the dance.

I felt a natural place to throw in a
lift and surprised even myself by actually doing it. The smile on her face made
it worth the bravery it had taken. Her face was just centimeters from mine—I
could feel her hot breath on my lips, and I almost kissed her. But then the
moment was over and I placed her on the ground, dancing like nothing had
happened. If only she knew what she was doing to me.

The dance lasted only a few minutes, but
it felt like hours when I held her in my arms. The same was true with the
following dances. Each felt like it would never end, and I didn’t want them to.
After several more dances—so many I didn’t even care to count any more—I knew
the night would be over before I was ready.

Please don’t let it stop!
I desperately
wished away the morning as we were finishing yet another dance. This one had
more of a classical ballet feel to it. She had somehow gotten her foot above
her head in a side split and my hand was at the ankle suspended in the air.
Even her foot felt like heaven. I wanted to hold her, touch her skin, and kiss
her. I wanted to kiss her badly. The music ended and she returned her foot to
the ground. She fell into my arms breathless, her back against my chest.

“Raith, you liar!” She teased “You most
certainly do know how to dance.”

My heart pounded from both the dance and
her presence. It felt so natural, being with her. I didn’t move my arms from
around her, instead resting them around her waist. She didn’t seem to mind the
embrace, and it sent tingles up my arms.

“You’re right,” I said softly. “I didn’t
exactly lie though. I didn’t think I remembered how.” I slowly lowered my head
to smell her hair. I wanted more of her—I needed it for some reason. She was my
air, and I would die without it.

“Well, I’m glad you did,” she said
decisively. She covered one of my hands with her own, and laid her head on my
shoulder.

I felt like shivering as she traced her
fingers over my wrist. Little flames erupted where she touched—everything in me
screaming for more. It was all I could do to just stand there. Her hand trailed
up my arm, and into my hair, twisting it ever so slightly between her fingers.
I felt like I might explode if I didn’t touch more of her, so I allowed myself
to actually bury my face in her hair. It felt perfect against my face and was
entirely evil for making me want even more of her.

“You were awesome tonight, Raith,” she
said softly

“Yeah, I have some moves, so what?” I
joked, my voice muffled by the curly locks that I was unwilling to move from
just yet.

“You definitely do, and you’re funny. I
like that.” She giggled and snuggled deeper into my arms, a content sigh
escaping from her.

I felt like singing.

“Oh! Raith, look at us in the mirror!”
she exclaimed.

I turned my head slightly to look at our
reflection.

She was beautiful—her face flushed from
the heat of dancing. I looked flushed as well, but together we looked like two
lovers locked in a simple yet heartfelt embrace. The sight added to the fire
that was already melting me from the inside.

Slowly, Emilee turned in my arms until
we were facing each other. Every time she moved I would anticipate what she
wanted. I knew what I wanted, but for the first time, I actually cared what
someone else thought.

I swallowed the lump that had rapidly
formed in my throat.
Kiss her.
I lifted a shaky hand to tuck a lock of
her hair behind her ear, and let my hand slide down her neck. I fought to keep
from breathing like a dying man; I wanted to feel her lips so badly. Instead I
chose to look into her eyes—eyes which never left mine—their honey glow not
giving anything away. I leaned forward slowly, unsure of what I was about to do
and how it would be received. I hesitated for a second, only one second.

Her mind began to pull away.

“No, stay.” I whispered, but it was too
late—she was fading too fast. The sun’s morning rays greeted me as our minds
completely divided from each other.

What is wrong with me?
I lay in the
grass and looked up at the lightening blue sky.
If anyone were to find
out . . .
I plucked at the grass, placing a long strand in
between my teeth.
Find out what? I’m not really doing anything I haven’t
been doing before. I’m just . . . taking a new approach to how I
bend the dreams . . . except that I’m not bending this one.
I frowned a little in frustration. I still had no insights on why I couldn’t
control her dreams.
Why does she do that to me? Why do I feel like I’m on
fire every time we touch?
I sat up slightly, leaning against my elbows.
I
shouldn’t reappear in her dreams—it’s too much of a risk.
My heart hurt at
that thought. There was no way I could stay away with the way she made me feel.
Maybe I won’t be able to find her tonight and I’ll go scare people like I
usually do.
I knew that wasn’t true either, I didn’t want to scare anyone
any more. My short time with Emilee had done something to me.
I love showing
up and wondering what she will say, what she’ll be wearing. I love looking at
her. I love feeling her in my arms. I love dancing with her.
I love
Emilee.

Yes, I was in a lot of trouble.

I couldn’t concentrate on the dance that
Emilee was performing when I arrived in her dream the next night. It wasn’t
because she was as beautiful as always. Her hair was pinned up in curly
perfection, her form clothed in a simple white dress, with a yellow belt at her
waist and matching shoes. It was because of my impulsive thoughts from that
morning.

My mind battled with itself as I stood
in the shadows. It was an unspoken law that Fae did not talk to humans except
on Midsummer’s Night. It wasn’t very strictly enforced. I’d broken the rule on
occasion, as well as other Fae, but this was different. Technically, I hadn’t
actually talked to Emilee. I had only entered into her dreams, danced with her,
talked with her, laughed with her, fallen in love with her . . .

My impulsiveness had gotten me into
trouble before, but nothing like this. I could laugh about the things I’d been
in trouble for before—some of them I’d forgotten completely—but I knew I would
never laugh about what was happening to me now with Emilee. I loved her,
without even really knowing her, and I didn’t know what to do about it. How do
you confess your love to someone who will probably just think it was a dream?
What if they never realize that it was as real as the air they breathe?