Missing the Present Read online

  He asked her questions about the fight for equal rights for equal pay, they discussed politics and the state of the world. He listened to everything with rapt attention. Several times, she made sure to state that she was not an expert. He seemed shocked at the breadth of her knowledge.

  “Are all women of your age as educated?” Voronwe asked with a smile.

  “I have no idea. I haven’t talked to all of them, but the invention of the television means that all of the information is readily available. It is quite something, really. It has been developing by leaps and bounds during my lifetime, and the internet means that any information is at your fingertips if you want to search for it.”

  He pinched the bridge of his nose. “That is a lot of information to absorb for one day.” I should find you a place to sleep.”

  She smiled and rubbed her chin in the fur near her face. “It’s fine. I can sleep here by the fire. You don’t have to trouble yourself.”

  He blinked. “You are one of a handful of beings to brave the snow and ice to approach my castle. How could I not take care of you?”

  She nodded. “Should I wait here while you go looking?”

  He shook his head. “Come with me.”

  She nodded, and when he stood next to her, she got to her feet. She finally understood the shoes. Her height put her lips about three inches below his mouth.

  He offered her his arm, and she took it, though it exposed more of her than she was comfortable with.

  There was a winding staircase that led to a series of rooms. He checked each one to prove to her that it was frozen over and uninhabitable. The double doors at the end led to the only room that was fit to occupy. He led her to the bed then went to the fire and lit it, causing a cheerful, roaring blaze. He set more logs on it to last the night and returned to her side.

  “I apologize, I don’t get many visitors, and I don’t normally require a fire.”

  She frowned. “Does it hurt you?”

  He shook his head. “No, it doesn’t hurt me, but I don’t need it. Just as you don’t need water to be hot when you are thirsty, merely liquid.”

  She nodded and looked at the bed. “I can sleep in front of the fire.”

  “The bed is large enough for both of us. I don’t toss and turn, and I doubt that your body will seek mine out. I don’t radiate enough heat for that.” He smiled.

  The sun had disappeared or dimmed. The light from the fireplace reflected against the walls. They had been lit by an inner light, but that was done.

  He smiled. “Do you require a necessary?”

  She blinked and widened her eyes. “No, nothing is getting past the ribbons, but I also don’t feel like anything is going on. Weird, right?”

  Voronwe smiled. “You are in Underhill. Physics and biology take a backseat.”

  She nodded and was about to dive under the sheets when he removed the cloak. “Sorry, but no outerwear in the bed.”

  He peeled the bedding back, and she paused. “I am stuck in the shoes. I am so sorry.”

  She sat and stared at her feet. She hated being rude. Big fat tears tracked down her cheeks, and Voronwe knelt in front of her. “It is fine. They are just shoes, and the last thing I want to do is upset you.”

  He lifted her left foot and kissed the ribbon around her ankle. To her shock, it unravelled, and the heavy shoe clunked to the floor. He looked up at her. “I wasn’t expecting that.”

  She sniffled and smiled. “Nor was I.”

  He lifted her right foot and kissed the bow that held the shoe on, and it slithered apart as well.

  She wiggled her toes, and he pressed a kiss to the top of her foot before letting her take her limbs back. She squeaked a thank you and slid into the turned-back covers, pulling them up around her.

  He sat for a minute and then rose to his feet, walking around to the other side of the bed before removing his clothing. She could hear the rustling, and she turned to peep at him, noting that the snowflakes even moved across his back. And his butt. Wow.

  When he turned to climb into bed, she pulled the bedding up ninety-three percent. Double wow.

  He lay fairly still, as promised. About twenty minutes went by when he said, “It’s no use. I need to be on your side of the bed. I did not think it was an issue, but it is.”

  She nodded. “I will run around. You can scoot over.”

  He chuckled. “I can scoot over, and you can just move over me. You don’t need to face the cool air of the room.”

  That seemed wickedly sensible.

  She moved so that she was on her belly and slid toward him across the cool fabric. He moved toward her, and they met in the middle. She carefully moved across him, and she had managed to shift most of her body over him when she hit a snag, or rather, a problem arose.

  He chuckled. “Apologies, but as you have no maidenly sensibilities, I am sure that you understand these things happen.”

  She cleared her throat. “As far as I know, they don’t happen around me. I wear glasses and baggy sweaters.”

  He pulled her up and out of the protective covers. His hands ran over her, and she blushed. “You wear baggy clothing with this body? What a waste.”

  She tensed her lips. “It is easier for me.”

  He kissed her softly. “Sometimes easy is the coward’s way out. Sometimes, you need to try something harder.”

  The something harder in the moment was pressing against her ribbon-wrapped opening. Her hips flexed in response, and she moaned against his lips. His body tensed under her, and he slid a hand behind her hair while one rested at the base of her spine. She shivered, and he rocked against her, rubbing himself against the ribbon. He set the beat, and she moved with him, slowly rocking against him until she shivered and moaned.

  Her body clenched and clasped at the cock that wasn’t there. Her blush should have melted him as she tried to pull away and crawl to the far side of the bed.

  He laughed. “Where are you going?” His grip on her hips kept her from getting far.

  “To hide.” She pressed her flaming cheek against his chest. “That was embarrassing.”

  His erection was pressing against her inner thigh, and there was a slickness that had nothing to do with her emanating from it.

  Oh, no. She had aroused him, and now, he was stuck with lack of fulfillment. She had been in that situation a bunch of times, but she had heard that it was difficult for men.

  She whispered. “I am sorry. I didn’t mean to start anything.”

  He chuckled. “I must admit that I did, but I did not expect you to cooperate so fully.”

  She blinked and straddled him, sitting up. “What?”

  He ran his cool hand up her spine. His other hand closed on her waist. “I was hoping that you moving across me would start something; I just didn’t expect your amazing response.”

  His eyes were glowing in the darkness, throwing his face into weird relief. He didn’t look human, but she supposed that he wasn’t human. He reached up and plucked the holly that had been wedged in her hair and tossed it aside. Her hair tumbled down her back, and she could feel her heart beating against the ribbon. He urged her toward him, and the bow between her breasts untied. The ribbon itself slithered away with a few tugs of his hands.

  The phrase naked astride a stranger had never entered her lexicon until this moment.

  His hands roamed over her lightly, and she simply froze in place. When his abdomen flexed in a sit-up and he kissed first one breast and then the other, she whimpered.

  He pulled her forward so that he could nip and suck at her breasts in comfort. She twisted against him, her hips slowly trying to find that beat again.

  His hands moved down her back and over each buttock, gripping and squeezing as he moved to her thighs.

  He dragged his fingertips across her sex and then up her belly, causing her to flex her abs. He released the tip of her right breast from the careful grasp of his teeth. “You are quite
the little warrior for someone so feminine.”

  She blushed and tried to push away from him. “I like to work out.”

  He moved and flipped their positions. “Why is it that anytime I comment on you, you pull away? You are a remarkable creature.”

  Elly swallowed as he stared at her. “Because most of my life I wasn’t, and then, I was, and people stared and commented and made suggestions, so it was easier to just become invisible. Neutral. So, I don’t like people commenting because I don’t know how to deal with what happens when the looking turns to unwelcome touching.”

  He cocked his head. “Is my touch unwelcome?”

  “No, but I am not used to it by any stretch of the imagination. It surprises me, and I don’t know what to do.”

  He pressed a kiss to the base of her throat. “Then, for one night, just feel.”

  “Just one night? I think I can manage that.” She turned her head as he moved up her neck to kiss his way up to her ear. When his lips cruised the round curve of her ear, she was surprised. The first surprise was that she supposed that human ears were few and far between in Underhill. The second was that when his tongue came out to cruise the edge of the curve, she shivered in a good way and her back arched against him.

  Her eyes were wide, and she whispered, “What the hell was that?”

  He chuckled. “Centuries ago, one of your ancestors lay with a fey, and they carried the traits forward.”

  She was shocked. “Seriously? It wasn’t you, was it?”

  He laughed. “No, I have no children in the human realm.”

  She exhaled slowly. That had been a moderate freak-out. This was all a waking dream, but that would have been too weird for words.

  He kissed her lips, easing his tongue into her mouth and coaxing her to participate. She returned the kiss, moving her head and enjoying the taste of him. Their tea had been mint with honey.

  He had her legs pinned, so it took a bit of effort to slide one alongside his hip. Once she had done so, he moved until his cock was sliding against her, but this time, it wasn’t satin between them.

  She gasped, and he groaned.

  “Gods, you are hot.”

  She wanted to ask him if it was a problem, but he kissed her savagely as he lined up to slide into her. He entered her slowly, a cool column of flesh that took over her body in small increments.

  The kiss was distracting as hell as he eased into her. When he was inside her fully, he leaned up and nodded. “Ellora, would you like to continue?”

  Things had suddenly turned formal for a one-night-stand, but she inclined her head. “Voronwe, I would like it very much if you continued.”

  He nodded and pinned her arms above her head with his as he undulated his body against and inside of hers. It wasn’t the thrusting that she had experienced when she was experimenting, but a strange advance and retreat without going anywhere. It took her a few motions, but she was soon rocking her hips against his in a beat that her body seemed to know.

  He took her cries into his mouth as she got closer and closer to cumming. When her orgasm released the pent-up tension, she moaned into him, and her body clasped the cool column of his erection. He continued to undulate, and her aftershocks continued in waves that gradually halted when he rocked in deep and shuddered against her. She caught his groan in return.

  His hips flexed against her in short jerks, and she locked her fingers with his above her head. When he lowered his body to hers, he broke the kiss and buried his face against her neck.

  She let him stay there because she was functionally pinned beneath a giant. This guy was not baking cookies in a tree. This was a serious elf.

  Chapter Three

  He released her hands and leaned up on his elbows. He looked like he was blushing. “I apologize for my quickness.”

  She blinked. “It wasn’t quick; it was just right. I am sorry that my body is so much warmer than yours.”

  Voronwe smiled. “I love that. It is like slipping into a hot bath that holds you tight.”

  She shifted her hips, and he began to thicken up inside her again.

  He grinned. “Very tight.”

  She blushed and could feel every inch of him due to the slight difference in their temperatures. He rocked inside her again, and she moaned, arching against him.

  She leaned up to kiss him, and he met her halfway. He rolled his hips, and she rocked hers, and soon, her legs were around his hips, and she was gripping his arms for stability. Their lips met and parted, he licked her neck, and she nipped his shoulder. When she came, he watched her, and when she was panting, he arched above her, holding himself in deep as he pulsed into her. His neck was strained, his shoulders tensed, and it was almost painful to watch.

  He groaned and lowered himself on top of her. She stroked his hair back from his face as if she had done it a thousand times. Elly smiled. He smiled back.

  She giggled.

  He looked at her suspiciously. “What are you laughing at?”

  She reached up to his forehead and ran her thumb along the icicles of metal. “You wear your crown in bed.”

  “It is a symbol of my season. It doesn’t come off.” He nuzzled her ear. “Spring wears bright leaves, summer wears crimson flowers, autumn wears acorns.”

  “And they are stuck there?”

  “Certainly. Until there is an heir to take them on, we are all the last of our lines. No heirs.” He smiled.

  She let go of him and covered her mouth as she yawned. “It has nothing to do with you.”

  He laughed and rolled to the side, tucking her against him. He withdrew, and she sighed in disappointment as he left her. The cool of his temperature made up for the heat from the friction. When he pulled out, she felt something was known but unfamiliar. “Um, I need to clean up. Where do I do that again?”

  He frowned. “Is it too cold?”

  She blinked. “Oh, no. It has just all started to emerge, and it is very disconcerting. I would just like to clean up now.” She blushed. “I don’t want to stick to the bedding.”

  He nodded. “I understand. Come with me.”

  He flipped the covers back and got out of bed on his side. She rolled over to her side and managed to get out of bed before the cum started to leak down her inner thigh. By the time she got to his side, a thin trail had reached her knee.

  Voronwe looked at her, and he blinked. “Right. This way, lady.”

  He led her to a wall that looked like it was made of ice, and behind it were familiar-enough fixtures that she was able to wash up and relieve herself. The water was tepid and not warm, but that didn’t bother her. She managed to clean up and stop the trickle down her thighs. That was very odd. Condoms were ubiquitous. She had never had sex without one. She tried to count back, but her mind was fuzzy on the details. Her period was never regular and usually a non-event. She was probably fine.

  He was waiting outside, and she was brought up short. “I am sorry. Did I take too long?”

  He grasped her waist and lifted her high. She wrapped her legs around him, and he grinned. “That’s better.”

  He kissed her, and the kiss made her toes curl. He still tasted like mint. His erection had made a reoccurrence and was pressing against her again.

  Against his mouth, she yawned hugely, and he paused and laughed. “I had forgotten how easily fatigued you mortals are in bed.”

  She leaned back. “I think it has more to do with the six-hour hike through snow in those heels.”

  “Six hours?”

  “The light was bright when I arrived and dimming when you found me. How long is that?”

  He was stunned. “About six hours.”

  He paused. “You walked through the snow for six hours to find me.”

  “I was told that to get home, I had to find the winter king. Will you send me home?”

  He went rigid with shock. “We will discuss it in the morning.”

  She was confused when he br
ought her back to tuck her in. “Why not just send me home now?”

  He growled. “I don’t want to.” He curled in at her back and held her tight. “Now tell me exactly what you remember from today.”

  She told him about the gingerbread house with no heat. The extreme cold, the green wrap, the walk, the falling and slipping. The hills, the frozen waterfalls. Trees shaped like people dancing, and finally, the wolf, and then his horse’s hooves. “You were there for the rest of it.”

  He had relaxed somewhat, but there was a tension in him. “You walked for a day and a half.”

  “I did what now?”

  “In the time of Underhill, you walked for a day and a half. That is how long it takes to cover that terrain.”

  She nodded. “Great. What does that mean?”

  “Well, Elly, it means that I only have one more day with you, and you will return to your realm.”

  She turned and stared at him over her shoulder. “What, like automatically?”

  “Correct. If I don’t send you home, you will return there on your own, seconds from when you first departed.”

  She saw the sadness on his face. “Why are you upset? Mortals are fleeting; you have said it a few times. It is better to have a short time together here, and then, I go my way, and you go yours, right?”

  He grumbled. “I thought it sounded like a fine idea, but now that I will know you are out there, it is less so.”

  She stroked his arm soothingly. “Ask me a question about the modern world.”

  Voronwe grumbled. “What is your family guild?”

  “We don’t do that anymore. My father is retired a few provinces away; my mother is remarried and busy with her second family. My family is scattered across the continent in different jobs, and I am in my tiny piece of the world, working for a publisher and acting as the receptionist for the company. I talk to people on the phone, meet with authors and editors, help to smooth over ruffled feelings when the artwork doesn’t match, and generally, I get in the way for a living.”

  He asked her a few more questions, but she murmured answers as she dozed off. The bed was warm, and he was cool. It was her ideal sleeping situation.