Looking up, her heart nearly flew out of her chest.
Blocking a good portion of the hallway stood Connor, smiling her favorite private smile with those unique hazel eyes saying ‘I’m home.’ His sandy blonde hair was still wet from a recent shower and brushed back. His body looked slightly larger than before, if that’s even feasible. Is her mind playing tricks again? He still favored those dark clothes while wearing his accessory Tool on his hip. Both of his hands were behind his back.
“Connor?” she asked weakly, unsure if it was a figment of her imagination.
“Hello Princess, I missed you.” That was all she needed, just to hear his deep masculine voice.
Practically running out of the seat, Sarah leaped up and threw her arms around his neck in a desperate need to know if he was real. Her feet dangled inches above the ground as one of his arms held her in place. She said “I missed you so much.” Looking at his handsome face Sarah leaned in and kissed him. “Yes. It really is you Connor. I love you.” After he sat her on her feet again she stepped back to look up at his handsome features. His presence was as commanding as ever, but he seemed calm. “What has been more important than spending time with me?”
“Getting excited are we?” He smiled wider, making her melt.
“She’s been driving us crazy while you’ve been away. Her thoughts get too loud at times. And I too want to know what you’ve been cooking up myself.” Jillian announced from the sofa. She had her arms crossed playfully under her breasts.
Jack walked into the living room, probably from hearing the excitement and instantly saw Connor. He smiled saying “How is it?”
Connor replied in the same tone “Perfect!” her father nodded in understanding. Before she could say anything…
“You know what he’s been up to!?” Jillian looked perturbed about being left out of the loop. Especially knowing that Jack knew something she didn’t.
“Yes Father, How. Long. Have. You. Known?” Sarah sounded a little steely herself. Both mother and daughter were teaming up against him.
“A few weeks.” Connor said, standing behind everyone. “He caught me in the act and I asked him not to tell either of you.” He sounded sorry while looking pleadingly at Sarah, but she was kidding around. He looked at her father again. “Tomorrow, I will bring everyone to see it.” He then looked at her mother. “Jillian, please don’t bug him, I want you to be just as surprised as well.”
Jillian nodded in both respect and in annoyance to the restriction he placed. Her facial expression changed to questioning and curious as she leaned over to her side. “Connor, what do you have behind your back?”
Sarah turned to look at her Connor. “I almost forgot.” He pulled a wooden box from around his back “Princess, I made this for you.” He then handed the box into her opened hands.
“What is it?” He only smiled and waited. As she opened the box with reverence Sarah spotted a circular piece of metal. It looked like silver with black crosses weaving around the ring. It was beautiful. She lifted it up out of the box to feel its weight. “It is heavy is this solid silver…and these marks they look like…” “Connor, are these marks like the ones on your chest?” She touched his covered chest, where the branded mark laid underneath. “It’s beautiful, you made this for me?”
“Yes I did. I wanted to have a little part of you with me, as I would like for you to carry a symbol of me.” Connor lifted his left sleeve up his arm to reveal an armlet fitted perfectly to his massive arm. Touching it after she sat down the box and still holding the ring he said “I made that anklet for you with my personal secret and I made this with your mark.” Upon closer inspection Sarah recognized the circled star and the symbols etched inside.
“A pentagram, how does a pentagram remind you of me?” “How could it be a reminder? And how could he even know…”
“Jillian said Balancers can control the elements and I did some research. I realized that there are five basic elements; Fire, Liquid, Terra, Pressure and Metal. This pentagram is a representation of the delicate balance of the five elements. Since I’m in love with a Balancer, I thought it fitting to wear a symbol of your power, Princess.” Her jaw kept slacking into an O.
Jack actually laughed, forcing everyone to look at him. “Connor my boy, I can’t believe how you keep surprising this family.” He still chuckled oddly.
“What do you mean by that?” he spoke in a guarded voice.
Jillian answered in her mate’s place by cutting him off with a sharp stare. “Connor, that is the crest of the Balancers. The pentagram is our banner, but those symbols aren’t. How did you come to understand it? That is a serious breach in our laws if you can compare the five to the elements.”
“My instincts just told me that it felt right.” Connor said calmly. Jillian and Jack exchanged a quick smile and pointed glance before he said “It doesn’t really matter.” Connor turned to look at his love. “Sarah, before we go, will you sit down for a moment please?”
As she sat down she asked “Where are we going to go?” He snatched the ring out of her hand and kneeled down in front of her. Lucky she was wearing shorts and not a skirt because he lifted her leg straight and slipped the ring over her foot and it rested comfortably on the ankle. “A perfect fit. How did you know the size of my ankle…Wait before you left you grabbed my ankle to measure it, right?” He smiled in conformation. Not only did the anklet fit perfectly, it was perfect because her fiancé made it. She recognized his hand from his wooden works. Sarah spun her ankle in the air letting the light reflect off of the jewelry’s perfect shine.
Connor stood and held out his hand “Now it’s time for you to see your real surprise. Bring a change of clothes with you ok.” Sarah looked doubtfully at him, but she walked to her bedroom, leaving him in the quiet living room with her parents. As she walked back into the room with a small bag of clothes, Connor looked at her parents. “We will be away all night. I will come and get you tomorrow around noon and show you what I have been up to.” They nodded and Connor took her hand, entwining his fingers. It was like he never left. As they exited the front door she said “I missed holding your hand.”
Connor stopped, spun to look at her and then bent down to steal a kiss. “I missed kissing you far more, Princess.” She became breathless and felt her pulse racing in her ear. “I too missed your mind melting kisses as well.”
As he led her towards the woods Sarah finally asked “Where on Earth are you taking me?” He didn’t say a word.
For the next fifteen minutes they cut through the woods as the light from the sun started to fade. Sarah smelled something wonderful, floral and delicate. A rare treat after smelling the usual scent of woods. He stopped her before she stepped any further and put his hands around her eyes.
He stood behind her and made it impossible to see beyond the blinds, created his largely cupped hands. “Princess, this is your real surprise. Keep walking and I’ll safely guide you.” As he led her forward a few steps she found that she was stepping on a lot of soft grass. A trickling stream of flowing water filled her hearing while songbirds filled the air with their music, letting all know it was getting time to sleep. And her sense of smell became overwhelmed in a very pleasant way. Elegant and fragrant flowers assaulted the sense in a pleasing way.
“This is your real present! Welcome to our new home, Princess.” He took his hands away to reveal the surprise.
As Sarah opened her eyes, she dropped her bag of clothes and gasped.
In front of her laid a beautiful clearing with a crystal clear stream off to the western edge of the property. A cottage stood nearly in the center of the space, it was well built with a spinning water wheel. Surrounding the house were many flowers that included lilies, honeysuckle, roses, jasmine and several other beautiful smells that she couldn’t quite place at the moment. Even a brick chimney stuck out from the roof in an aesthetically pleasing way.
Breathless, Sarah slowly turned to look a Connor as he watched her intently. “Our H
ome?” She said again, making sure she heard him right.
“Yes, our home. I built this for us by myself. This was what I was planning and took the month to build. Do you like it, Princess?”
Sarah began saying under her breathless breath “Our home… Our home… he built a home to live with me…” She finally looked back up at him as he revealed only hopeful eyes. “Of course I love Our Home! I love you, Connor. More than you realize.” And she jumped up, entwining her fingers in his hair and kissed him longer than they’ve ever kissed thus far.
“It’s getting dark. Would you like to see the inside?” She nodded enthusiastically and picked up her bag before entering her new home with, Connor.
At the entryway, she looked up at the eve and saw a plank of wood nailed to it with the carving of an ancient weight scale. One shaped with a beam that is supported freely in the center and has two pans of equal weight suspended from its ends. “That’s subtle even for a Balancer.” She said, being a little sarcastic.
Connor followed her eyes to the eve. “I thought you would get a kick out of it.” She simply shook her head while looking down.
Suddenly she felt weightless and Sarah looked up to see that Connor scooped her up into his powerful arms. Her bag fell into the center of her stomach as her arms instinctively encircled around Connor’s neck. “What’s going on, Connor?” she began to feel scared.
“As your man, isn’t it customary to cross the threshold with you in my arms?” Her mind said you’re taking things too far, but her body had other ideas and held him closer. Taking that as a ‘Yes’ Connor walked her inside the new home. He sat her down in the old style kitchen with a few new modern conveniences. As she stood and walked to the refrigerator Connor turned on the lights.
“Connor, how do we have electricity all the way out here?”
“The water wheel powers the lights, hot and cold water and the refrigerator. It is a closed system so we have just enough power to do all of this.” He spread his arms showing the entire room. “Oh, and we’re able to power a few small electronics.”
The kitchen was fully stocked. “Did you also make this furniture?”
“Yes I did. Just wait until you see the bed!”
Sarah’s face instantly flared. “B…e…d?” she stuttered “But…”
He smiled “Don’t worry we still have one week of school before we can go that far, remember?” She nodded, still afraid of how her voice might sound. Connor walked up and encircling his arms around her. “I love you, Sarah.” He kissed her gently and her eyes started to mist. He leaned back and looked at her when he sensed the change. “What’s wrong?”
Putting her faced on his chest she said “Nothing’s wrong. I just have never felt so happy and I don’t know how to articulate it clearly. This is all so overwhelming right now.”
“You don’t need to explain. I understand, really. Now look at me.”
Pulling away she saw that her tears had soaked his shirt. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to.” He looked down at his shirt and laughed.
“It’s not a problem, Princess.” “Since you are doing so much to make me feel better…” She grabbed Tool from his belt and sat it on the kitchen table that she knew he made by hand as well. Sarah grabbed the bottom of his shirt and tried to pull it up, but his large hands stopped her half way. “What are you doing?”
“I’m taking off your shirt. What else?” She was feeling rash and confident.
“Doesn’t my scar disgust you at all?” He sounded skittish.
“Not in the slightest. In fact I think it makes you look even sexier. You’re built like my own personal Greek God and your X on your chest makes you look manlier.” Telling him bluntly made him go limp. Using this opportunity to her advantage Sarah barely managed to pull it off the top of his head and sat it on the table. “I was right. You do look bigger, probably from building this house for us.”
“You… You like my scar?” He sounded like he never heard anything like that before. From the look on his face she knew that was the case.
“Of course I do. So does Mark and everyone else apparently, but I haven’t asked Kara or Jenny yet. It is a part of who you are and I love all of you.” Sarah stepped up to him and kissed the center of his scar and wrapped her arms around him. Looking up into his calm hazel eyes she said “I don’t want you to ever wear those sleeves again because I want everyone to know the real you, My Knight. I want you to wear t-shirts that shows off your arms.” Snuggling even closer she pressed her cheek over his chest to feel its comforting effects. “I would also like for you to show off that beautifully crafted armlet you made. We won’t tell anyone that the symbols are a reference to me, but I will know. Can you do this for me?”
“Do you really mean that?” She stood on her toes to show him that she meant every word. After they regained their senses from another kiss Sarah heard him say “If I do this for you I need something in return?”
“What do you have in mind?”
“Could you tell me more about Balancers? I would like to hear it all from you.” He still held her in an embrace in the kitchen.
“I can handle that my fiancé.” He kissed the top of her head this time.
“Take a look around your new home first.” And she did. The bathing room was just the perfect size for two people. There were two empty rooms that held a chair and table in each which she guessed would be sorted out later. The living room had a three person sofa and a coffee table sat between the sofa and the brick fireplace which was built into the wall. One room held a water heater and a washer and drier in one. And in the same room were many car batteries and several mechanical and technical gadgets. Sarah entered the final room in the back of the house and took in a sharp breath.
This room was by far the largest in the cottage. Connor turned on a ceiling fan and light, but the fan looked a little odd. On each of the tips of the fan blades were a small black rod no longer than two inches, and surrounding the fan blades, in a ring, was a metal strip with a wire coiling into the ceiling. “Connor, what is that?” He looked up to the fan and explained. “That is an electric return. As the fan spins, those magnetic rods send electricity back into the batteries to constantly keep the batteries charged. Perpetual energy exchange. The magnetic movement excites the metal, creating nearly as much electricity as it takes to spin the blades. It is easy to do if you know how. I tried to make our home as energy efficient as possible.”
The bedroom had two empty closets and two dressers and between the dressers hung a full sized mirror. In the center of the room laid a beautiful four posted King Size bed with brown silk sheets. Sarah gently sat down and rubbed her hand over its surface which felt so smooth to the touch. She looked up to see Connor’s shirtless form, smiling her smile at the entrance to the room. “Connor, I love your gift. It was worth the wait. It’s perfect for us.”
He finally stepped away from the doorway and sat beside her. He was looking in her eyes passionately. “I’m glad you love it, that’s why I didn’t want to spoil your surprise.”
Connor slid into the bed and propped his back against the head board. He patted next to his side and she obliged willingly, sitting next to him thigh to thigh. His arm wrapped around her back and she laid her head back on his shoulder. They sat together for awhile not saying a word and just being content holding each other. She even missed his smell that is his and his alone.
***
Later in the night, with the fan and light still on, they were both still in the same position as Connor asked calmly “Please tell me more about Balancers.”
Those emerald eyes looked up from his shoulder and her thick, silky hair cascaded down her back, his arm and the front of her chest. She remained more beautiful than he imagined each day they were separated. “What would you like to know?” She spoke in the soft velvety voice that made his heart race.
“I remember that Jillian said that Balancers are mostly the same as humans. That made me think, what are some of the differences betwee
n our two races?” She smiled softly at the question.
“Your right, let’s see…” She sat up from her laying position, crawled all the way onto the bed and crossed her legs together so she could explain things comfortably. She tossed her hair behind her shoulder and somehow became a more stunning sight to behold. “Let’s start out with our brains being more active. You’ve seen images from an MRI or CAT scan before, yes? With all the blue, orange and reds?” He nodded. “Well you know how it shows red and brighter colors to explain where parts are more active. In a Balancer’s scan our minds are pretty much completely red all around. That being said we have the innate capacity to learn faster, retain more knowledge, think and react much more quickly. Our minds are much more evolved than other humans.
“We need to consume more food than any ordinary person for our abilities to work properly. Our bodies use almost everything we eat and turn it into energy and we have very little waste in the end. Normally a Balancer’s power is full when he or she consumes about five hundred to six hundred thousand calories. And another fun fact…” She had a small smile on her lips. “We can go without food for a month if we had to, if our stored energy is sufficient.
“Another difference besides manipulating the elements is our gestation period. A normal human child is conceived and born within nine or ten months. The gestation period for our children on the other hand is about seventeen to eighteen months. Female Balancers grow slower within the womb and age about as slowly after birth. A normal human woman reaches sexual maturity in sixteen to eighteen years of age, but the average Balancer reaches her sexual maturity at around thirty. Physically my age is around eighteen or nineteen, even though I’m just over three hundred.” She let out a small and short laugh. “When we reach our matured age, our bodies stop developing and we never age again.
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