by Julia Crane
Keegan gave him a look of adoration. “It’s perfect. Go get yours so we can eat.”
They ate in silence, neither wanting to talk about the fact that they would be saying goodbye soon. Keegan felt anxious anytime she thought about him leaving her. Please let it not be as bad as I think it will, she thought.
After they ate, Keegan said, “I’m going to jump in the shower, then we can go shopping for your laptop.”
Rourk grabbed her hand and pulled her towards him. “I’ll be right here when you get back.” His kiss sent fire through her body.
She smiled, then turned on her heel and ran up the stairs. Her cell phone was laying on her desk. She grabbed it and sent Anna a text. Thank you!
You’re welcome. Everything is good?
Perfect other than we have to be separated tomorrow.
Yeah, that sucks.
Guess who is moving to Washington next semester.
NO WAY! We should be roommates.
That would be crazy!
Ok I have to jump in the shower. I’ll talk to you once I get back in Alaska.
Bye.
Keegan held the phone tight to her chest with a huge grin across her face. She jumped in the shower and got dressed in record time. I’m glad I left so many of my clothes here instead of taking them all to Alaska, she thought as she shimmied into a pair of faded jeans. She pulled on a pale blue sweater, and then quickly applied some mascara and blush. One last look in the mirror, and she ran back downstairs to Rourk.
He was sitting on the couch with her father. He jumped to his feet when she appeared. “You look great.”
Keegan felt her cheeks flush. “Thank you. Are you ready to get out of here? Do you want to go to your house and get changed?”
Rourk looked down at his day-old clothing and shrugged. “I guess I should.”
Keegan looked over at her father. “Tell mom, we are going out and we’ll be back later tonight. I doubt we’ll be home for dinner. We have a date tonight.” Keegan wrapped her arms around Rourk’s waist and squeezed him tightly.
“Have fun.” Her father turned back towards the TV.
Keegan grabbed a coat from the closet. “We’ll drive to Nashville to get the computer. The stores are better, and they have better restaurants.”
“Whatever you want is fine with me.”
When they walked into Rourk’s house, Keegan was surprised how comfortable and homey it felt. “Have I been here before?”
“Yes, when you picked me up to go away for the weekend. To the cabin. I’ll be right back.”
Keegan was amazed at how quickly Rourk showered and changed. Must be nice to be a guy, she thought. They don’t have to worry about make-up or what to wear. He was even sexier than normal fresh out of the shower, with his hair still damp and his shirt sticking to his chest. She couldn’t keep her eyes off of him.
Rourk ran his hand through his hair subconsciously. “Is something wrong?”
Keegan waved a hand in front of her face. The room felt hot. “No, I just can’t believe you’re mine.”
Rourk laughed. “I can’t believe you feel that way.” Rourk strode toward her and wrapped his arms around her. He pulled her tightly against him and bent down to inhale the scent of her hair. She had a woodsy sent about her that he found very sexy.
“We better get going. We have a long day of shopping ahead of us.” Keegan grinned, squeezing him tight around the waist.
“Then we should go.” With a smile, Rourk took her hand and lead her out the door.
They merged onto the highway and passed beneath a large green sign for Nashville. Keegan was glad to see traffic wasn’t bad at all, so it would be a quick drive. She loved going shopping.
“What kind of music do you like to listen to?” Keegan asked as she changed the stations.
Rourk shrugged. “I don’t really have a favorite. Whatever you like is fine. I don’t normally listen to music.”
Keegan was aghast. “We are really going to have to lighten you up. Ok, well, what do you like to do with your free time?”
Rourk chuckled, then said, “I enjoy hiking, reading, running, shooting, training. You now the usual things.”
Keegan crinkled her nose. “You sound like my brother. He’s so boring.”
Rourk laughed loudly. “I’m sure I’ll have more excitement in my life now that you are part of it.”
Keegan grabbed his hand and lightly traced her finger in circles on his skin. “I sure hope so.”
They talked during the hour drive. Though, looking back, Keegan realized she did most of the talking., which seemed to be fine by Rourk.
When they got to the mall and found a parking spot, Keegan hopped out of the truck and said, “Ok. We have to go to the Apple store. My father will never let me live it down if you don’t get a Mac.”
“I’m clueless about computers,” Rourk said honestly. “You can pick it out and I’ll pay for it. I trust your advice.”
“Sounds good to me.” Keegan hurried forward, excited to get to the mall. She realized Rourk wasn’t beside her, and twirled around. He was lagging behind, with his hands shoved in his pockets.
“Hurry up, slowpoke!” Keegan called, laughing.
Rourk shook his head, amused, and lengthen his stride to catch up with her.
For hours, Keegan dragged him into countless stores. Rourk spent at least a month of his military pay. He didn’t mind at all.
Chapter 6
Today was their last day together at least for a few days.
Keegan’s felt sick to her stomach at the thought of leaving him. It didn’t seem fair; they had just found each other.
As if he could read her mind, Rourk reached over and ran his hand through her hair. “It will only be a few days. I’ll be coming to see you Friday night and we’ll have all weekend together.”
Keegan pouted. “That’s so far away.”
Rourk laughed. “It’s not that far away. It’s nothing compared to the year we spent apart.”
Keegan’s face fell and guilt flooded her. “I feel horrible that you were miserable for a year while I was out having fun with my friends.”
“There is nothing to feel sorry for, Keegan. You didn’t know. We can’t change what the black magic did, we can only move forward.” He kissed her gently on the lips. “It’s the way of the elf. We weren’t supposed to meet until we turned eighteen, anyway.”
Keegan laid her head against him. “I guess you’re right. It still sucks though.”
Warrick ran into the room giggling and breaking their sorrowful silence. Keegan smiled and scooped him up. “You’re going with me tonight. You better not throw a fit on the plane.”
Her little brother stuck his tongue out.
Keegan laughed and put him back down. “Go play with your blocks or something.”
As Warrick ran away, headed for the toys, Rourk stared after him with a smile. “It must be pretty neat to have siblings,” he said.
Keegan heard the wistfulness in his voice. It had never occurred to her that Rourk was an only child and that it could be a lonely thing. To lighten the mood, she rolled her eyes. “That’s one way to put it. Although, I have to admit it would be odd to be an only child. You must have been lonely growing up.”
“I didn’t know any better. Being alone was normal to me.”
“Keegan, Rourk, come have some breakfast.” Her mother peeked out of the kitchen. There was a streak of flour on her cheek that made Keegan laugh.
They walked to the table hand-in-hand.
“Are you packed? We have to leave by 3:00.” Her mother stood at the stove, scooping the last remnants of scrambled eggs from the skillet. She looked at Keegan.
Keegan reached over and pushed some eggs on her plate. “No, but I’m only bringing my backpack so I don’t really have much to pack. It will just take a few minutes.”
“Do you mind if I drive you guys to the airport?” Rourk asked before taking a sip of his juice. “I’d like to spend as much time as poss
ible with Keegan.”
Emerald’ eyes twinkled as she glanced over at him. “That would be nice of you. I’m sure Keegan won’t object.”
Keegan felt her face turning red. “Are you sure you need to come with me mom?”
“It’s better to be safe than sorry. We’re not sure how the distance will affect you. I have to run to the store today and get a rose quartz necklace for you. I’m going to charge it with healing energies and hopefully that will ease some of the discomfort.”
Rourk finished chewing his toast, then said, “Having a healer in the family comes in handy.”
“Yeah, especially when Keegan was little. She was quite the daredevil. I lost count of how many times I had to fix her up after one of her stunts.” Her mother had a faraway look—a slight smile on her face as if she was visualizing a memory.
“I can picture that.” Rourk squeezed her hand across the table.
“Come on Mom, I wasn’t that bad.”
“Whatever, Keegan.” Emerald turned to lean against the counter and crossed her arms. “Then where did all the scars on your legs come from?”
Keegan looked down at her plate and shrugged. “Ok, maybe I was that bad.”
“Where did you get that scar?” Rourk touched a long gash on her shin. His finger made her shiver.
“We were at a camp in Maine, and I thought the water was deeper than it was when I jumped off the dock. Turned out it wasn’t very deep at all, and I landed on a huge rock.”
Thaddeus walked in as she was speaking. When she finished, he said, “A dare devil klutz—quite the combination.”
Keegan threw a biscuit at him, but Thaddeus just caught it and took a bite.
Rourk had stayed quiet during the exchange, watching them interact. “You guys have a great family. My house is always so quiet.”
“Well, get used to it. You’re part of the family now. Lucky you.” Thaddeus smirked.
Rourk looked over at Thad with a serious expression on his face. “Thanks to you. I will forever be in your debt for bringing back our bond.”
Thaddeus gave him an impish grin. “You might take that back after dealing with the drama queen for a while.”
Rourk grinned and shook his head. “Somehow I doubt that.” He paused, his eyes on Thaddeus’s. “Seriously, thank you.”
Thaddeus shrugged. “No problem.”
Emerald set her mug down on the table. “What are you guys going to do today?”
Keegan looked over at Rourk. “Not sure. I guess just hang out around the house. Maybe we’ll go for a hike. I also want to look online at the schools.” Keegan turned towards Rourk. “Speaking of online, we need to set up your computer and make sure you know how to use it for our chatting. Come on, let’s go to my room.”
Emerald raised an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything.
Rourk glanced around her room, taking it all in. He noticed a picture of Keegan with the shapeshifter on her nightstand. Keegan caught his gaze. “Sorry.” She leaned over and took the photo down.
Rourk took it from her hands and stared at. “You looked happy.”
Keegan shrugged. “He’s very funny, and we had been friends for years.”
“That’s what worries me. I’m not exactly fun, Keegan. I’m not known for my sense of humor. What if you grow bored of me?”
Keegan smiled and met his eyes. “I think you are the sexiest, most exciting man I have ever met. Just the thought of getting bored of you is laughable. You are an elfin warrior. How could you possibly be boring?”
Keegan loved the way his eyes crinkled when he smiled.
“I love you Rourk. I’ve never loved anyone else,” she said softly.
Rourk needed to hear her say that. “Every day for the rest of my life, I am going to try to show you how much you mean to me.”
Keegan walked over to where he was sitting on the edge of her bed. She bit her lip, reached over, and put her hand behind his head. Electricity shot through her when their lips met. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the sensations that rushed through her body. When they finally pulled apart. Keegan grinned. “Yeah, I don’t think you have anything to worry about. Definitely not boring.”
Rourk shook his head and laughed. “Let’s get this computer set up.”
Keegan pulled the new laptop out of the bag and plugged it into the wall.
It didn’t take too long to get the account set up, and Keegan showed him the basics of Skype. He didn’t even have an email account, so she set that up as well. Who didn’t have an email account these days? He did have a military account, but that didn’t really count since they couldn’t correspond that way.
“All done. We still have some time. What do you want to do?”
“We could go for a walk? We’ve been inside all day.”
“Sure, want to go to my favorite spot? I’ll bring my camera.”
“I’d love to. Although I have been there many times already.”
Keegan looked surprised. “Oh really?”
“Yes, when you used to think of me it would mentally beckon me. Many times I watched you taking photos or sitting on the rocks, thinking.”
Keegan gave him a funny look. “You know that’s pretty creepy.”
“I know.” His smile was chagrined. “I couldn’t help it. I tried, I really did. I just couldn’t stay away from you.”
“Anyone else I would call the cops on.” She held her hand out for him to grab. “However, since it’s my fault for always thinking about you, I guess it’s ok. I hope I didn’t do anything embarrassing.”
“Just make a few spills once in a while, which only made me crazier about you. You would always grin when you tripped.”
“I’ve actually gotten much better with my balance since I started training with Thaddeus and my mother.”
“Well, now you can train with me.”
“I can impress you with my ninja skills.” Keegan gave him a sly smile.
“Everything about you impresses me.”
“See, that’s why I love you so much.” Keegan led him out of the room and down the stairs.
“Do you think we should pack a lunch?”
Rourk involuntarily flinched and tensed up as he recalled the memory of Keegan eating lunch in the woods with the shapeshifter. He needed to push all of that behind him and just look forward. The was no sense holding onto all of the jealousy he felt. “Sure, lunch sounds great. Do you need some help?”
“I got it.” Keegan packed up their lunch and they went out for a couple of hours. Already the sadness was starting to set in at the thought of leaving Rourk so soon.
Keegan stopped to pick up a rock and Rourk continued on ahead. She tossed the rock back and forth between her hands as she watched him walk. His shoulders were so strong and broad… Grinning, she dropped the rock and ran up behind him and jumped on his back, latching on to him. Rourk laughed and spun her around.
Keegan kicked her legs. “Put me down.”
“Nope, I’m carrying you the rest of the way. You don’t weigh much more than a ruck-sack.”
Keegan laughed. “Ok, but don’t blame me when your back hurts.”
They reached the creek and Rourk let her down.
The woods stretched around them and the creek twisted before them. Some of the trees were already bare, but many were still crowned by red and orange that lit like fire in the sunshine.
They walked to the edge of the crystal clear water, their shoes crunching on dried leaves. Keegan looked around, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. “This is my favorite spot on earth.” She grasped Rourk’s hand, smiling. “Now I get to share it with you.”
“Thank you. That means a lot to me.”
“Do you have a favorite spot?” Keegan asked.
Rourk shrugged. “No, I just love being outdoors; it really doesn’t matter where it is. I don’t have a particular spot. Although, there is something about the Tennessee woods that makes me feel at home.”
“Do you want to move back here when you are ou
t of the Army?”
Rourk tilted his head and looked at her closely. “I figured we would move back here since your family is here. Is that what you want?”
Keegan thought about it for a minute. “Yes, I would like to come back here. As long as we can still travel.”
Rourk turned to face her, cupping her face in his warm hands. “I would love to see the world with you.”
Keegan just smiled, a flush covered her cheeks. She took the blanket from him and spread it over the ground, before pulling out the sandwiches and drinks.
“Sit down so we can eat.” She gestured for him to sit next to her.
Rourk complied. He popped open a can of soda and leaned back on his hand. “Keegan, I have not felt this at peace in a very long time. It’s almost too good to be true.”
“Don’t jinx us. This is wonderful, but I will be leaving in a couple of hours.” She stared at him intently, memorizing the expression on his face. “I don’t want to be away from you, Rourk.”
Rourk leaned forward “I know. Just remember—I will be thinking of you every minute and counting them down until I can visit you.”
They spent two hours relaxing by the creek and learning more about each other. Finally, it was time to pack up and head out to the airport.
Keegan felt a lump in her throat thinking about it.
Chapter 7
Keegan took a last look around her room, saddened to leave it again. It hadn’t been that long since graduation, really. Not very long since she’d moved to Alaska. But it felt like ages. She hurt to leave her room behind. So many things had changed…
“Come on, Keegan, we can’t miss the flight.” Her mother yelled from downstairs.
“I’m coming!” she yelled back, exasperated. She grabbed her bag from the bed and hurried back down the stairs.
Rourk took the bag from her hand and threw it over his shoulder. Keegan smiled as she stared after him—she loved how broad his back was. He turned slightly and reached his hand out for her. She grabbed it and squeezed, feeling the connection from his body to hers.
Keegan jumped in his truck and scooted into the middle so she could be as close to him as possible. Her mother and Warrick were settled in the backseat. Warrick was already screaming because he didn’t want to be buckled into the car seat.
