by ST Bende
“I had a great night,” I said honestly. Stupid closing time.
“I did too.” He looked into my eyes like he was searching for something. With a sigh, he started the too-short drive back to my flat. He walked me to my door, took my hands gently between both of his, and bent, kissing each hand in turn.
“Thank you Kristia, for the most enjoyable evening I have ever had.” My heart thudded with such fervor, I was sure it would give me away. His eyes looked almost wistful as he raised one finger to touch my cheek. I wanted to stand right there forever.
His hand lingered at my neck, and with a whispered “God natt,” he walked back to his car and drove off into the cool night. I shivered, pulled my arms around my chest, and let myself into the apartment. I had a feeling my life was about to change in a big way.
****
“Two dates in one weekend. You don’t waste time. Where did you say he’s taking you tonight?” It was Sunday afternoon, and Victoria was examining the contents of my armoire with a critical eye.
“The castle.”
“Lucky wench.,” Emma padded in and curled up on my bed. “Another date with Ull.”
“I thought the castle closed at six.”
“It does. But I guess there’s some dinner thing they do after?”
“The Welsh Banquet.,” Emma’s eyes were big. “That’s fancy. Step it up, Vic.”
“Which of these is your sexiest dress?” Victoria stared at her options, obviously dissatisfied.
“Um, the teal one. On the right with the dresses--” I started.
“Between the green dress and the black dress. You color coded your closet?” Emma snickered.
“This is your sexiest dress? This comes to your knees.” Victoria’s irritation was growing.
“I lived with my grandmother, okay?”
“It’s kind of low cut,” Emma offered helpfully. “Throw on a push up bra and those four –inch, nude patent heels of Victoria’s…”
“My thoughts exactly.” Victoria nodded. “Emma, I’m proud of you. You’ve been listening to me.”
“Like I had any choice.,” Emma stuck out her tongue.
“We’ll need major hair. I’m thinking Brigitte Bardot. And a cat eye.” Victoria’s mind was racing.
“Ooh, can we try that navy eyeliner I got last week?” Emma bounced to her knees.
“With the nude lipstick I picked up yesterday?” I pointed to the Clinique bag on my dresser. I may have gone out and bought all new makeup when Ull called to ask me out again. Seemed prudent.
“Yes and yes.” Victoria clapped her hands together. “Let’s get to work, ladies.”
****
“Are you sure you will be all right on the stairs?” Ull stood in the grand hall of Cardiff Castle, glancing at the four-inch, shiny death-traps Victoria called shoes. Since Ull’s eyes practically bugged out of his face when he picked me up, I had no intention of changing into the emergency flats I’d stuck in my purse. Victoria had scored another hit.
“Probably not. Walk behind me in case I fall?”
“It would be my pleasure.”
“On our right, the coats of arms,” continued the tour guide. He’d been talking for a good five minutes and I couldn’t remember a single word. That’s because Ull had started stroking the small of my back when our tour began, and it took all my concentration just to stay upright.
“It’s gorgeous,.” I admired the stonework as we made our way toward the stairs. There I shifted focus to my feet, staring at each step until I’d reached the top. “Made it.”
“And I was so hoping I would get to catch you.,” Ull came up next to me and took my hand.
“Well, the night is young and these shoes are high. You may still get your chance.”
“Tease.,” Ull kissed my palm.
“Um.,” I swayed on the heels and he chuckled.
“Come, Miss Tostenson. We are losing the group.”
“Right.”
We walked the long corridor framed with paintings. It was hard to believe all of the history in these walls. The castle was two thousand years old. The oldest thing we had back in Nehalem was probably the Homestead. Cardiff Castle had about eighteen hundred years on that farm.
“This place is huge,” I whispered when we’d caught up to the tour. “I can’t imagine living here. How could you ever get comfortable?”
“You get used to it,” Ull shrugged. “Find little corners to make your own.”
“How on earth could anyone get used to all of this?”
“When you are stuck in it every day it gets old. Trust me.”
“Right.” Like Ull was an authority on royal dwellings. “Living in a castle sounds sooo terrible.”
“Depends on the day.”
“What does that mean?”
“Just that these walls did more than keep people out -- they kept people in, too.”
I thought about my vision from Friday night -- of Ull and me in a meadow by a castle. Huh.
“Where did you say your family lived, exactly?” I probed.
But Ull bristled. I’d hit a nerve. “Come Kristia, we have lost our group again.” He took my hand and pulled me down the hall.
“You may have noticed the Animal Wall in front of the Castle. Though William Burges designed the Wall in 1866, it was not constructed until 1890 -- nine years after Burges’s death.” The guide lifted an eyebrow as we caught up. “Please do try to stay with the tour,” he admonished before turning down another corridor. The rest of the group followed closely.
“Sorry.,” I ducked my head.
Ull raised a corner of his mouth in a smile. “Why, Kristia, you are blushing.”
“And?” I lifted my chin, and took a step back so I stood against the wall.
“It is sweet.” Ull paused and lifted a finger to my cheek. My knees buckled and he grabbed my arm to steady me. My skin burst into flames at his touch. I lost my bearings again and Ull wrapped both hands around my waist to stop my fall.
“Sorry,” I mouthed. “Must be the shoes.” I couldn’t stop staring at his eyes. They almost looked nervous.
“Must be.” He ran his finger along my jaw, stopping to grasp my chin between his thumb and forefinger. His eyes focused on my mouth and my heartbeat accelerated. He ran his thumb lightly over my lips. They parted under his touch. A wave of heat shot from my lower lip straight to my abdomen. I watched as his eyes slowly moved down then back up, lingering at the neckline of my dress. Victoria had been right about the push-up bra.
“Must be,” I repeated.
Ull drew his eyes away from my cleavage and took a step closer. He leaned one forearm against the wall, leaving me enveloped between the cold stone and his warm chest. I was suddenly very dizzy.
“Kristia.” He spoke in a whisper.
“Yes?” I whispered back. Ull was looking at me with an intensity I wasn’t prepared for. He stepped in, closing the last inch between us.
“Kristia.,” Hhe spoke again, lifting my chin so my lips were tilted towards his. If his body hadn’t been pressed against mine, I would have collapsed in a heap that instant. Instead, I took a shaky breath as Ull dropped his head. He ran his nose along my jaw line, pausing when he reached my ear. He breathed in, the cool air sending a shiver down my neck. With painstaking slowness he drew his nose across my cheek until our lips were almost touching. Now when I looked into his eyes I saw something entirely different. He was strong. Confident. And very much in control.
I let out a small sigh and immediately he covered my mouth with his. It wasn’t a gentle kiss -- it was commanding, almost forceful. I melted against him as he claimed my lips, moved down my jaw to consume my neck. My abdomen churned. In that moment I would have done absolutely anything he asked me to.
“Kristia,” he whispered again.
“Mmm.” It was the best I could muster by way of response.
“I think we need to stop.”
In God’s name, why?
“Will you be joining the r
est of my tour or shall I leave the two of you here?” The guide stood at the end of the corridor, literally tapping his foot. Oops.
Ull placed his hands around my waist to right me. I smoothed my hair and straightened my dress, my cheeks burning the whole time.
“Great timing,” I muttered. Just when things were getting good.
“Do not worry Kristia.,” Ull winked. “We have all the time in the world.”
I sure hoped so.
****
“Kristia, oh my sweet Kristia.” Great, the keening voice was back. I was shaken from a very pleasant dream, none too willingly, I might add. Thanks to my flat’s flimsy curtains, I could see the Elf Man clearly this time. I immediately longed for the cover of darkness. Creepy Elf was sitting in a chair next to my bed, gently stroking my hair. I sat up, incensed, gathered my blankets and held them up to my chin.
“Get your hands off of me! Who let you in here, anyway?” I demanded, feeling a pittance of the pluck I was trying to put off. I ducked as his hand reached out again. “For crying out loud, stop touching me!”
“Let me in? Oh, poor human. I can go anywhere I please. Nobody lets me in.” He hissed through a row of perfect, white teeth. I’d never met anyone who could be both sinister and sexy at the same time. It was disorienting.
“Why are you here?”
“To gloat.”
“Excuse me?”
“You no longer threaten me. He will leave. You are not what I feared.” His smile stretched from ear to ear.
“What are you talking about?” I inched farther from him on the bed, trying to get some distance. At the same time, I wanted to reach out for him. I wasn’t usually this indecisive.
“Nothing of consequence, sweet Kristia,” he seethed. He snapped his fingers and I found myself laying down again, staring up at his glowing face. “But if he comes for you again, if you try to join our world, you will join me instead.”
“If who comes for me again? What are you even talking about?” My words fell on deaf, pointy ears. With another snap of his fingers, he was gone. I looked wildly around the room, but there was no trace of Elf Man. This time I was only half sure it hadn’t been real.
I tried desperately to go back to my happy place, to the enjoyable dream I’d been having before I was interrupted. I failed. And I didn’t get much sleep that night, either.
****
“Oh my gosh! Tell me! What exactly happened at dinner? Don’t leave anything out!” It was Monday afternoon and my Archaeology study group had just gotten out. Since I’d gotten home too late to debrief the night before, I stopped by Emma’s class with a vanilla latte. Though judging by her pitch, a double shot was the last thing she needed.
“Shh.,” I sipped my Earl Grey. “What if he hears you?”
“Ull’s not in Statistics,” Emma sighed. “The only guys we get in there are --”
“Hi Henry,” I interrupted loudly. “How was class?”
“Good, good.” Henry smiled at Emma as he walked up the path. “What do you think Emma, should we hold study group tomorrow afternoon or tomorrow evening?”
“Evening,” Emma voted. “I’ve got heaps of problems to work through before I could even begin to analyze today’s notes.”
“Excellent. I’ll send the e-mail. See you then.”
“See you.,” Emma waved cheerfully and turned back to me. “So. After dinner. You. Ull. Did you go back to his place?”
“Emma! No! It was our second date!”
“Victoria would have closed the deal in one.”
“She would do no such thing,” I argued.
“For a guy like Ull? Are you kidding? Anyone would. What’s wrong with you?”
“Nothing,” I sighed. “Okay, something I guess.” A lot of somethings. What was wrong with me?
“So, what happened?”
“We ate dinner. That hall is amazing by the way. All wood- paneled and hand- painted and everything.”
“Serious?” Emma took another drink of her latte. “I’ve never been in it. It’s not part of the regular tour. It’s just for banquets and events.”
“Oh.”
“Enough about the room. Did he kiss you?”
“Yes.” Thinking about it made me dizzy all over again.
“And?” Emma bounced on her toes.
“It was amazing. Everything you’d think a kiss from Ull Myhr would feel like. I literally forgot where I was. And then the tour guide came back all annoyed and Ull said something like ‘we have all the time in the world’ and--”
“Oh my gosh!”
“I know, right? So after dinner, I figured we’d pick up from there and… we did. Sort of.”
“What do you mean ‘sort of’?”
“We drove out to this other castle that was built for one of the Marquesses that lived at the first castle.”
“Castell Coch,” Emma sighed. “So pretty.”
“It really is.”
“But it closes super early. How’d you get in there?”
“We didn’t go in, we just parked on the road and walked into the park.”
“But the guards?”
“I wondered the same thing,” I shrugged. “But you’ve met Ull. He’s not used to taking no for an answer. Plus the guard was a girl, so that helped.”
“Okay, so your date flirted his way into the Castell Coch grounds after hours. What did you do?” Emma tugged at my arm.
“We… well…” I blushed.
“Yes?,” she grinned.
“We totally kissed again. It was fantastic. He backed me up against this tree and he just…” What should I say? That he’d grabbed me by the hair and pulled my head back so he could ravage my neck? That I’d had an uncharacteristic moment of indiscretion and let his mouth wander just south of my collar bone for a couple of seconds? That I had beenwas strongly considering asking him to move an inch lower when another guard found us and made us leave?
“And he just what?” Emma was beside herself.
“And he just… kissed me. I can’t describe it.” I couldn’t. Not without turning five shades of red.
“Oh, Kristia,” Emma sighed.
“I know. But another guard told us we had to leave, so we got in Ull’s car. And he was really sweet and held my hand on the drive home and walked me to the door and everything. But then he just kissed me on the cheek and said good night and that was it. He didn’t try to come in. I didn’t ask him to.” I wasn’t a total slut.
“Well.,” Emma chewed her lip. “Maybe he had an early morning. Or maybe he’s a gentleman and he didn’t want to steal your virtue.”
“He didn’t have to steal my virtue.,” I blushed. “But another couple of kisses would have been okay.”
“I’m sure that’s coming. When are you going to see him again?”
“I don’t know.,” I shook my head. “He didn’t ask me out again.”
“He will.” Emma finished her drink and tossed it in the trash.
“I hope so.” I heard a muffled ringing and dug around in my backpack until I found my phone. I checked the screen. “It’s him!”
“You still have a flip phone? Good Lord Kristia, join the twenty -first century.” Emma shook her head.
“Hello?” I stuck out my tongue at my iPhone- toting flatmate and answered Ull’s call.
“Hei hei Kristia.”
“Hi Ull,” I breathed. Emma did a poor job of hiding her laughter.
“I like your sweater. That color looks nice with your hair.”
I spun around and saw him across the quad. He sat on a bench, his ankle resting on a knee and arms spread out behind him. The epitome of relaxed. A slow smile spread across his face as he stood and pushed a button to end the call. As he walked towards me, my insides turned soft.
“I cannot believe you got to kiss that.,” Emma followed my stare.
“Shh.,” I elbowed her in the side. “He might hear you!”
“So?” She rubbed her ribs.
“Kristia.,” Ull pu
lled me into a hug once he’d crossed the quad. “What a nice surprise.”
“Hi.,” I tried not to throw myself at him in a desperate attempt to relive the best moment of my life. All the time in the world, all the time in the world. “Ull, this is my roommate Emma.”
“We had a class together last year. You probably don’t remember me--” Emma babbled.
“Emma. How nice to see you again. You study math, correct?”
“Yes. Yes, I do.” Emma flipped her hair and stared adoringly. At least I wasn’t the only one who forgot their sense around Ull.
“Emma, may I steal your flatmate for a few minutes?”
“Of course.,” she giggled again. “See you at home, K.”
“See you.,” I waved. I turned to Ull. “Fancy seeing you here.”
“My class just let out.,” Ull jutted his chin towards the humanities building. “But I did not think you had classes on Mondays.”
“I don’t. Archaeology study group.”
“How was that?”
“Fun. I’ve never taken anything like it, so some of the material is a little over my head. But I’m enjoying it. Professor Copp is a great teacher.”
“I’ve heard good things about her. I think Gunnar took one of her classes.”
“Gunnar?” I sipped my tea. Great name.
“My best friend.”
“Ah. How’d you guys meet?” I wanted to know everything about Ull.
“We met in primary school. My mom had just married Thor and I was the new kid. Gunnar was the first to be nice to me.”
“Your stepdad’s named Thor? Like God of Thunder Thor? Who names their kid that?” I shook my head.
“Uh, right.” Ull became very interested in his shoe. “Crazy parents, you know.”
Immediately I felt dumb. Thor had nothing on Ull in the tough name department. “Sorry, I wasn’t thinking. That’s probably a really popular name where you’re from.”
“Yes, very popular,” Ull spoke quickly. “There are lots of men named Thor, does not mean they have any relation to the Thor. They are just normal men. Not gods at all.”
