by E. A. Weston
“Are you okay?” Killian asks, taking my hand in his. He rubs his thumb along the inside of my wrist.
“Yeah, I’m good. I was zoning out.” That’s all I seem to be doing lately: zoning out. Maybe I should get out of this place for a while. Go camping or something. Take in some fresh air and nature. I snort at myself and Killian looks at me from the corner of his eye. Once back at his place, I sit on the edge of the sofa while he watches TV. There's about two feet of space between us and I feel as awkward as a newborn fawn.
“Okay, I think I will shower if you don’t mind.”
“Not at all, please.” He holds his hand out for me to take.
He leads me to the bathroom and takes out some towels from a small vanity, then he leaves me alone, closing the door behind himself. I quickly change while the water is running and climb inside. The luxury of having a hot shower is not lost on me. I take my time, washing my hair about five times with his shampoo and then I lather up my body twice. By the time I get out, my fingertips are all wrinkly. Looking around, I notice that in my haste, I never brought my bag in with me. Opening the door, I peek out, checking up and down the hall.
It’s all clear so I dash across to Killian’s room, bursting through the door with my towel-clad body. I have one hand holding the towel on my head and the other closing the door behind me. I breathe a sigh of relief.
It’s then I hear Killian clearing his throat.
Turning slowly, I am conscious of the fact that his towels do not cover very much and I try to cover body parts that are being somewhat exposed. He walks toward me, keeping his eyes locked on mine the whole time—my heart is pounding as he closes the distance.
“I am leaving for work now. I will see you tonight.” He smiles before leaning down to kiss my cheek. His hand holds my elbow and his eyes shine at me.
“Good, I mean, okay. Yeah. Okay. I will see you later.” Fumbling over my words, I shake my head to try clear it. I watch his smile turn to a grin as he laughs at me.
“Goodnight, Princess. Please take the bed; I am good on the sofa.”
I nod in agreement, needing him to leave so I can dry off. Dipping his head, he kisses my lips then he leaves. Once the door to the apartment closes, I relax, falling backward onto the bed. That was awkward. After drying and dressing again, I walk around the apartment, looking at his stuff. There is not much at all—the usual furniture and TV, but no video games or DVD player. Walking back into the bedroom, I have a quick look in his closet. Not much in there, either. Bored, I walk to the window and rest my arms on the ledge, just looking out at the incoming night. Turning, I knock into the curtain, sending a large wooden pole of some kind crashing to the floor.
“Shit, Reagan, break his stuff why don’t you,” I scold myself. Bending down, I grab the pole and lift it up.
I inspect it before putting it back. It’s smooth, on one side, like a tree branch that has been striped of its bark. On the other side, there is some kind of carvings in it. They remind me of Egyptian hieroglyphics. Running my fingers along them, I try to make sense of the symbols, eventually giving up after I made up some cock and bull story in my head. Just after eleven pm, my phone beeps with a text. I was supposed to call Alex but forgot. Reading the message, I find Killian’s name. He says goodnight to me; replying, I send him a goodnight, too.
I find it hard to sleep. My eyes keep darting around the room. It’s quiet here, unlike Athena’s house. There is always noise on the street or someone blasting music at all hours of the night. Tossing and turning, I can’t seem to get comfortable, so I get up to make a hot drink. Sitting on the sofa, I turn on the TV and sip my drink. I feel like I am floating. Opening my eyes a little, I see the walls moving by me. Walls? My eyes spring open just as I see Killian’s face above mine. He smiles as he lays me down on the bed.
“You were asleep on the sofa,” he says, pulling the covers up over me. My eyelids are still heavy and I nod at him.
“Thanks. I couldn’t sleep in here,” I mumble, burying my face into the pillow. Killian sits there, brushing his fingertips along my arm, sending tingles all over my body. “Killian, get into bed.” I feel the bed dip beside me, but he stays on the outside in his clothes. Taking my hand, he kisses, it keeping our fingers linked together. I fall asleep with the memory of his lips brushing off my knuckles.
Chapter 15
Waking up a few hours later, I feel Killian’s heavy arm across my stomach. I watch him sleeping beside me, wondering how the hell I got myself into this situation. My thoughts drift back to the other day at the farmers market. He was so attentive and we had a lot of fun. He bought me that picture of the fairy, which I tacked to my wall in my bedroom. Leaning closer, I let my eyes roam all over his face, taking note of his flawless skin and strong eyebrows.
“Are you watching me sleep?” His voice startles me and his arm tightens around me, pulling me closer to him. His body shakes a little from his laughter. Eventually, he opens his eyes to look at me. “Hi.” He smiles.
“Hello.” I smile back, deciding I can’t resist. I lean over, kissing his lips quickly. His perfectly arched eyebrows lift in amusement. I feel the heat bloom on my cheeks. I am so not good at relationships, but for some reason, I want to be here and give him a chance.
“I was thinking last night about going out of town for a few days. You want to come with me?” I ask nervously.
“Of course. I go where you go, especially if it’s away from me for a few days.” Leaning up, he watches me. “You are mine forever, Reagan.”
“Okay, so I think we should leave today and come back on Tuesday. That gives us three days to camp out,” I say, rushing my words so I don’t have to think about what he just said. But in all honesty, I love the way his words make my body shiver. Killian agrees but asks for a few more hours sleep. Leaving the bed, I look around the kitchen for food we can bring, but I don’t find anything that would work for camping. Walking back into the bedroom, I shake Killian awake. “Hey, can I borrow your car?” I whisper. His eyes barely open and he nods.
That is all I need, so I take off out of the room with a huge grin on my face. I arrive home to my parent’s house and find the key to the garage in the drawer under the sink. Once inside, I pull out our camping gear, loading it into the trunk. I see Mr. Brenner on his porch so I wave at him.
“Going camping?” he asks, nodding at the sleeping bag in my hand.
“Yeah, for a few days. Should be fun,” I reply, walking over to the car again. He asks one line questions each time I walk around to the front of the house, and I answer with the same. Once I have packed up the tent, sleeping bags, and lights, I head inside to find food. I know my dad has an emergency food supply hidden under the floor of the pantry. Don’t ask me why, but it’s there. I was saving it for when I really had no food, but maybe I can take one or two things.
After an hour, I have cans of food and powdered drinks loaded up. I make a quick dash to my room and grab my old pillow. I always brought it with me. Getting back to Killian’s apartment, I find him sitting on the sofa showered and ready to go. “Hi. How long have you been waiting?” I ask, surprised he didn’t call or text.
“Not long. About thirty minutes,” he replies, smiling at me. “Are we all set?” he asks, grabbing his backpack and I nod, smiling at him. I give him directions to the campsite where I used to go with my dad. Once we pull into the parking lot, Killian looks around and smiles.
“Wow, Reagan. This place is quite beautiful,” his eyes look all around as he climbs out of the car.
“It is. My dad and I used to come here a lot,” I tell him, grabbing the sleeping bags from the trunk. Killian walks around to help me unload our gear, carrying most of it. He refuses to allow me to carry anything except two sleeping bags. We walk through the trees and over the bridge, across to the campground.
“Wow, it really is amazing here!” Killian says as he turns in a slow circle, taking it all that Mother Nature has to offer in
“Yeah, it is. You sho
uld see it during the summer,” I tell him, pulling him toward the pathway. We walk for another ten minutes then leave the trail. Cutting through some low brush, we come to a small clearing that sits just south of the stream.
“You seem to know this place well. You didn’t need a map,” he says, dropping all the gear. We start to set up the tent immediately. Well, as it turns out, I set up the tent. Killian has never been camping before.
“Seriously?” I ask, watching him nod at me. “Never been camping,” I say again, simply because I can’t fathom it. Once the tent is up, I set the sleeping bags inside and direct Killian to collect some wood for a fire. I dig a shallow hole and surround it with a few bricks I find lying around. Killian returns with what looks like a freshly broken tree branch, broken into four parts. “Did you kill a tree?” I tease.
“No, I would never hurt a tree. It was on the ground; I just broke it for you.” He looks a little put out at my teasing, so I say no more about it. By four pm, I have everything ready to go. The sun is hidden behind the trees so the area is getting colder. “Do we have matches or a lighter?” Killian asks as he searches through the bags I brought.
“Shit!” I slap my palm against my head. Killian looks up at me, his eyes big and a look of disbelief crosses his handsome features. I can’t help but laugh at him. My eyes tear up as I continue. He watches me for a minute before standing and prowling towards me.
“No, no,” I say, stepping backward as he advances. Just before he reaches me, I take off running through the trees. I try not to laugh, but it’s impossible. I can hear him behind me so I dart to my left and double back to the tent. I know this area like the back of my hand so I don’t mind dashing through the foliage.
“You can’t outrun me, Reagan!” Killian calls from somewhere behind me. Stopping, I rest against a tree and listen for his footsteps, getting ready to pounce if he crosses my path. I peek out around the tree, but I don’t see him. I take a step out from my hiding place and look around.
“Found you,” I hear in my ear and jump about ten feet in the air, letting out a scream loud enough to scare all the birds resting in the trees. Spinning around, I see him standing there, arms crossed and a big smile on his face. My heart is hammering in my chest as I try to calm my breathing.
“How did you do that? You were behind me!” I gasp, bracing myself against the tree. Killian steps closer to me, resting his hands on my hips, his eyes staring into mine. I swear he is trying some Jedi-mind trick.
“I was very close to you, so when you stopped here, I stopped over there.” He nods to a tree just behind me. That sneaky—
He pulls me closer until our bodies are pressed together.
“Your heart is pounding,” he says, running his nose along the side of mine, his breath whispering against my cheek.
“You scared me,” I whisper back, closing my eyes as his lips press soft kisses along my jaw. Once he reaches my mouth, he keeps a minute gap between our lips.
“I didn’t mean to scare you, Reagan, but I will always find you.”
His lips descend on mine in a kiss that makes my already pounding heart speed up. His hands slowly circle my back, holding me close to him while we explore each other. Killian breaks the kiss. Pulling back, he rests his forehead against mine and closes his eyes. “We should get back before it gets too dark.”
“Yeah, I don’t want you getting lost on me,” I joke, “considering you are a camping virgin.” Taking his hand, I lead the way back to the tent and take my keys from my purse, which I left inside the tent. Pulling them out, he looks at me and I snicker a little. Leaning down, I flick the flint sending a spark into the kindling and blowing gently until a flame ignites.
“So you had a lighter all along?” he asks, watching me shove my keys back into my purse.
“No, it’s a keychain flint my dad got me years ago. He said you could never get lost or cold if you could start a fire.”
Killian smiles at that, reaching over to me. Taking his hand, I settle between his legs, resting my back on his chest. We are both quiet for a while just watching the fire take hold—watching the flames lick the logs as they gain momentum.
“Can I ask you a personal question?” Killian says.
“Sure, go ahead.” I feel a little fidgety now, wondering what he may ask.
“I was wondering why you don’t live at your parents house.”
“Oh,” I say. That question. “Well, my parents disappeared a little over two years ago and the court wouldn’t declare them dead.” I can’t believe I am telling him this, but for some reason I want to, so I continue. “So, because they weren’t dead, their will was not read and I was unable to claim any right to the house. I am allowed to visit it but only because Mr. Brenner allows me to. Otherwise, I’d be in trouble for being there at all.”
“Do you miss them?”
My heart aches every day and I want to hunt down someone, anyone, who can answer my questions and beat the information out of them. “Yes. Every day. I wish I knew what happened to them. It’s hard to comprehend sometimes, you know, that they just up and vanished like that.” Killian wraps his arms around me, planting a kiss on the top of my head.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.” He brushes his hand down my hair. “I can’t imagine just walking away from someone as special as you.”
His words, although are meant to soothe, cut me deep. My parents didn’t just leave me. Why would they?
Did they?
I move out of his embrace, just to break the mood and crawl over to the food I brought.
“Dinner time.” I smile, pulling out a can of chunky soup and some bread rolls I took from his house. Killian gives me a smile and helps cook by stirring the soup over the flames. After dinner, I walk over to the stream and rinse the pot. My dad always made me clean up straight after dinner. “To avoid animals coming to the site, because they would smell the sitting food,” he would say. So cleaning out the pot and bowls is something I always did just after we ate. Making my way back to Killian, I find him lying down with his hands folded behind his head, watching the stars.
Putting the dishes away, I place myself beside him and stare up at the sky as well.
“Are you okay?” he asks, turning his face to me.
“Yes, I’m okay.” I smile back at him, earning a kiss on the forehead. “Would you like a s’more?” I ask, rolling onto my stomach to look at him. His eyebrows furrow as he watches me. “Do you know what a s’more is?” I ask and he shakes his head no. My jaw slackens as I watch him.
“Now that’s just wrong,” I say, pushing myself up and over to the food bags. I pull out the ingredients and he watches me. “Can you find me two long twigs, please?”
Standing, he searches the ground, finding two sticks for us. I teach him how to make a s’more and laugh at his face once he takes a bite.
“You don’t like it?” It takes him a minute to answer.
“It is very sweet. It has been a long time since I’ve had something this sweet.”
Leaning over, I lick a small bit of marshmallow from his bottom lip.
“I like sweet.” I smile at him. His eyes lower to my mouth then slowly back up to mine.
“I like sweet, too,” he whispers, leaning over to finish what I started.
After we kiss, we finish eating. I send him to get more wood for the fire and turn on one of the camping lanterns, sitting it by the entry to the tent. Killian comes back with an armload of wood and drops it beside the fire. He throws on a few pieces and then settles himself beside me.
“Thank you,” he says.
“For what?”
“For inviting me to come camping with you.” He smiles at me.
“You’re welcome.” I smile. “I’m happy you came. Otherwise, I’d be bored up here alone.” I laugh.
“You would have come up here alone?” he asks, looking shocked.
“Of course, I would have. I do it every year, but usually, I wait for my birthday.”
I tell him and explain how my dad and I would come up here to for my birthday each year while my mom baked herself into oblivion. I watch him watching me with a look I don’t recognize on his face. It’s a mix of awe and worry.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” He watches me for a bit longer before answering.
“I just think you are amazing and I am happy I found you.”
His eyes shine as they watch me. “Can I tell you a story?” he asks. His hand fiddles with a twig while he waits for me to answer him. He seems nervous.
“Of course. What is camping without stories?” I smile at him.
Before he starts, though, I grab a pillow and the blanket from the tent, then I turn off the light. He throws another bit of wood on the fire and we settle down together, sharing the pillow and blanket. Killian puts his arm around me, pulling me closer to him.
“Once upon a time,” he starts and I laugh at him. “What?” He kisses my head and I can feel his smile.
“Okay, I will stop joking now.”
“I like you joking. I am learning more about you as the day goes on.” I snuggle closer to him and wait for his story to start.
“The legend of the realm begins with Celeste, the fairy goddess of the moon. It is said that she is the keeper of the fairies who fell from the sky to the earth. She was the most beautiful fairy who ever lived and bestowed all her fairies with beautiful faces that pleased her. She gave them many colors and many gifts. They have the speed of the greatest wind—warriors were gifted with the fierceness of her husband Caelian, the most powerful warrior of all. She gifted the fairies with the music of the angels and a land rich in color and food. Celeste also bestowed the gift of magic to her people, allowing them the freedom to play and dance, but also allowing them to protect themselves from the human realm. Magic allowed them to hide in plain sight and change appearance.
It is also said that on a night of the silver moon, a fairy will be born into the human realm who is the child of Celeste and Caelian. This fairy will possess the gifts of all the fairies who ever lived, and when this fairy finds their true love, they can pass into the fairy realm together, living among fairies for the rest of their lives.”
