Dark of Winter: A Between the Worlds novel Read online

  He reached out under the table and took her hand, his fingers pressing against hers. “I do. Although I am never averse to you telling me again.”

  She leaned over, resting her head against his shoulder, and he reached up with his free hand to stroke her cheek.

  The moment was ruined by Jason, “Hey newlyweds, take it upstairs, I’m trying to eat over here.”

  Jess pulled back startled, but Allie giggled and straightened up more slowly, sticking her tongue out at her friend. “So lame Jase, we weren’t even doing anything.”

  “Ha!” he snorted back, finishing the last of his breakfast as he spoke, “I know enough about elves now to know how this works. First its cuddling and then, bam, sex on the kitchen table.”

  “Jason!” Allie squeaked, indignant.

  Jess looked at her, puzzled, then eyed the table thoughtfully, “When have you had sex on the kitchen table? I wouldn’t imagine that would be very comfortable.”

  Allie turned on him, her expression outraged, and Jason laughed until he cried, doubling over and hitting the table top with his hand. “This isn’t funny,” she huffed, nonetheless enjoying the wash of pleasant emotions. “First of all you don’t know as much about elves as you think you do. And I’m not even a full elf. Stop laughing Jason! Secondly, I have never had sex on a table. Any table, including this one. We eat meals on this table, for the Gods’ sakes.”

  Jason, wiping tears from his eyes, snorted, “You are such a prude, Allie seriously. For someone with two husbands you act like the idea of a little kitchen sex is outrageous.”

  Jess was looking back and forth between the two of them, bemused, “It is an interesting thought-“

  “No,” Allie cut him off, before turning to Jason who was smothering more laughter. “Do you see what you did? You gave him ideas.”

  Jess rolled his eyes at her and Jason laughed again, “I don’t think Jessilaen needs me to give him any ideas on that topic.”

  At that Jess gave her a pointed look, clearly agreeing with Jason, and Allie knew she was blushing scarlet. She bit back a nervous giggle, not because she thought it was funny but because she always tended to laugh when she was embarrassed or uneasy. She cleared her throat and picked her fork back up, staring intently at her plate, “Well, let’s just say his expertise isn’t up for debate, but I am not going to sit here and argue the Kama Sutra over breakfast.”

  Jess had been pleased at the compliment, but she could feel his confusion again, even as he also resumed eating, “What’s a ‘kama sootra’?”

  She groaned, then quickly stuffed a forkful of eggs into her mouth to avoid answering, knowing she’d walked right into that one. Jason shot her a wicked look as he stood and gathered up his dishes, saying, “Oh you’ll love it, it’s a book. I’ll find you a copy if Allie doesn’t have one at her store and you guys can read it together.”

  “Jason, don’t you dare!” Allie said, almost choking on her food.

  “Relax Allie,” he said, smiling sweetly as he set his dishes down by the sink. “Now that I think of it Bleidd probably has his own copy anyway. I’ll just see if he can lend one to Jessilaen.”

  Knowing that he wasn’t going to let this drop and mildly terrified at the thought of how either of the elves she was married to would react to that particular book, she said, “You are an evil, evil man Jason Takada.”

  He laughed his way out of the room, leaving her to shake her head at his back. Jess had continued eating as she and Jason exchanged barbs, but once Jason left he set his fork down again and reached out to rub her leg. “If it upsets you my heart I will not read this book. I was just curious.”

  “No love it’s alright,” Allie said, wondering how she could get Jason back for this. “It’s just a, uh, it’s an old human book about, ah, well sex. Positions. I doubt there’s anything in it that would be, ummm, new to you.”

  He grinned widely at her, and she felt herself blushing deeply again. “I appreciate your faith in my ‘expertise’ as you put it earlier but don’t underestimate human inventiveness. There could be quite a few new and interesting things in this book.”

  “That’s what I’m afraid of,” she mumbled around another mouthful of food, contemplating whether she could get away with doing Jason any bodily harm. No, bad idea she thought as Jess laughed lightly, no way can I take Jason in a fight. Maybe I could super glue his wallet closed? That’d piss him off…

  Jess stopped laughing and gave her a thoughtful look, “Have you read this book already?”

  She froze, blinking slowly, totally caught off guard by the question. “I…ahh…well…I mean,” she stammered, wondering if there was any safe answer to this. “I should get started on the dishes so I’m not late for work.”

  “Allie,” he said, his voice caught between amusement and annoyance at her obvious avoidance.

  “You’re going to be late too if you don’t get moving,” she pointed out, trying to look innocent.

  He stood up with her as she gathered the dishes, his expression still amused. “As you will. We can continue this discussion tonight at dinner. I’ll be very curious to see if Bleidd does have this book, or has read it.”

  She bit her lip to keep from making any incoherent noises at the thought of that prospect, and he leaned over and kissed her gently on the forehead. His love and happiness filled her and washed away some of her own annoyance at the entire conversation, so before he could step away she snaked a hand out and gave him a quick one-armed hug. “I really do love you, you know”, she thought to him, going over to the stove to set the dishes down.

  “I know,” he thought back, “your love, and Bleidd’s, gives me great strength.”

  She smiled to herself as she turned to the sink and he walked towards the hallway, his clothes magically shifting into the uniform of the Elven Guard as he moved. As she reached to turn the water on she felt a ripple of movement in her abdomen, and immediately yelled for Jess.

  He came running back in with his hand on his sword hilt, his expression fierce, even as Luath jumped up and ran over to Allie as well. She shoved the hound away gently, gesturing for her to sit, then waved Jess over, her hands frantic. “Come here quick, hurry!”

  “What is it?” he said, distressed, his eyes roving the kitchen, hand still on his sword.

  “The baby’s moving,” she said, grabbing for his closest hand. She’d felt their son kick several times in the past few weeks, but every single time she was either alone or by the time Jess or Bleidd touched her the baby had stilled. It was driving her mad, trying to share the experience and never succeeding. Jess gave her a forbearing look, relaxing as he realized there was no emergency, and allowed her to grab his hand. Neither of her spouses understood her desperate desire to share this with them; it was not something elves, especially elven men, usually experienced as in elven culture there was an odd but pervasive taboo about acknowledging a child too early. Too many pregnancies ended in miscarriage or stillbirth, so while pregnant women were made much of during their pregnancy the baby was a subject that was discussed mostly in abstract terms. And beyond that fathers rarely had much involvement with their children, in utero or after birth, so the idea of sharing the small intimacy of feeling a baby kick was a decidedly alien concept to them both. Jess and Bleidd had found Allie’s approach very human, and therefore rather baffling so far.

  She dragged his hand to the spot where she had felt the flicker of movement and then held her breath afraid that once again she would be disappointed. After a few seconds Jess sighed and opened his mouth to speak, but before he could she felt the shifting of movement again. She watched his eyes go wide as he froze. “That was it, that was him. Did you feel it?”

  She felt his emotions swing wildly from impatience and uncertainty into sudden joy. The shift was dizzying and made her giggle as the emotion filled her. He looked at her intently then down at his own hand, pressing a bit harder, and to her delight the baby obliged by kicking again. Jess grinned widely, his eyes sparkling. “Tha
t is amazing.”

  “Isn’t it?” she breathed, suddenly sure that today was going to be a great day.

  ***************************

  Salarius had waited anxiously in the alleyway across from the young woman’s store all day, just as he had the day before. The buildings to either side, which had been recently rebuilt after a fire the previous spring, were empty and he felt a small amount of safety knowing that it was less likely he’d be seen loitering here. It also gave him a place to go in and get warm throughout the day, as neither building had any security to speak of. Despite this he felt a growing sense of anxiety, knowing that Urien was somewhere in town. Sal would have to move quickly, but the previous day the half-elf had not worked alone and he hadn’t seen any opportunity to take her.

  In desperation that morning he had reached out to the one person in town that he thought would aid him, a contact of his former partner Ferinyth’s. The banished Urisk was dangerous to deal with but Sal was desperate enough to try, and he knew that Ferinyth had already paid the other Fey, meaning that he would be honor-bound to do as he’d previously promised. Of course nothing was stopping him from double crossing Sal but the young elf had seen no other options. He doubted he’d be able to kidnap the woman by himself and there was no one else to go to for help, nor any money to hire anyone.

  At least today she’s working alone he thought, shifting his weight from one foot to the other as the cold seeped into his boots. If all goes well and luck favors me, then today I will go home…or at least be on my way.

  He peered carefully out of the ally, watching the store across the street. The day was winding down and Sal started carefully going over the plan in his mind again, knowing that it was solid but that he would need luck to be on his side.

  *****************************

  The day had been going well, unusually busy for February, and although she was tired Allie found that her optimism from earlier was lingering. She smiled as she rang out her current customer, a regular who was in picking up a special order.

  The older woman smiled back, reaching up to tuck a strand of hair back into her knit hat, “Well, you’re in a good mood today Allie.”

  “I guess I am Paola,” Allie said. “It’s funny I don’t even know why, because I woke up in a pretty rotten mood. I guess I’m just feeling positive about things right now.”

  The other woman smiled knowingly, “Life’s funny like that sometimes. Things can turn on a dime. I’ve certainly had plenty of days that started out one way and ended the other.”

  Allie handed over the receipt along with Paola’s change, nodding in response to the woman’s words. “That’s true. I’m just glad today went up instead of down.”

  Paola smiled as she scooped up her bag, “I hope things keep going up for you sweetie. I’ll be back in next week to see if that copy of Wilder’s Elemental Fortunes is still here after I get paid.”

  “Okay, I’ll see you then, but you know if it sells I can order you another copy.”

  “Well, let’s leave it in the hands of fate,” Paola said, waving slightly as she walked towards the door.

  Allie shook her head at the strangely superstitious attitude that she was accustomed to in many of her customers. Even after all these years she didn’t quite understand the way that people would take something like a book selling or not when they came looking for it as some sign from the universe. “Have a nice day.”

  “You too,” Paola said, slipping out the door beneath the cheerful ringing of the bells hung up on the door frame that helped ward the property.

  Still amused at that final exchange Allie stepped back to the stool she kept behind the counter and sat down, enjoying the momentary lull. She raised her left leg and gingerly rolled her ankle, trying to work out the tightness and ease the aching. As much as she hated to admit it she really needed to try to sit more often to give her bad ankle a break, but it had just been too busy today to sit very much. Or she thought to herself, smiling at the empty bookstore I could just make sure I get some energy from Bleidd or Jess later. It was an appealing thought since their schedules the last few days had not been conducive to anything more intimate than a quick hug in passing. Bleidd had been working more often than he’d been home and Jess had been held up late the past few evenings as his Elven Guard unit wrapped up the paperwork on a case they had just closed.

  That’s probably half the reason I feel so cruddy now that I think of it. I’ve gotten used to having a pretty steady amount of energy coming in from one or both of them and these last couple days it’s been a lot of nothing. Geez! She giggled out loud suddenly struck by the humor of what she was thinking it’s a good thing no one can hear me right now because I sound like such a creepy Bahvanshee, looking for my sex-energy fix. She snorted louder, her eyes darting around the empty store, knowing she probably looked like she was crazy if anyone could see her. Get a grip Allie she thought to herself biting her lip. Then it suddenly occurred to her that maybe Jess or Bleidd had overheard her thoughts. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time she slipped up and projected to them when she thought she was thinking to herself.

  Feeling paranoid she carefully reached out to Jess and encountered nothing but an emotional blank and focus; what she thought of as Jess’s ‘working’ mind. He was busy then and certainly not being distracted by her. She started to reach out to Bleidd and then stopped, suddenly feeling silly. Of course they didn’t overhear me she thought to herself, relaxing. I’ve gotten much better at not accidently projecting to them over the last six months or so, since I’ve been training with Miss Amelia, and especially with this much physical distance it’s really unlikely they’d catch my stray thoughts. If anything I’d end up eavesdropping on them, but even that’s cut way down. Allie smiled to herself feeling some well-earned pride that she was not only finally getting her empathic gift under control, but that she had also started to learn how to better filter out the constant background noise that was the mental presences of her two bondmates. I’m not even sleep projecting anymore, so the odds of me randomly projecting that thought to either of them is just so slim…

  A moment later Bleidd’s voice was in her mind, smooth and rich as chocolate, and she nearly fell off the stool. “Allie? Are you busy?”

  She panicked at the coincidental timing then struggled to calm herself down before answering, “No, I’m not busy. I mean it’s been busy, earlier, but it’s quiet now so I was just sitting and giving my ankle a rest.” Oh Gods she thought to herself biting her lip again, stop babbling, then to him, fighting to project calm, “How about you? How is your day going?”

  She sensed his mood through their link, an odd melancholy that pulled her deeper towards him, before he answered, “Slow as usual for this time of year and this time of the week. The overtime makes it worthwhile to do these double shifts when I have the opportunity but I must admit that I am tired and I miss your company.”

  “Only mine?” she teased gently, trying to lift his mood. “Because I distinctly remember you telling me once a few months ago that Jess was better at certain things than I was. Maybe you’re missing his, ah, attention as much as mine right now?”

  Her ploy worked and she felt his emotions shifting, predictably, into a cheerful kind of licentiousness, which was much preferable to trying to deal with him when he was feeling so unsettled. She felt a twinge of guilt over that, but as much as she loved him Bleidd was a high maintenance person and always had been; some days she just didn’t have the energy to try to soothe his moodiness. His tone was decidedly lighter when he answered, “Ah, trust you to remember one offhanded comment about who gives better blowjobs, but you know babe that is a skill that can be taught.”

  She rolled her eyes at the empty room, glad it was empty since she seemed utterly unable to control her facial expressions. “I’m sure that will make for an interesting evening. Seriously though must you keep calling me that?”

  “What?”

  “Babe. You know it annoys me,” she thou
ght back, smiling despite herself and well aware that he could probably sense her amusement.

  “If I didn’t annoy you at least a little then I wouldn’t be your husband, besides it’s a term of endearment,” he replied, his amusement matching hers. “It’s the same reason I call Jess ‘Commander’ even now.”

  “Because it annoys him?” she quipped.

  “Because it’s an annoying term of endearment that proves how emotionally close we are,” he shot back. “If he didn’t love me he wouldn’t allow it. And since you love me I know you’ll also allow me to keep using my annoying nickname for you.”

  “You are impossible, you know that right?” she thought back to him, giggling out loud and feeling like nothing so much as a teenager on the phone with her boyfriend. “Honestly you are the oldest of the three of us and I swear you act like the youngest most of the time.”

  “Age is a state of mind,” he said virtuously, then with more humor, “Besides I have little choice but to sink down to your level – your’s and Jessilaen’s – to keep my sanity.”

  “Oh, we’re driving you crazy, is that how this goes?” she said, feeling his happiness now engulfing her and glad that she had chosen to tease him. He had been far too morose lately and only now as they joked back and forth was she reminded that it wasn’t his usual state, or hadn’t been in a long time. The thought sobered her and she spoke more seriously to him before he could answer her other comment, “Will you be home for dinner tonight?”