The Thing about Elves Page 11
“A life without you would not be paradise to me. I know we’ll end up there together someday. And it’s a wonderful thing to look forward to when we pass.” She took his face in her hands. “The thing about elves is that once their magic takes hold of you, you are in paradise. It’s you I need to be with right now, Ardan. Not even death could change that.”
The door opened quietly and Tessa, face tear-streaked, appeared. “How’s it—hey, wait a minute.”
Angie scooted up. “Hi, Tess. I just woke up.”
Tessa came and stood by the bed. “So everything is going to be okay?”
She looked at her friend, smiling. “Everything is going to be wonderful.”
Epilogue
Aingeal tried her best not to look bored stiff but she couldn’t help herself. This was the second brother to wed a human for love. She felt really relieved that Ardan had finally found someone to love and share his passion of medicine. Glancing at those gathered, she caught her mother’s disapproving eye. Did that woman ever give up?
Slowly, she let her eyes wander back to the loving couple. Ardan looked so tall and handsome in his dark tux and seeing Angie dressed in a beautiful winter wedding gown complete with fur, she knew they were going to have a wonderful life together. After all, they had weathered some of the most trying of circumstances—namely Ardan’s disdain of humans—and then there was Angie’s near fatal accident. If they could survive that, they could survive anything.
Aingeal remembered when she got the call to return home because Angie had been hurt and was in a coma. Ardan was devastated and it took a lot of elven magic to make everything right again. Sighing softly, she wondered about her future and if she would ever find love at all. It was going to be hard to keep up her act forever.
“Do you, Angela Gayle Hudson-Winston take Ardan Douglas Locklin for your lawfully wedded husband?”
The minister’s voice seemed to drone on. Aingeal smiled to herself at Angie’s name. Tessa had insisted that Angie change her name before the ceremony. As far as Tessa was concerned, Angie should have been a Winston all along. And if Angie’s fantastic story about the Hall of the Elven Elders was to be believed, so did Tessa’s parents.
Her mind was pulled back to the minister. Why would any woman want to repeat the archaic vows of the wedding ceremony? Even in the ancient elven ceremonies, there was something about obeying in it. Aingeal would certainly have something to say about it if she ever got the chance. And right now her chances didn’t look good at all. She had thought at one time she would find someone in the human world. But so far, no one measured up to her brothers and she doubted anyone ever would. She wondered briefly if they knew just how much of an influence they had over her.
Jerked out of her daydream by Angie pushing the bridal bouquet into her hand, she murmured a quick, “Sorry.”
She really hated these things as they reminded her of what she didn’t have and what she desperately wanted. Good God, she sounded almost pathetic, even to herself. Aingeal knew that Ardan had been surprised when Angie asked her to be in Maid of Honor instead of Tessa. But Tessa and Angie agreed there would be lots more weddings and they would each have their chance to be in all of them. Plus Tessa felt she needed to be at the end of the line so if the twins needed anything, she could quietly attend to their needs.
Again, she allowed her gaze to roam the small chapel. A lot of her father’s cousins from the homeland had decided to come to this event. Most woodland elves shied away from the harsh winter at the North Pole but Bevan’s relatives came occasionally especially when the event suited them. And weddings always suited them.
Her eyes were drawn to a man with black hair, stark blue eyes and the most gorgeous smile she had ever seen. He must be the scruffiest looking elf ever and reminded her of the current trend seen in the fashion magazines. Aingeal had never seen him before in her life but felt drawn to him in an almost magical way. She knew he wasn’t a cousin, but she had no clue who he was. She didn’t know about sex with another elf and wondered briefly what all elven mating would even entail. Hell, she didn’t know about sex at all when it came right down to it, human or elf kind. Sure, she knew all the moves and had released her sexual magic before but it hadn’t been with a man at all but rather herself alone in her bed in the Eskimo village and occasionally here at home.
The fact was pure and simple…Aingeal Locklin was still a virgin…and looking across the church, she realized she had finally found an elven man to change that aspect of her life.
* * * *
Fearghas Brodie finally saw the woman he investigated for the first time at the wedding of Ardan Lochlin and Angie Winston. The elven counsel had requested he come to check out why there was so much sexual energy floating in the new world without being held in check.
True, an elf had to be taught about their sexual energy and how to control it. Humans were totally lax in that area. But some humans had been fully accepted into the elven world and knew about magic, regular or sexual. But this was different. It was almost as if…well…he didn’t want to speculate just what was happening. But the fact it happened at all meant that an untrained elf had the potential to expose unaware humans to magic. And in the eyes of the counsel, that was a very big problem.
He had come under the guise of being a distant relative who wanted to see the new world. Frankly, he thought this land was cold and stark and had no redeeming qualities. He knew this was the northernmost portion of the new world and that is was like no other place on earth. Still, he had been given a task and he would complete it as quick as he could because he wanted to go home to the lush green lands of Scotland.
Watching the young woman, Aingeal Locklin, practically broadcast sexual energy from her spot on the dais, he wondered what her issue might be. The woman exuded magic and he didn’t think she even knew it. It could be that she was much more powerful than her family realized. If that were the case, he would suggest to her that they go back to his homeland to train her properly.
He wondered just how far he would have to go to bring this woman into check. Just how much he would have to give of himself to this new world elf to make her see the error of her ways. For some reason, he just didn’t think he was going to like the answer at all.
About the Author
Lynn Crain realized at an early age she wanted to weave fantastic tales as a career. She took the long way to that goal by doing a variety of things like nursing, geologist, technical writer and computer manager. Lynn studied natural medicine and remedies for years and is currently getting her Ph.D. in natural medicine with an emphasis on modern and historical medicine which she uses in many of her books. During her free time she writes hot to erotic fantasy, futuristic and paranormal tales for various publishers. She lives in the very hot southwest with her husband, son, one dog, three cats and a snake named Sandune. She is a past board member of the Romance Writers of America, past VP of EPIC and current EPPIEs Chairman for EPIC. She has sold seven books to e-Publisher eXtasy Books and as a result of those books was recently offered representation by the prestigious Brown Literary Agency and Roberta Brown. You can visit her at www.lynncrain.com and she loves hearing from her readers at lynncrain@cox.net.