Watched by Warlocks by Hannah Heat Page B

vulnerability Elsa saw from him since she'd met him.
     
    “And what's so special about me?” Elsa said, as if he'd never to convince her. Theo leaned back on the bed, shirtless, sweating, and breathing heavily from the run. He looked over out the window, as the fires from last night still smoldered in the distance.
     
    “I never wanted this to happen, Elsa. I never meant things to turn out like this. But you are special, whether you realize it or not. I've had dreams about you, even though we'd never met, even though I'm far, far older than you are.”
     
    “Oh, really? What kind of dreams?”
     
    “I do apologize for the damage I've brought to your village. My brother is a dragon, and I am a lion shifter. We are magical creatures from the Forbidden Forest.”
     
    “And what does this have to do with me?” Elsa asked, getting frustrated.
     
    “You, my dear, are my soul mate, and the way I'll be able to stay out of the Forest forever.”
     
    “Is that why your brother is mad, because you left him?”
     
    Elsa found herself capable of the most magical stirring in her heart.
     
    “I can see past your exterior, into your soul, and I know you're hurting. But what I want you to know is that I'm hurting too. I'm sad too. And that means you're not alone,” Theo continued, even though his words cut to the core of Elsa's heart. Theo got up from the bed and placed a single kiss on Elsa's lips. A warm tingling sensation radiated from her mouth out to the rest of her body. Her soul took a few steps into deeper waters, and she felt more whole and complete than she could remember. All the sadness and separateness melted away, and she was home.
     
    She stared at him, dazed and mesmerized, and he went over and got down on one knee, and laid his head on her knees, completely still. Elsa was numb and shocked, and looked down at his beautiful hair on the back of his head, feeling his face pressing her thighs. In all her burning anxiety, she needed to feel the softness of his face on her hears and the tenderness of his lips.
     
    And he looked up at her, locking her gaze with his doe-like eyes. Her heart called out to him. From her soul flowed the protective, everlasting yearning over him, and she answered him with permanent loyalty. He was without a doubt a very nervous lover, trembling as if he'd never made love before, completely focused on her, but at the same time, painfully aware of his surroundings—the warmth of the fire by their bed, the soft rocking of its frame, the howling of the wolves in the forest, the soft and purring wind, and even all the stars in the sky, twinkling softly with harmonious permission. She could meet him only partway at this point. Once he knew that he lay quiet and calm, very calm. She placed her hand softly on his head. Peace.
     
     
     

CHAPTER 14
     
    The nocturnal werewolf, his heart humming and leg muscles pounding the wet forest dirt, ran full force into the night. He could smell change in the air. He looked through the teal maze of the misty morning, the sun rising in the distance. There were neither birds in the sky nor beasts on the ground to chase through the forest, but a paranoid crack in the distance struck his interest. He bolted in the direction of the sound, knowing in his gut another twist of fate waited for him in the future, a fate which would reverse all the damage he had done to the ones he loved.
     
     
     

CHAPTER 15
     
    If there was ever a time you could call yourself married without having actually gone to the wedding, Elsa only experienced it once, then and there, when she made love to the dark, mysterious, but-ultimately-good half of twin warlock brothers, named Theo. For the first time in her life, she felt whole. Her relationship with Theo was not something she had anticipated but when she was with him she felt that her life was going in the right direction and that maybe, just maybe, she would find true happiness in this life. He made her feel like she was