The Elf And Shoemaker Page 13

  Logan slowly lifted his head, expecting to find his entire house blown to smithereens and on fire. Instead, the house was eerily dark except for the nightlight still burning by the sink. He looked up at where the mirror had been, and found the empty frame bent and twisted and hanging askew. The glass had shattered and lay on the floor beneath it.

  Oh, no...no, no, no!

  A cry built in his chest. With the mirror broken, there'd be no way for Hallan to ever return.

  A soft moan came from somewhere nearby.

  Oh, God!

  Logan dragged himself out from under the table, his gaze searching, searching, and then--

  "Oh, fuck!" He turned his back and closed his eyes, his heart pounding. "No...no...please, please."

  But then nothing happened, and somewhere in his spinning mind he came to the realization that he'd seen...and nothing had happened.

  He turned back around and his gaze instantly found the form lying facedown, spread-eagle on the floor.

  "Jesus!" Without thinking, simply reacting, Logan, scrambled over the tipped over stools, and the broken glass and bits and pieces of paper and knick-knacks that had fallen onto the floor with the rumbling, and dropped to his knees next to the tall form sprawled beside the stove.

  "Hallan!" Logan stroked a hand down over the long hair, and was rewarded with another moan.

  In the dim glow from the nightlight he realized Hallan was completely nude, but his lean, beautiful body was covered in bruises and scrapes. His heart clenched tight at the sight. "Oh, God. What happened to you?" He wasn't sure whether or not he should move him...but then Hallan stirred and pushed himself over onto his back. His eyes fluttered open. And his gaze fell on Logan. He smiled, a tired smile that seared through Logan and brought tears to his eyes.

  "Hi," he said softly in a voice as ragged and exhausted as his smile. But it was so very, very real and so beloved.

  "Hi," Logan said back, brushing a palm over Hallan's hair.

  "Told you...I wouldn't break your heart."

  A sob caught in Logan's throat, and he dragged a hand over his cheek to swipe at the tears. Then he smiled. "And you didn't."

  "I...I need you to do something."

  "Anything," Logan said.

  "Tell...Tell me you love me and you want me."

  The lump was back in Logan's throat and the tears in his eyes. "Oh, God...yes, I love you. And of course I want you. I've wanted you from the first night you were here. I want you always."

  Hallan sighed as if Logan had somehow just taken the weight of the world off his shoulders. A fleeting smile curved his lips. "Thank you," he breathed. "Now I can stay."

  "Like, really stay?"

  "Like for as long as you'll have me. Which I hope is the rest of our lives."

  "I'm going to hold you to that." The damn tears were stinging again.

  "I'm counting on it."

  Logan knelt over him and kissed him. Gently. Tenderly. And then he smoothed a hand over his pale cheek. "You don't look so good."

  "I don't feel so good."

  "Let's get you to bed."

  "Yes, please."

  * * * *

  As the pale winter morning light fell like softest gauze over the bedroom, Hallan lay watching Logan sleep. With each soft exhale and inhale, Hallan marveled at the sheer beauty of having this gift...of being able to lie here next to the man he loved and savor every second of him without the fear and worry and nagging sense of doom that had overshadowed him for so long. He felt...free. For the first time in his long life.

  Logan stretched, his arms shifting above his head to touch the headboard, and his muscles tensing and lengthening beneath the covers. His eyes opened. Blinked. And then his gaze turned to Hallan. And for a long moment shock rippled from him as if he couldn't believe Hallan was there.

  "You're here. You're still here. For real."

  "I'm here."

  "Oh, God...I...I..." And then Logan gave a sheepish grin. "I think I'm speechless."

  Hallan laughed, and it felt so damned good. "I'm not sure I've ever heard you speechless."

  "Yeah, me either. Then Logan was stroking his face, his forehead furrowing with worry. "How are you feeling?"

  "Like I'll live. Like I'm grateful."

  "Will you tell me what happened?" He swallowed hard and Logan watched as the knob in his throat slid slowly up and down.

  Hallan picked up on his worry and fear from the night before. "I'm sorry, Logan. Sorry I wasn't here when I said I would be. I didn't mean to worry you."

  "I know. I thought all kinds of awful things, though. What happened?"

  "I found a way to come through and stay, and had planned to do it when I told you. But the rebels hit one of the king's camps that afternoon. It was the third attack in as many days, and Zolodan decided he was tired of playing games because he believed I was the one supplying the inside information to his nephew. So just before I was about to put my plan into action, his soldiers grabbed me and dragged me to the dungeons."

  "Oh, God, I was afraid of something like that. What did he do?"

  "He wanted information first, before he killed me. So we had several...chats." Hallan opted not to tell Logan what, exactly, the king and his soldiers had done to him to try to get that information. Although the evidence of it remained all over his body in the form of bruises, and from the look on Logan's face, he was already putting the pieces together.

  "I was down there for almost two days. Then the rebels attacked again, distracting everyone. I was locked up in a cell, but during the attack a group of the rebels entered the dungeons and killed the guards. I broke out of the cell, and met up with one of the rebels." He shook his head, remembering. "There was this strange moment where we stared at each other. And then we both figured it out at the same time. He was dark-headed to my fair, he was taller, but looking into his eyes, Logan... It was like looking in a mirror. We were both shocked."

  "Who was it?"

  "Aestorian's son. The nephew who raised the rebellion against the king."

  Logan drew in quick breath. "Your brother."

  Hallan nodded and smiled. "If I'd ever had doubts before I couldn't after that. And though he'd known nothing of me, he put the pieces together right away because I have my mother's coloring and he knew that Aestorian and my mother had been lovers."

  "Oh, my God. You met your brother."

  "Finnlorien. Finn."

  "What happened?"

  "We fought our way out of the dungeon, but then we were separated. Soldiers were everywhere. I got to my rooms and discovered they'd set the interior on fire. The elf glass was still in place, but I had to do a ritual before I went through. It was the only way it would work. So I started it, but the soldiers broke in, along with the king, before I was finished. They caught me and started to drag me away. But all I could think about was you. And what I'd promised you. And the thought of never seeing you again..." He paused, fighting for calm.

  Logan's fingers twined through his and squeezed. Hallan squeezed back.

  "I broke free, made a run for it, shouting the last words of the ritual as I ran...and then dove through the mirror, praying that it was going to work."

  "I didn't know what was happening here. It was like an earthquake, but the mirror on this side was making awful noises, like metal screeching. There was a fire in the mirror, and then an explosion. When it cleared, the mirror was broken, and you were lying naked on the kitchen floor."

  "I couldn't bring anything with me. That was one of the rules. Not even the clothes on my back."

  "And the ritual...it's why you're here? So it worked?"

  Hallan cupped Logan's face and kissed him. "It worked. Once I was here you just had to say that you wanted me here. That's why I needed you by the mirror. That was the final step in the ritual."

  "I've never been so happy to see anyone in my life as when I saw you last night. But at first it scared the hell out of me because I realized I'd seen you before I knew it was you. I turned my back
, closed my eyes, expecting you to be sucked back through...and then you weren't." Logan's gaze grew concerned.

  "What is it, love?"

  "Magick. Rules. You said if you could find a way around the rules, there were usually consequences."

  "There won't be any."

  "How do you know?"

  "Because that's what the ritual was for," Hallan said quietly. "To pay the necessary price beforehand."

  Logan's eyes widened. "Why do I not like the sound of that. What price? Hallan, what price?"

  "Nothing that I wasn't willing to give."

  "What...price?"

  "It wasn't a sacrifice for me, Logan. It was a gift. Something I wanted."

  "Oh, God, you're making me crazy. Just tell me."

  Hallan brought Logan's hand, the one where he still wore Hallan's ring, to his lips. "Remember your worries about me staying young and you growing old? Well it's not an issue anymore."

  Logan's soft gasp was the only sound in the room for long moments. "You...you sacrificed your immortality? Hallan..."

  Hallan smiled, once again feeling light from the freedom blossoming inside him.. "I told you, it wasn't a sacrifice. I'd do it all over again to be with you. I saw how my mother was after Aestorian died. I've seen others of my people pine away after their loves have gone. Immortal life isn't all you might think. It's long and achingly lonely. I was lonely most of my life, six hundred years...until I found you."

  He rolled Logan onto his back and nestled between his legs, then brushed the dark curls out of Logan's eyes.

  "I never thought of it that way," Logan said softly, his eyes clouding with sadness. "I can't even imagine."

  "And now I don't have to anymore either." He covered Logan's mouth with his own and poured all his love for him into the kiss and the slow rock of their groins.

  Logan moaned and wrapped his arms around him. His fingers threaded through Hallan's hair, then moved up to his ears.

  When Hallan shivered at the contact, Logan broke into a quiet chuckle.

  "What?" Hallan demanded, but a grin teased at his mouth, too.

  "I was just checking. I wanted to make sure you hadn't given up anything else in this ritual you did."

  Hallan reached up and tucked his hair behind an ear, exposing it fully. "See, still there."

  Logan's smile and the mischievous glint in his eyes, should have warned Hallan what was coming. Logan rubbed a finger up along the curve to the pointed tip, then kept rubbing.

  Hallan fought to keep his reaction from showing, but after the third swipe, he groaned and dug his already swelling shaft into Logan's with a shudder. "If you keep that up," he rasped, "I'm going to have your legs in the air and my cock buried inside you in about two seconds."

  "Is that a promise?"

  Another grin curved Hallan's lips. "Why do I have a feeling I'm going to be making you a lot of promises in the years to come?"

  Logan wrapped his legs around Hallan's hips and pulled his groin in tight against his until they both moaned. "And I'm going to hold you to every one."

  M. L. Rhodes

  Award-winning and bestselling author M. L. Rhodes has been writing for a living for fourteen years. Her characterization and emotional storytelling have received high critical acclaim from such places as Romantic Times Magazine, The Romance Studio, and JERR and have garnered her numerous awards in the writing industry.

  In her gay romances, she enjoys pairing together strong, independent heroes who are open to exploring both their sexuality and their emotions. Men fall in love with one another every day, and M. L. believes in celebrating that!

  If you'd like to keep up with what's going on in M. L.'s world and find out about her new and upcoming releases, check out her website at www.mlrhodeswriting.com. She also loves hearing from readers. You can reach her at ML@mlrhodeswriting.com.

  * * * *

  Don't miss Vertigo, by M. L. Rhodes,

  available at AmberAllure.com!

  Each night Simon Saint-Saëns hunts the creatures of darkness that others fear--beings that come through dimensional rifts into our world from a world called Vertigo. Simon has unexplained superpowers that help him fight, but his is a desolate existence, fraught with danger. He works by himself and never allows anyone to get too close to him because his powers come at a terrible cost--a secret he's never revealed to anyone. Better to be alone than jeopardize the life of someone he cares about.

  Enslaved in Vertigo for years, Jaden Cole was one of the innocent lives Simon saved when he first started hunting. Jade had almost forgotten what it meant to be human...until Simon found him and brought him back to this world. But when their friendship turned into something more, Simon sent Jade away and cut him out of his life to keep Jade safe.

  Nine years later, when a new, powerful evil stirs to life in Vertigo and targets Simon as its enemy, Jade returns. He's not the same innocent he was all those years ago, though. Now he has his own secret, one that could turn Simon against him, even force Simon to kill him. But Jade's willing to risk everything, even his life, to save the man he's always loved.

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