Mom's cozy cottage. The more time I spent with him and the more time we spent at his house, though, the more it grew on me. Or maybe I was growing into it. The cottage was small and warm and soft, like childhood. Tristan's house was large and new and angular—modern and very adult-like. As the newly placed ring on my finger indicated, I had grown up and would soon be starting a new life with Tristan. This house would become my home.
I studied the stunning ring he'd slid on my finger. The main diamond was square and large but not gaudy and it was set with marquis diamonds and blue sapphires on each side. The band was either silver or platinum— knowing Tristan, it had to be platinum—with an unusual design around the large diamond. I twisted my hand, letting the light hit the diamonds and create tiny rainbows dancing around me, when he finally walked in.
'I'm sorry,' he said quietly, dropping to his knees in front of me. His face looked pained, his eyes sad. I raised my hand to his face and stroked his cheek with my fingertips.
'You can't help it.'
He hung his head. 'I should be able to. What kind of boyfriend or husband can I be for you?'
I put my hands on his shoulders, leaned over and whispered in his ear. 'I'm not ready yet anyway. You'll be fine when the time is right. And that's when we'll get married.'
He looked at me appreciatively. 'I don't deserve you. And you certainly don't deserve me.'
I frowned. 'Tristan, don't talk like that. It's just an obstacle we'll eventually get over.'
Disbelief overcame his face and he was suddenly on his feet, striding around the room. ' Just an obstacle? Do you realize what I can do to you?'
With hardly any force, just a twitch of his wrist, his fist hit the wall and pieces of concrete fell to the floor, leaving a divot with cracks spreading from it. I froze in my chair. He glared at me.
'I'm under control right now, Alexis, and that's what I do without meaning to. You wanted to know some of my abilities, I'll show you.'
He flicked his hand and the table next to me—ten feet from him—rose off the floor then crashed to the ground. The wooden legs broke into pieces under the weight of the marble top. He twitched his finger. The chair next to me slid across the concrete floor to him. He picked it up and a leg splintered into pieces with a squeeze of his hand. He threw the splinters at the window. They pierced through the concrete in a neat row across the window's encasement.
'That's not much, but should give you an idea. And you…you are so breakable . Imagine what I could to do to you if I lost control!' His voice filled with anger, but his eyes held no fire.
'But you wouldn't! You couldn't !' I nearly screamed.
In a flash, he stood in front of me, looking down at me. Power emanated in waves from his body, but I didn't shrink away. He growled, 'Don't underestimate the force that lies beneath.'
'And you don't underestimate the power of our love!' I stood up on the chair and glared into his eyes. 'You love me! You know our love is more powerful than anything else.'
His face twisted and his voice rose. 'Don't you get it? It's not something I would do intentionally ! But if I ever lost control and hurt you, I would not be able to live with myself.'
'I can heal!'
'You don't know that! What if I crush your bones? Crack your skull?'
'Don't talk like that! I will be fine. And so will you!'
'And if I kill you?' he snarled.
'Tristan, stop it! You will not kill me! I won't let you do that to yourself!' I pounded my fists on his chest. It was hard as rock.
His hand twitched and the marble top of the kitchen table he'd just broken lifted from the floor. It hovered threateningly in the air near me. I knew he wouldn't do anything to me, but it aggravated me how he held it there.
'And what are you going to do about it?' he snarled.
'WHATEVER I NEED TO DO TO PROTECT US!' I grabbed the marble slab with both hands and hurled it across the room. It hit the concrete wall with a deafening crack and crashed loudly to the floor. The noise echoed off the walls, sounding like gun shots.
Followed by silence.
We both stared at it for at least a minute, too shocked to remember our anger.
'Did you just…?' He looked from the wall to me and back to the wall in amazement.
I tilted my head, still staring at the marble slab. 'Um…yeah…I just did.'
'You know that slab weighs at least three-hundred pounds?' I felt him staring at me.
'Really? Huh.' I looked at him. 'Well, what you did was a lot weirder—all that levitation crap and those splinters in the concrete. I've heard of tornadoes doing similar things, but…'
'I'm sorry. I wanted you to know, but I didn't mean to scare you.'
'You didn't scare me, you idiot, you just really pissed me off. My whole point is I'm not afraid of you because I trust that we will win together.'
He grabbed me in a hug, pulling me off the chair, and buried his face in my hair. 'I'm sorry.'
'I know.' I kissed his cheek and he turned his head to kiss me on the lips. We started to get into it again when he had to pull back in frustration. There was no fire in his eyes; he wasn't losing control. But we both knew we couldn't carry on. No make-up sex tonight.
'One of these days, we will make love,' he promised.
'I know.' I smiled. 'Hey, we get to go a little more each time, you know. We'll get there. I have faith in you. Maybe by our wedding night…'
'We're not getting married until I can be a real husband to you.'
'That sounds like a good deal for us both. Because I know by our wedding night, I will be ready. And it will be our wedding present to each other.' I smiled at the thought.
'Then it's a deal.' He grinned, too.
I looked at the ring on my finger, giddy at its meaning. 'I love my ring.'
'I designed it.'
'I thought so. It's perfect.' I hugged him and he held me in silence for a while.
'Shall I take you home?' he finally asked.
'You want help cleaning up first?'
We looked around at the destruction.
'I don't think there's much you can help with, unless you can pick up that marble top again.' He chuckled.
'Only if you make me mad again.' I made a stupid face and growled, 'You won't like me when I'm angry.'
He laughed, but then sobered quickly. 'You know, you do scare me.'
I lifted an eyebrow.
'I think I may have finally met my match.'
'What are you talking about?' I asked with bewilderment.
'You have no idea, but you're going to be very powerful. I don't know if I'll be able to handle you, after the Ang'dora .' Then he smiled. 'But you will make a kick-ass Amadis. And you are definitely ma lykita .'
'Are you ever going to tell me what that means?'
He thought for a long moment and I was sure he still wouldn't tell me.
'It's short for my little Lykora ,' he finally said.
'Little…what?'
' Lykora . Sophia never told you the legend of the lykora ?'
I wracked my brain for all the fantastical and supernatural creatures I knew about. I shook my head.
'Supposedly it's a mythical creature, it's so rare, but I've seen one myself. It's one of the most beautiful creatures I've ever seen. It looks like a snow-white wolf, but with black stripes like a tiger. And it has wings— they're supposed to be like angel wings.'
I cocked an eyebrow with skepticism. 'And why would you call me that?'
He grinned, his eyes sparkling, and held out his hand. 'Because a lykora is small enough to fit in my hand. But it is fiercely protective and very loyal, so when it feels a loved one is in danger, it grows as large as it needs to
