Moonlit Dangers

Chapter Twenty Three

"Kory!" I shouted. "What is wrong with you? I almost died of a heart attack!"

He winced, holding the back of his head where I'd beaned him with the bowl. I slapped at him again, halfheartedly this time.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." He said, laughing as he blocked my ineffective blows. "I didn't mean to frighten you. I've just been waiting for you to get home so I could surprise you."

My mouth fell open again. "You picked my lock?"

"Well, I didn't want to wait outside. It's kind of cold out there."

I harrumphed. "That's what a coat is for." I turned around and headed in to the kitchen to grab a towel. I had chocolate ice cream all over myself and my living room. Grabbing two towels, I handed one to Kory and then began wiping the mess off of me.

I shot him an irritated glower as I bent down to begin cleaning the goopy, cold mess off of the floor. "What do you want? I'm not coming back to the Guardians, so if that's what you're after, you can just march right on out of here buddy."

He turned and looked out of the window, not saying anything. Frowning, I finished cleaning and then walked to my bathroom to toss the towel into the hamper. I returned to the living room to find Kory sitting on my newly reupholstered couch. He sat staring down at his hands, the late afternoon sunlight coming in from the window giving him a golden aura.

"Are you going to answer me?" I asked softly, beginning to be concerned. Had something happened at the compound? Was Lina ok? "Hey, the silent treatment is a sure fire way to make me freak out ok? What's going on?" I sat down next to him gently, laying my hand on his shoulder. He looked up at me, lips pressed tightly together.

Sighing, he said, "I've missed you." For the third time, my mouth fell open. If it kept happening, I'd have to invest in a net to keep the bugs out of it.

"You missed me?" I echoed softly, my heart doing a two-step in my chest. He missed me! "Ok...What does that mean?" I said, trying not to show how excited I was. He grabbed my hand from his shoulder and held it in between his.

Taking a deep breath, he said, "You asked me earlier what I wanted..." He stopped speaking. Tracing a pattern on my palm, he continued. "I want you, Elle. I want you."

I gulped, trying to suck air into lungs that no longer had any. "Me?" I barely got out.

"Yes." He said. "You. I know that I said that we couldn't be together if you were a Guardian. I know that I said that I couldn't leave the Guardians and be with you in the civilian world. But...this past week...I've been miserable. Every time I'm in the gym training someone, I see you there, crowing over a small success. In the cafeteria, I hear you defying me at every turn out of sheer contrariness. Hell, I can't even take a shower without becoming so turned on it's painful because I feel you there with me. I smell you in the halls...I..." He broke off and took another deep breath. "I've missed you. You're naïve, mouthy, and impetuous-"

"Hey! Listen-" He silenced me by grabbing the back of my neck and kissing me, and his lips and teeth and tongue drove whatever thing I had been about to say right out of my mind.

"Let me finish." He said, pulling away just enough that his lips still brushed mine, and looked into my eyes. "You're also smart, and funny. Caring, and courageous. And of course, beautiful. And I love you." He kissed me again, as my eyes shot wide open. "You heard me correctly. I love you. And I can't handle missing you like this. It is tearing me apart. I've been so much rougher to all of my people this past week, and so much harder on myself. I can't take being without you."

He laughed. "I can't be me anymore. Not without you Elle." I couldn't see past the tears that had welled up in my eyes, and I could only take small breaths through my mouth. He was saying everything that I could have hoped to hear him say, and only one thought kept me from jumping into his arms and having my way with him.