Looking For A Legend (Book 1)

Looking For A Legend Chapter 42 - Elijah & Valentina

            The next morning, Eli woke with as much passion as he had the night before.  Or maybe doubly so, considering their start to the morning.  Not that Valentina minded too much.  She knew he was truly feeling like himself when the telepathic dirty jokes returned.

            “Eli! What has gotten into you?” Valentina joked as she got dressed, staying on the far side of the room from him to avoid having her butt pinched, or her dressing hindered.

“The idea of me getting into you has gotten into me.” He smirked, as he watched her dress, sitting at the end of his bed.

“Are you trying to make up for all eight weeks in this morning?” She laughed.

“Think we can?” Eli asked as if he were seriously considering it. “What would that be? One hundred twenty times?  One hundred eighty?”

“Is that why you aren’t getting dressed?  Clothes would only get in the way of our sex-athon?” Valentina mused as she buttoned up an ivory chiffon blouse over her nude bra.

“I was enjoying the feeling of water evaporating on my skin, but if you want ease of access…” Eli stood up and dropped his towel with a laugh.  Valentina laughed with him.

“Put that away and get dressed!” Valentina playfully threw a pair of his underwear at his chest.

“That’s not where you were telling me to put it when we were in the shower.”  He teased, but started to dress.  Eli wandered into his closet, giving Valentina a kiss as he passed, and decided on what to wear.  He picked steel grey over light blue.

“I thought that if you cloud behave yourself in public, we might spend the day in the city.”  Valentina suggested as she buttoned up a pair of black high-waisted shorts.

Eli stepped out of the closet looking like the Elijah that sat in the front of the lecture hall and tried to ignore the underachievers around him.  The Elijah that got nervous when Valentina flirted with him.  He wore a waistcoat over a shirt, tie and trousers.  He sat down on his bed again to pull on his shoes and roll his sleeves.  “You are wearing a see through shirt and shorts that barely cover your ass.  Behavior not guaranteed.”

“Eli, I could put on a hazmat suit and you’d be ready to go.” Valentina laughed.

“At least we’d have protection,” Eli joked as he pulled her into his arms.  He gave her anther soft kiss.  “That idea sounds nice, Valentina.”

“Which one? Your sex-athon or the day in London?” She slipped her arms around his neck and kissed him back.  Valentina felt his hands slide over her back.

“As much as I want to spend the day in bed with you, I would appreciate a romantic day in the city.” He smiled and held her close.

“I’m glad you can be reasoned with, Eli.” Valentina laughed.

Outside of his bedroom, Eli’s libido calmed significantly.  Breakfast was a wonderful light meal at a French café, followed by a walk in a nearby park.  They followed the path, hand in hand, admiring the calming landscaping and suggesting activities for the day.

“I would like to learn Russian,” Eli told her after a small silence as they walked by a lake.

“Right now?” Valentina was surprised by his sudden thought.

“No, just in general, I would like to be able to read it.  Not that I don’t trust your translations, or want to spend any less time translating with you.  Please don’t think that.” Eli told her.  He squeezed her hand.

“What are you planning?” Valentina looked up at him, trying to read his mind.

“I’m going to start researching the Prizrak Rytsarya.  I think I’ll need the skills to translate any information I find.” He stroked the side of her hand with his thumb.

“Prizrak Rytsarya? The phantom knights?”  Valentina sounded skeptical. “Is that some kind of fairy tale?”

“No, not a fairy tale.  It’s some kind of military group.  I’m not sure but they helped me, and I want to know more.”  He explained.

“Please be careful, Eli.” Valentina stopped walking, stopping Eli as well. “I just… I don’t want another Fairgarden.”  Eli nodded in reply and leaned in to kiss her.  Valentina took his other hand as she kissed him back.

“There is another thing I wanted to talk to you about,” Eli started as their lips parted.  She could feel his trepidation in her mind.  “In the hospital, I told you that you could come to stay with me…”

“Eli,” Valentina met his eyes.  She wasn’t sure what to say.

“I just want to know why not.”  Eli hid his hurt well, but Valentina could still sense it.  Perhaps he was still mad at her.  Maybe he hid his anger behind his passion.

“I love you, Eli.  I was worried about you, and I know you were happy to be awake…” As Valentina rambled, Eli waited for his answer.  He’d put his heart on the line.  With the wrong words, she might break it.

Eli dropped her hands, and looked over her shoulder at the lake.  He wouldn’t meet her eyes. “Please, Valentina? Just the truth?”

“I was afraid you’d regret your invitation.  Or that you would regret me, Eli.  I was afraid if I moved in with you, things would fall apart between us.  I didn’t want that.” She took up his hands again.  Valentina stepped into his line of sight.

“Why didn’t you tell me?  Valentina, I’ve been agonizing over it for two weeks.”  Was Eli blinking tears out of his eyes?

“I didn’t want to hurt you Eli.” She pleaded with him.  Valentina was afraid the end was nearing.

“I don’t regret you, Valentina.” His voice was soft in her mind.  Almost meek. “I love you.  I could never regret you, but if we continue to keep secrets from one another, we will surely fall apart.” Eli told her.

“No more secrets, Eli.  I’m afraid.” She met his eyes, standing close to him.  She did not speak above a whisper. “I’m afraid we’ll move too fast, and lose you.  I’m afraid we’ll go too slowly, and I’ll lose you.”

“We can’t live in fear.  I learned that while I was locked away.  Yuri showed me what second guessing my choices could cost me.  I don’t have much in my life, so I don’t have much to lose.  But if I lost you…” Eli lifted a hand to tuck a piece of her hair behind her ear.  He traced his thumb along her cheek. “If I lost you, I would lose myself.”

Tears came to Valentina’s eyes.  She’d never heard anyone speak such poetic words outside books or romantic films.  She’d certainly never had anyone say them to her.  Her hands found his face.  “Eli… I’m not going anywhere.  I love you.”

Eli put his arms around her, holding her tight to his chest.  Valentina’s arms went around his neck.  They stood on the bank of the lake like that for a while.   People walked by, animals chittered and squeaked around them, and the tension passed.  Starting to feel better, Valentina lifted her head from his shoulder and pressed her lips to his neck.  Instantly Eli let out half a moan, trying to stifle the sound.  After another moment they were both laughing, and kissing.

“Can we get a puppy, Eli?” Valentina joked with him.

“Are you going to clean up after him?” He laughed with her.  She was relieved to see a smile on his face again.  Eli pulled away, only to continue on their walk, this this time keeping his arm around her. 

They continued their light hearted conversation until they decided to go to a book store.  Valentina watched him as he browsed through some books, while thoughts weighed on her mind.  Eli was right, there was no use living in fear.  Everything in her body told her to embrace him in her life.  She would go for it. 

Valentina smiled.  How strange it was to think that Eli’s eight week coma might have been such a positive element in their relationship.  She was thinking about how strong Eli was, emotionally and mentally, admiring her love for him.  That is, until he held up a copy of the Kama Sutra with a smirk.  She would be living with this now.

Valentina took the book from his hands.  Instead of putting it back on the shelf, she started paging through it. “I know what we’re doing tonight…” She whispered into his ear and winked as she walked away.  This was going to be an interesting and exhaustive living arrangement.