Kristie Cook - Promise

"Sure…you can always ask ."

He ignored my old answer. "How do you see the rest of your life?"

"Oh. Huh." He caught me off guard.

We hadn't really discussed this, at least seriously, since that night I learned there was more in store for my life than I ever realized. The night I learned I could possibly have true love, but nothing else about my future would go as planned. No settled family life in a comfortable home with normal kids who played sports or music or danced and had lots of friends who came to our house to play. Instead, I had a future that may or may not include writing, may or may not include love and may or may not include children…but would definitely encompass moving frequently, possibly running from danger and whatever else would happen after the Ang'dora . And my time stretched out long before me, possibly hundreds of years or more, if I was anything like Mom or Tristan.

"Well, that's a long time you're talking about. You mean my immediate future or later, after…?"

"Both. The rest of your life."

"Hmm…well, I have no idea what it'll be like after, unless it's just more of the same, since that's how Mom's life is. I'd still like to write. And I definitely still want real, soul-mate love and a family…if that's possible."

"What if I can make it possible? Can you see me in the rest of your life?"

I took a moment to seriously consider it—not that I hadn't already. I'd thought about it many times, but now I had to answer him. And I still came to the same conclusion. Although I didn't even know what it was like to be with anyone else, I just couldn't imagine feeling stronger love for another man. I just didn't think it was possible. Our connection was too deep. Just who we were told me we were meant to be together.

"I definitely want you to be in it." I searched his face, trying to figure out why he brought this up now. His eyes sparkled brightly and a smile played on his luscious lips. "I said 'soul-mate love' and I still believe you are my soul mate."

"And I know you are mine." He took a deep breath. "So, Alexis Katerina Ames…will you do me the honor of allowing me to spend the rest of my life with you? Will you marry me?"

He held his hand out and opened a small box to reveal a ring. The air caught in my throat and my heart stopped beating. I couldn't even see the ring clearly as tears filled my eyes. I looked at him instead, his eyes serious and pleading. So loving. So damn beautiful.

I froze. He did not…? Oh, yes, he did! Oh, my!!

"Oh…" I finally breathed. Speak, stupid, or he'll take it the wrong way. "Um…yes…of course…Yes, Tristan Knight, I would love to spend the rest of my life with you."

"Thank you," he breathed with relief. Did he expect any other answer? He slid the ring on my finger and before I could get a good look at it, he took my face in his hands and kissed me passionately.

We fell back on the blanket and his hand slid down to my neck, around my shoulder and down my side as our kisses became more fervent. He held my waist and our lips and tongues continued their dance. His mouth traveled slowly down to my neck, kissing and sucking, his hand gliding up the front of my stomach, sliding over my breast. A small sound slipped through my throat. He gently cupped and caressed my breast, moving his lips slowly over my skin to the opening in my blouse, slipping his tongue under it. One of my hands clawed at his back while the other twisted in his hair.

With one hand, he undid my two top buttons, enough to expose my chest, and kissed around the tops of my bra on both breasts. He traced the birthmark—a strange design of slightly lighter pigment—over my left breast with his finger, then his lips, kissing and sucking. I tugged at the bottom of his shirt and he pulled it over his head as I undid the last buttons of my blouse, letting it fall open. He pressed his body down, so hot and hard against me. His lips found mine again, sucking and tugging, his hand between us on my breast, his fingers slipping under my bra. With so much skin-to-skin contact, the electricity stimulated every nerve. I couldn't control the moan or the spasm as my pelvis jerked against him.

And that was the breaking point.

He groaned and pounded his fist into the sand next to me. He sat up on his knees over me and I started to reach up and touch his bare chest and stomach. He was so beautiful, so perfect. Except his eyes. Fire burned within them. I dropped my hand. He stood up and strode away without a word. I lay there, drawing ragged breaths, staring at the darkening sky. My heart raced and the blood throbbed in delicate places. After several minutes, I finally buttoned my blouse with trembling fingers and sat up. The sky had darkened enough that I couldn't see him anywhere. I picked up the blanket and his shirt and headed inside.

Tristan wasn't in there, so I sat on a kitchen chair and waited. His house wasn't quite home to me, not like 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."