Kristie Cook - Promise

"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 be and protects."

I laughed. "You're making it up."

"You don't have to believe me," he said with a shrug, "but it's still what you are."

A few minutes later we pulled into Mom's driveway and I suddenly felt apprehensive. I wasn't sure how she'd react. After everything came out in the open and then Tristan spent so much time with us, she had finally accepted him as a key part of my life. I thought she might almost love him like a son. But I wasn't sure and I didn't know if she'd be happy with my being engaged already, especially at nineteen. I sat on the motorcycle and stared at the lit-up cottage.

"Relax, my love," Tristan said. "She already knows."

"She does ?"

He shrugged. "I had to discuss it with her first. There's all that other stuff that can get in the way."

"Oh, yeah. We're kind of like a really twisted Romeo and Juliet, huh?"

"I've thought about that. But there's a big difference. Your family supports us."

Mom waited expectantly, already in the foyer when we opened the door.

"So…can I see?" she asked, skipping any preliminaries. I held my left hand out for her. She inhaled sharply. "Nice job, Tristan. I'm impressed."

He grinned.

She looked at me. "You will finish this book first. And you will finish college."

"I'll definitely finish the book first. And I'll finish college, but probably not before we get married." I glanced at Tristan and I knew he was also thinking about our deal because he winked at me.

I'd never imagined it possible to be so happy. It lasted about a month. Then the subjects of sex and trust came up again and it was a devastating turning point. We both seemed to have a blockage with Tristan seeing me naked. I lay on his boxy leather couch in just my bra and panties, while he paced the semi-dark room. He wasn't trying to regain control—the fire was already gone. Something else was wrong. I pushed him off this time as he started to unhook my bra. I felt a loss of control and something deep inside hit the panic button. I sat up and pulled my shirt and shorts on.

He finally came over and knelt in front of me, looking into my eyes.

"I was getting close, but I think that was you this time," he said quietly.

"I know," I admitted, hanging my head. "I'm sorry."

"You don't trust me nearly as much as you think you do," he said flatly, as if it was fact.

I looked up at him. "No, Tristan, that's not it. I know you won't hurt me."

"That's not what I mean. You still have a shell, even for me."

"What do you mean?" I thought we'd overcome that. I'd opened myself up and let him in. He knew more about me than anyone, even my own mother…and, apparently, more than I knew myself….

"You let me in to a certain point, but you're still protecting your most vulnerable areas."

I knew the confusion showed in my eyes as I stared into his.

"You won't let me read your book," he pointed out.

"If it gets published, I don't have a choice. You can just go buy it." I tried to smile. He remained serious and my smile disappeared.