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You've wanted longer, and this chapter is longer: 15 pages on Word!
I hope you are still enjoying the story. The time from my submitting a piece to Lit putting the work up has gotten longer, so I apologize for the time between chapters.
As always, thank you to MrDeep for editing and encouragement.
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Erin woke up the next morning grouchy from going to bed cold and alone, and from the embarrassment of being rejected the night before.
Why did he kiss her in the first place if he was just going to back out when things were getting good? If he was a woman, he'd be called a tease. As a man, he was thought respectable, responsible. Erin really hated the whole double standard on all things sexual.
Now she was forced to live and work with a man who had rejected her. She felt used. It was not going to be easy to look him in the eye after she practically threw herself at him. Remembering the previous night made her hot and uncomfortable. Was she really so unappealing that he could just up and leave like it was nothing?
With too much on her mind, she showered quickly. She remembered the one bathroom incident and not wanting to get caught in the shower by the man who already had her confused and uncomfortable.
She dressed in another of his sweatshirts, drinking in his scent that lingered in the fabric. She had it bad! This was really not going to be easy.
Bracing herself to once again act like nothing had ever happened, she entered the main room. Luka wasn't there. She poured some coffee from the half-full pot on the counter and sat at the table. A key rattled in the lock and she consciously put an indifferent look on her face.
The man who entered was not Luka. Erin jumped to her feet, immediately looking for some kind of weapon. Finding nothing at hand, she used her magic to throw him backwards against the door he had just closed.
"Whoa! I'm a friend," he called to her as she searched her mind for another defensive move. "Luka sent me here to teach you more advanced magic."
"Where is he?" she demanded.
"He had things to do," the man said, "He asked me to stay with you today and work with you. I swear I am loyal to you, my Queen."
She was wary, but he had let himself in with a key, and he hadn't tried to do anything to her yet.
"Take off your coat and empty your pockets," she demanded.
"Certainly." He did as she asked, then spun in a slow circle. "Satisfied?"
"I suppose. What's your name?"
"I am Leighton. I teach. I was hoping to be of use to you as you develop your skills," he said with a small bow.
"I could certainly use some help. I couldn't think of a single thing to do to you after I tossed you back against the door," she laughed nervously. "I was just about to have some breakfast, would you like anything?"
"No thank you, Your Highness," he said with another small bow.
"My name is Erin. I'm not used to these titles, so just call me Erin, please," the grumpy coming out some more.
"As you wish, Erin. Please go ahead and eat. I will wait," the teacher said as he sat on the arm of a chair.
"No, I usually just have coffee, and maybe toast. We can start," Erin replied, taking another drink of her coffee.
"What have you learned so far?" Leighton asked.
"Well, I can heal. I can bring things to me, and send them away, as you felt," she answered with a shy grin, "I can change water to ice. I really don't have any offensive powers at all," she continued with sadness, knowing a queen of a kingdom at war really needed to be able to fight.
"I doubt you have none. You just haven't found them yet. How much defensive magic have you worked on?"
"Well, like I said, the throwing things, and the water shield...," she drifted off.
"Did Luka throw spells at you to see if you could deflect them?"
"No."
"Well, we have a lot of work to do today. I want to see the things you've learned and then test your natural defenses. You should be pretty immune to everything I send at you, but we'll still practice deflecting spells. While the spells of a weaker Fae won't maim or kill you, they do take a toll on your energy, so it's better to deflect them than to keep neutralizing them within you."
"Explain the difference to me," Erin requested curiously.
"To deflect a spell, you use a counter spell or some blocking mechanism, like an energy blast, to keep it from reaching your body. If you don't, the spell will hit you and be absorbed by your body, which then has to neutralize it, the way your body attacks and neutralizes a bacterial invasion. Both take energy, but neutralizing takes significantly more energy than deflecting or countering."
"OK. Let's get started," Erin said with as much enthusiasm as she could muster.
As Leighton explained different defensive spells, Erin found her mind wondering. Last night had felt so good with Luka. Then he ruined it, and she was still feeling annoyed about it. Now he skipped out on her, not even man enough to face her after rejecting her. This was just another in a long line of jerks that had better things to do than be with her. She was swearing off men. Having a mate chosen for her was starting to sound like the best part of this whole unpleasant situation.
"Now you try it," Leighton said, looking expectantly at Erin.
"Umm," not wanting to admit she hadn't heard a word he'd said, she asked, "can you show me one more time, explaining just what you're doing."
"That's what I thought. You're having trouble concentrating. I suspect learning all of this has upset you pretty badly," he said sympathetically. "Luka seemed distracted, too."
"Yeah, I bet," she said under her breath.
"He's watched you for so long, that to actually have you with him must be...well, let's just say I'm betting he's glad."
"I wouldn't count on that," Erin said, wondering why Luka would be glad she was under attack, making his babysitting duties that much harder.
"Are you making his life difficult?" Leighton asked with a grin. "It has been the way of our people for centuries to choose the mates of the next generation. It works well, since we have seers who help make the decisions. Don't be too hard on him."
"What the hell was Leighton going on about? He just jumped subjects like three times in the same number of sentences. Was he senile?" she thought to herself.
Leighton realized the look on Erin's face meant she wasn't following, and only then did he realize he may have said too much.
