Orna Puella

- VIII -

I knew that Elsie would make me wish I were never born when I finally show up at home. First of all, I would be beyond late, since I had to walk home. And second of all, I was positive that Cerylia will tell her all about me making friends with a half-breed, which in Elsie’s book wasn’t even a crime. It was heresy. My mood was so bad that I felt like hitting someone really hard. I didn’t, of course, since the only other person around me was Raven. In spite of the whole situation - rain, Elsie’s upcoming anger outburst, and everything else - I actually enjoyed walking with him.

“Well,” he said melancholically. “I guess you might wanna learn more blocking techniques before you get home tonight.”

I snorted at that.

“I am good at blocking,” I shrugged, trying to ignore the rain that was pouring down pretty bad by now. “It’s the only thing I am good at when it comes to magic. I suck at everything else.”
“Why did you miss the bus?” he asked with genuine surprise.

I shrugged indifferently.

“I don’t know. I guess I didn’t want you to miss it.”

He laughed.

“Not my first time. I missed it at least ten times before, no big.”
“Well, you should’ve worn a sign or something,” I grumbled.
“Right…” he laughed again. “Thanks, I guess… Except next time just get on the damn bus, will you? Believe me, I can take care of myself. I am actually quite resilient.”
“Yeah,” I muttered, feeling like an idiot. “I see that… Ugh, it’ll take me hours to get home…”
“I’ll walk with you,” he grinned. “Since you missed the bus because of me and all… I still think that you the weirdest human I have ever met.”
“Really,” I hemmed, my mood somewhat improved by now.
“Yeah,” he nodded energetically. “Walking in the rain with me instead of accepting the ride from Arlen? That’s weird in my book. Your stepsister would probably kill to get a ride with him.”
“She can ride him or with him, doesn’t matter to me,” I said darkly. “The guy is a creep.”
“And I am not?” he asked, his eyes laughing again.
“No,” I sighed. “You are not a creep. You are just a freak. Freaks I can handle.”

We walked for almost three hours, since we had to stop a couple of times and wait under the trees when the rain got extremely vicious. I was wondering if I should just spend the night in the woods instead of going home at all, but then I figured that Elsie will kill me for sure if I don’t show up tonight. We were somewhat close to my house - maybe half an hour left or so - when the rain decided to unleash all its fury and it brought friends. I jumped when the thunder clapped so bad that I swear to Dragon, the ground shook.

“Ah, crap,” Raven muttered and quickly pulled me under the tree.

He was just in time, because the dark sky was ripped apart by a huge lightning, and I winced when it hit the bushes right next to where we just walked.

“It’s not gonna last much longer,” he said. “When it gets this bad, it usually only goes on for twenty minutes or so.”
“Did I mention that I hate this town?” I asked gloomily, giving up on trying to get the rain out of my eyes. “And the rain? And the wind?”
“A couple of times, I think,” Raven nodded calmly. “But go ahead, rant.”
“Ugh,” I said with disgust when the wind spat more sharp icy needles in my face.
“Turn away from the wind,” he rolled his eyes. “Really, it’s not that complicated.”
“Shut up,” I grumbled, realizing that he was right. I mean, if you don’t want the wind in your face, you turn away from it, right?

I turned around and another great wave of wind - almost felt like hurricane by now - shoved me in the back.

“Crap!!” I yelled when I almost lost my balance and slipped in the mud. Ugh, if I end up falling into the mud, I will kill someone.
“Easy,” Raven laughed and caught me right before I plopped on the ground. “Great Lizard, you are clumsy!”
“I am not clumsy,” I said with dignity. “I am just lightweight.”
“Yeah, you are,” he grinned and I looked up at him.

Suddenly I realized how close to me he was and that his arms were wrapped around me quite firmly. I blinked when his face grew serious all of a sudden, and he stared at me with his strange looking eyes. I wanted to say something and pull apart from him, but I couldn’t squeeze a single word out of my throat and pulling away seemed like an impossible task. He kept staring at me and something flashed in his eyes that almost looked like pain and defeat. The next thing I knew, his mouth was on mine and my arms were around his neck.

He kissed me so slowly and carefully that my head was spinning. I didn’t care about the rain and the wind anymore. I didn’t give a damn about Elsie and Cerylia, and I could care less that he was a half-demon. It didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was his warm mouth, caressing tongue, and his wild heartbeat that felt as if it was my own. I stroked his face with my fingers and brushed his wet hair off his ears. I started gliding my fingertips along his ears and he immediately pulled away.

“Don’t…” he muttered and shook his head.

I blinked. Huh?

“You don’t like that?” I said quietly and he closed his eyes.
“No,” he said softly. “That’s not it… I do…”
“Then what is it?” I was confused.

He opened his eyes and looked at me with a frown.

“It doesn’t repulse you?” he asked with puzzlement.
“Repulse me...?” I shook my head. “What the hell… Why would it repulse me?!”
“Great Lizard…” he muttered. “You are weird…”

I brushed his hair away and he didn’t pull away this time. I looked at his ears. They looked fine. Just like usual ears of any other half-blood. Kinda pointy on top, nothing too bad. I ran my fingers along his earlobe and he closed his eyes again.

“I think it’s sexy,” I muttered finally and he started to laugh.
“You think my ears are sexy,” he said finally without opening his eyes.
“Uh huh,” I said and pulled him closer.

I ran my tongue over his ear and he shivered. I started nibbling on his earlobe and he hissed and almost pulled me away.

“Careful now,” he muttered, his breath uneven. “Seriously… If you want to make it home tonight, stop this…”

I let go of his ear and he started kissing me again. I have no idea how long we were under that tree, but when we finally pulled away from each other, the rain almost stopped. Raven took a deep breath and looked at me.

“Come on,” he muttered. “You need to get home.”
“Yeah,” I said, my head spinning so fast that I felt dizzy.

We walked the rest of the way to my house and he held my fingers in his hand the entire time. When we finally got there, I felt like crying. I didn’t want him to go. He stopped by the sidewalk that led to my house and squeezed my fingers.

“Go now,” he said softly. “I don’t think your stepmother will appreciate it if she sees me…”
“She can go to hell,” I muttered and he grinned.
“Right… Go, you weird creature. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I sighed and tried to pull my hand away but he wouldn’t let go. Instead, he pulled me closer and kissed me again. Finally, he moaned and pushed me away.

“Go,” he murmured and let go of my hand. “Seriously, go… Otherwise, you will never make it home.”
“Night, Raven,” I smiled weakly.
“Night, Selena,” he sighed and his eyes flashed strangely again.

I walked away, wondering why he looked like he was giving up on something when I saw a black slick car next to our house, and suddenly I couldn’t breathe. Oh great Dragon, I thought in astonishment. I just might survive tonight!!