Life is Too Short

Life is Too Short

Chapter 2 – The Vacation


I was trying not to think about Haldir too much, because it just made my current situation seem all the more bleak. On the other hand, when I let myself daydream about the elf, it took me into a fantasy world for a short time and that helped. The problem was that eventually I would snap out of it and realize that I was not somewhere in Middle Earth with the elf of my dreams, but instead I was stuck in a minivan with my friend, Glen, and his three kids. The term “kids” is probably a bit generous. Spawn of Satan is more fitting, though Glen is a nice guy and I suppose that I am not being fair to him. Maybe his ex-wife is Satan.

When I agreed to go with Glen and his three kids on a cross-country vacation, I should have insisted on a smaller country, say Vatican City. If I had had any idea how miserable I’d be, I would have declined altogether. I know how far it is from Nevada to Michigan. I had a pretty good idea how many miles we’d be covering, but for some stupid reason, I thought we’d be driving in a fairly straight line. I had assumed that once we got there, I would be on my own while Glen and the kids visited his parents and eventually we’d drive back. It was twenty one hundred miles each way. I could have done it in three days easily, by myself; two days with a second driver. So, with six days of driving, that left me with seventeen days to hole up in a nice cabin on a lake somewhere and write until it was time to return, or so I had thought.

Unfortunately, Glen had other plans. We were going to zigzag all over the United States and it was going to take a week to get there and another week to drive home. Why? So we could stop at fun places along the way. I’m not talking about amusement parks or famous historical points of interest here, either. I’m talking about things along the line of “the world’s largest ball of twine,” though I had to admit, I had heard that was pretty impressive. I had always thought of myself as a strong person, but I’m embarrassed to say that I almost cracked before we made it the first ninety miles. I seriously considered taking a cab home from Kingman, Arizona.

I had thought that because the van had a T.V., DVD player, VHS and a Playstation that the kids would stay occupied and I would hardly know that they were there. How foolish of me. The ten-year-old, I’ll call him Poindexter, or Dex, for short, wanted to play video games on the Playstation. Princess, the fat little seven-year old, wanted to watch cartoons and screamed and shrieked when she didn’t get her way. They watched cartoons. The fifteen year old wasn’t happy with anything. I’ll call her the Witch because the capital B isn’t working well on my keyboard. She had her CD player cranked loud enough for all of us to hear her music quite well, through her headphones. Two could play at that game. I cranked my French Rap up a little louder to drown out her music. I thought that maybe hearing the words to “Ecoute Bien” yelled out would get the message across. Eventually I gave up because it just hurt my ears while it didn’t seem to faze her.

Glen tried to talk to me over the loud music and the cartoons, but it was pointless. I quickly discovered that we didn’t have much to discuss anyway, because all he wanted to talk about was his kids and they weren’t my favorite topic; in fact, they were right up there with politics, which is one of my least favorite topics. I had no kids of my own and hopefully wouldn’t for quite a few years, so I just couldn’t relate to most of the “cute” stories he was telling me, especially when I knew that the little angels he was talking about were the same horrible monsters that were riding with me. I tried to talk to him about books, but he didn’t read much. We didn’t watch the same sort of movies, either. Apparently, he didn’t see the point in watching “B” movies, which was one of my favorite pastimes. I’d found some real gems that way, like “Rabid” and “Zombie” and the classic, “Earth Girls are Easy,” with the luscious Jeff Goldblum. Granted, you had to be drunk when you watched some of them to get the full effect, but it was better than watching “Howard’s End” and the other movies that Glen was talking about. “Out of Africa,” he had told me, was a movie he’d watch over and over again. I resisted the impulse to check his head for a fever. I had walked out of that movie when it was playing in the theater only because I had thought it would be rude to run out, screaming. I felt the same way about “A River Runs through It,” another of his favorites. The clincher was that he had never watched any of the “Lord of the Rings” movies or read the books. Fortunately, I had brought all three of the extended DVDs with me and I was determined that these people would see them all before our trip was over. If I had my way, I would see each one several times while we were on the road. It might be the only thing that would keep me sane, since I had been seriously doubting my mental state lately and this trip wasn’t making it any better. By the time we reached Kingman, Arizona and stopped to eat dinner at the Cracker Barrel restaurant, I realized several things; Glen and I had absolutely nothing in common, I did not like his kids, and he hadn’t really invited me along on this trip to help him drive. He wanted to be more than friends and he thought that this would be a good way to entice me into a relationship with him. He couldn’t have been more wrong and now it was going to be a long, miserable three weeks.

At the restaurant, they told us there would be about a twenty minute wait before our table was ready so the kids wanted to shop in the store that is a part of every Cracker Barrel restaurant. I looked around at the overpriced items and saw a few things that I might be interested in purchasing, but every time I tried to reach out and pick something up to look at, I got jostled by somebody walking by or moving in front of me. The store was far too crowded and I was getting claustrophobic. Somehow I ended up backed into the corner of the toy section, watching as the Princess shrieked and grabbed something out of her brother’s hands. Glen smiled indulgently and patted her on the head to calm her down. I got elbowed by another fat little kid and that was it. I fought my way through the crowd and went outside to sit down in a rocking chair on the front porch so that I could decide what I should do.

The conclusion that I came to was that I had made a commitment to Glen to help him drive and it would not be right for me to back out now, ninety miles away from home, no matter how badly I wanted to do so. That meant that I was trapped for the next three weeks, with no way out. I had not slept much the night before and I must have dozed off in the rocking chair because the next thing I knew, I felt two warm hands on my thighs. My eyes flew open, not believing that Glen would have the audacity to grab my legs like that. He hadn’t. I was staring into Haldir’s eyes. I let out the breath of air I had sucked in when I had felt his touch. Before I had a chance to think about it, I threw my arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. He seemed as happy to see me as I was to see him and I think that we would have had sex right there in the rocking chair had there not been witnesses present.

“I cannot stay long, Sinda,” he told me between kisses.

“Please, Haldir,” I hate to admit that I begged. “Don’t leave me with these people. Let me go with you.” So much for the commitment I had made to Glen.

“Will you be sleeping alone tonight or will you be with…him?” Haldir asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Are you joking?” I asked, incredulous. “I will be sleeping alone. He’s just a friend and I’m only going on this trip with him as a favor; a very big favor.”

“Then I shall join you tonight,” he told me, kissing me.

“But how…?” I began to ask.

“I will find you,” he promised. I became aware of eyes on me and turned to see the Witch watching me. When I turned back, Haldir was gone. Of course he was gone. He was only a figment of my very overactive imagination, according to the therapist I’d gone to see after the Oregon incident. I sighed. The therapist had assured me that I was not crazy, but did sane people have relationships with imaginary elves? I didn’t think so and it worried me greatly. I stood to go inside the restaurant, assuming that was why the Witch had come looking for me.

We ordered our food and I listened to the kids fight while we waited. They fought about everything. The two older kids picked on the Princess because she was fat, yet seconds later the two girls were calling Dex a geek. I only had to wait another few minutes to hear the two younger kids calling the Witch “brace face” and “metal mouth.” It was amazing how quickly their loyalties shifted. I watched in amazement as they bickered and sparred over everything from whose turn it was to sit by their dad to stupid things like who had used more salt on their food at the previous meal. Then there was Dex, who was constantly correcting everybody’s grammar. I was relieved when the waitress finally arrived, shutting the kids up.

The Princess ordered an adult meal and all three kids ordered soda with caffeine. I thought both things were a bad idea, but I kept my mouth shut. Surprisingly, Princess ate everything that she had ordered and began grabbing food off of her father’s plate as well. No wonder the kid was so fat. She also got seconds on her Coke as did the others. By the time the Princess was ordering dessert, all three of them were wired and bouncing off the wall. Princess ate her dessert when it came and began to eye mine before she had even finished hers. She actually reached her fork over to my apple dumpling but my look stopped her.

“I only had soup for dinner so that I could save room for dessert,” I explained to her. “I plan on eating my whole dessert.”

She began to whine to her father that she was still hungry and the man actually ordered her a second dessert. It was much harder to keep my mouth shut this time, but I managed somehow. Once the Princess finished eating, she got up from the table and began to run around the restaurant, though I wasn’t sure how she could even move after eating that much food. Glen smiled indulgently at her, yet it was obvious to me that she was annoying the other patrons. I shook my head, not understanding why some people think that their kids are so cute that everybody in the restaurant wants to visit with them.

The Witch had also ordered a full-sized meal, but unlike her sister, she barely touched it. That didn’t stop her from ordering dessert and having three bites of it. I hated to see people waste food but I shouldn’t have worried. The Princess came back shortly and finished off most of the Witch’s meal. When we stood to leave, the little pig was stuffing handfuls of fries into her mouth as her dad tried to pry her away from the table. I was appalled and couldn’t help but wonder if she would eventually just explode. I was glad she wasn’t sitting behind me in the van.

When we got back on the road I fell asleep listening to the Eagles singing “Take it Easy,” and woke up as we were pulling into a motel in Flagstaff, Arizona. “Take it Easy” was still running through my head and as Glen and I were walking up to check in, I quickly rewrote the lyrics to fit my elf fantasy. I renamed it, “Yes, I’m Easy.”

Well I’m staying in a motel in Flagstaff, Arizona
And he’s such a fine sight to see
It’s an elf, by George, in a flatbed Ford
Slowing down to take a look at me

Come on Haldir,
Won’t you come here?
Come and join me for some wine or just a cold beer

We may talk and we may …do more
But we have never been here before
Here’s the key to my motel door, and yes, I’m easy

I realized that Glen had been talking, but I hadn’t heard a word he had said.

“I’m sorry, Glen, I’m still groggy,” I told him. “What did you say?”

“I just asked how you wanted to work the motel rooms,” he glanced at me hopefully.

“Just the way we talked about before the trip,” I reminded him, tensing up. “You and your kids get a room and I get my own room.”

“Well, I was just thinking that if one of the kids stayed with you, that I could put the other two together and then I wouldn’t have to share a bed. That is, unless you’d rather share with me.”

He smiled, but I knew that it wasn’t a joke because he had already made a few other insinuations along that line. There was no way that I was ever going to end up in bed with this guy and there was no way that one of his kids would be sleeping in my room when I was apparently going to be visited by my imaginary elf. I would have my fantasy in private if it killed me.

“Glen, remember why I wanted my own room? I brought my laptop along so that I could write and some of my writing can only be done when it’s quiet. I can’t do it while we’re driving so it has to be done when I’m in my nice, quiet, private room. That was my stipulation for joining you on this trip.”

“I’d like to read one of your stories sometime,” he told me.

“Let me know when you’ve watched all three of the Lord of the Rings movies and then I’ll let you read something,” I told him. “You won’t appreciate it otherwise.”

I tried to think of which of my stories might be mild enough for him to handle and decided that I might have to make a PG version of one of them if he was serious about reading my work.

He tried to pay for my room but I insisted on doing it myself. I didn’t need the guilt of having my own room if it was on his dime. He tried to tell me that he wanted to pay for it as a favor for helping him drive, but I still refused. I made good money and this fun-filled trip wouldn’t break me.

The minute that the desk clerk handed me my key, I felt almost giddy with joy. I was free for the rest of the night. By getting a king sized bed rather than two doubles, I had also made sure that my room would not be near his. My ploy worked and I was happy to see that my room was at the opposite end of the hotel, which was perfect.

“I’m going to let the kids swim so if you want to join us…” he started. I almost laughed. I’d rather have all my fingernails ripped out than to spend one more moment with his children, especially in a humid pool with several other screaming children.

“Gee, thanks Glen, but I’ve really got to work on my story. I promised to get a few chapters done while I’m gone.”

We decided on a time to leave in the morning and I assured him that I would be ready. When I finally stepped into my room and closed the door behind me, I felt like crying with relief. Peace and quite at last. I would take a shower, work on my story and go to sleep and dream about Haldir. Maybe he would even visit me, as he’d promised.

I was in the middle of rinsing the conditioner out of my hair when I felt an arm slip around my waist. I screamed, but the sound was muffled by the hand that covered my mouth. When I felt the tongue running down the outside of my ear, I knew who it was and I relaxed immediately. Turning into Haldir’s embrace, I wrapped my arms around his hard, smooth body. He kissed me and it quickly turned passionate. How could it not? We were naked together in the shower and there is nothing quite like a wet elf. I began working my way down his chest, finally dropping to my knees in front of him to take him into my mouth, water running over both of us. I heard him moan and it was only about two minutes before he lifted me back up. I’m not quite sure how he managed it, but before I knew it, he had lifted me onto his shaft and was thrusting up into me as I wrapped my legs around his waist. My back was against the wall of the shower and he was supporting both of us, which couldn’t be easy in a slippery tub, but after all, he was an elf. Besides, it was my fantasy so why not?

When we were done, he let me apply shampoo and seemed to enjoy it when I ran my fingers through his thick masses of hair, massaging his scalp. I smiled as I saw the look of contentment on his face. We went back into the other room and I quickly forgot about writing anything that night as we moved straight to the bed.

“I have missed you, Sinda,” he whispered into my ear.

“I missed you, too,” I told him. “I didn’t think that I would ever see you again.”

“I told you that I would be back when you needed me,” he replied, running his fingertips lightly over my jaw.

“I need you all the time,” I laughed. “Just how long do you think I can go without sex?”

“Sinda, I am sure that you can find someone for that purpose,” he told me, running a hand down my leg.

“I think that you have ruined me for all others,” I admitted, sighing.

“You really have not been with anybody else since we were together?” he seemed surprised. “That was two months ago.”

“I have had no desire to be with anybody else,” I told him, meaning it.

He watched me for a moment, a worried look on his face.

“Sinda, I cannot be with you all of the time and when I am not with you, sometimes I am with others. I expect the same from you. Do not just wait for me to come and visit you.”

His words were like a knife to my heart, though I had known, deep down, that he would be with other women. How could somebody like him not be? I just hadn’t wanted to hear it.

“Haldir, I understand that you spend time with others but I have no desire to do that. Since I’ve been with you, I haven’t met anybody that interests me enough to want to be with them that way. I am not the kind of person that will just have sex with somebody to satisfy the cravings of my body. That’s why I was so surprised at what happened between us. I don’t jump in bed with guys I’ve just met.”

He looked at me thoughtfully for a moment.

“You need another elf. I understand that it would be hard to be with a man after being with an elf.”

I laughed. “I don’t need another elf. I’ve seen the movies and you’re the only one that I’m interested in. The others don’t do to me what you do.”

He regarded me a moment longer with his penetrating gaze. “I know what you need.”

I thought that he meant I needed sex, because he took me several more times that night and I enjoyed it tremendously. It was early morning when I finally began to grow tired and knew that I would be falling asleep soon.

“When will I see you again?” I asked, groggily.

“Whenever you want,” he told me.

“That’s right. You’re my fantasy so I should be able to conjure you at will,” I smiled.

“I am no fantasy, Sinda. I am as real as you are,” he assured me.

“I wish that were true,” I said before falling asleep. The next thing I was aware of was the alarm ringing, a couple of hours later. I forced myself out of bed and took another shower just to wake up. I tried to call Haldir into the shower with my mind but he never did appear. Apparently my imagination was fickle. As I turned off the water, I couldn’t help but notice the long blonde hairs in the tub. I know they had not been there when I took my shower the previous night because I always check to make sure the tub is clean before I step into it. I shook my head and dried off. So I had missed the hairs, somehow. That didn’t mean that Haldir was real. After all, I hadn’t let him in the door so he had magically appeared. That lent evidence to my “imagination” theory. Sighing, I wondered how long it would be until they locked me up and threw away the key.

~~~

Driving across New Mexico and into Texas was not exciting, but I didn’t care. I slept. Imaginary or not, Haldir had kept me awake most of the previous night and I was tired. I told Glen that I had been writing, which was a complete lie, but I didn’t think that he would be able to handle the truth. After sleeping until noon, I drove while he took a break.

“Hey, Sinda, take this exit,” he said, consulting a map.

I frowned. “This one? This is the entrance to a power plant.”

“Yes, here,” he said. Shrugging, I complied and pulled into the parking lot, wondering what he had in mind.

“I hear they give tours!” he said, brandishing his guide book.

I forced a smile. “I think I’ll wait in the van and work on my stories while you and the kids do the tour.”

“I’ll stay, too,” the Witch said, turning up her music even louder.

Well, that shot any chance of me getting some writing done while sitting in the van. Looking around, I saw a grassy spot nearby and I moved to it to sit with my laptop, hoping it would be quiet enough so that I could write. I lost myself in what I was doing and the time flew by as I typed away. Glen and the kids returned much too soon and I reluctantly packed up the laptop so that we could continue our journey. Lunch and dinner that day were a repeat of the previous day with the Witch ordering the most expensive item on the menu both times, then just picking at her food. The Princess once again ate enough food for two adults and had to be physically pulled away from the table at dinner where she was once again shoving her sister’s fries into her face. I couldn’t hide the look of disgust that crossed my face and Glen noticed it.

“She’s been a little obsessed about eating since her mom and I got divorced,” he explained.

I nodded, wanting to say more but knowing that it wasn’t my place.

“She gets teased at school a lot,” he added.

“That’s too bad,” I said. “I know how cruel kids can be.”

When we stopped for the night, I was happy to have Haldir join me again. It seemed that he never grew tired and I suspected that he could easily make love all night long. Fortunately, he seemed aware of my limitations as a human and was good about letting me rest when it became necessary. I liked those times, too, because we would lay wrapped in each other’s arms, kissing and talking for a while before it would turn heated once more. He told me about his world and I was a little surprised because the things he told me were not things that I had read in the books and they seemed so real. I wondered where my mind had come up with them.

“You still do not believe, do you, Sinda?” he asked, tracing a finger across my brow.

“No, Haldir, I think that I am going insane,” I told him, honestly. “I have a very hard time believing in anything that I can’t prove so it’s the only explanation.”

“You believe in God,” he reminded me.

“Yes, but I’m struggling with that these days, too,” I admitted. “I still believe, but after watching my very young brother-in-law die of a brain tumor, then losing my dad at sixty-one, barely a year later, my faith has been shaken, lately. I’m not giving up, but it’s taking more work to believe now.”

“Do you believe in ghosts?”

“No.”

“UFOs?”

“No.”

“ESP?”

“I believe that the mind is capable of much more than we realize; like making realistic elf fantasies.”

He smiled at me. “Do I feel like something imaginary, Sinda?”

I ran my hand down his chest and wrapped my fingers around something that felt very real. “No, Haldir. You seem real to me and that’s what worries me.”

“I have decided that I am going to bring you a present next time I come to you,” he told me, suddenly.

“I don’t need a present, Haldir. The time you spend with me is the best gift that you could ever give me,” I told him.

He gazed at me for a moment before kissing me thoroughly and it was a little intense. We didn’t sleep any more that night than we had done the night before but, once again, he was gone when the alarm went off. I was a little depressed that day. What good was it to live in a fantasy world if I couldn’t control it? Why couldn’t I just wish myself into Middle Earth and stay there with him? How long did I have before somebody realized that I was insane and had me committed? Maybe I already was locked up somewhere and just didn’t know it. If not, I hoped that I could hide my insanity for a while longer.

~~~

When the kids couldn’t agree on which movie to watch after dinner, I got sick of the fighting and told them in no uncertain terms that we were watching one of my movies. They all protested but at least they were in agreement upon that. I put “The Fellowship of the Ring” on, anyway, and sat in the back with the Princess. Within minutes, they were all watching, even the Witch, who tried not to let me know she was interested. When Haldir showed up to meet the Fellowship, his voice sent shivers down my spine as always.

I noticed that the Witch seemed to be watching him very closely and I didn’t blame her a bit. He was one hot elf.

We stopped early that night and I was glad to have some extra time to myself. I took a quick shower and got into bed thinking I’d have a quick nap before Haldir showed up…if he showed up. I didn’t know for sure that it would happen. I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I knew, I felt his mouth upon mine. I was disoriented for a moment, not remembering where I was or why somebody was kissing me, but that part came back quickly. It took me longer to remember where I was but I realized that I was laying naked across a king-sized bed that did not belong to me. Haldir, on the other hand, sat on the edge of the bed, fully clothed. That just didn’t seem right to me so I reached up to pull his shirt off, but he stopped me.

“I have brought you a gift, Sinda,” he told me. He was smiling, but I thought that the smile didn’t reach his eyes.

The only gift I wanted from him was his naked body next to mine or, better yet, on top of mine. I thought that it might be rude to say so, so I remained silent. He stood and motioned to a chair in the corner of the room.

“I have somebody I want you to meet, Sinda.”

About a million thoughts raced through my mind in that moment. The first was that I was completely naked and spread wantonly across the bed. I don’t know when I’ve ever moved as quickly as I did then, pulling the sheet up to cover myself to my neck, the model of decorum now. The other thoughts all concerned the mystery guest and his purpose, not to mention how he was going to affect my night with Haldir. I wanted very badly to be alone with my elf, right now.

As I regained my wits and covered myself, the tall blonde elf that had been sitting in the chair stood gracefully and walked around the bed to stand next to Haldir. He was beyond gorgeous. I thought that I knew who this might be, though I had never seen a picture of him before.

“Sinda, this is Thranduil, the King of Mirkwood,” Haldir told me, a little ominously. My suspicions were confirmed.

“I…I am sorry Your Highness,” I told him, wondering what the etiquette was for addressing a fantasy king. “I am not properly dressed for meeting you.” No kidding, Sinda, I told myself. You aren’t dressed at all.

“On the contrary,” he said, taking my hand and kissing it while his eyes never left mine. “You are dressed perfectly for what I have in mind.”

Hoping that he was talking about either skinny dipping or having me pose for a nude portrait, I was beginning to get a very bad feeling about what was going on here.

“Your Highness, may I speak with Haldir alone for a moment?” I asked nervously.

He smiled and if it hadn’t been for the fact that I was already in love with Haldir, I think I would have melted. I watched Thranduil’s retreating form as he stepped outside the room to give us some privacy. Haldir sat on the edge of the bed and stroked my hair.

“Why is he here?” I asked immediately.

“He is the gift that I brought you,” Haldir tried to smile.

“What do you mean by ‘the gift’?” I asked, still hoping that there was a logical explanation for this and I was missing it.

“I thought that you needed another elf, so I asked Thranduil to come here tonight. He owed me a favor and it was not hard to convince him to join me, regardless. He enjoys adventures and he thrives on competition, especially with me.”

“Competition,” I repeated.

“He will try to take you from me, afterwards. He always does,” Haldir admitted.

“Haldir, are you saying what I think you’re saying?” I asked him, not wanting to sound dense, but not wanting to believe that this was happening, either.

“I wish for you to join with Thranduil tonight,” he smiled at me but, again, it did not reach his eyes.

I could not bring myself to smile back. So I was to be some sort of competition between Thranduil and Haldir.

“I don’t want to join with him. I am very happy with you,” I told Haldir. “The competition is over.”

He looked a little surprised. “Sinda, this is Thranduil! Of all the elves from Middle Earth, he is renowned for his sexual prowess above all others. You will greatly enjoy yourself, I assure you.”

“He isn’t you, Haldir. I don’t have the feelings for him that I do for you and that will make a difference to me.”

He closed his eyes and when he opened them again, he kissed me.

“You are falling in love with me, Sinda?”

“Yes,” I told him. I could not bring myself to lie about that. I realized that we had spent a grand total of four nights and one day together now, but it was enough. I had never met anybody that I connected with the way I had with Haldir.

“Then if you will not accept him as a gift, as I had intended, will you do this as a favor to me? I will stay here while he is with you.”

I didn’t know what to say to that. No words would come out at first.

“You want me to have sex with somebody else while you are here in the room, watching?” There went that knife to the heart again. “That wouldn’t bother you at all.”

He sighed. “Yes, it will bother me. I would much rather keep you all to myself, but I also wonder if I might not enjoy watching him take you. I think he would give you great pleasure and I would like to see that. I also do not wish to be the one to tell the King of Mirkwood that you are rejecting his company after I asked him to do this as a favor to me.”

Ah, that was the answer I was searching for. Haldir would have to bear the brunt of Thranduil’s anger if I rejected his advances. It would serve the Marchwarden right, but I really didn’t want to cause trouble for him, either. “You should have asked me first, Haldir.”

“I am sorry,” he kissed me again. “I will not do it again. I honestly thought that it would please you.”

“I also don’t like the idea of Thranduil having sex with me as a favor to you. It’s demeaning. It’s not as though I couldn’t get somebody to do that on my own if that were what I wanted.”

“When he saw you sleeping, he was very pleased with the way you looked and he told me that he would be most happy to join with you.”

“Tell me about this competition,” I insisted.

“Thranduil is well known for his…abilities and he is convinced that he can have whomever he wishes. He is usually right, but I think that it will be different with you, Sinda.”

“But you said that you thought I would enjoy being with him,” I reminded him, confused.

“I know that you will enjoy him, but I do not think that you will choose him over me, especially if it is true that you love me.”

“I don’t know, Haldir,” I said, wanting to hurt him a little as he’d hurt me. “I can’t guarantee anything. After all, my love for you is one-sided so who knows how long it will last.”

“It is not one-sided, Sinda,” he told me, kissing me, “though I cannot love you as deeply as you can love me. For me to do so would mean my eventual death.”

I had forgotten about that. Of course he couldn’t become attached to me or he would fade when I died, but wait a minute, wasn’t this my fantasy? Why did that part have to be canon? I sighed, weighing my options. Why not have two hot elves instead of just one? It was just a fantasy and was not as if I would be having multiple sex partners for real. Maybe this new twist meant that my mind was deteriorating more rapidly than I had realized. I might as well enjoy the time I had left, if that were the case.

“All right, Haldir. I’ll do this, but I’m not going to do it halfway. Are you sure that you can handle it?”

“As long as you promise not to fall in love with him,” he told me, kissing me gently. “I like the idea of you being in love with me.”

“I’ll try not to fall in love with him,” I told Haldir, pulling him close for another kiss. My heart already belonged to the Marchwarden, even if I’d be sharing my body with a complete stranger that night, at his request.

I waited while Haldir stepped outside and returned at once with the other elf. I could see the resemblance between the king and Legolas, though Thranduil was bigger and more muscular than his son. He was even a little bigger than Haldir, which was unusual for an elf since most were on the thin side. The king had a presence that filled the room, too, making him seem larger than life. I didn’t know what I was supposed to do, so I simply watched as he approached me and sat on the bed in the same spot that Haldir had just vacated. I glanced at Haldir who was now leaning against the wall, before returning my attention to Thranduil.

“I promise that you will enjoy our time together,” the king told me, kissing my hand in several different places. My heart was racing.

“I don’t want you to feel obligated to be with me,” I told him, meeting his beautiful blue eyes. “I understand why Haldir invited you here, but it bothers me tremendously to think that you will be joining with me as a favor to him.”

Thranduil smiled and raised an eyebrow as he hooked a finger on the sheet below my neck, pulling it away to expose me. It felt as though his eyes were scorching me as he looked my body over. “I desire you, favor or not.”

“I wish the favor to be cancelled,” I tried. It would be my last attempt to get out of this because I was already excited by Thranduil’s actions and my reluctance to be with him was quickly disappearing. “You are free to go or to stay, as you choose, with no further obligations.”

“I choose to stay,” he said, holding my eyes as he lightly bit one of my fingers.

Well, that settled that. I wouldn’t be talking my way out of this one. When he leaned down and took my mouth, thoughts of everything else disappeared. His long blonde hair was worn loose like Haldir’s and it felt like silk where it caressed my skin. Thranduil was quite talented with his mouth as well as his hands and I soon felt like putty beneath his caresses. I couldn’t help but wrap my arms around his neck and draw him closer to me, already wanting more of this elf. For a moment I felt like a whore, giving myself to him so quickly, but I pushed that thought away. Damn it, it was my fantasy, so I was going to enjoy it, without the guilt. As he moved on to my neck and began to lightly bite and suck at the soft skin there, I couldn’t help but see Haldir standing against the wall. He seemed mesmerized by what was happening and I hoped that he was enjoying the show. When I thought about him being with other females, it allowed the last of my resolve to vanish. It was my turn, now. I moaned as Thranduil began to run his hands and mouth all over my body, touching and caressing me as he kissed and licked my skin. He was amazing, his touches leaving me breathless. It didn’t seem to take him long to turn me into a whimpering mass of flesh, but at the same time, it seemed as though he had thoroughly touched, licked or tasted every inch of my body and that had to have taken some time. I wanted more. I wanted him, no, I needed him. He must have known that I was ready because now he quickly shed his clothing and positioned himself above me, glancing at Haldir.

“Are you certain that you want me to do this, Haldir?” he asked, smiling a challenge at the Marchwarden.

Haldir; I hated to admit it, but I had almost forgotten about the love of my life. I regarded him now and saw mixed emotions on his face as he watched Thranduil prepare to take me.

“It is Sinda’s decision,” Haldir said, looking at me.

Not anymore it wasn’t, I thought. I was well past the point of making any rational decisions. I needed Thranduil, right now.

“I want this,” I said, running my hands down the elf king’s sculptured chest. I saw a hurt look flit briefly over Haldir’s face, but I didn’t let it bother me much because he had started it, after all. I wondered how many females he had been with since we were first together and the thought helped to alleviate the guilt that I was still fighting.

The king would not take me while I was looking at Haldir, but waited instead until he had my undivided attention before plunging into me, filling me. I closed my eyes in ecstasy as he began to pound me into the bed while his mouth captured mine. The world suddenly closed around the two of us and nothing else mattered, even Haldir.

Thranduil was so good at what he was doing and I was enjoying myself so much that I didn’t even realize how sore and how tired I was getting until I was close to exhaustion. We had been going at it for hours without a break and now my body badly needed some rest. Remembering Haldir now, I looked to him for help only to see that he was suffering, too. Of course, his problem was quite the opposite of mine. He needed release and had not bothered to take it himself, though I did not know why. Thranduil turned his head to follow my eyes and he must have come to the same realization.

“Haldir, do you require Sinda’s assistance?” the King asked, his voice ragged as he continued to thrust into me.

“I told you that this night would be yours,” the Marchwarden replied, though his eyes said something else as he watched the king cry out and spill his seed into me yet again. After only a few moments of rest, Thranduil rolled me on top of him and offered me to the other elf, at least part of me.

“You may take her, too,” he stated, running his hands across my back. “It will not slow me down.”

I knew what he was saying and I was scared. That was one fantasy that I didn’t think my mind was ready for, yet. I glanced quickly at Haldir to see what he would do and I saw him close his eyes. From the look on his face, he was waging an internal battle. I think that he wanted me that way but he realized that I was afraid.

“No,” he said at last, through clenched teeth.

Thranduil stopped for a moment and considered.

“Then you may have a few moments with her, by yourself,” he said, withdrawing.

Haldir approached me quickly, his desire obvious, yet when he looked into my eyes, he frowned.

“Sinda, how do you fare?”

“I am fine,” I told him, not meaning it. I was exhausted.

“I do not want to just use you. If you are too tired…”

“No, Haldir, I want you and you need me,” I told him. “Go ahead.”

He kissed me then gently positioned me over the side of the bed with my feet on the ground, whispering to me that it would be faster that way. I heard him unzip his jeans and the whole situation hit me as being surreal. Elves did not live in the modern world and wear jeans. Entering me quickly from behind, he immediately began thrusting into me with strong, deliberate strokes. His hands were on my hips the whole time and it was just a matter of minutes before he came, hard. I was not surprised after what he had been witnessing for the last several hours. He didn’t even try to give me pleasure because Thranduil would not have stood for that and we both knew it. Haldir was also finally starting to realize just exactly how exhausted I was. I had enjoyed myself tremendously, but my body was only human and could take just so much. He kissed me deeply when he was done but after he did so, he once again looked into my eyes and frowned.

“Sinda, we can leave if you are too tired,” he told me.

I was ready for Thranduil to go because I could not keep up with him, but I wanted nothing more than to have Haldir hold me for the rest of the night while I slept in his arms. Thranduil had other plans.

“Of course she is not too tired, we have barely started,” he said, running a hand down the length of my leg.

Haldir’s eyes met mine. “Sinda, you must let him know when you want him to stop because he can go much longer than you can. He does not need to rest.”

I nodded. I would let him know soon, because I couldn’t take much more, or so I thought.

“We shall shower first,” Thranduil said, lifting me into his arms. Haldir looked alarmed that I was being taken out of his sight, but he said nothing.

I was surprised to find myself responding to the king’s touch once more. I honestly did not know how my body managed it, but I found myself crying out as he brought me to completion again, in the shower this time. Afterwards, I was shaking so badly that I could not stand without his help and he had to carry me back into the bedroom. When I hit the bed, I collapsed, unable to move a muscle. I heard Haldir speaking quietly to Thranduil, and there was reproach in the tone, though the words must have been Elvish and I did not understand them. The door closed, a little louder than necessary, and still I didn’t have the strength to move. Soon, strong arms enfolded me and I cringed a bit, not sure to whom they belonged.

“Sleep for a while, Sinda,” Haldir said, his lips against the back of my neck. “Thranduil will be back after you rest. Have you enjoyed your time with him so far?”

“Yes,” I said, honestly. “But it is still you that I want to be with, Haldir.”

“Good,” he told me, kissing my neck. “I hope that it remains that way.” He reached a hand around and touched my forehead and it was the last thing I remembered until I felt his lips on my neck again and his hands as they roamed my body sometime later. Only it wasn’t Haldir, it was Thranduil. I could tell because his touch was more demanding, leaving no question as to what he wanted and how soon he wanted it. Though I was disappointed at first, still I found myself responding to his actions, moaning and writhing beneath his caresses. I noticed that when he pulled me to my knees and took me from behind, I was not as sore as I had been earlier. Haldir must have done something with his touch to my forehead besides making me sleep, and for that I was grateful.

By the time the night was over, we had made love almost every way imaginable as well as several ways I’d never considered. While I often noticed Haldir as he watched us, other times I forgot about him completely, wrapped up in the pleasures and sensations coursing through my body. I wondered now what the Marchwarden thought about all of this. Was he enjoying himself or was he regretting the decision that he had made? I would have to ask him about it the next time that we were alone. The light from the dawn was now beginning to come through the crack in the curtains and I knew that my alarm clock would be going off soon. I guessed that I had only slept for an hour but whatever Haldir had done to me, he had given me some rest and respite from the pain that I should now be experiencing.

Thranduil rolled me over onto my back and began to use his tongue on me and I actually laughed. There was no way that he was going to wring anything else out of me, I thought, and I told him as much. He could take me again if he wanted, but I was done. I really thought I was, anyway, until I began to arch up to try and meet his mouth. He held me down and smiled at me, knowing perfectly well what he was capable of doing with his talented tongue. I knew that my eyes were glazed with passion and when they turned to meet Haldir’s gaze one more time, the Marchwarden groaned. It must have been more than he could handle because he finally freed his erection from his jeans and began to stroke himself as he watched us. Thranduil lifted his head and I quickly returned my attention to him, once again forgetting about Haldir. When the king continued pleasuring me, we held eye contact until I climaxed one last time. As soon as my orgasm started, he plunged himself into me, joining me as waves of pleasure rolled over both of us. He captured my cries with his mouth and it was a good thing because the motel walls were fairly thin and I had lost all self-control. Kissing me softly one last time, his blue eyes and smile were the last thing I remember until the incessant blaring of the alarm clock woke me, maybe twenty minutes later. Looking at the time, I realized that it had probably been ringing for at least fifteen minutes while I was dead to the world. I quickly rose and prepared for another fun day on the road.

~~To be continued~~