An Elf's Rose

CHAPTER NINE





Orli opened the car door for Rose and she slid in. He practically ran to the driver’s side to jump in. She was stroking the black leather seat and he looked away, suddenly reminded of the erotic dream he’d had of her this morning. His gaze kept coming back; he couldn’t keep his eyes off her. She was dressed in a black denim mini skirt that gave the illusion of long legs to her small stature. Her top was a tight long-sleeved black lace sheath with a demure boat-neck collar showing only the delicate curve of her collarbones. He wanted very badly to place his lips on the pulse in the hollow between them.



He buckled up and turned the ignition with the thumb and forefinger of his broken right hand; the expensive car purred to life.



“I can’t believe your dad lets you drive his BMW,” Rose sighed. “My dad has a Toyota Camry and won’t let me drive it.”



Orli chuckled as he engaged the gear awkwardly with his left hand. “My father and I have an understanding, you might say.”



“Must be nice,” she muttered. “By the way, I hope my parents didn’t embarrass you too much.”



“Not at all, love. Why would they have?” He made a U-turn and headed toward Laurel Canyon that would take them over the hill from the Valley into the City.



“Well, you know. Asking all those personal questions…” He had been invited for dinner, and had met her parents Diego and Marlena, as well as Rose’s younger brother David. They had basically given him the third degree: where had he gone to school (USC), what had he studied (business and computer technology), where did he work (his father’s office), what did his father do (architectural engineer), even asking him why he wore his hair so long (half-joking – just to be different and annoy people). Rose had listened to the answers avidly, despite herself.



Orli smiled at his Hobbit. “Darling, they love you and want the best for you. They don’t want you going out with some bum.”



I want her back by two am, understood? Diego had told him, sotto voce, when Rose had gone to get her jacket. He’d nodded and the older man had taken his left hand to shake it, sealing the promise.



She watched him covertly. “Daddy was impressed with your car.”



He laughed, causing Rose to giggle. “At the very least, he knows I’m not a bum.”



“I like your hair loose like that,” she told him softly, smiling shyly and looking askance at him.



He grinned at her. “Do you? I’m glad I left it then. I was going to braid it back for your parent’s sakes, but I figured, what the hell. I can hardly hide it.”



He had brushed it out well with a fine bristle brush until it gleamed. He had pulled it back from his forehead and fastened it at the back of his head with a bronze clasp made in the shape of a round shield, centered with a cabochon brown stone, and held to his hair by a tang in the shape of a sword. The rest of his mane he left flowing down his back, reaching past his shoulder blades. He had braided a small portion behind his right ear and it lay like a golden rope on his shoulder. Very appropriate for an evening filled with Scottish music.



“You’ve the loveliest hair. I imagine most women are nelynely jealous.”



“Most women? And you, little Hobbit? Don’t you covet my hair?” he asked, smiling.



She looked away, out the side window. “Not for my head,” she said, barely audibly.



He didn’t respond immediately, picturing too vividly her small hands busy in his hair.



“Well, I love your Shirley Temple curls,” he said, visions of his own fingers entwined in those dark locks.



“Oh God, don’t call them that!” she pleaded, flushing with embarrassment, covering her eyes with a hand.



He grinned. “I have a present for you. Hobbits like getting presents, don’t they?” he asked, wanting to distract himself from impractical thoughts.



She looked at him quizzically. “Yes, but…Why?”



“Why?” He chuckled. “Does a man need a r-r-r-reason to give a bonny lassie a wee giftie?” he asked her in an exaggerated Scottish brogue. “It’s in the glove box.” She hesitated. “Go on then.”



She pulled the latch and there was a small white box tied with a gold satin ribbon sitting on the papers there. She pulled it out and looked at him again. He reached up and turned on the map light, illuminating her lap.



She pulled the bow apart and read the box. “ ‘Amber by L’Occitane.’ Perfume?”



“French perfume.”



“Really?” She opened the small ounce bottle and sniffed. “Oh my God, Orlando! This is amazing!” she breathed, sniffing again. “It’s – I can’t describe it. It’s not flowers, what is it.?”



“Hell, I don’t know. All I know I smelled every goddam fragrance in the store and this is the one that reminded me of you. It was a close call between this one and ‘Shalimar’ by Guerlain.”



She looked at him with a trembling smile. “I – I don’t know what to say! Thank you for thinking of me.”



Darling, I have done nothing but think of you, he thought, bemused. “You are very welcome. Try some on. I want to smell it on you.”



She tipped the bottle and ran it up and down against her throat and in that small hollow. It left Orli shof bof breath to watch. Keep your eyes on the road, mate. Her daddy would be very upset if you got in an accident.



The car filled with the delicate sweet, musky scent of the perfume. Orli cleared his throat and gripped the steering wheel one-handed, his broken one trembling on his thigh. “It suits you,” he whispered to her.



“It’s wonderful, thank you.” She leaned over and kissed his cheek then sat back quickly, shy again. The perfume enveloped him like an embrace and he sighed deeply.



Dad, I’m finding it hard to breathe when I’m with her, not away from her.



~~~



Orli was nervous and excited about introducing Rose to his daft friends. He wondered what they would think. She was unlike any other girl that he’d dated. The others had been pretty aggressive, personality-wise and sexually. Rose was neither. He’d never had to pursue a woman in his life. They always landed in his lap, like it or not. This time though, he was the pursuer, and he liked it.



He handed over his valet key to the parking attendant and took Rose’s hand to walk to the entrance of the pub. He could see the band was just setting up through the big windows. Orli stopped a few feet the the door. He pulled on a curl at her temple, straightening it down to her jaw line.



“Rosie, I just want to give you a head’s up. My friends are rather – loud and obnoxious – and they will tell you all sorts of outrageous things about me.”



l thl they be true?” she asked, a mischievous smile on her sweet lips.



“Maybe,” he grinned and kissed her mouth quickly, not giving her time to react.



She flushed prettily and looked down. “Will they like me, do you think? I mean, I’m a lot younger than you and inexperienced …”



He interrupted by lifting her chin. “Oh yes, I’m so ancient and wise. I’m not a real Elf, you know. I’m what? Six years older?” He pulled the door open. “They’ll love you,” he said softly. He waved his hand across his body in a courtly bow. “After you, my lady.”



The guys had snagged one of the bigger tables and were waving them over. They’d brought their current girls as well. He could see the expectant looks from across the room.



“Gang, this is Rosie,” he told them, holding his broken hand at Rose’s back.



“Hi Rosie!” they all yelled enthusiastically.



“This shaved gorilla is Sean. Sean, be a good boy and shake the lady’s hand.”



Sean got up, bowing gallantly and kissed Rose’s hand. He had short sandy colored hair and sparkling blue eyes. He was taller than Orli, who was not short, and twice as wide, but with the manners of a gentleman. “Enchante’, mademoiselle.”



“This lovely lady is Sean’s trainer, Amy.” The girls shook hands, laughing. Amy was blonde, tall and shapely, elegantly dressed and made up, obviously coming from money.



“This is Marc, he’s famous for his indiscriminant use of foul language.”



“Fuck you, asswipe,” he said conversationally. “Hiya Rosie.” He leaned up to clasp her hand. Marc was on the thin side and wore his dark hair very short and spiked up with gel.



“This is Karyn, Marc’s long suffering lady.” Karyn, a dark-haired beauty, leaned over to shake Rose’s hand.



Introductions over, Orli pulled out a chair for Rose and they ordered drinks. He saw the guys look at her speculatively, but they asked no questions. After ordering drinks from the waitress, they all settled down to listen to the band as they struck up the first chords.



~~~



Rose had never heard live Celtic music before and she was entranced. Orlando had told her about the band while in the car on the way and that their name “Uisge” meant “water of life” or, more commonly, whisky. The lead singer was a pretty young woman with long straight dark hair named Fiona and she played the violin. Or fiddle rather. She was accompanied by a dark haired young man, Seamus, her brother. He also sang and alternated between the acoustic guitar and mandolin. The third member, Ritchie, was a thin red-headed man that sang back-up and played a wide skinny drum with a two headed drumstick, called a bhodran. Several of their songs were old Scottish and Irish folk tunes ant a t a few of the patrons in the pub sang along with them.



After a couple of rousing tunes that had the whole place clapping and stomping their feet, the set ended and all three made the rounds of the room to speak to friends and acquaintances, ending up at the gang’s table. Fiona, Seamus and Ritchie each hugged Orlando, obviously knowing him well and Rose was introduced to them. Rose was telling Fiona how much she was enjoying the music when Sean stood up and grabbed Orlando’s right wrist. “What the hell is this?” he asked, showing them all his bandaged splint.



There were various reactions, although Rose thought none of them seemed surprised.



“You been having fun without us, dude?” Marc asked, looking hurt.



Sean leered wickedly at Rose and said, rather loudly, she thought, “Man, you ought to be careful. Breaking your hand whacking off is one thing, but next time you just might rip your dick clean off.”



The whole table roared with laughter, including Orlando.



“This isn’t the first time, you know,” Sean said conspiratorially to Rose.



“What, that he’s whacked off?” Marc laughed.



“Shut up, you infidel. Orli here has a tendency to break things.”



“What do you mean?” she asked, innocently.



Sean grinned wolfishly and everyone groaned. Orlando called the waitress over. “A double scotch please. It’s going to be a long night.”



The three band members laughed and pulled up chairs, eager to hear about it.



And so Sean and Marc told them stories, between bouts of laughter, of how Orlando just couldn’t pass up a dare, especially when pissing drunk, which had been a regular occurrence in college.



Like the time as seniors at USC, Marc had filled balloons with tempera paint and during a football rally, dared Orlando to shoot them out of the air over the crowd with his bow. Marc had lobbed them one at a time from behind the bleachers and Orlando had done so, with remarkable accuracy, sitting up in one of the pine trees like an Elf. What a ruckus it had caused. Luckily they’d gotten away.



Or the time as freshmen, they drank a case of beer at one sitting on a Saturday night, and thought it would be cool to go “surfing” down Sean’s dorm stairs on one of the broken toilet stall doors. It worked real well until Orlando got to the bottom and smashed into the wall, busting his nose. They’d laughed for days, constantly reminded of the escapade by Orlando’s taped nose and black eyes.



“Tell Rosie, Sean, about the time you got the brilliant idea of flooding the floor in the shower room and using it as a slip ‘n’ slide.”



“Shit, that was great, until numbnuts here,” he said nodding to Marc. “spins out and busts his wrist against one of the pipes.”



“Yeah, well, at least I broke mine honestly, not like Orli here. It’s all in the technique, man. You don’t have to be so rough.”



Rose was red with laughter and embarrassment. She looked at Orlando, and he was grinning maliciously.



“Says the man who stuck his John Thomas in a Mickey’s Big Mouth beer bottle just to prove he could and then couldn’t get it out. I pissed myself laughing over the looks the nurses in the infirmary were giving you.”



On and on it went, the baiting and the laughter. The band members reluctantly got up to play their next set and the boys quieted down. Rose excused herself to go to the restroom and when she came back to the table, Orlando and Sean were gone. She listened to the music for a few minutes, then asked Amy where Orlando was.



“Outside having a smoke with Sean,” she was told. Rose was surprised. He smoked? She’d never smelled it on him or in his car. She waited another minute and got up to go outside. She caught a glimpse of them through the window, Orli leaning up against the building and Sean standing facing him, sucking on a cigarette. There was a girl she didn’t recognize with them. Sean was laughing and she could see Orlando’s shoulders shaking. The girl was not amused. Rose pushed the door open and her stomach dropped. The girl had thrown her arms around Orlando’s neck and was kissing him passionately.


~


Orli pushed Sandra away from him. She had made him smack his head against the brick wall. “What the fuck…?” he started.



“Uh oh,” Sean said darkly, looking around.



Orli looked up to see Rose going back into the pub. He snarled at Sandra. “Pathetic bitch. Get a life.” He flicked his cigarette into the gutter and went after Rose.



Sean sucked his cigarette and smiled at the woman. “Well, I guess he doesn’t want you anymore, Sandy. He’s got other fish to fry.”



She gave him a dirty look but said nothing, following Orli into the pub. He crushed the cigarette under his boot and went in himself, not wanting to miss any possible fireworks.



~~~



She was already seated at the table, back straight and stiff. Orli stood there thinking for a moment and then felt Sandra caress his back and whisper, “Orli…”



He turned to her, looking at her disdainfully. “Sandra, get lost. I am not interested. Which part of ‘no’ do you not understand?” He moved away from her towards his heart’s desire /> />


Orli sat his chair behind hers and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her back against her chair. She stiffened further, but made no attempt to pull away. He took it as a good sign. He kissed the tender skin at the juncture of shoulder and neck and felt her skin pebble with bumps.



“It’s not what you think,” he said in her ear, then kissed the edge of it.



“What do you know what I’m thinking?” she asked, turning her head to look at him from the corner of her eye.



“I don’t, but I can imagine. I’d think the same, if some guy was kissing on you, even if you didn’t want it.”



She was silent for a moment. “Who is she?”



“Someone I don’t see anymore. She wants it differently, though.” He could feel her relax a little against his arms.



“Well, don’t mind me. It’s not like I have any say in what you do or who you see.”



Orli kissed her shoulder again and brushed his lips slowly up and down her neck, enjoying the goosebumps that resulted. “There’s only one woman I’m interested in being with.”



He knew he had her when she changed the subject. “I didn’t know you smoked.”



“Only when I drink. It’s a nasty habit, I know. I’ll give it up if you want.”



She turned in her chair to look at him suspiciously, her dark eyes roving his face, looking for a clue. “Why are you interested in me?”



His eyes widened at the bald question. “Why?” He traced her jaw and her full bottom lip with his fingertip and felt her shiver. “Because, other than the fact that you have eyes lovelier than the midnight sky, you are a Hobbit, with all that encompasses: you are genuine, generous, warm-hearted, courageous, outspoken, and you make me want to be a better person.” He leaned into the kiss, cupping the bof hof her head, surprising her all the more for it. They separated, her lips clinging to his, and Orli became aware of four grinning faces, staring at them. Rose was mortified when she saw them watching and turned back around in the chair, face red as a beet.



Orli smiled at his friends, and they smiled back, giving him thumbs up.



~~~



After the band finished their last set, Karyn invited them all to her place, not far away. They all agreed it would be cool, and Sean offered to stop and get some beer and munchies. The girls went to make a last bathroom visit and the guys stood outside waiting for them.



Marc punched Orli hard in the bicep. “You are a fuckin’ perv, dude!” he said admiringly. “How old is she anyway? Twelve?”



Sean lit a cigarette and laughed. “Yeah, has she even seen a man’s cock before?”



“Shit, she’s gonna be real disappointed with your pencil dick, dude.”



Orli grinned evilly, unable to resist making a more painful dig at his friend. "At least she won't need to dump ice on my crotch and go for the one hair that sticks up."



The women found the three guys doubled up with laughter. They looked at each other and shrugged, not really wanting to know. They finally quit laughing and were able to get into their respective rides and follow Marc’s car to Karyn’s place.



~~~



It turned out to be a lovely old Spanish-style apartment building off Santa Monica Boulevard, all tropical foliage, terra-cotta tiled roof and iron railings. Her place was on the third floor and there was no elevator.



Karyn laughed at their bitching and moaning. “Hey, how do you think I keep in shape?”



It was a huge apartment, tastefully decorated – Karyn was a decorator for the Anthropologie stores and she loved to practice on her own home.



“Wow,” Rose told her. “This place is wonderful. You are so lucky.”



“Oh, I know. The only way I’ll ever leave this place is married to a rich man, or on a gurney to the morgue.”



Sean had stopped to get beer and a bottle of scotch for Orlando.



“He’s graduated to the hard stuff,” Sean told her.



Rose said nothing but looked at Orlando, who rolled his eyes heavenward as he broke the seal on the bottle. “The only time I drink anymore is when I’m with you two idiots. Which, thank the stars, is not often.”



“Tsk, no self-control, poor boy.”



Rose giggled, now knowing for sure she was being teased. Other than her own father and sensei Akamura, she’d never known anyone with more self-control than Orlando.



Karyn opened up the French doors to her balcony and let the balmy breeze in. “Please smoke outside guys, but be careful out there, the railing’s kinda old and rickety. The landlord’s dragging his feet to fix it.”



Sean went immediately to smoke, offering Orlando one from his pack. He shook his head, putting his arm around Rose’s waist. They stayed inside and sat on the sofa. He wrapped his arm around he shoulder and drew her in to him. She cuddled in close, making Orli shiver and he kissed her forehead hastily. She sniffed his scotch and wrinkled her nose. “You like that stuff?”



“It’s an acquired taste.”



Marc snorted and gulped from his beer. “Yeah, like one acquires a taste for horse piss.”



“Don’t pay any attention to him, love. He’s an ignorant heathen.”



Rose giggled. “How do you know what horse piss tastes like?”



“Ha. Well, I don’t, little lady. But I do know what scotch tastes like, and I think I’d rather drink horse piss.”



“That’s quite a comment coming from a man who’s eaten things that would poison my dog.”



Marc shrugged good-naturedly, grabbing a corn chip from the bowl on the coffee table. “What can I say? A man’s gotta eat.”



It was endless. Rose’s sides were beginning to ache from laughing. She needed some fresh air. Orlando followed her to the balcony.



“Lovely, isn’t it?” he said softly, pulling her back against his chest. He nuzzled her ear and kissed her on the silky skin below it. Rose shivered and his arms tightened around her. She felt suddenly short of breath.



“Yes, it’s a great view.” She closed her eyes, contradicting herself, to better enjoy the sensations assaulting her as his lips moved down her neck and shoulder in a trail of fire. When he’d walked into her house earlier, he’d taken her breath away. She’d never seen him dressed in anything other than baggy tee shirts and yoga pants outside the dojo. Tonight he was dressed in a silky, clingy moss green tee that showed the play and flex of the muscles in his chest and shoulders, and black trousers in a soft material that showed off his tight rear end and long muscular legs. And with his loose pale gold hair floating around his shoulders – she could barely look at him. It almost hurt, he was so beautiful. Now he was holding that hard muscular body against her back, making her insides tremble. She thought about Carly’s little paperback book and the idea of Orlando touching her in that way made her knees wobble. She stiffened up, not wanting to fall down and he let her go.



“I’m sorry,” he said softly, misunderstanding her tenseness. “I don’t mean to upset you –“



She gripped the railing hard to steady herself. She was going to reply but Sean came back out. “Hey, watch out Rosie, he’s pretty fast with his hands. Well, maybe not now that one of them’s busted – Hey!”



Orlando, fast as a snake, struck Sean in the solar plexus, knocking him backward against the railing, making it creak.



“You skinny little fucker, you made me spill my beer. I’m gonna shit on your head.” Sean had been on the USC wrestling team and was not a shabby fighter himself.



He went to shove Orlando, but being light and quick, he moved out of the way in a feint. Sean, clearly expecting this gambit, reached out and grabbed him around the shoulders and punched him hard in the gut, making him grunt.



Rose was horrified, but then she saw the grins on their faces. It was a boy’s tussle and the others came to the door to watch and give advice, having seen this play-fighting before with the two of them. The two men were trying to get one over on each other, Orlando restraining from using aikido on his friend, which would have hurt him. Sean knew this and was taking advantage of his larger size.



“Little pansy,” he panted in Orlando’s ear, as he held the slighter man in a crushing hug. “You’re gonna be sucking my dick in a minute.”



She didn’t hear what Sean had said, but Rose saw Orlando’s eyes change from humor to – something else. With a growl, he threw off the larger man, smacking him up against the railing again.



“Hey, you guys, be careful – “ Karyn warned, but it had gone beyond fun for Orlando and he wasn’t paying attention.



“Orli, dude,” Sean said, half-laughing, half-frightenedeingeing the look in his eyes. “I’m just jerking your chain.”



Orlando took a deep shuddering breath, trying to calm himself. Sean took advantage of his hesitation and lunged for him. Orlando, still quicker, moved aside and kicked his feet from under him. Sean went down but grabbed Orlando’s legs, jerking him off his feet and his back and shoulders hit against the railing with brute force.



~~~



It happened with such speed, no one had time to react, not even Sean who had held his feet for just a second. Rose would later dream about the look of utter surprise on Orlando’s face as the railing gave way and he plunged into the darkness.



Time seemed to have stopped in that small eternity between heartbeats. Rose felt her heart thump and then suddenly everyone was screaming.