Blue Violet - By Abigail Owen Page 0,63

holding a pack of metamorph wolves still in mid-fight might take some more practice. And I can’t reverse a course of events usually. Every once in a while, like when you drove into that tree…” he gave her a hard look, “I can nudge things in a different direction.”

“Hmmm…” she murmured, fascinated. “Let’s see… you don’t seem to have limits of size. It looks as though you could freeze everything on an entire mountain if you wanted to. And you could freeze things down to tiny increments. Cells within bodies. You could be very dangerous if you weren’t such a good person,” she teased.

“Anything else?” He was clearly amused at her clinical assessment of his skills.

“Looking…” She concentrated harder. “You can pick and choose what you freeze. Like the snow and wind but not us. And…” She grimaced and snapped open her eyes. “You said you were born shortly after the Civil War, right?”

Alex looked vaguely confused. “Right. I’m not that much younger than you. Closing in on a century and a half. Why?”

Ellie’s frown deepened. “You said your grandfather taught you to use your skill. Did he spend much time working with you on it?”

“Yes,” he said. “My power’s pretty much an exact clone of his. We spent most evenings practicing. How’d you know?”

“It seems like you’ve mastered your abilities to the fullest extent of the possibilities, at least the ones I can see…I’m impressed!”

“Is there something strange about that?”

Ellie rolled her eyes. “Ego-alert, darlin’,” she drawled. “Only you would be unimpressed with this.” She looked at him with loving amusement.

“You know that when I touch Svatura, I can see the full extent of their capabilities. You’ve seen me do it, right? And because I’m still learning and perfecting my own abilities, I still miss things sometimes. Or, a better way to put that is that I still discover the uses and extent to others’ powers in stages, like they would, but it’s speeded up a bit.”

He nodded.

“You are the only person, and granted my experience with this is limited, but you’re the only one ever who’s mastered the nuances by your age.”

Alex took a moment to think about this. Looking at her with stunned eyes, he pulled a hand from behind her back to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. Shrugging casually, he said, “What can I tell you? I’m sure it’s because of my grandfather’s tutelage.”

Ellie felt almost irritated by his seemingly casual acceptance of what, to her, seemed inconceivable.

“I don’t think you’re getting exactly what a big deal this is,” she insisted. “I haven’t even mastered my skills yet, although I can see what the potential is. Which, by the way, is highly frustrating for me.”

Alex looked down into her earnest expression. Wrapping his arms around her, he gave her a gentle hug. “I can’t explain it, baby. But maybe I’ll be able to pass it on to our children one day.”

Ellie froze. Everything. Her breath, her thoughts, her heart. All frozen. And not due to Alex manipulating her. This feeling was just her reaction to his statement. Alex pulled back and looked down into her eyes, slightly worried by her lack of any reaction or movement.

“Children?” she finally croaked, a little shell-shocked.

Alex nodded. And then, with a heart-wrenchingly earnest expression he said, “I love you, Ellie. You are my te’sorthene. You are the center of my life now. We can take things slow. We have all the time in the world. But you should know all of this.” He watched her reaction closely, and breathed a huge sigh of relief as she started to smile and then caught it again as that smile became so beautiful it was breathtaking.

Her smile turned mischievous. “I hope you’re planning on making an honest woman of me before the kiddos come along.”

“Mmmm… that would be the plan,” he agreed.

Ellie looked deep into his eyes. “I love you with everything I have in me. My life is wherever you are from now on.”

Almost before she’d even finished speaking, Alex’s mouth covered hers, stealing her breath. His arms pulled her tight against the length of his body. The world melted away in the heat of the kiss. As his tongue snaked out and touched the seam of her lips, Ellie willingly parted them, allowing him more intimate access. Alex released a groan as their tongues intertwined.

Suddenly he moved, and Ellie found herself lying on a pile of soft snow, Alex’s length covering hers. He pinned her beneath him, and