He turned then and looked at Cassie. She suddenly realized that he wanted her to address the assembled elves. Somehow she managed to avoid an all-out panic attack. Cassie cleared her throat and smiled what she hoped was a genuine smile. She looked out at all of the unknown faces and reminded herself that all of these people put their pants on the same way she did, or at least she hoped they did. “As Trik has said, I too want to tell you thank you. Thank you for accepting me as your own, for welcoming me, and for being willing to fight for my race as well as your own. I will stand with you and fight with you,” Cassie felt pride swelling in her chest as she continued to talk and realized that they weren’t just words, they were truth. “I will lead you, serve you, and do whatever I need to in order for the Elfin race to prosper. I will strive to be the kind of queen you deserve and, with your help, we will become the people the Forest Lords intended us to be.”

A thunder of applause went up as they cheered her and she knew that she was grinning like an idiot, but she didn’t care because she wanted these people to be safe and healthy, just as she wanted the human race to be safe and healthy. And she realized maybe for the first time just how much she was willing to give up to see those things happen.

“You’re a natural,” Trik told her as he ran a brush through her hair. She closed her eyes and focused on his fingers brushing across her neck as he gathered her blonde locks into his large palm.

“A natural dork?” she only half joked.

“We already knew you were a dork, Cassie. I meant you’re a natural leader. The people soaked you up like you were the last bit of rain they would get for years. You were spellbinding.”

The awe in his voice had Cassie turning to look at him. She saw his silver eyes nearly glowing as he brought her hair to his face and sniffed deeply of her.

She grinned. “That’s sort of creepy.”

“Maybe,” he agreed nonchalantly, “but then you knew when I told you I would stalk you for the rest of your life that I was creepy. What’s a little hair sniffing compared to that?”

Cassie threw her head back and laughed at his words. What made it funnier was that it was true. He would stalk her even if she said she didn’t want him. She looked at his incredibly handsome face, his shiny, black as night hair and his silver eyes and thought she’d be crazy to not want him. He had a presence about him that drew her like a magnet to metal. He called to her and she longed to be close to him. Okay so maybe she was just as creepy as he was.

“I realized while I was standing there talking that everything I was saying was true.”

“Well, it’s always good to make sure that what you are saying is true,” Trik teased her.

She rolled her eyes. “I just mean I finally realized how much I want this—how much I want you.”

Trik’s eyessnapped up and he perked up from his lounging position on the bed. “Finally realized?”

She nodded and then turned so that she was fully facing him, causing her hair to slip through his fingers and fall away from his hand.

“I’ve known that I wanted you, Trik, but I didn’t know if I wanted the whole elf-kabob.”

Trik laughed. “Elf-kabob?”

She let out a frustrated sigh. “I’m not saying this right. Okay, basically I guess I realize that I’m needed and I’m where I’m supposed to be.”

“I get what you’re saying, Love. And I’m glad that you want to be here, that you want me and my elf-kabob.”

Cassie grabbed a pillow and hit him as he laughed. “That’s not what I meant and you know it, Triktapic.”

“It sure sounded to me like you were saying you wanted my ka-bob.” He was laughing so hard now that he no longer tried to block her pillow shots. Instead, he rolled and grabbed her around the waist and continued to roll until they rolled right off the bed. Cassie squealed until the air was knocked out of her as they hit the floor.

“Umph!” Trik grunted as she landed on top of him.

“Trik!”

“Cassie!” he repeated in the same outraged voice. “Why are we hollering out each other’s names if we aren’t in the throes of passion?”

“Ugh!” Cassie groaned. “You are incorrigible.”

Trik reached up and held her face in both of his hands forcing her to look at him. Her breath caught in her lungs as she saw the raw emotion where only moments ago humor had been.

“So you will stay with me, be my wife, my queen, my Chosen?” he asked her seriously.

Cassie felt as if all the air had been sucked from her lungs, and the only thing that could put it back was the man before her. His large, warm hands, capable of destroying, held her face gently as he earnestly awaited her answer.

“I will,” she finally told him. Deep inside of her, she knew that such a proclamation should feel heavy, like maybe the weight of a supernatural race had just been laid across her shoulders. But for some reason, she actually felt lighter. As soon as the words left her mouth and the intent filled her heart, she knew she was fulfilling her destiny, her role in this world, and lucky for her it just happened to be at the side of the sexiest, albeit deadliest, elf assassin ever. But you wouldn’t hear her complaining.

Trik pulled her face down to his and placed a tender kiss on her lips.

“I love you,” he breathed out and the warmth of his breath poured over her face. She wanted to crawl inside that warmth and wrap herself up and then wiggle around in the utter joy of it. “You think the strangest things sometimes,” he whispered to her as he listened to her thoughts.