“You’re kidding,” I muttered to myself. A little tairat made its way toward me, its eyes wide.
“Tiny, is that you?”
“Tiny?” Jasper came to stand beside me, shirtless after getting cleaned up at the creek. “I suppose there’s an easy way to test if it’s her or not.” He turned and pulled me against him, his lips only partly on mine as he eyed the little creature wearily.
The tairat bared her teeth and ran toward us, a stream of chattering directed at Jasper, whose eyes widened before he jumped away from me.
Tiny ran up my leg and settled on my shoulder.
Jasper glared at her. “Evil. That’s what we should name her. Evil.”
I laughed. “That’s not very nice.”
“Well, neither is she.”
“I wonder if it’s because you’re a cat. Do you hunt these?”
He laughed. “Why bother. It would take ten of them to fill a person up.”
I snorted. He was right. “Go and get some cheese from the bag and you can hold her while I go get cleaned up at the creek.”
I handed her over to him; both of them looking displeased at the notion, and went down to the creek to wash as best as I could.
“I’ll tell you one thing I’m really missing about home,” I mumbled to myself. “A shower and soap.”
By the time I had gotten back to camp Jasper and Tiny had come to the agreement that Jasper was not going to eat Tiny so long as she didn’t bite him.
Jasper smiled at me. “I think we’re done with the biting, but now I think she is trying to choke me.”
I laughed and leaned in for a kiss. Jasper tensed, waiting for the attack he thought was coming, then relaxed when he realized it wasn’t going to happen. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed me deeply.
“Hmmmm. Much better,” he whispered before kissing me again.
Tiny took advantage of the moment to walk from his shoulder to mine.
It was starting to get dark and everyone was pulling out their blankets.
“Let’s go to bed, Shlova,” whispered Jasper in my ear.
*****
The following morning I woke to the noise of Tara and Ben making bets.
“I don’t know why you bother, sweets. You know you’re going to lose.” Tara grinned at him.
“You just wait. Goop has been getting much quicker on his turns.” Ben patted his deer between the eyes.
Tara shrugged. “It’s your new bow.”
He laughed. “It’s going to stay my new bow. But can you bear to part with your emerald dagger?”
She snorted and made sure her saddle was on tightly.
“You’re going to want to see this, Shlova,” Jasper said as he took my hand and stood me up.
We followed behind the two of them as they led their deer a little way down the trail.
“I don’t know why they bother making bets. They never do exchange prizes,” he laughed.
“So you know Tara and Ben from before?”
He nodded. “I was doing some scouting along the Wedelven border when I came upon a lone Wedelve high in a tree. She was surrounded by dogs and was casually taking them out, one by one, every time one would try to come up after her.”
Tara looked back and grinned. “Jasper was nice enough to lend me a hand. When we were done getting rid of them all, I brought him home so I could feed him a decent meal as a thank you.
I had just come back for a few days, then, and when we got to talking, Jasper told me about being on the lookout for you, that the queen thought you might be coming back soon. I had brought some pictures back, so I showed him the one of you. I wasn’t sure if we were both talking about the same person.”
Jasper started to laugh. “I fell off of my chair.”
“Literally. He took the picture in his hand, his eyes got big and he stood up real fast, tripped on the chair and fell over.”
“I had been dreaming about you for two years prior to that day, but had always assumed you were probably at the castle and I hadn’t seen you yet. When she gave me the picture and I realized that you were the one I was dreaming of, I have to admit, I was completely baffled.”
Tara laughed. “He thanked me for his meal and left like his ass was on fire. That was about four years ago.”
I smiled. “You poor thing. You must have thought it was a lost cause.”
He nodded. “I did. Not only was I fated to the one being who could save or destroy us all, she wasn’t even in this world!”
I took his hand and gave it a squeeze. “Sorry I took so long.”
He grinned at me. “It’s quite alright. You’re here now.”
“Oh, cool!” We crested a hill and found ourselves looking at what looked like an obstacle course. There were fallen trees over the trail which snaked in and out of itself multiple times before ending where it started. The creek was also a part of this course.
“This is where they hold the races for Wellfore. It’s the week that marks the end of summer. It’s a great time. Well, I can do without the ball the first night, but the rest of the week is a blast,” explained Jasper as the other two walked down to the course. We sat on the hill to watch. “So many beings come to celebrate. You’ll love it.”
“When is it?”
“In another two months I think. I’ll have to ask. I haven’t been in civilization for a couple of months now.”
I glanced at him. “You told me you had been camping for a week.”
“I had been. In that spot. I wasn’t sure where you were going to come from, so I had been watching a few of the gate trails.”
“Do you have a cross stone?”
He nodded.
“Have you used it?”
“Just once. About four years ago. Right after Tara showed me your picture, actually.” His eyes narrowed a bit. “I had thought to go there to find you instead of waiting for you to come back here.”
“So what happened? Obviously you didn’t find me.”
He shook his head. “No. I didn’t stay there long enough. I crossed over and thought I was dying.”
I frowned. “Why?”
“There’s no magic there. In order for me to shift, I have to have a source of magic. In this world, it’s just here. It’s in the air, the trees, the ground. Everything here works on magic. The tiger part of me lives on magic. When I cross over, that part of me gets lost. It was like half of me died. I tried to ignore it, some of us can. But I couldn’t.”
I put my head against his shoulder. “Well, either way, you managed to find me.”
He leaned his cheek on my head. “I think it’s more like you found me.”
Tara and Ben were at the start of the obstacle course and had gotten on their deer. Both of them looked up to where we were sitting and I waved to them. Tiny grunted in annoyance as her perch moved suddenly.
Tara and Ben stood the deer at the starting line facing backward. One of them must have counted down and the two of them pivoted their deer in opposite directions so they wouldn’t run into each other.
Peena was faster coming out of the spin and bound away from Goop.
“Ooh. She’s quick!” I admired.
“Just wait. Goop is faster on the flat. Also, he’s stronger.”
We watched as the two of them bound along at an unbelievable speed. I had seen deer in the woods at home, but to see them with riders was amazing.
Ben and Tara were standing in their stirrups, their knees bending with the force of each landing.
Tara was still in the lead as they reached the first jump. Peena gathered herself and leapt into the air. Goop heard Tara’s holler to Peena to jump and gathered himself as well. He left the ground a whole deer length behind Peena and sailed through the air.
“Whoa! Did you see that?” Goop had managed to power jump himself into the lead, landing ahead of Peena on the other side.
It was a neck and neck race. Goop would pull ahead over the jumps and Peena would outrun him through the curves.
Both
Tara and Ben were urging the deer on as they came out of the final turn and headed toward the finish line.
“I’ll bet you a back rub Tara and Peena take it.”
Jasper chuckled. “You’re on.”
Tara had come out of the last turn a whole deer length ahead of Ben, who had managed to close the distance so that Goop was only a head behind Peena.
Both deer were bounding as fast as they could. The lead changed from one to the other as one deer landed and the other left the ground.
Tara held her arm up in victory as Peena leapt a half a stride ahead of Goop and flew across the finish line.
I laughed. “Wow. That was great!” I looked at Jasper and grinned.
“You’re just itching to get on one, aren’t you?”
My grin widened and he laughed. “Maybe we can find you one once we get everything done and over with. You have to get them as babies to form a bond. Once that imprinting is done, only that person can ride that deer.”
I looked down at the course where Tara and Ben had gotten off of the deer and were leading them around to cool down. They were making their way back toward us.
Tara laughed and Ben hooked his arm around her waist.
“Of course I let you win,” he was saying as they got nearer.
She grinned at him. “Of course you did.”
He laughed as she stuck her tongue out at him and he pulled her in for a kiss. His arms held her tightly against him, his mouth claiming hers. She melted against him.
“It doesn’t matter,” I heard him say softly. “Either way, I’m always the winner.”
Tara smiled and kissed him again.
Jasper took my hand and led me away. “I think we best leave them alone,” he whispered to me.
My eyes widened. “What? Here? In the bush?”
He laughed. “They’ve only been fated for four or five months I think. It’s hard to resist.”
I grunted in agreement. “Tell me about it.”
Jasper was frowning a bit. “To have this business done and over with.” He seemed to be talking to himself.
I gave his hand a squeeze.
He glanced at me quickly and smiled back. “Let’s get back to camp. Maybe if my stomach isn’t hungry, the rest of me won’t be as well.”
I blushed. “It’s worth a try.”
I hadn’t realized how long of a walk it had been until we made it back to camp in time to have lunch.
By the time everyone had eaten and everything had been packed up, it was well into the afternoon.
We got to Tara and Ben’s house in Sageden after dark. All I could see of the town were the light colored shapes of the houses.
Jasper shifted back into a human and held a hand up to me to help me off of Dodge.
“Do I look as tired as I feel?” I smiled at him.
“You look exhausted.” He pulled me against him then grinned and swept me into his arms.
I laughed at him. “I’m not so tired that I can’t walk!”
Jasper’s arms jerked a bit and he sucked in a breath. “Ow! Tiny! Leave off, now! I’m just taking her inside! Just get on my shoulder and you can come too!”
I laughed and set her on his shoulder.
I lay my head against his chest and closed my eyes, enjoying the feel of his muscles moving against me as he carried me to a room. He set me down and opened the door.
“Go to bed, I’ll just go unsaddle Dodge so he can go find a spot for the night.”
“Where will he go?”
He shrugged. “I’m not sure. There is a herd around here, but they are about a day’s ride away. He’ll probably bed down with Goop and Peena in the back.”
“Ok. Come get me if he wants me, though.”
Jasper nodded and left.
I walked into the room and sighed. “A bed!” I pulled of my riding boots and sat on the bed.
There was a knock on the door.
“Come in,” I answered.
Tara peeked her head in. “Oh, good. You’re alone. I brought you a nightgown. You must be tired of sleeping in your jeans.” She smiled at me. “Also, here’s a big bowl of hot water and some soap.”
I laughed. “I’ll admit that after a week, I was starting to wonder if they made soap here.”
“Get some sleep. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Goodnight, Tara.”
I waited until she had closed the door then shed off the rest of my clothes. I stood in front of a mirror and wiped myself clean with the soap and a sponge. After drying myself, I pulled on the nightgown.
“Geez, Tara. I might as well be naked!” The nightgown was a sheer cream color with a low neck line and a high hem line.
I pulled a brush through the tangles in my hair and cringed.
“There,” I said to myself. “Human again.”
Tiny chattered something at me from on the bed. I grabbed a towel and made a nest for her on one of the chairs.
“Here you go.” She seemed happy with the arrangements and promptly curled herself into a ball.
I pulled the covers back and lay down. It was like laying down on a cloud.
There was another knock on the door.
“It’s me. Can I come in?”
I laughed. “Why are you knocking, Jasper?”
He came in and shrugged.
I noticed he had washed as well.
“Do you want me to make a bed on the floor?”
I snorted trying to keep the laughter in. “You’re kidding, right?”
Again, the only answer I got was a shrug.
“Jasper, we have been sleeping beside each other for over a week now. Why in the world would you want to sleep on the floor when there’s a bed available?”
“There wasn’t much choice before. I was just making sure.”
“There’s not much choice now either. Come to bed. It’s like sleeping on a thousand little cotton ball.”
He laughed. “That sounds wonderful.” His voice was a little muffled as he pulled his shirt over his head.
He made his way to the other side of the bed, pulled back the covers, and stopped. He groaned.
“I had better sleep on the floor.”
I blushed, more than a little pleased with his reaction. “Don’t be stupid, now. Get into bed and pull the covers up. Then we can both pretend we’re sleeping in five layers of baggy clothing.”
“Both of us?”
“You have no idea how beautiful you are, do you?” I asked, my heart racing a little as I looked him over.
He laughed. “You must be tired. You’re starting to hallucinate.” He took one deep breath, let it out, then slipped into bed and pulled the covers up.
I was suddenly very aware of the fact that he was in bed with me, half naked and that I was wearing almost nothing at all.
I turned onto my side with my back toward him. “Goodnight, Jasper.”
“Goodnight.”
I lay there and listened to his steady breathing, trying to fall asleep. I had spent the last week sleeping with his arms wrapped around me and found that I was missing the security. Those arms were my blanket of protection, my guarantee that he wouldn’t let anything happen to me.
“Hayden.”
I jumped.
“I need to hold you.” Jasper stayed on his back.
“That’s good.” I scooted so that my back was against his side. “I don’t think I can sleep if you aren’t holding me.”
I sighed and relaxed as he turned, his legs fitting snugly against the back of mine. He put his arm around me and my hand found his automatically, our fingers lacing together. I felt the tension leave his body.
“That’s better,” he whispered. “Goodnight, Shlova .”
I felt him smile in my hair as we fell asleep holding each other.
The following morning I woke up feeling like I had been sleeping for days. The first thing I noticed was that Jasper was gone. I pushed down the panicky feeling.
“It’s ok. Everything is just fine,�
�� I told myself. I’d had two dreams during the night. I needed to tell Jasper about them.
I sat up and saw a platter with fruit, bread, and cheese. My stomach growled. I noticed a note tucked under the big plate.
My love,
I thought I had better let you sleep. There is a bath and soaps in the next room. I will be back shortly.
Jasper
I finished eating what I could of the food and then headed into the next room after I had pulled on my jeans and tank top. I didn’t want to run into Zane or Ben wearing nothing but the see through nightie.
The bath was deep and already full of hot water. I stripped and slid into the tub. The water smelled like flowers. When I was clean I lay with water up to my chin, enjoying the normalness of it.
A knock on the door broke up my daydreaming.
“Who is it?”
“It’s me. How does your bath feel?” My heart jumped at the sound of Jasper’s voice.
“Terrific. Actually, I think I’m done, but I can’t see a towel in here.”
He laughed. “Sorry. That’s my fault. I have it here. Do you want me to leave it just outside the door?”
Always the gentleman. I sighed. Here we should have been holed up in a cave somewhere and he still refused to peek. “Sure.”
“Ok. I’ll be in our room.”
My heart skipped again. Our room.
I stepped out of the tub and cracked the door open just enough to grab the towel. I dried my hair off then wrapped it around me, snuggling it up under my arms.
I looked at my clothes on the floor and threw them into the tub. I washed and rinsed them the best I could, wrung them out and headed to our room.
Jasper was laying on his stomach, head in his arms, his eyes completely covered.
I had to laugh.
“What’s funny?” he mumbled into the pillow.
“You, you’re gonna end up giving me a complex.” I hung my clothes up on the back of a chair.
“What do you mean?” Still in his arms.
“Well, here I’m supposed to be irresistible to you and all you should want is to be…you know...” I blushed. “And yet you won’t even attempt to sneak a peek when I’m anywhere near indecent. I might start thinking there’s something wrong with me.”
Crossover 'The Chosen One Trilogy: Book One' Page 8