140 Words youve waited to hear (1/2)

CHAPTER 47: Words you've waited to hear

Jos's eyes felt heavy and the jarring no matter how light was causing her to be nauseous. She struggled, but finally managed to get her eyes open. Dark tattoos poked out from beneath the V-neck of the stretched material of a black tee. Her eyes had barely registered the base of a well-maintained beard before it was coming closer to her face and firm but gentle lips were crashing against her mouth. She pressed her palm against the massive chest. ”Arei?” She asked, her throat burned, and her words were raspy and broken.

”Yes, kitten. How are you feeling? Do you think you could stand getting into the water right now?” Arei asked, worry was written all over the lines of his face and the firmness of his hold on her; but his smile was warm.

Jos didn't have time to answer him as Raven rushed forward and began shooting off her own questions. She tried her best to answer but found three mere words were her limits. Raven had opened her bedroom door for them but hadn't come in... neither had anyone else.

Jos laid on the bed watching as Arei built the fire before returning to her side and sitting on the edge of the bed. He didn't say anything at first, instead, he simply brushed a few stray hairs from her face. Her eyes closed as the touch brought back memories. This had been something he did frequently, an act Ry had never done. She let out a heavy sigh. ”Stop.” She waited until his hand dropped from her face before she opened her eyes. He was still sitting on the bed, but his hand was rested against the sheets now.

They held each other's gazes for a long while before Arei finally decided to break the silence. ”I'm sorry. The last 48 hours have been hell, on all of us.”

Her eyes shot open as memories from the beach stormed back to her. ”Russ?!” Her eyes shot around the empty room before finding his troubled gaze again.

Arei clasped her hand, ”He's being checked out by the doctor as we speak. He was out for most of yesterday but woke up and is now fully healed. I'm sure he'll be in to see you soon.” Arei released her hand and hooked his finger under her chin preventing her from being able to look away. ”There are several people in this house who care about you, who love you. I promise my kiss won't be the last of the night, though you may not get as many quite as passionate... For that I apologize.” He released her chin and ran his hand over his pulled back hair. ”I'm not going to pretend seeing you like that yesterday didn't bring up some pretty intense emotions within me, but I want you to know right here, right now I'll never force myself on you past anything you're comfortable with. We will be spending an exurban amount of time together over the weeks to come, maybe longer. So hopefully you can at the very least call me friend.”

His lips curved up in a smile. ”I agree being your friend will surely test my will power, but I could make it through six straight months of your torture I'm sure this will be a walk in the park. Unless you're planning on doing other things to provoke me.” He teased.

She shook her head as she felt her cheeks redden. ”I can't believe you remember that...” Her words trailed off and her gaze held his more steadily, question heavy in her expression. ”So those last six months were definitely all you? Exactly how much of my time was spent with you and how much of it was with Ry?”

Arei frowned. ”I'd hoped by now you wouldn't even have to ask.”

Jos tilted her head to one side. ”I'm fairly sure but humor me.”

Arei sighed, ”Well it's a pretty long story.” He pushed up from the bed and walked over to the seating area. He pulled one of the armchairs back over to face the bed. Sitting and leaning back, he crossed his legs at the ankles and tapped his index fingers together in thought. ”Let's see, I guess starting from the beginning. The first time I met you, was in the bar the night before our actual meeting. You were in the middle of that bar and I walked right past you. Our eyes met and I held them for a moment but pushed any thought of you out of my head because of your 'age'. I was in horse form the entire next day, until you attacked me.”

Jos's cheeks reddened. ”But you shifted and spent the night with me?”

Arei nodded. ”Ry was upset, and I couldn't be sure you would be safe with him. So I sent him back to the village. I'd planned on staying longer, but I got orders from the gods the very next day.” He stroked his chin. ”Come to think of it, there was an old man... He was probably a spy if not a god himself... anyways... It was some time before I was able to come back. The war lasted nearly two and a half years. The only time I was able to spend a good amount of time with you other than the last six months was-”

She cut him off with her own answer. ”Six months before that? It was nearly a month?”