Page 8 of Cimmerian

Jasper hummed lightly, the noise shaking against my ribs. “Regret what, baby?”

“This. Me. All of this bullshit we have to put up with. Don’t you wish you could ever go back in time?” I didn’t know where my fears were coming from. The darkness maybe. The horrible awful chill I couldn’t shake, and the sensation I had missed a giant sign saying “Turn back now.”

In the blink of an eye, Jasper was sitting up, pulling me into his lap. His warm honey gaze was dark in the dim light, but I could feel him better than I could see him. He pulled my hand to his chest, placing it flat against the bone and muscle. “Do you feel that, Ava? Do you feel how it beats in time with your own?” He brushed his fingers down my cheek, pulling me in for a deep kiss. “Do you hear the way your soul calls out for mine?” he murmured against my lips, vibrations ricocheting through my entire body.

“Yes,” I thought, pushing the word out toward Jasper, toward his soul I could see and feel as clearly as my own. “Yes.”

Jasper laced his fingers through my hair, crushing my lips against his once more. “There’s no going back from this, baby. From us. From you. I don’t regret a single moment that brought you to me.”

“I know.” I didn’t want to go back either. And if it had been a mistake that brought Jasper into my life, I didn’t want to know reality. I only wanted to feel Jasper’s skin against my skin and hear the low timbre of his voice in my mind forever.

Jasper’s groan broke the silence between us, and he pulled away to give me a crooked grin. “I love you.”

And in my head, I could hear the echo of the words he spoke aloud. “I love you.”

The words weren’t enough. I needed to feel it, to have his skin seared onto mine for all eternity. The mark wasn’t enough. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Jasper’s body pressed against mine, our souls moving fluidly as one. I clawed at his damp shirt, too much fabric between us for my liking. I wanted to see every inch of Jasper’s thickly muscled body, his smooth skin. Every part of his being was mine -- body and soul.

“Ava.” Jasper stilled my hands with his own. “What’s wrong?”

I shook my head. “Please, no talking. I need you to touch me.”

In the grey light, Jasper smirked. “I can do that, baby.” He pushed me back slightly, so he could pull his shirt over his head, leaving his godlike chest exposed to me. I bent, kissing his neck and dragging my tongue down every muscle and piece of bone. His groan was quiet against the raging storm outside the thin walls of the tent.

He sat up, pulling my shirt over my head with no words. Jasper tipped his head toward me, taking a nipple into his mouth and sucking on it hard.Shit. He moved his other hand toward my free breast, tweaking and rolling the hard bud between his deft fingers. I swung my leg over his hip, pulling my pants off, desperate to expose myself to Jasper’s hungry eyes. Jasper took the opportunity to tug his pants down, kicking them into a puddle of rain that had seeped into the corner of the tent.

I laughed. “Your pants are going to be soaked.”

Jasper grinned, taking my face between his hands and kissing me. “No talking,” he whispered. “And I don’t give a shit.”

I leaned closer to kiss him again, my tongue swirling against his own, drawing out soft moans from both of us. I raised my hips, positioning Jasper’s cock at the entrance to my soaking, waiting pussy. I sank back, taking his thick length inch by inch. I cried out softly, and Jasper cursed under his breath, pressing his hands into my hips. I wasn’t about to let him take control.

Perfectly stretched, and whole once more, I began to move, rolling my hips against Jasper. I circled to take him in deeper, his eyes locked onto mine. This was all there was -- Jasper inside me, and the feeling of absolute pleasure beginning to take hold as I ground my clit against him.

Jasper began to lift his hips to meet my urgent pace, tipping into me to press against my swollen clit each time. “Ava,” he whispered, and I could feel him start to spiral out of control underneath me, as I rode him.

“Shh. No talking. Just feel.” I arched my back, driving myself quicker toward the edge of bliss. Jasper gripped my hips, slamming me down hard on his cock, and I cried out, trembling around him as I came. He shook inside of me, whispering my name like a prayer as he released alongside me.

I collapsed on top of his body. Jasper chuckled, the sound shaking my body where I lay. “Who would’ve thought my sweet little Ava Green wanted to take control in the bedroom?”

I rolled my eyes, pushing off him to pull my clothes back on. “Shut up. And this is a tent, not a bedroom.”

He pulled me back to him, pressing a kiss against my forehead. “I love you.”

“I know,” I replied, exhaustion threatening to take over.

I pulled my clothes back on, not wanting to wake up cold, and then I curled against Jasper’s chest, my favourite place to be. He swung a strong arm over my body, tugging me closer. “Sleep, Ava. I’ll watch over you.”

I wanted to stay awake. But the steady rhythm of Jasper’s heartbeat and the rain lulled me into a false security.

I woke up with a gasp the next morning, Jasper still clutching me tightly. The rain had slowed to a steady drip against the roof, and the night just barely still dark. The grey light of dawn was fast approaching, but my eyes still needed a moment to adjust. The remnants of the dream hovered on my tongue, and I clawed at it, desperate to remember.

“Show me how you summoned the storm, Ava.” The same dream I had before, that night in my apartment. So similar to the storm we had been in when we made camp the evening before, appearing out of nowhere. But why the hell would I have anything to do with summoning it? That was an insane thought. “Show me how…”

“Utterly insane,” I muttered to myself, suddenly feeling claustrophobic in our tiny tent. I shoved away from Jasper’s hard body, needing a moment to breathe. I rolled away, only to find myself staring at a pair of shiny black combat boots. I should’ve fucking known. Or maybe we all had known.Monica.

* * *

My mother crouched over me in an outfit that looked no worse for the wear despite all the time she would have spent on the run. Her hair was in a tight braid similar to my own, and she grasped a gleaming blade in each of her hands.

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