Page 57 of The Tracker's Dawn: Sunderverse
“You haven’t said it yet.” He cocked his head to one side.
“I forgive you.”
He let out a big exhale as if he’d perform a very difficult task and was satisfied by a job well done. And I had to agree, he’d done a heckuva job. He had me the moment he mentioned that silly haircut.
“Hungry?” he asked, gesturing toward the food.
“I could eat.” I had other things in mind, but I didn’t need to get ahead of myself. Did I? Besides, I was enjoying this way too much.
Everything was absolutely delicious, and the desserts were arguably the best I’d ever had. Without a doubt, the food was from this realm, and I had to wonder how Jake had pulled this off. I decided not to ask, however, and to believe that he was as magical as the setting would have me believe.
I was savoring my last bite of cream tart when Jake set his spoon down, stood up, and offered me a hand. “Would you like to dance?”
“Dance?” I glanced around to indicate there was no music.
He smiled, retrieved his cell phone from his pocket, and brandished it in the air.
“Oh, that should do just fine.”
“There’s no signal, but the battery is charged up, and I downloaded our song.”
“Our song.” I frowned. “We have a song?”
He scrunched his face in exaggerated disappointment. “Of course, we have a song. You wound me.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. I did decide this was our song without consulting you, but I hope you’ll approve.” His fingers moved quickly over the screen andShape of Youby Ed Sheeran began to play. He slipped the phone back in his pocket and reached out a hand as the song played.
“Do you remember?” he asked, squeezing my fingers as he helped me out of my chair.
“I do.” At that spring break party two years ago, it was one of the songs we’d danced to.
He pulled me close, wrapping one hand around my waist, while, with the other, he held my left hand and brought it to his chest. We began swaying gently, following the music’s rhythm. The melody seemed to fill the clearing, encapsulating us in a bubble that no one else could pierce. I inhaled his fresh scent of pine and rain and rested my head on his firm chest. His heart was beating hard and fast, and his breath was agitated, tickling my hair as it blew past his lips. The song had an upbeat rhythm, but we kept our dance slow and quiet.
As we moved in circles, I forgot everything else and pretended there was nothing else outside this space, outside of us. If any troubles lay beyond this clearing, they disappeared.
When the song ended, Jake gestured toward a cobbled path that lay to the right.
“What is that way?” I asked.
“You’ll see.”
Hand in hand, we walked under the cover of trees down the meandering path. The stroll was idyllic, the beauty that surrounded us, unlike anything we could experience back in our realm. Around a sharp bend, we crossed in front of a tall hedge, and when we came out on the other side, a small cottage built of stone and illuminated from within in the warm glow welcomed us.
The place was small, no bigger than a garden shed, but it was absolutely sublime. It had a cedar-shingled roof with a circular door in the middle and matching windows to either side of it. Flowerbeds overflowed with beautiful plants I had no name for.
We walked closer, and I had to remind myself to breathe. My heart was beating so fast that I might as well have been running at full speed on a treadmill.
Jake threw the door open and, without preamble, lifted me off my feet and cradled me against his chest. He crossed the threshold with me in his arms. He had to duck and be careful not to knock his head on the door frame. Once inside, he used his foot to shut the door and stood in the middle of the space without putting me down.
I glanced around at the simple, yet beautiful, space. There was a fireplace to the left and a few logs burning to embers—not a full fire, it wasn’t cold enough for that—but just the perfect amount to create a warm atmosphere. Candles burned in different corners, resting on rocks that protruded from the walls like specially-made ledges for that very purpose.
Across from the fireplace was a sitting area with two armchairs and a table topped by a bouquet of aromatic, purple flowers. And in the back of the room, right in the middle, there was a bed with a headboard carved in rough wood and a cover of the purest white.
At last, Jake set me down. He seemed to quiver as he deposited my feet gently on the stone floor. I turned to face him, searching his face, drinking in every emotion that swam in his clear eyes. Everything I was feeling was reflected back at me. Incredulity that we were finally here, fear for what was to come, unbound desire, but most of all... love.
His large hand reached for my face. He caressed my cheekbone with his thumb, never breaking eye contact. His lips parted and he leaned forward. That first kiss was gentle, tentative. Slowly, it deepened, his movements becoming more insistent, his breaths coming faster. His tongue slipped into my mouth. I moaned and threw my head back as a jolt of want shot to my center. His lips abandoned mine and traveled down the column of my neck, trailing kisses, biting slightly, licking a feverish path to my collarbone.
