Crossover 'The Chosen One Trilogy: Book One' (7 page)

“Oh. Good.” I rubbed his
ear.

Jasper brought my saddle over and put
it on Dodge. “He is wondering if you would mind going without a
bridle.” He held it out to me, giving me the option to put it on or
not.

“Of course not! I wish I had known you
understood like this before. I feel horrible!” I stuffed the bridle
into my saddle bags.

Dodge shook his mane and nudged me with
his nose.

“He said not to worry about
it.”

I swung up into the saddle and Jasper
put a hand on my knee. “Ready?” he asked.

I looked down into his eyes, looking
for the courage I needed to say yes. He smiled when I finally
nodded.

This is turning out to be one hell of a
dream, I thought. Might as well see where it goes.

We traveled at a walk, stopping only
once to have some lunch.

I felt like a teenager with her first
high school crush. My eyes were forever stealing glances at Jasper
as we walked and I would blush when he caught me looking. My heart
would jump in my chest when I would look down at him and catch him
looking at me as well. But under all of the heart flipping and
breath catching there was another, more primal feeling I hadn’t
felt in a long time. I was definitely not a teenager, and my body
was aching to have Jasper take care of a need I hadn’t had
satisfied in over a year.

We made it to the base of the mountain
just as the sun was starting to set.

I unsaddled Dodge and gave him a pat.
“Thanks, buddy.”

He bobbed his head.

“Are you leaving again?” I tried not to
laugh as he looked to where Jasper was making a fire. “I don’t
think he’ll try anything. That is a man with one amazing sense of
duty!”

Dodge snorted.

“Go,” I said. “Be a horse! I’ll see you
in the morning.”

He nuzzled my face goodbye and then
trotted off into the woods.

“What was that about?” Jasper asked,
standing directly behind me. I nearly jumped out of my
skin.

“Shit! How do you do that?”

He grinned. “Sorry.” He started untying
the blankets.

“Here, I’ll get those.” I grabbed them
and quickly looked up at Jasper as my fingers touched his. His eyes
were wide. I looked away and concentrated on setting the blankets a
short distance from the fire.

“I wish Dodge would have waited. Can
you stand being alone for a minute?”

My head snapped up. “Why?”

“I just thought you might want some
supper.”

My stomach answered for me.

“I’ll be right back.” And with that, he
was gone.

I busied myself finding more fire wood.
I didn’t want to think about what might be lurking out there. When
I had a decent pile stacked nicely I went to sit on the blanket and
waited.

“Hayden, it’s just me.”

I exhaled, not realizing I had been
holding my breath.

He pulled a rabbit out from behind his
back. “Supper.” He presented it with a smile. He sat and skinned it
for me then placed it over the fire on sticks. “I’ll be right
back.” He sprinted away into the woods again.

I looked after him and waited for him
to get back again, wondering what he had gone off to do. I tried to
keep the nervousness from taking a hold of me. Surely he wouldn’t
leave me alone if there was any danger.

I checked the rabbit. It seemed done,
but I waited a few more minutes just to make sure.

My reasoning about immediate dangers
started to fade with time and I was getting more than a little
nervous that Jasper hadn’t come back. “Crap!” The rabbit was
turning black. “I guess it’s done now!” I mumbled to myself and
pulled it off the sticks to let it cool down.

I took a piece off and was pleasantly
surprised. It wasn’t half bad. I looked up as Jasper walked back
into camp. I forced myself to swallow.

The firelight glistened off of his wet
bare chest. His dark hair looked black. He hung his shirt up on a
branch to dry, then shook his head like a dog, water flying in all
directions.

I couldn’t stop staring.

“Is everything ok?”

I nodded and made myself take another
bite and looked into the fire. It was either that or make a fool of
myself. I held the rabbit out to him.

“Thanks.” He tore a leg off. “Are you
sure you’re ok?” He kept looking at me.

I nodded and chanced a look sideways at
him. “How’s your side and your shoulder?”

He shrugged. “Fine.”

“Do you think I could go to the creek
and... clean up?” What I should have said was cool down. Good lord,
was it possible he didn’t know what he was doing to me?

“Sure. Just let me know when you’re
ready.”

“I’m ready.”

He looked like he was going to ask if I
was ok again, but stopped. “Alright then.” He led the way down a
little hill. The creek was clear. “Keep coming. It runs into the
lake up ahead.”

When we got there, he turned to
leave.

“Wait!” Suddenly, the thought of being
alone was very unnerving. “Stay. Please. Maybe you could just... I
don’t know.” I was glad it was fairly dark because I knew my face
was beet red. “Just turn around?”

He walked to the log I had pointed to
and sat facing the forest. “Like this?” He glanced back,
grinning.

“Yes. Thank you.” I waited for him to
turn back around and then quickly stepped out of my clothes. I
walked to the edge of the water and dipped my foot in. It was warm.
I kept going until I had to swim and ducked my head
under.

Where’s a shampoo bottle when you need
it?

I started to swim back towards the
shore. When I looked up I was a little surprised to see Jasper
sitting exactly like he had been when I had gone in.

I shook my head at myself. I can’t
believe you wanted him to peek!

I used my sweater to dry off and pulled
my jeans and tank top on. I combed my hair with my fingers as best
as I could.

“Ok. I’m done.”

He turned and came back towards me.
“Ready to go back?”

I shook my head. “No. This is
beautiful!” It was dark now and the moons were full. I blinked.
There were two moons. A normal sized one and a slightly smaller one
that was partially hidden behind the first. The reflection in the
lake was breathtaking and the blue tinged trees around the edge
looked more of a deep purple. I sat on the sand to admire the
view.

Jasper sat down.

“I have more questions.” I glanced at
him.

He nodded and waited.

“What is it exactly that I am supposed
to do? And none of this ‘I can’t tell you’ crap.”

He grinned. “We’re not sure actually.
Legends had it that a baby girl would be found abandoned in the
Wedelven Woods. This girl would have powers beyond belief. It is
also said that the dark king Damian would use this girl to destroy
the good queen, but that it was possible to change the outcome of
this future. When the Wedelves found you, they sent you from this
world to keep you safe. It was told that when you were ready, you
would find your way back. The legends don’t specify much after
that. All we know is that you are important and I will do
everything in my power to keep you safe.”

The change in his voice as he said
those last words made me look up in surprise. The pain was back in
his eyes.

“You are a Namael.”

“Yes.”

“I am a....” It occurred to me that I
still didn’t know. “I guess we don’t know what I am, do
we?”

“Well, after yesterday, I think it’s
safe to say you are a sorceress.”

“I am a sorceress.” It sounded weird.
“Can there be a Namael that is a sorceress?

He nodded.

“Could I be a Namael?”

“I suppose you could be. I could check
for the mark if you want.”

“What mark?”

“All Namaels are born with a mark. It
is a perfectly straight line, just behind your ear. Would you like
me to look?”

I nodded.

He moved behind me on his knees and
gently brushed the hair back from my neck and pulled my ear forward
a bit. Not finding anything there, he moved on to the other side.
My skin tingled at his touch.

“Nope. Nothing. So you’re not a Maj,
either. They have a crescent mark.” He sat back down beside me.
“The dogs,” he explained. “My guess is you are human.”

“Well, that’s no fun.”

He laughed.

“Ok. So back to my train of thought.
I’m not a Namael. Beings are only fated to their own
kind.”

“Yes.”

“And you know you are fated to someone
because you dream of them.”

“Yes.” He was starting to look a bit
confused as he confirmed my statements.

“I have never dreamed of you.” I took
his hands in mine. His eyes were so sad. “What I mean is, you can
stop being so upset. You don’t have to deny being with the one you
are fated with because I’m not her.”

Understanding crept into his eyes. “It
doesn’t make sense,” he whispered. “Why have I been dreaming of
you?” He shifted so that he was kneeling in front of me, his hands
still in mine.

“I don’t know why. But even you just
said it. There is no way that we can be fated.”

He was quiet as he looked into my
eyes.

I put my hands up on his chest. Goose
bumps appeared under my fingers and he jerked a little at the
touch. “Right?”

He looked a little unsure about what I
wanted, but gave a small nod.

“Then there’s no reason why I can’t do
this,” I muttered as I stretched up and touched my lips to
his.

Jasper’s eyes widened in
surprise.

I laced my fingers behind his head,
scared he was going to pull away. I didn’t need to worry. He
groaned and pulled me tighter against him, wrapping his arms around
me.

I couldn’t think of anything else but
the feel of his body against mine. He felt as solid as stone, his
arms hugging me to his chest. That’s when I saw a flash. But that
didn’t make sense because my eyes were closed. There was another
flash.

My eyes flew open and I pulled back a
bit. Jasper ran his lips along my jaw line then back to my mouth.
This time it was my turn to moan. The instant I closed my eyes
there was a flash.

One of his arms let go of me and
reached past me so he could lay me on the sand. He lay on one
elbow, his other hand on my waist.

He ran his tongue against my bottom lip
and a flash came and stayed.

I gasped.

“I’m sorry.” Jasper started to pull
away. “I don’t know what-“

”No!” I threw myself at him again,
wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling him down on me. The
instant our lips touched the flashes started. Over and over.
Picture after picture flashed through my head.

The kiss slowed, became softer. Jasper
groaned and buried his face in my hair. “What have I done?” he
whispered.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.” I tried
to catch my breath. “You didn’t do anything! I kissed you
first!”

He had seen the flashes in my head as I
had seen the ones in his. Flashes of me in his dreams. Flashes of
him in dreams I didn’t remember. Until now.

Chapter 3

When Dodge walked into camp the next
morning he found us sitting cross legged facing each other holding
hands. We couldn’t stop looking at each other. Jasper answered
another of my million questions about Quelondain.

Dodge stopped short, his head coming up
in surprise.

Jasper looked up at him, embarrassment
and guilt radiating from every pore of his perfect body.

“It was my fault,” he said. “I couldn’t
stop it.”

Dodge stamped his foot.

I turned to glare at my horse. “Now,
don’t you start with him. I’ve never seen a person feel so horrible
about finding the one he’s supposed to be with.” Not that I had
ever had the pleasure of witnessing such a event before last night.
But I was sure most people would have been a bit
happier.

Jasper’s head turned back towards me,
his eyes wide.

I continued talking to Dodge. “I kissed
him first. He was being a perfect gentleman. If you want to be mad
at someone, be mad at me!”

I turned back towards Jasper. “That
brings me to another question. Why are you upset about
this?”

He brought my hands to his lips and
kissed my knuckles. “I’m not upset. How could I be?” He smiled at
me and I caught my breath. “I’ve finally found you.”

“Oh!” My eyes got wide with
surprise.

“What’s wrong?”

That’s when I realized I could see
colors floating through the air. They looked like waves. I let go
of Jasper’s hands.