Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 83933 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83933 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
I gaped at Jasher. “You can’t be serious.”
“I am deadly serious.”
We stood in the same clearing as last night, where we’d stared at the stars and enjoyed a private moment of connection. This morning, Patch and Leona sat off to the side, eager to be entertained by my first self-defense lesson.
Nugget hunted a snack nearby, ensuring Patch’s warning constantly clanged inside my head. If he made a kill and turned on his mother…if I had to hurt him to protect myself…
Nope. Not happening. What constituted a kill, anyway? Surely not a rodent he intended to eat. Maybe a person who irritated him. I just had to make sure he kept his cool, and we’d all be fine.
Besides, a survivalist like Jasher would never agree to travel with a rabdog that might morph into a murder machine. But come on! Could I not go one day in this world without having a bombshell dropped on me?
“Moriah,” Jasher grated, snagging my attention. “I know you’re upset about your pet, but worrying won’t do any of us any good. There’s a chance he’ll defy expectation. I have. Now take the serpens-rosa and punch me.”
Bright sunlight glistened on the tiny grain I held in my uninjured palm. “I shouldn’t.” Couldn’t. “You told me this wasn’t for sale.”
“I didn’t sell it to you, I gave it.”
Yes, but I didn’t know why. Or why the frustrating man refused to start the lesson until I took it. “My dad needs it more than I do.” Daniel Shaker might not be my biological father, but he was still my dad, and I would do anything, suffer anything, for his health. Though, yes, the temptation to heal was great. Down the hatch, and all my aches and pains would go away.
Jasher’s features softened the slightest bit. “I’ll bargain for more when we reach Lux. If no one bites, I’ll make some. You’ll have to stay a few days longer, since the concoction must steep, but you won’t return empty-handed.”
He made it sound so easy. “You told me acquiring serpens-rosa is exceptionally difficult.”
“It is.” He rolled his shoulders, preparing for my attack. “But it’s not impossible.”
“I…no. My dad might not have extra days.”
Jasher snapped his teeth at me. “Take the grain, Moriah, or I’ll leave our tagalongs behind.”
“You wouldn’t.” The gals might not be my friends, but they couldn’t survive this forest without him. No one could.
“Try me.”
“How dare you!” Leona called. Her favorite phrase. “They are my tagalongs.”
“Kiss already.” Patch covered her eyes and peeked through her fingers. “The sexual tension is too much for my young sensibilities.”
Jasher bent to put his nose level with mine. “If you can’t trust me to keep my word, I have no business traveling with you.”
Dang him! He just had to go and deliver a great point, didn’t he? The fact that I suddenly wished to gift him with the compass before we reached our destination only added weight to his claim. Not to mention my unceasing—and growing—desire to do as Patch suggested and kiss him.
“This isn’t life or death. I can learn with a bum hand.”
Anger crackled in his expression, his ferocity a rival to his intensity. “I hate seeing you in pain. So take the serpens-rosa, put me out of my misery, and punch me.”
Oh! His admission stole my good sense. I teetered on the brink of caving and tried one last time to win the argument. “According to your own admission, I’m your boss. My pain shouldn’t matter to you.” There was no way he’d admit he had deep, meaningful feelings for me. Because he didn’t. Right? “Why does this matter so much to you?”
“Because,” he snapped. “Enough questions. I won’t train you while you’re injured. That is a matter of life and death.”
“Why?” I insisted.
“Because.” He snarled this time, baring those straight, white teeth. “Take the grain because I’m your guide, I know best, and I won’t take you farther if you refuse.”
“You’re stubborn,” I complained.
“Thank you for noticing. You won’t win this, so stop wasting time.”
“Fine! I’ll do it. But I expect you to replenish my supply, as promised.” I popped the speck into my mouth and swallowed before I could talk myself out of it.
Patch and Leona cheered for his victory.
His anger evaporated, replaced by frothing hunger. Just a flash of it, but a flash was enough to make my pulse race. “That’s my good girl.” Desire tinged his tone.
Tremors rocked me. “Yours?”
He stepped closer, his pupils spilling over his sunset irises. “Mine today, tomorrow, and every day we are together.”
I lost my breath.
“Are you finally gonna kiss?” Patch cackled with humor.
“Kiss, kiss, kiss,” Leona chanted.
Jasher huffed. “I might leave them behind anyway.”
“I might let you,” I grumbled. Our first kiss, if ever it happened, wouldn’t be witnessed by an audience. I—whoa! A wild, effervescent sensation rushed through my veins, and I swayed on my feet. Though Patch’s serpens-rosa had rolled in with subtlety, Jasher’s crashed in with engines roaring at full power. Nothing had ever felt so amazing!