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Chapter Twenty-Two
Jasper
Ediestretchedlanguorouslyinthe crown of Old Pine.Her soft, naked body was framed by jagged branches and bright green pine needles.Her eyes were closed, her mouth open, her skin flushed into the most gorgeous shade of amber.The golden curls of her hair danced in the breeze as the tree swayed under her weight.Despite the perilous fall below her, Edie was languid and dreamy.
Her eyes fluttered open.Her pupils were blown black, my own need and hunger reflected in the onyx of her gaze.“Come to me, Jasper,” she said.
I could feel the wind of a hot storm behind me, smell the ozone that precluded lightning.The moon was rising, spilling silver over the valley, giving me enough light to see the sheer cliff face beneath me.The trunk of the tree was craggy and unsteady under my bare feet as I edged out toward her.
Edie pushed herself up to her elbows.The movement made her breasts sway in a way that made saliva pool in my mouth.“Are you coming?”
I looked down, which was a mistake.The warped trunk was a thin plank of wood between me and a long fall to the rocks below.My feet were gripped like talons around the bark.It took everything I had to unclench one enough to take a step forward.
“Jasper,” she said, annoyance warring with arousal in her tone.“I won’t wait forever.”
I glanced up.She had her hand between her legs, spreading her wetness like honey.A light rain began to fall, the drops steaming against her skin.
I stuttered through three more steps, which didn’t seem to bring me any closer to her.Then a sharp breeze came up behind me, making the pine needles rattle and the trunk sway.While I crouched, clung, Edie rode the wave with a moan of pleasure.
The tree groaned and rocked.I heard some rocks tumble down the cliffside, as if the roots that locked the tree into its precarious perch were loosening.“We have to go back,” I gasped.The wind had grown stronger, so strong that I wasn’t sure I could make my way back in the face of it.“Edie, we have to go back.”
She was pumping two fingers into herself now, her breasts quivering with the effort.“I don’t want to do this without you,” she begged.“Please, Jasper.I need you.”
The rain was pouring now, streaming into my eyes and eroding my grip on the tree.“I’m coming,” I insisted.“Just wait.Just wait for me.”
Instead, she came, and the force of it shook the world.
I jerked awake.Panting, freezing, hard as a fucking rock.I’d tossed off my blanket as I’d writhed.Rain pattered against my windowsill, filling the room with the scent of the wilderness.
In her cabin, Edie was probably twisting in her sheets, still caught in the throes of the dream.I gripped my cock and stroked, losing myself in a fantasy of waking her up with my mouth.Imagining the scent of her, her flavor on my tongue, quickly brought me to orgasm.
In the aftermath, I splayed on my bed, too enervated to retrieve my blanket from the floor.The images from the dream were still burned on my mind.Edie, begging for me.Is that how she felt?That certainly wasn’t how she was acting.Since the night we’d walked through the reflection garden, she’d maintained a polite distance.It scraped at me more than it would have if she’d raged or cried.I knew she was my mate, I knew it.All the lore said that she had to be feeling our separation like an open wound, just as I was.But some part of me wondered if maybe, just maybe, her feelings weren’t as intense as mine.
I could ask her, of course.I would just have to tell her we were fated to be together, and that she was stuck with me for life.It hurt that she could suppress her emotions so effectively.How much more would it hurt if I bared my heart to her, and she still left?
I glanced at my bedside clock and groaned.Our monthly backcountry camping trip was starting today, and there were not enough hours left before my alarm would go off.I had to get up absurdly early to prep.The trip was hugely popular, and hugely profitable.The exorbitant fee we charged to take some greenhorns out to camp in the high country almost made up for the logistical nightmare.
Since I was up, I unplugged my phone and checked my weather app.The rain was supposed to stop before morning.I hoped the paths wouldn’t be too muddy for the first run of pack horses.Dylan and Flint were on the advance team: it was their job to set up the yurts and temporary bathrooms for our guests.I moved on to my email and, despite the hour, started typing out a reply to a last minute request.Within ten minutes, I was sitting up with the light on with my laptop on my lap.
I was still working forty-five minutes later when my phone lit up with a notification.It was from Micah.
U up?*winky face emoji*
lose my number, I replied.
There was a soft knock on my front door.“Crap,” I said, tossing back the covers and throwing on the first clothes that came to hand.I didn’t bother turning on any lights as I came down from the loft, crossed the living room, and opened the door.
“Sup,” Micah said.He was wearing a denim jacket lined with shearling turned up to his chin, his wet hair plastered to his forehead.His horse Monkey was under the eave with her reins casually tossed over the porch rail.
“I don’t know, what is up?”I said, leaning on the doorway.
“I saw your light.I thought we didn’t need to be at the Lodge ’til six.”
I couldn’t sleep,“ I said tersely.I checked my watch, which I’d forgotten to take off before I went to bed.“I have to get ready soon.”
“Cool.”He stretched, rolling his head from side to side.“Should be a beautiful day.”
“It’s raining.”
