Bright, golden hair. Blue, blue eyes. His soft smile and blushing cheeks.
Have any other seen those cheeks light so?
It’s a proprietorial notion, desiring that hue to belong to me and me alone. But Jasper is meant to be mine. I know it the same way I know the sun will rise every day and the stars will return at night. He was made for me. Or me for him. I’m meant to cherish him. I’m sure of it.
He leaves in only two days. It’s a temporary absence, I know. But I ache with it all the same.
I return to the creek once it’s dark, waiting, hoping. My heart lifts when a shadow moves over the top of the hill to the east.
Jasper wastes no time in rushing toward me. His teeth gleam in the starlight as he grins, a bundle in his hands that he quickly drops to the earth. He all but leaps forward, his mouth pressing to mine without a word spoken between us. We go stumbling, my arms around him helping to steady us. Jasper utters a quick apology against my lips, but the smile in his kiss never wavers.
Shifting my hands to his hair, I grasp the short strands, my soul settling at his proximity even as my body burns. Jasper allows me to tilt his head, a gasp leaving his lips as I drop my mouth to the pale skin of his throat. His grip on me tightens, body swaying, his voice but a whisper.
“Abraham.”
“Yes?”
“You make me dizzy.”
With a soft groan, I map a path up Jasper’s throat to his lips. I kiss him once, twice, before stepping back. “Then let us sit.”
Jasper settles in front of me on the grass, his knees close enough to brush mine. He clears his throat before reaching for the bundle he dropped and handing it over. “For you.”
By the shape of it, I can tell it’s more food. “Thank you,” I tell him earnestly, feeling spoiled by Jasper’s care. I set the bundle at my side and grab the empty sack I brought with me. “Yours.”
He laughs quietly, accepting it, placing the sack beside himself. His hand finds my knee, but he retracts it quickly, as if startled by his own boldness or perhaps the feel of my skin. I reach for him slowly, giving him time to pull away. He never does.
Taking hold of his hand, I draw it between us, keeping it tangled with my own as a small animal rustles in the brush somewhere off to our right.
“I no longer wish to go.” Jasper’s voice is soft, but it holds an edge of panic.
“To the countryside?”
He nods. “I always enjoy visiting my aunt. But this time… This time, I am leaving you behind. And I hate it.”
I bring his hand up, kissing his knuckles. “Only for a while. I’ll be here when you return.”
“Abraham…” Whatever it is he has to say, he seems to hesitate over it. “Are you able to read?”
Ah.
“No,” I admit. “I was never taught.”
He doesn’t seem surprised by this. “I could teach you. If you’d like.”
“I would like that very much,” I say, my throat tight. “Thank you.”
He nods, his fingers brushing against my own. Playing, almost. “If I write to you…while I’m away… Would you let me read you my letters?”
“You don’t need to go through the hassle,” I tell him, not wanting him to worry over me when he should be enjoying his trip.
His fingers tighten on mine. “You don’t understand. I must. Because when I see you again, I will surely forget everything I thought of you in my absence, and I don’t want to let a single recollection go missing. I want to write them all down, and I want to share them with you.”
My breath aches in my lungs.
I have no doubt Jasper Sinclair will bring about my destruction.
“I would be honored, Jasper. To hear your letters.”
