Page 54

“I think I’m right. After all, Valians have a lot of strange names for vegetables and other things. Klopf,” I said with a scoffing laugh. “What a silly thing to call potatoes.”

He glanced over at me. “Yes po-tay-toes is a very serious name.”

“All right. I picked the wrong example.” I spun back to face forward. The two donkeys trotted along, but their big ears turned side to side frantically as if any noise or movement would cause them to bolt. The rough, rickety wagon we sat on would hardly survive a race through the forest at breakneck speed. I pushed the dreadful thought from my mind. As Raina liked to say, I found a way to worry about things that weren’t worrisome. It was true, unfortunately. The lack of good conversation allowed for worrying thoughts, so I tried a different subject other than the weather.

“Have you ever been on a road trip?” I asked him. “Oh wait. We need a snack. Very important for a successful road trip.” I got up, but realized that standing in the unwieldy wagon was a bit like standing on the deck of a boat in a big storm. I grabbed the edge of the seat and lowered myself over it to the back.

“You’re going to fall right off this wagon,” Revel admonished.

The wooden edge of the wagon pressed into my stomach as I flipped open the food basket. Raina’s dark sugar cookies were right on top. “Perfect.” I grabbed the parcel of cookies, shut the basket and pushed up to my feet. Right then, the wagon wheel hit a big rut. I fell sideways. With lightning reflexes, Revel snatched me before I tumbled out of the wagon. Forgetting his strength and my lack of size, he yanked too hard. I fell the opposite way and landed right in his lap.

An embarrassed blush covered my face as I peered up at him. He glowered down at me through dark lashes. His throat moved with a deep swallow. “Hope those cookies are worth it.”

“They are.” I quickly climbed off his lap and sat back down on the hard seat. “When I was in my last year of high school, a few friends and I decided to go on a road trip, a short one, just to the coast and back. It was a big deal because the girls who invited me were kind of a clique on their own, but they asked me along. I wasn’t very popular because I never fit in, and I guess I know why that is now. I wasn’t part of their world. That and I guess I was kind of weird and an introvert. Only I think that might have been because I didn’t fit in. It’s a crazy cycle, and I have no idea which came first, the chicken or the egg.” I shoved a cookie in my mouth to stop the stream of ridiculousness. I held up a cookie for him.

Revel took a bite. “Hmm, the cookies are good. Maybe not good enough to launch yourself off the wagon for, but I’d take another.” He held out his hand, and I placed two more cookies on it.

“Don’t you want to hear how the big harrowing road trip went?” I asked.

“How did the road trip go?”

“You need a little work on your enthusiasm,” I noted. “It didn’t go … at all. I was packed and primed and ready to step far out of my comfort zone for a zany road trip with friends, but Robyn, the only one of us with a driver’s license, snuck out with her boyfriend the night before our departure. She got caught and grounded, and the road trip was over before it started. Deep down, I think I was kind of relieved. Sorry the story wasn’t more exciting. I should have considered the dull ending before I started it.” I pressed my hand to my mouth. “Holy smokes, what is it about you that makes me just ramble on like a silly nut?” I sucked in a breath. “Oh, fudge and Twinkies … rain.” I looked at him. “We’re going to get wet.”

Revel surveyed the trees on both sides of the road, clucked his tongue loudly and turned the donkeys to the right. They pulled the wagon through a maze of trees so thick Revel and I had to duck away from branches. The air was cold and dense, and it was pitch dark like a moonless night in the desert. Then streaks of light dripped through the slim spaces between the canopy. I startled and scooted closer when thunder vibrated the forest.

“Easy,” Revel cooed to the frightened donkeys.

Thunder was followed by the deafening drumming of heavy rain on the tops of the trees. Cold drops began to make their way through the canopy.

“We’re close to a rain shelter.” Revel tugged on the reins, stopping our progress. The primitive vehicle seemed to sigh in relief as Revel hopped off the wagon. The drumming got louder and more cold rain poured through, but the trees were doing their part, acting like umbrellas, albeit umbrellas with holes.

Revel walked around to my side, and before I could attempt to climb down his big hands circled my waist, and he lifted me off the wagon. The drops were heavy and cold and were falling faster. The donkeys didn’t seem to mind, or they were just happy for a respite from the journey.

Revel took my hand, and we moved quickly through the thick trees along a path that had been purposely carved in the forest floor. I had to run to keep up with his fast pace. The rain fell harder, and the two of us ducked to avoid the onslaught. A three-sided shack had been wedged between two giant trees. It was crudely built and lopsided, but at that moment it was a sight for sore eyes. We were both plenty wet by the time we ducked inside the shelter.

Our laughter echoed softly off the crude plank walls. “Guess my five-second warning doesn’t help in a thunderstorm.” I laughed again and realized my road trip buddy was quiet. His gaze met mine, and for a brief second only our short breaths pinged off the walls. Mine came up even shorter as he moved a step closer. Water dripped off his long hair and trickled down his bare throat. I was no longer puffing out short, hot breaths. I wasn’t breathing at all.

“If this is a test, Odin, I’m fucking failing,” he muttered.

My throat was tight and dry as I gazed up at him and finally released the breath I’d been holding. “You talk to your god a lot.” My voice had a tremor that had nothing to do with the cold seeping into my bones, a cold that was somehow greatly eased standing so close to him.

“Only when I’m near you, Whisper. My noisy, incredible Whisper. You’re not a silly nut. You’re not weird or ridiculous. You, Raphael, are as rare as your bones.” He smiled. “Like a jewel that doesn’t belong anywhere. No place is good enough.” He pressed his hand on the side of my face, and his fingers wrapped around the back of my head as he pushed his mouth hard and urgently over mine.

I melted against him, and he wrapped his free arm around me to hold me closer. Heat coursed through my chest and belly and between my thighs. I could feel his muscles tense with an urgent need, an energy that would be impossible to stop if he gave way to it. And I had no desire to stop him.

His mouth devoured mine as his hand slid down to my ass. A low groan rolled up from his throat as he smoothed his palm over the round cheek. Keeping his hand there, he pulled me closer so the mound of my pussy pressed against his hard thigh. He pushed that leg forward, so I could straddle it. Instinctively, I rubbed against him. He used his hand on my ass to move me in hard fast circles. I couldn’t tell the difference between the damp from the rain and the wetness seeping between my legs. My fingers clutched tightly at his wet coat as I frantically moved against the pressure of his muscular leg. He yanked up the ends of my cloak and pressed his hand against my ass, again helping me keep the pressure and momentum going. That same hand slid down my ass and found its way between my thighs. His fingers massaged my crotch through the soft kidskin fabric. All the while his mouth and tongue devoured me.

My moans and mewls of appreciation sang around me as if they were coming from someone else’s throat. “Oh, Revel,” I said urgently against his mouth. I squeezed my legs around his thigh and writhed against him until I fell over the edge, splintering into a million tiny pieces. The waves of pleasure coursed through me for long enough that my knees went weak. But he held me. When the ecstasy subsided, I collapsed against him. He wrapped his arms around me. I pressed the side of my face against his chest. His heart pounded like a jackhammer against my cheek.

“Revel,” his name came out on a sigh. I peered up at him and was taken aback by the look in his eyes. It was a volatile mixture of passion and rage so intense I wasn’t sure how to react. A cracking noise, like a branch breaking, broke the steamy silence.

Revel dropped his arms briskly and glanced into the darkness. He surveyed the area, then turned back to me. “The rain’s stopped. Let’s go,” he said in that cold tone he’d used far too often. I’d made a mistake letting myself be vulnerable and intimate with him. Instantly, I bristled and chided myself for getting taken in by his charms.

Revel left the shelter, his broad shoulders taut with what I could only interpret as anger. I hurried after him and smacked his arm as hard as I could, but he hardly noticed.

“You bastard. What kind of games are you playing? One minute, you have me in your arms, and the next, you’re as cold and hard as stone.” My feet sunk into the muddy ground, and I nearly lost a boot. In the meantime, he marched resolutely on.

I pulled my boot free and ran after him again. My knuckles still stung from the last rap on his arm, so I tugged his wrist instead. “Is it because I didn’t—I didn’t return—” I was too damn prudish to say it out loud, which was comical considering that last few minutes. He kept walking. I grabbed his hand. “Revel! What the hell?”