The Urbem (Completed)

Chapter Fourty: Undisclosed Desires

(Nephele)

It was almost a good two days later when Dimitri finally returned with Athena. He rode into camp like he was king of the world, straddling the horse like he was some sort of royalty and accepted the praise for making the link like he was a god. He was a stupid, ignorant man and I don't know why I bothered rescuing him.

'Because you like him,' said Imara matter-of-factly, 'and you can't take your eyes off him.' I folded my arms across my chest childishly.

"Nyet, be quiet you overgrown cat." Imara's deep laugh resounded in my head.

'Has someone gone soft on me? Is someone having feelings...' He paused dramatically, 'For a male?' I glared at the huge lazy liger that was looking at me, a slight amused expression on his face and prodded his big black nose.

"If you carry on," I threatened, "I'll put you on a leash... And I'm not kidding, da?"

'Oh, Nephele, you can be quite dramatic,' he said, 'but not to worry; now that he's linked with his animal, I pretty much know how he feels about you as well through her.'

"I don't care," I snapped, pushing his huge head away from mine. Imara just laughed and left me to fester... I didn't care what Dimitri thought of me. Did I? Why should I care what that thick-headed mongoose of a man thought? Why does it matter if he liked me? It wasn't fair how he could just wander in and instantly get my attention without me wanting to beat the crap out of him just for being a man... It wasn't fair how his voice made me want to pay attention... It definitely wasn't fair that his whole image and presence made me feel weird inside...

'Damn it, Nephele, will you stop moping already? I can hear you, you know.'

"No one's forcing you to listen, Imara," I snapped. "I find it quite easy to block out the unhelpful comments you seem to produce on a regular basis, da?"

'If only it was as easy for me, but since it is not, I'm going to tell you he likes you back anyway. God knows why, but he does.' I didn't give it time to sink in; I just denied it instantly.

"He's a liar; a pathetic, mangy, bigheaded, ignorant, ridicu-" A voice cut me off.

"Now just who on earth could you be talking about?" I looked up to find Dimitri grinning down at me, his disheveled black hair sticking up stupidly around his face.

"Take a wild guess," I hissed. He chuckled.

"Well, since it can't be little ole' me, how about we go for a short walk? I have something to tell you." I thought about it for a moment then decided it might be a good idea.

"Fine," I replied, "but I'm bringing Imara so we can kick your ass if you try anything stupid." He just rolled his eyes, called his horse to his side, then wandered off into the forest. I got to my feet and heard Imara complain about moving just as he got comfortable, but I didn't care.

I couldn't believe I was doing this, going into the woods alone with a man; a man that had the power to render me senseless with one of his smiles and make me knees weak when he looked at me for too long. Smart move Nephele, smart move.

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We sat in a beautiful flower field. Imara was asleep on a low branch, content because he was finally able to rest a little and Athena was grazing happily in another field just across from us. The conversation had flowed easily and I found myself forgetting how quickly time passed or where I was... However, this all stopped when he changed the atmosphere dramatically.