Hi Everyone! You have all made this work better with every comment you have made. Thank-you!!! Looking forward to hearing what you have to say. As always, I'm happy to edit out errors when you find them.
The car's heated leather seat warmed me as he drove us off school grounds. This was seriously a sweet car. I couldn't help but wonder what kind of money his family came from to own something like this. I didn't know any students, at least that I could recall, having a brand new car at their disposal. We both sat there in silence with him driving until I couldn't stand the deafening quiet any longer. "So, where exactly are we going?"
"I thought we'd head to my place." He smirked and raised his eyebrows like he might be suggesting something more.
"Uh...what?" I wasn't sure what he was expecting, but I was not that kind of girl, even if we were promised. Engaged? Dating? Ugh, this was so messed up.
He chuckled letting the steering wheel slide through his hands after making a turn. "Relax. I'm just messing with you. I thought it might be the quietest place to talk. That's all. Mariana can whip something up to eat while we try and sort everything out."
"Mariana. Is she your mother?"
He shook his head, "No. No, she's the chef at our house."
Your chef? Seriously? Who has their own, personal cook? How much money did his family have, if they didn't even cook for themselves? He turned around another corner and pulled up to a gate and pressed a remote attached to the visor. The gate slowly opened, and then he drove us down a long driveway lined with trees on either side. When we got closer, I could see the house through the gaps in the trees. House? Calling the thing in front of us a house was a severe understatement. He pulled the car up to one of the mansion's six car garage doors and pressed the remote opening it up.
"Home, sweet home," I said with emphasis on the sweet part. Every parking spot in the garage was filled with a different expensive looking car. "Is that a Ferrari?" I asked looking at the closest car to us. "Isn't there like a huge waiting list to even buy one of those?"
"That one drives so smooth, it purrs. It was totally worth the wait like all good things are," Jax said, hinting at the three years that passed between us. "Come on, I left early this morning, and I didn't grab breakfast. Let's see what Mariana can find for us." He reached out his hand and interlaced his fingers with mine. "So, Sage told you about the fire ring."
"Yeah, I guess she did. Why didn't you just tell me about it yesterday when you saw me?"
"Clearly, you didn't remember me when I ran into you in bio class. I thought, if I introduced myself to you as your fiancé, you'd think I was crazy and just try to avoid me altogether."
"Yeah, you're probably right. It would have been an unusually strange introduction." He led me through a mud room and into the foyer where a large crystal chandelier glittered in the morning sunlight refracting and bending the light around the room. "I take it Sage wasn't making it up then. We're engaged?"
As we walked, he brought my hand to his lips kissed the top, "Yes, we are." He rolled his lips then sighed. "I feel like I've been waiting to say that forever," he said. We walked through the great room where thousands of books lined the shelves around the space. The fireplace that hugged the far wall had a few logs stacked just inside the fire box ready to be lit and warm the room. "The kitchen is this way."
We walked past the formal dining room area, furnished with a long table and enough chairs to seat about twenty people. He led us through a set of French doors into the kitchen, where a small table sat in the nook next to the bay window overlooking the stable and grounds. He pulled out a seat for me.
"Thanks," I said as he pushing me in. Just then a lady wearing a white chef coat entered the room from a side door that looked like it might lead to the pantry.
"Oh, Your—"
"Hey, good morning Mariana, this is Wren," he interrupted her in a warm tone. I waved meekly in her direction to say hi. Then he continued, "Would you mind whipping us something up for breakfast? I didn't get a chance to grab anything earlier."
"Certainly, sir. I have coffee brewing right now, would both like some while you wait?"
"Oh, I'd love a cup, you know, if it isn't too much trouble," I answered.
"Yes, that would be great thanks," he replied. She nodded and walked over to the other side of the room to prepare the coffees. He reached across the table with his palm up silently requesting my hand. Slowly, I plucked my hand out of my lap and placed it inside of his. "You still don't remember me do you?"
"Not exactly. Ever since the accident three years ago, my memories have been pretty much zero. So please don't take it personally." But when I looked at him, I could tell he was a little hurt, but doing his best to try and mask it. "If it makes you feel any better, I had a dream last night, and you were in it."
"Really? You're dreaming about me now are you?" he asked looking a little more confident in himself. "I knew deep down you wanted me. See, you can't get enough of me after just one day of seeing me again, and your subconscious has already started to fantasize about me." His eyes sparked a golden hue.
"It was so not that kind of dream. It was more like a memory of sorts. Though, I'm still confused a bit about something that was mentioned in it. Does Second in your Circle, mean something to you?" Mariana had walked up to the table with the tray of coffee and shook the tray as she placed it between us. It was obvious she'd heard my question, and I could tell just by looking at her that it meant something.
"It might." He smirked.
"Care to elaborate?"
"Maybe, but I think I'd like to know if your intentions are honorable first."
"Honorable? Like, in me making advances towards you? It's a little too late for you to start defending your honorability when in gym class you already threw yourself on top of me to claim a kiss," I said a little more defensively than was probably necessary.
He chuckled and removed his hand from mine and crossed his arms over his chest. "No, if you'd like to kiss me or make any other kind of advance for that matter, I'm pretty sure I'm okay with that." He ran his index finger over his lips. "What I'm talking about is the contract of the ring. What I'd like to know is if your intentions are to honor it."
"Oh." It didn't even dawn on me that that was what he was asking. "My general understanding of what a ring contract is, that it's pretty much like being married. I have a feeling I should probably ask what exactly is involved in agreeing to the contract," I said hardly believing I was discussing my prospect of marriage so matter-of-factly.
"Very sensible of you to ask. Yes, I supposed there are few things you probably should know. Firstly, individuals from Acklemar live a very long time. Think thousands of years. While we aren't immortal, our natural life span might be something for you to consider when making your decision. Once our pairing is complete, we'll be mates for life. Oh, there is, of course, the matter of a dowry paid to the bride's family. Finally, there is also a compatibility concession as there is a requirement of producing an heir in our contract as well."
Good God, I was glad sitting. An heir? What the? The thought of children was so far from where I was at this point in my life. I hadn't even thought about that part of marriage. Living forever, life mates and a dowry payment were all pretty overwhelming concepts to take. I took a deep breath and let it out.
"Okay, that's a bit for a girl to take in, given that I only remember meeting you from yesterday. I'm not saying I won't honor the contract, but it would be sensible also to know the penalties should I want out too." I could see his eyes briefly flash a bright yellow gold, making me feel that crossing our agreement would not end well.
"Let's just say, you'll have to answer to the Fire Circle throne for breaking the contract. Not something I'd recommend. As well, the dowry your family received would need to be paid back at double rate."
"Do I want to know how much the dowry was?"
"Probably not. It was paid in Acklemar stones."
"What the heck does that mean?"
"If I had to equate it to something here on earth, that we also have and value on Acklemar, it might equate to something in the neighborhood of your weight in platinum. Given platinum's current value here, I think that would be about two million dollars or so."
"Two million dollars! You're kidding me right?" The look on his face said he was so not kidding. I looked up as Mariana stood by the side of our table and placed an omelet with a side of bacon and toast in front of us both. I was going to be sick. When I picked up my fork, I just pushed the omelet around the plate rather than ate it. "Why me?" I mumbled aloud.
"Well, I know I'm feeling like quite the catch right now," he said with the sarcasm dripping from his words. "Do I need a reason beyond wanting to marry the most beautiful, funny, witty young woman I've ever met?" he said, looking put off, hurt, and angry all at the same time. I could see the stones underneath his shirt start to glow randomly, which I could only guess wasn't a good sign.
"Sorry. Jax, I didn't mean it to sound that way. To be honest, I think you're one of the hottest guys I've ever met. If I said I wasn't attracted to you, I'd be lying. It's just that for the past three years, I never knew any of this. It's a bit overwhelming to take in all at once."
"Well, welcome to my world. You've gone missing for three years, and then when I do find you, Kellan plasters his flourish across you like a billboard on the same day. How that's even possible, I would love to find out by the way. But I'm not thrilled to know that my promised has been locking lips with him." He had placed his hand on the table, and I could feel the wood vibrate and hum through its core. The red stone on his necklace radiated brightly through his white shirt.
"Jaxon, I didn't say I wasn't going to honor the contract, only that I would like some time to understand what I'm agreeing to. Everything about Aklemar is new to me. I can't help it if my memories aren't all here. I didn't even know what the fire ring meant until last night."
Then suddenly it dawned on me that he was my promised partner and the only kiss we had ever shared was one he stole when I wasn't even consciously aware of it happening. Then I couldn't help but sit and stare at him across the table from me and wonder what it would be like to be each others partner. His lean muscular build, beautiful green eyes, and cover model looks made me want to scream yes, yes to all the crazy demands that went along with his promise. I could feel my hands go clammy, then the tips of my fingers started to tingle with the want to hold his hand again. Damn he was hot. I couldn't help but wonder what his kiss would taste like against my lips. Then the next thing I knew, I had dropped my fork in the middle of my plate and was standing in front of him.
When he stood up, I reached up on my tiptoes and pressed my lips against his, exploring everything his kiss had to offer. He was gentle at first like he was afraid he might break me with his lips, and then he hungrily matched my passion and dug in for more. When his mouth broke free of mine, he ran his kisses down my neck and along my ear making me feel like he had burnt a cool path along my skin, building a shivering response deep within me. When he returned to place his lips against mine once more, he parted them with his tongue and feverishly demanded more of me. I could feel myself sigh internally, as a part of my wanted to go on like this with him forever. In that brief moment, I could feel his fiery passion surround me and pull me in tight, and then a searing pain in my ankle flared, and everything went black.
When I came to, I was laying on a couch in the great room with Jaxon hovering over me. "Uh, this is embarrassing," I said feeling a little ridiculous about passing out in the middle of our kiss. "Sorry, I have no idea what just happened."
He smiled, then gave a short laugh, then brushed my hair out of my face gently with his fingertips. "Well, in short, you kissed me, and by the way, you can kiss me like that anytime you like. In fact, I might have to insist upon it." He blew out the air in his lungs like he was trying to cool off. "Well, that kiss answers the question about our compatibility anyway." He smiled, then gently kissed my forehead. I could see the outside ring of his irises were deep green, then closer towards the center ring the green color got lighter and lighter in hue. "Here, let me show you." He helped me sit up and rolled up my pant leg where I could see the inky outlines of the fire ring that circled my ankle. The lines were now completely colored in showing off bright reds, oranges, yellows, and golds.
"I'm not following. What does the coloring mean?"
He laughed and ran a finger over the marking on my ankle. "I kind of feel like I'm explaining the birds and bees to you."
"Really? Even after that kiss?" I said, pushing him away.
He grabbed my hand kissing my fingers, then continued his explanation. "Well on Earth, there's the physical component for mating. For Acklemarians, there's both a physical and spiritual one required for producing offspring. With you being the only female weaver anyone has ever met, no one could predict with certainty that you had the ability to reach the spiritual plane required for a complete pairing."
Okay? What the what? Did he just mention kids twice? "You can tell all that by the fire ring marking," I said trying to pull myself together, while also trying to overlook the only female weaver comment.
"I could tell that just by the way you kissed me." He sighed. "All right, let me explain. The ring? It would be kind of like like an engagement ring and wedding band of sorts if I were to compare it to a custom here on Earth. A ring is first given to the woman when the promise is made, then partially filled in by both her and her chosen through their connection proving their compatibility with each other. Then when a woman places her mark on her mate completing the pairing, a final band is added to her ring as well."
All this talk about mates was making me more than uncomfortable. I couldn't even believe I was having this conversation about marriage, kids, and contracts when all I want to do was graduate high school. My head spun with all the information from our conversation, not to mention the memory of his amazing kiss that still blazed through me fogging my thoughts.
"Oh, there's one more thing you should probably know. You know, going back to your original question about Second in my Circle," he said leaning in nuzzling my ear.
But before he had a chance to say anything more, Mariana entered the room carrying a tray. "Your Highness, the tea you asked for," she politely said playing the tray on the coffee table. I immediately looked at him waiting for an explanation for the way she addressed him.
"Don't look at me that way. I was trying to tell you before Mariana came in. The First in the Fire Circle sits on the throne, and Second in the Circle is next in line for it."
This just got better and better. And I thought this whole situation was messed up before he dropped that bombshell.
If you were Wren, what would you do? (Thanks for your comments & votes. Wren LOVEs you all.)