"I care about you too much to rush this," he explained on a serious note. His eyes serious.
The affect this boy had on me was something out of this world. I lost all control when he kissed me and I wanted more then I was probably ready for. Again he was right. We didn't need to rush things besides we had enough going on.
"You're just a tease," I muttered as he lay down next to me on the bed. He laughed and pulled me closer. My head lay on his chest and his arm wrapped around my body and he held me tightly.
My thoughts were fixed on how I felt about Jared and about how he felt about me. We hadn't mentioned any words of love yet but the right time would come. I knew that he did care about me and he would do anything to keep me safe.
I wondered if saying the special three words meant as much to the Archaic as it did to humans. Then I remembered what he'd mentioned about blending.
"What exactly is blending?" I asked, needing to know more. He was clearly not expecting the question because it took a full minute for him to answer me.
"Like I told you before blending is our way of making a commitment. Humans do marriage we do blending," he began to explain.
"So what exactly is involved in blending? Is there a white dress and veil involved?" I teased him.
"It isn't a requirement but some couples like to do the whole wedding thing," he further explained, "Blending between a human and an Archaic is quite simple. It is a two people coming together in the closest way possible..."
I blushed at this.
"It's more symbolic then anything else."
I blushed at the thought of a night together with Jared. There went my hormones again.
"Blending between an Archaic couple is more powerful. It's the same as the human and Archaic blending except when consummating a deeper connection is forged between the two partners."
"What do you mean by deeper connection?" I asked curiously.
"It's a link between the two partners. The strength and the intensity of the link differs from couple to couple. Some only develop a connection where emotions are shared but others can develop a link that is telepathic."
"Wow," I said. How weird would that be to be able to feel your partner's emotions? At times I could barely keep a handle on my own. How was it possible to deal with two lots of emotions?
A telepathic connection would be handy.
Then I thought about the link that I'd shared with Mason. The link had been strong enough for him to be able to find me when I was in an emotionless state.
"Are you able to find each other through the link like Mason was able to do with me?" I asked.
He shook his head.
"No, unless the information was relayed through telepathy."
It took a few moments for my next question to enter my mind.
"Is the connection permanent?" I asked.
"No. Less physical contact between the couple weakens the link."
Then I thought about all the young Archaic only having one parent.
"What if two Archaic have blended and one of them dies?" It was a sad thought but a hard reality with the knowledge that the Hue regularly murdered Archaic and their partners, it didn't matter whether the partners were human or Archaic. It also went without saying that the Hue murdered innocent humans that had nothing to do with the Archaic just because they felt like it. They were cold-blooded killers. They didn't have to have a reason to end a life.
Jared fell silent for a moment and then said, "The link is severed. Like I said before with less physical contact the link weakens but when one of the Archaic partners dies suddenly the link is severed too quickly and leaves a permanent scar, a permanent hollowness." I got a ache in my heart just thinking of something happening to Jared, it wasn't an thought I could process without feeling an overwhelming despair wash over me. I couldn't think about it and I pushed the thought out of my mind.
"And that's not to say that losing a human partner is any easier. Our human connection to our partners is the same as what humans experience. Even though there might not be the mutated link between an Archaic and their human partner the loss of the partner can be devastating and at times impossible to overcome." His voice was hoarse with emotion. He'd clearly seen this for himself.
Any more questions I had on the subject I put to the back of mind. I'd upset him with my inquisitiveness. Instead of asking him another question I remained quiet and snuggled closer to him.
Lying in his arms watching the light from my arm dance on the ceiling of my bedroom I got lost in my thoughts. After a little while I could feel his steady breathing under my cheek. He was fast asleep.
I lifted my head and watched his peaceful face as he slept. At times I still couldn't quite believe that he was my boyfriend and that he cared about me, I was so lucky. I settled back down next to him and lay my head on his chest. I felt his arm tighten around me as he continued to sleep.
I wore my heart on my sleeve when it came to Jared, I still couldn't believe how quickly I'd fallen for him. It had been less then a month and I was head over heels for him. Is this what people called love at first sight? I still struggled to comprehend how much my life had changed in the short time I'd know him. No matter how tough things got I would never wish I'd never met him.
I felt a cold shiver up my spine and I opened my eyes. Above me the stars sparkled in the midnight sky as I felt the cool evening air breeze over me. My hands gripped the grass beneath me it was then I realized I wasn't where I was supposed to be.
Instead of lying next to Jared in my nice warm bed I was lying on my back in the clearing. I sat up and did a quick scan of the surrounding area. The moonlight gave enough light for me to see I was alone in the clearing but my instinct told me that there was someone watching from darkness of the surrounding forest. An ominous feeling settled over me.
I could sense I wasn't alone. There is only one person I was truly afraid of and that was Mason, and somehow I could feel he was here. The burning need I felt when I was linked to him ignited inside me and began to burn.
The clearing and the surrounding forest were so quiet and I was terrified. Instinct screamed for me to run, I stood up and I didn't bother to look around again before I started to run as fast as I could towards the direction of my house. I could hear nothing else by my frantic breathing and the thud of my feet against the ground as I try to make my desperate escape from the psychopathic killer who was after me.
I ran through the tightly packed forest and felt the sting of the branches against my legs as I ran. I looked down momentarily and realized I was wearing my pajamas. Confused at the thought I missed a step and tripped scraped my knees. The adrenaline that pumped through me was enough for me to ignore the pain as I tried to pick myself up.
"Ava," I heard my name whispered behind me as I started to run again as fast as my legs would carry me. I could almost feel his breath of the back of my neck but I didn't stop running because if I did I was good as dead. The need for him burned deeper.
I knew it was a mistake the moment I made the decision to glance over my shoulder to see where Mason was. I felt the impact as I collided with a hard object. The impact sent me flying backward and as I hit the ground I felt a pain shoot through me as the fall winded me and left me gasping for air.
With the tightly packed branches of the trees of the forest blocked out most of the moonlight so it was much darker then the clearing but I could see the outline of the object I'd ran into. Mason stood a few feet in front of me and although I couldn't see his face I knew that ice cold smile was being directed at me.
Fear gripped me in it's clutches when he walked towards me slowly. I tried to shuffle backwards as he took each menacing step towards me but I couldn't escape.
"I'm coming for you," he said when he came to a stop.
"Please don't," I whispered desperately. He was close I could see the outline of his features, his ice-cold smile widened as he bent down so our eyes were level. A coldness shivered through me. The need to touch him and ease the burning need was impossible to fight. I was torn.
"Tell my brother I'm coming for you," he commanded. His eyes burned into mine.
The need to touch him overwhelmed my fear.
His cold smile disappeared as he read my features. He held his hand out to me knowing what I needed. I needed to touch him as much as I needed air to breath.
Slowly, I reached out and touched him.
**********
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