B00CGOH3US EBOK (43 page)

Broad shoulders that had been giving her the cold shoulder all morning.

She glared at those same shoulders now, which was a good thing because they stopped so suddenly, she nearly smashed her nose into them.

"We are here."

"What?" Jill stumbled as she tried to avoid trampling over Baelin. Once she regained her balance, she glanced around, but could see nothing but scraggly brush grappling for purchase in the rocks. "And where exactly is here?"

"The cave."

Her gaze traveled up the sheer rock cliff they'd been skirting for the past hour. A sheer rock cliff that looked surprisingly familiar, even from this angle far below.

"How did we get back to your cave so fast?" She narrowed her eyes at him. "What have we been doing, walking around in circles all this time?"

"A dragon lays claim to a territory." Baelin shrugged as if it this tidbit of dragon zoology should be common knowledge to her. "He guards it well and rarely ventures out of its boundaries."

"So what, all this time you've been keeping us in your territory? I thought we'd already been through this. What if the challenges aren't in your territory?"

"Nay, you said the challenges could not be faced by staying in the cave, and you were correct. However, the first test was met within my territory. There is no reason to believe the others will not be also."

"So? There's no reason to believe they will be either. And seeing as we haven't managed to stumble on whatever the second challenge is in the past three weeks, I think there may be a high probably that they aren't."

Her palm itched to smack the stubborn streak out of him. Amazing how quickly almost-had-sex euphoria could morph into the-honeymoon's-already-over irritation. Guess all those pent up emotions that came to an abrupt, screeching halt last night had to come out somehow.

"Damn it, Baelin. The clock is ticking for both of us here. We're wasting time. You need to stop listening to those dragon instincts of yours and start using your man's brain."

His nostrils flared and he clenched his jaw several times before answering her. It looked like she wasn't the only one feeling a wee bit frustrated. "Right now this man's brain tells me we both need more clothing, more weapons, and more supplies."

"Oh." That logical bit of thinking took a good chunk of her pique away. Damn, she hated when he was behaving rationally and she wasn't. "Okay, I suppose you have a point there. So let me guess, you're going to fly up there and get them for us."

"Unless you wish to travel about the countryside in naught but a tattered smock, aye."

Jill looked at the equally tattered bandage wrapped around the base of his wing. "Can you fly? Need I remind you, you were shot with an arrow yesterday?"

"We shall see. Dragons being the immortal creatures that they are, heal quickly."

Jill walked over and sat on a semi-flat rock. "Fine, you fly on up there with your bad pterodactyl self and I'll wait right down here."

"Do you not wish to choose your own clothing?"

"I trust you. Just make sure it's good and sturdy. I don't need to make a medieval fashion statement."

His brow creased in confusion, then she watched his expression change as he mentally shifted gears. "I do not wish to leave you here alone."

"Well, you're going to have to because I'm not about to relive the flying experience any time soon. You dropped me last time, remember?"

"Aye." His pupils dilated a fraction in those fathomless brown eyes of his. "But then I caught you."

Jill's mouth suddenly grew dry. "Yeah, you sure did."
In more ways than one
. She shook off the sex-induced thought. "But I'm still not too keen on the idea of going airborne again without the benefit of a parachute."

"Parachute?"

"It's this thing people wear—oh, never mind. Just get what we need and I'll wait here."

"After all that has happened, are you not afraid to be alone?"

She shook her head. "Not at the moment. You've got the tapestry, so there's no danger of me losing it. Again. And we can see for miles from here. As far as I can tell, there's no place for a troll baby to lie in wait or any nearby towns filled with irate villagers wielding pitchforks. So if it's all right with you, I'm going to sit my tired little fanny on this rock and keep a look out. I promise if I so much as see a chipmunk looking cross-eyed at me, I'll scream the mountain down."

His expression blank, he stared at her for a long moment before he spoke. "If you must scream, try not to cause the mountain to crumble whilst I am still inside of it."

Jill opened her mouth to reply, but he was already airborne. She watched him in flight, struck by the graceful vision he made as his powerful wings bore him upward like some earthbound archangel soaring for the heavens. She looked away only after he'd landed safely on the narrow ledge and entered the dark maw of the cave.

She sat and waited, letting her gaze wonder out over Baelin's 'territory.' There wasn't a tree to be seen, only moss-like grass and occasional scrubby brush finding purchase in the craggy rocks.

Baelin didn't have too much to worry about. Barren and desolate, there wasn't a single living thing in sight, much less a harmless little chipmunk. They were probably all giving the dragon's lair a wide berth to avoid becoming a furry appetizer. There would be no rock slides caused on account of her vocal abilities today.

With nothing to do but watch out for non-existent villains, Jill's mind began to wander. It didn't have far to go. Since the mind-blowing events of last night, she could hardly think of anything else. That, and of what had
not
happened afterward.

By the time she'd opened her eyes this morning, Baelin was already up, dressed and ready to go. What followed had been a one-sided conversation on her part with monosyllabic responses on his, usually tossed over that broad shoulder she'd been staring at for the past few hours. After a while, she stopped trying.

Was he still regretting what had happened between them last night? Or was it something more basic and humiliating, like she didn't turn him on in the harsh light of the morning?

Granted, even on a good day she didn't look so hot when she woke up with a case of major bed head erupting out of her scalp. Without the benefit of a mirror, she could hazard a guess that this morning, she probably looked like something the cat dragged in, gobbled down in three bites and threw back up on the carpet. Still, was a little acknowledgment of the passion they'd shared too much to ask? Apparently it was. Morning-after-awkward couldn't even begin to describe the mood between them.

She was so distracted was she by her thoughts that she nearly fell off the rock when Baelin landed gracefully by her side. Without at word, he dropped a sack of clothing on the ground. Before she could voice so much as a 'thank you' he was on a second run—or rather flight—back up to the cave.

If she didn't know better, she would think he was trying to avoid her—or at least avoiding her as much as he possibly could when they were stuck traveling together twenty-four-seven to break this darn curse of his.

While he was gone, she ducked behind a large boulder to change, all the while mumbling to herself and struggling to fight off the residual memories of last night.

She failed miserably and blamed it on the fact they hadn't finished what they'd started. She didn't understand how he could deny himself—both of them, for that matter—after what they'd shared. How could he ignore the chemistry that had been building between them for weeks now? How could he not want more after that brief blissful taste they'd had of each other last night?

She shivered as a thrilling tingle ricocheted through her body to all the places that had been 'tasted' by that wicked, wicked tongue of his.

Jill almost jumped out of her skin when the mouth containing that magical tongue called her name.

She emerged from behind her rock to find Baelin waiting for her with several more stuffed satchels piled at his feet.

"What did you do, pack up the whole cave?"

"Nay, merely half of it. I wished to leave a few bits of treasure to come back to."

She couldn't help but chuckle at his half-hearted attempt at humor. If he wanted to play ignore-what-happened-between-us-and-it-will-go-away, she could too.

"If we manage to break this curse, I'd think you'd never want to see that hole in a rock again."

His gaze traveled up the cliff face to the dark shadow of the cave. "Where else would I go?"

The melancholy tone of his voice gave her pause. "Anywhere you want to, I guess."

He turned those penetrating eyes on her. "Then perhaps I shall go to your time, with you."

Her stomach sank at the wistful hope in his words. Well, if she'd wanted more attention from him after last night, she sure was getting it now. But the intensity of it made her uncomfortable. And unfortunately, there wasn't a snowball's chance of it happening. Somehow she didn't think when—if—she returned to her time, she'd be able to take him with her.

"Let's not talk about things that might be out of our control."

She'd said it as gently as she could, but the truth of her words caused him pain all the same. She wasn't rejecting him. Their circumstances were. But it came out sounding like a rejection all the same.

Jill cleared her throat, trying to dislodge the knot wedged there, and attempted to focus her attention on the here and now. "Here, let me take a look at your wing."

Baelin stepped back as she reached for him. "Why?"

"It looks like it's bleeding again. You probably shouldn't have tried flying so soon. You haven't given it a chance to heal."

"There was no choice. There was no other way to get to the cave."

"I know. And I appreciate the trouble. Now let me return the favor and check your wing. At the very least, it could use a fresh bandage now that we have more supplies."

"'Tis fine."

"Oh, come on. I won't hurt you. I just want to check it."

"I said 'tis fine." He ripped off the bandage and flapped his wing. "See. Shall I take to the air again and soar about you? Perhaps do a flip or two?"

He stepped back, out of reach, putting yet more distance between them, just as he'd been doing all morning. He wasn't going to let her near him again, no matter how innocent the motive, and it hurt. A lot.

"What is your problem? Are you worried if I come near you, you'll lose that precious control of yours and ravish me on the spot? Or is it me you're worried about? If it makes you feel better, I promise to control my base urges and not jump you in the next five minutes."

He didn't answer, but she could tell by the way he averted his gaze she'd hit close to home.

"Look, I know you regret taking my virginity—which still amazes me to no end that I had it to lose again in the first place—but isn't the fact the tapestry repaired itself afterwards a sign it didn't matter?"

"There is no way to be certain of that."

"No, there isn't. But there has to be some reason behind why I became a born-again virgin, although damned if I know what it is."

"Damned is right."

Jill ground her teeth. And they said women were the ones who wouldn't let things go.

"Stop saying that. We are not damned. All is not lost. It's not the end of the world." She took a deep, calming breath and called on the last bit of rational reserve she had left. "What happened last night, happened for a reason. It had to mean something."

He turned his penetrating gaze to her. "It did. More than you can know."

Jill knew he was talking about more than the tapestry mending itself. "It meant something to me, too, Baelin. So why do you keep pushing me away? What are you so worried about?"

"That we should not tempt fate twice."

"Quite frankly, I don't see what it could hurt," she grumbled. "After all, the damage is done. I don't think I can lose my virginity a third time."

"'Tis a risk I am not willing to take."

As far as rejections went, that one was a real doozy.

"Fine, if that's what you want to believe. But if you really think fate has had a hand in everything that has happened to us so far, then I'm pretty sure us making love was meant to happen all along." She gathered up one of the supply satchels and slung it over her shoulder. "I'm sorry you don't feel the same way."

She made to walk past him, but he stopped her with a gentle hand on her arm. "Nay, you misunderstand me. It is not that I do not want you. 'Tis that I do not dare."

She looked to where his hand rested on her arm, then up into his eyes. "Why?"

He released her and she watched him struggle to find the words. "I do not dare because, what if, in doing so, we undo whatever magic was wrought last night?"

"You still believe what happened between us was because of magic?"

Baelin gazed at her, his eyes full of wonder and vulnerability. "What else could it be when a beautiful maiden gives herself to a dragon?"

His admission surprised her, more so because she knew he believed it.

"Magic had nothing to do with me wanting to be with you last night. At least not the kind of magic you're talking about."