Blood of the Rainbow (6 page)

Jared stroked her hair, and then continued. “I left the office, and I couldn’t get home fast enough. I showered and dressed so fast, I’m not even sure if my socks match. All I was thinking about was getting to you… holding you in my arms, and scaring away whatever it was that had made you feel this way. I jumped on my bike and rushed straight over here. I know I’m early, but I just couldn’t stand being away from you another second.”

He brushed the back of his fingers across her cheek. “What do I find when I get here?” He took her hands, lifting her to her feet. “Come here,” he said, drawing her to him, and holding her. He kissed her neck and buried his head in her hair. “I’ve missed you Sara. I know it’s only been hours since we were together, but I’ve missed you!”

“I’ve missed you too, and I can’t take this. It hurts like nothing I’ve ever felt before. I don’t feel like I can breathe without you. I don’t
want
to breathe without you.”

“So what are we going to do? I feel the same way Sara.”

Sara felt helpless. “I don’t know….”

Jared spoke sincerely. “I
can’t
be away from you! I don’t care what anybody thinks or says. I’ve got to have you with me, and I
will
- one way or the other.”

Jared held her so close Sara could hardly breathe. Her eyes filled with tears. Being with Jared filled her with such warmth. Her heart was so full; she thought it might burst, under the pressure. “I don’t care either Jared,” she finally whispered.

Jared took her guitar. “Let’s get out of here. We’ll talk about this some more, when we get where we’re going. I’ll take your guitar. You put the rest away and meet me on my bike under the carport.” Jared waited for her by his bike.

------------

Sara tossed her laptop on her bed, clipped her pen to the collar of her t-shirt, stuffed her little notebook that she used to scribble down song ideas on, in her back pocket, and went into the kitchen. She tore a piece of paper from her notebook, and wrote Lucy a quick note, telling her that she was with Jared, and probably
wouldn’t
be home for dinner.

Sara walked outside, secured her note to Lucy’s letter keeper, and walked over to Jared. He smiled as she approached him. He pulled her into his arms, kissed her passionately, and handed her an extra helmet. Sara smiled and put it on. Jared crawled on the bike and waited for her. Sara pushed her guitar behind her back, secured the strap, and slipped in behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist.

Sara wondered how they were going to communicate with their helmets on. As if reading her mind, Jared fiddled with a dial on his bike, and her helmet hissed. “
Can you hear me all right?
”

“
Yes, but how does this work
?”

“
It’s voice activated and connects directly to the radio on my bike.
”

“
Wow! This is neat.
”

“
Well, it’s kind of a long trip, and I was afraid you might want to ask me something. I wanted to be able to hear you, and answer you.
” Jared kick started the bike and revved the engine a couple of times. “
Are you ready?
”

“
I think so….
”

Jared chuckled. “
You don’t sound too sure….
”

“
I’m fine. I love being with you.
”

Jared chuckled again. “
Hang on tight, we’re gonna fly!
”

Sara grabbed him a little tighter.

 “
Oh Angel - be careful there! I could easily get used to this,
” he smiled, immediately responding to her touch.

Sara sighed and rested her head against his back. “
Me too
.”

Jared made a circle and turned the bike around. “
Steve’s outside washing his jeep. Wave as we go by. I want to make sure he understands you’re mine
.”

Sara smiled. “
Sure, but I think he already knows that.
”

“
Yeah, I know. I just like rubbing it in
.”

They both waved as they passed by him. Steve looked up, smiled, shook his head, and waved back.

Jared pulled onto the main highway and headed out of the city, toward the hills. “
Wanna listen to some music, or would you rather just talk?
”

“
Can’t we do both?
”

“
Sure, I can adjust the music and the helmet intercom volume separately. What would you like to listen to? I noticed you were wearing a flash drive around your neck. It wouldn’t happen to have music files on it - would it?
”

Sara smiled. “
Yes, do you want it?
”

“
No!
” He commanded. “
Wait until I’ve pulled onto the shoulder.
”

Jared pulled the bike on the side of the road, and left it idling, as he reached back with his hand. Sara unfastened her USB key from its strap and laid it in the palm of his hand.

Jared put it in his radio, and it started playing. He adjusted the volume. “
Can you still hear me all right?
”

“
Yes, I can hear you fine
.” Sara loved the sound of his voice. It made her go all tingly inside.

“
And is the music loud enough?
”

“
Yes, it’s fine.
”

“
Is this you? It sounds like the same song you were singing outside.
”

Sara laughed. “
I wished. It’s the same song, but this is by the original. It’s called ‘My Immortal’ by ‘Evanescence.
’

“
Honestly, Sara, I could have sworn it was you. Do you have any of yours on here?
”

“
Yeah, one. Something I was working on earlier today.
”

“
I want us to try that Evanescence song when we get back to the house. That’s if it’s not too late when we get back.
”

Sara smiled. “
Ok. I love singing with you.
”

“
Oh no. I’m just going to play this time, and I might help you out with the chorus, like I did with ‘The Rose’, but I want you to do this one on your own.
”

“
Why
?”

“
As
sad as the song is, it’s still beautiful, and it suits your voice. I think it would sound better as a solo.
”

Sara was skeptical. “
All right….
”

“
Well, hang on tight. I would never forgive myself if you got hurt. You don’t act as if you’ve done this before.
”

Sara smiled. “
That’s because I haven’t. Jeff, my former - well, anyway. He offered me a ride on his bike, and I wouldn’t take it.
”

Jared seemed surprised. “
Really? Why wouldn’t you go riding with him?
”

Sara squeezed her arms around him. “
Because I didn’t trust him.
”

Jared softly laughed, revved the engine, and pulled back on the highway. “
And you trust me?
”

Sara sighed contentedly, not a doubt in her reply. “
Completely….
”

Jared softly laughed again. “
Good
.” The song ended, and the next one started. He chuckled. “
It looks like somebody else likes to listen to different music than what they sing.
”

“
Excuse me?
”

“
You’re like me. I write, play, and sing country and western, but I like to listen to all kinds of music.
”

Sara laughed. “
The music I listen to is usually dependent on what kind of mood I’m in.
”

“
So what kind of mood are you in right now Sara?
”

“
Happy, safe, peaceful and a little dangerous, I guess you could say.” ‘
Super Massive Black Hole’ by ‘Muse’ had started playing.
“This song always makes me feel a little daring and dangerous. I like to listen to it, when I’m driving. I play it over and over. I think they used it on ‘Twilight’. I still haven’t seen the movie yet, and I understand the second of the series is coming out soon.
”

Wow! Sara was talking to Jared, and she wasn’t tripping over her tongue. Sara usually tripped over her tongue when she talked to someone she was interested in. She’d stopped feeling nervous around Jared. She wondered why.

“
I can help you there. I have the DVD and the books, all of them. I saw the movie first, and then I bought the book set. I read all four volumes in less than a week. I just couldn’t put them down. I guess they sort of reminded me of us. We’ll go see the second movie - and all the others, together….
”

Sara chuckled. “
How, you didn’t know me then, and besides, you’re not a vampire – are you?
”

Jared snorted. “
No - no vampire here…
” he abruptly changed the subject. “
So do you want to see the other movies with me?
”

“
Yes, I would.
”

“
It’s a date then, but don’t think I’m going to stay away from you until then.
”

“
I wouldn’t like that.
”

“
Don’t worry, I’m not! You’ll be lucky if I let you out of my sight. So do you enjoy living here in Shreveport?
”

Sara smiled at his evasiveness. “
I do now….”

Jared took his left hand off the handle bar, and squeezed her arm that was wrapped around his waist, before putting it back on the handle bar. “
Good,
” he smiled.

The next song started playing. “
This one’s mine. The one I did this morning
.”

“
Really.…
” He got quiet, listening to the music. In fact, Jared didn’t say anything else until it was finished.
“Wow!”
he whispered. “
Did Lucy work today?
”

“
Yeah – why?
”

“
Who played the piano and harmonized with you
?”

Sara laughed. “
I did.
”

“
What? You didn’t mention you played piano too!
”

“
You never asked, but I don’t really play it. I can read notes, but not like everyone else does. I hear the notes in my head.
”

“
I think I could teach you more, if you wanted to learn.”

Sara smiled. That much was already clear to her. “
We’ll see....
”

Jared chuckled.

------------

They rode for a long time in virtual silence, listening to the music and singing along. About five miles Northeast of Shreveport, Jared stopped at a gas station for fuel, and some sandwiches. They both crawled back on the bike, and after a quick kiss, they flew down the road again. They stayed on the main highway another four or five miles before Jared slowed, and turned down a grassy derelict road. It didn’t look like it had seen any
real
traffic for years.

“
Wow, this is remote,
” Sara commented.

“
If you think this is remote, wait until we get where we’re going.
”

The blacktop ended, and turned to what looked like a cow trail. They continued to follow the trail for at least another thirty minutes, twisting and weaving around trees, and rocks. Sometimes crossing over, or through tiny streams as the road slowly narrowed to a path along the hillside. Sara gasped when she looked down, and felt nauseated.

Jared softly chuckled. “
Hey, did I forget to tell you not to look down?
”

“
Oh, ha ha, he he.
” Sara let out a shriek when Jared revved the engine, and went up an incline.

He laughed. “
Sara, I’m not going to let anything happen to you. I’ve been down this road so many times. In fact… I could probably do it with my eyes shut.
”

“
Don’t!
” Sara gasped. “
I’d prefer you kept your eyes open, if you don’t mind.
”

Jared laughed out loud. He was enjoying this. Jared didn’t seem to be bothered. He twisted through the trail as if it was a major interstate highway. Sara kept letting out little squeals, and gasps at some of the sights.

“
You might want to close your eyes as we go over this.
”

Sara looked in front of them, and saw a rickety wooden plank path, leading across what looked like a canyon to her. She squeezed Jared tighter.
“Oh my God,”
she gasped, squeezing her eyes shut. Sara
kept
her eyes shut. She didn’t want to see how high they were, or how high they were climbing.

“
Don’t worry – you’re not going to fall
,” he said as they climbed up a steeper incline on the other side of the canyon. Sara still kept her eyes shut.

Jared leapt over a narrow bank and bounced safely down on the other side.

Sara drew in a deep breath, and hoped that her stomach would eventually catch up with her later. Jared had left it on the other side of that bank. He seemed to be getting a lot of pleasure from her reactions. He laughed again, and said they were almost there, but Sara could have sworn they continued to climb another five minutes.

------------

Much to Sara’s relief, Jared stopped, and shut off the engine. He held out his hand, helping her off the bike. “
You can open your eyes now
.” Jared took off his helmet. “We’re here.” He unfastened her helmet, smiling, brushing the back of his fingers across her cheek.

Sara’s legs felt like wet noodles. Her stomach was still churning from the butterflies that had taken up permanent residence there. Not only because of the ride, but because her stomach fluttered every time he looked at her the way he was looking at her right now. She stood still for a few seconds, making sure her balance was still working. Jared smiled, leaning down, studying her eyes as he cradled her chin in his hand. “Because, I could feel your muscles tensing against my back.” He gently pressed his lips to hers, kissing her. Innocent at first, he deepened his kiss, when Sara put her hands behind his neck, threading her fingers in his hair and pulled him closer. She didn’t want it to end. Jared’s lips were full of passion as he covered her mouth with his again. The entire length of his body pressing against hers filled her with longing.