Crusade Across Worlds (6 page)

My heart stops.

It’s him.

Mixed among the Rogues, Reid glides between
Tucker and Jace, rolling a rounded object behind Sampson. My eyes
are glued to Reid, to his shape, to his body. It’s the only thing I
see. And I’ve missed it. I can’t believe I went so long without
seeing his graceful form, watching as it commands power with every
gentle but fierce movement. My stomach tightens, already pumping
with the need to touch him. Hold him. Have him hold me. Jace says
something and all of the Rogues laugh. As Reid’s face lights up,
the pressure only hardens. I only now understand the depths of my
ache over not seeing him. I wanted to bury it, hide it in a place
where memories didn’t do him justice. Because if I remembered it
well—remembered this—I’m not sure I could’ve gotten by.

Sampson points north and the boys turn away.
I break my stare of Reid and scan the rest of the open scene.
Mostly Zingfinolds hauling lumbar and scraps of wood. A few females
cluster toward the middle—

Pratt!

Mae!

They’re sitting side by side, a pile of
twine in their laps and their fingers working furiously. My heart
swells like it’s about to explode. I want to hug them both. Right
now. I want to wrap my arms around them and tell them how much I’ve
missed them, how I wish I could’ve visited and how the pain of not
being with them took a physical toll. Pratt says something and they
both laugh. I wish I could hear what it was. Tears threaten but I
can’t start that now. I haven’t even said hello to everyone. I’ve
only just arrived and they don’t even know yet.

“Fallon?” Pratt calls.

Mae’s head snaps up and a bright, blasting
smile lights up her face. Everyone stops and scans the area until
they find me. There’s a ubiquitous pause. And for the second time
in a few seconds, my heart stops.

Reid and I lock eyes.

“Fallon!” Pratt jumps to her feet, dumping
the contents of her lap to the ground.

I force myself to walk. If I run I might
rush into her, breaking her on impact. That’s how badly I’ve missed
Pratt. That’s how badly I’ve missed everyone. Plus, moving slower
gives me time to focus on Reid. To breathe him in, to feast on his
eyes, which are devouring mine with enough intensity to send my
pulse into cardiac arrest. I break our contact to soak in the rest
of him.

That’s when I notice the change.

Dressed in his loincloth-shorts only, his
upper body and both arms are exposed, revealing the black markings
from his right shoulder to wrist. Some sort of tribal tattoo? His
new ink isn’t his only change. Reid has also grown out his facial
hair. Both sideburns reach down to his chin in a stubbly goatee,
and a thick patch runs above his lip.

“Fallon!” Pratt crashes into me, wrapping
her arms around my body in the strongest hug imaginable. “I’ve
missed you
so
much! Why didn’t tell me you were
leaving?”

“I’m sorry,” I squeeze her back just as
hard. “I’ve missed you too.”

“Three months! I can’t believe you’ve been
gone that long,” she keeps her arms strapped to my waist. “Don’t
ever do that again. Don’t ever leave without telling me.”

“I won’t. I promise.”

“Fallon,” Mae is here and Pratt loosens her
hold. “Welcome back,” she comes in for a hug and squeezes me nearly
as tight. “We’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too.” I soak in the comfort
of the girls just as the boys arrive, the six Dofinikes right on
their heels.

“Fallon!” Able hugs me with the same energy.
“Missed you, bestie! Hasn’t been the same without you.”

Jace and I hug next, and then Tucker, Booker
and Werzo.

Reid stands nearby, his body stiff. He
watches me with apprehension, doubt, and for a moment, we simply
stand, staring at one another, convincing each other this is real.
It’s like he’s not convinced I’m here, like he’s deciding if this
is some cruel illusion. I want to reach out to him, to reassure
him, but I don’t. I can’t. I’m frozen in place, waiting for him to
break the spell. Reid’s focus drops to my hair. He follows it up to
my lips and then back up to my eyes. A lump rolls down his throat.
He steps out and sweeps his arms around me.

Oh God
.

He’s here.

Reid is here.

Tears threaten as I tremble in his grasp, my
entire body alive and alert with the nearness of his. I forgot what
it was like. What this was like. How this felt—like my heart might
burst right through my chest at any moment. Wrapping my arms around
him, I squeeze back, wishing we were alone, wishing our reunion
wasn’t witnessed by everyone.

Because I don’t know if I can let go.

Embracing me longer than the others, Reid
finally peels himself off of me. But he doesn’t retreat. Not fully.
He simply shifts to my right, his magnetic attention dipping to
examine the long curled strands on my shoulder. His focus lifts to
my mouth and then back to my eyes, drinking me in.

Clarence comes in for a hug next. “Missed
ya, kid. A grain of sand?”

I think of my great-great-grandfather’s
comparison of what three months is to a lifetime. And nod. “Just a
grain.”

He winks and makes room for Sampson who
smiles down at me. We hug as well and then I get a turn with Vix,
Blovid, Qippert and Jothkore. Finally, when all the hellos are
done, the Fychu speaks over everyone.

“We certainly are happy to have you back,
Fallon. Though I know some were disappointed you didn’t say
goodbye.”

“Yeah,” Able scoffs. “I thought we were
besties?”

“We are. I just…” I pull at my thumbs. In
all my excitement about returning, I forgot about how I left
things—without a goodbye. At least Reid knew. But no one except
Clarence and Sampson got a farewell. Obviously the others would be
a little peeved. “I couldn’t say goodbye to you guys. I was in too
much shock or something. I know, I know, it’s not a good
excuse—”

“You said goodbye to
Reid
,” Pratt
folds her arms with a scowl. “We know that much.”

I turn to him and his eyes burn. He
continues to watch me with the same expression, like he can’t
believe I’m here, like he can’t believe this is really happening
either.

“She had reason to say goodbye to him,” Mae
whispers. “But she’s back now and she can fill us in on
everything!”

“And we can fill her in on everything,”
Clarence nods. “But I think maybe Fallon needs some… rest before we
start sharing stories,” he smiles at me. “Why don’t we give her a
while to recoup and then we’ll all have a big dinner in celebration
of her return. Sound good?”

The others nod, accepting this proposal and
when I look to Clarence, he winks.

“Wait,” Werzo puts his hands out. “How big a
dinner are we talking?”

Jace throws his arm around the Rogue’s
shoulder, pulling him close. “Big. Gigantic. More than you can
eat.”

Werzo scoffs, being led over the grass. “I
doubt that.”

Nodding at Reid, Tucker follows the other
Rogues back across the valley. Pratt and Mae do the same and then
it’s the Dofinikes. Everyone leaves me. Everyone but Reid. We stare
at one another for a long moment and I’m not sure what to say. I’m
not even sure I can speak. All I can do is look at the boy I love
and try to breathe.

“You’re here.” His voice is quiet.

“I’m here.”

“I had dreams you came back.” His brows
pinch. “And then…”

A second lump rolls down his throat. Lifting
his hand, Reid runs his fingers through my curls, gently breaking
them apart. He watches them fall to my shoulder and bounce back
into place. When he’s convinced they’re real—I’m real—he inches his
hand up my throat, to my chin and finally over my cheek, cradling
my face. His chest expands. I match his reaction, my own breathing
altered, my heart pumping furiously. Watching with devoted
reverence, Reid runs his thumb the length of my bottom lip.

I inhale.

His eyes flare. Tracing his thumb back and
forth, he gazes at my lips, a heavy thought building behind his
eyes.

“I’ve practiced this over and over but now
that you’re…” he lets the word drift.

“I know.”

His brows pinch again. So many things he
wants to say. So many things I want to say. But we don’t say a word
of it. Instead, Reid rests his forehead against mine. I inhale at
the contact, my blood pumping fire, racing with the sheer scent of
him. It’s intoxicating. Overwhelming. Unhinging. He brushes my
cheek softly, his words as gentle as his touch. “What if this is
another dream? What if you’re not really here?”

“I am,” I roll into his palm, kissing his
thumb pad.” I feel him tremble, and then stiffen. I do it again.
His chest expands, his eyes piercing mine.

Reid licks his lips. “Come with me?”

“Where?”

“Wherever you want. Just away from
here.”

I try to think of a place, but can’t. I
can’t concentrate on anything other than Reid, anything other than
touching him. Him touching me. Nothing else matters. I kiss the pad
of his thumb again, letting him decide. “Okay.”

Another gulp and Reid threads our fingers
together. Wordlessly, he leads me across the wide, flat plain and
into the forest on the west side of the valley. It’s a terrain I’ve
never explored. And one I will probably need to again because it’s
the last thing I’m thinking about.

Reid’s hand in mine, his fingers grazing my
own—I can’t look away. I’m staring at them, wondering how my skin
can be so hot but not on fire. I bite my lip, anticipating the fire
moving into other parts of my body. My stomach tightens. Heat
flushes my core as we pass Eckle after Eckle, traveling deeper into
the thick green fauna.

There’s so much I want to say to him, so
much to communicate, but my words are lodged in my throat. What if
he’s right and this is some cruel dream? What if I still have to
wake up and complete the twelfth test tomorrow?

Reid stops.

Then pulls back a curtain of Yulus.

The lake sits secluded amongst the Eckles,
hidden beneath a ceiling of branches and bulbs, cloaked by the
walls of mossy trunks. No larger than a few yards in each
direction, the basin boasts clear, fresh water, its limestone floor
visible through the undisturbed surface.

“Tucker found it,” Reid releases my hand and
walks toward the lake. He rubs the back of his neck and then
crosses his arms. He throws me a look. “Beautiful, huh?”

“Beautiful.”

“Stumbled upon it one day. No one was out
here,” he shrugs at the innocent nature of the discovery. “Just
begging to be swam in.”

“Did you?”

He shakes his head, gazing out at the
crystal blue water. A breeze dances past, sending waves rippling
across the glassy surface.

“Who else knows?”

“Possibly the Zingfinolds,” Reid stops to
think. Then nods. “Definitely the Zingfinolds. And maybe a certain
mayan. But they rarely come by,” he fully turns around, his gaze
locking onto me now. “From what I can tell, it’s actually pretty
private.”

I bite my lip.

He jerks his head over. “Want to go for a
swim?”

“Like—” I follow his focus “—right now?”

Reid doesn’t know what to say. He glances
around, searching for a response. He must not have been expecting
the one I gave. “We can come back,” he rubs his neck, eyeing the
lake like a missed opportunity. “Thought I’d show it to you.
Figured you might like it after—”

“Yes—okay.”

The words are out of my mouth before I can
help it. Of course I want to go for a swim. Reid is asking. How can
I say no?

“You sure?”

My heart pounds fast. I know where this is
heading, what this will eventually lead to. I haven’t been with
Reid… like
that
… for three months and seeing him, being here
with him now, it’s like a dream come true. It’s all I thought about
when I had a moment alone to think on Arosin. This. Right now. And
I finally get to live it.

Pushing back the nerves, I glance at the
clear pool. “We have to at least try it out.”

The corner of his mouth lifts.

Turning, Reid slowly wades into the water,
giving me plenty of time to admire his perfectly naked back. He
submerges beneath the still blue surface and reappears in seconds,
his eyes catching mine. Something inside me stirs. Reid hasn’t
looked at me like this in months. He hasn’t looked at me at all,
but this look—this hunger—emanates power. Need.

Necessity.

I love it.

I lift the shirt over my head and toss it to
the grass. His eyes widen, but he makes no move to come closer. My
fingers drop to the button on my jeans. My skin flushes as I pop it
open and step out of the material, kicking off my Converse. I’m
left standing in my black bra and panties, trying to keep my
breathing even. A lump rolls down Reid’s throat but he doesn’t move
an inch. He stays where he is—in the middle of the lake, his
unwavering focus latched onto me.

I walk over the smooth wet rocks and into
the water until it reaches my shoulders. We’re maybe a few feet
apart when I dip below the freezing surface. Frigid water coats my
body and I reemerge quickly, pushing the hair from my face,
shivering from the sudden temperature change.

“Cold.
Very
cold.”

He smirks. “Should’ve warned you.”

“Yeah, thanks for that.”

Reid swims closer.

My heart pounds from the intensity of his
focus. When he looks at me like this, I can never concentrate. Too
distracted with his eyes, I force myself to examine the rest of his
appearance. “You grew your hair out.”

“You like it?”

I swim backward. “I do. Makes you look
older.”

“Wasn’t sure you’d like it,” he moves
closer, keeping us inches apart. I want him to reach out and touch
me, but I’m afraid that if he does, I’ll drown in heat. It’s too
much too quickly. Too much to be with him, to see him again. Too
much to touch him. I continue swimming backward, seeking space, but
brush up against something hard. It’s the edge of the lake—a smooth
rock wall that I can see under my feet. Reid inches even closer,
right in front of me.