As we reached the base of the mountain, he gathered me in his arms and carried me. It would speed things up… a lot. Besides, I hadn’t exactly been eating much recently, and even if I was fueled on protein bars, there was obviously no way I could climb the mountain.
He followed Brucella’s directions around the edge of the mountain until we reached five oak trees where, after I had shifted to his back, he immediately began to climb. Scaling the side of a mountain was no more difficult for him than scaling trees. He gripped the rocks with ease, lifting us gracefully several feet at a time.
I hadn’t realized how high up this mountain was from the ground. I dared pry my eyes from the back of Bastien’s muscular neck to gaze around. For a few seconds, I lost my breath at the view. We were higher than the mountain I had stayed in briefly in Bastien’s lair. Higher than any treetop he had taken me to. This was the highest vantage point from which I had ever witnessed The Woodlands. Beneath the moonlight, the oceans of swaying trees looked magical. Mystical. A world of exploration. I wondered how large The Woodlands was compared to the United States or some other earthly country. And how much of it I had traversed with Bastien over the last few days.
Bastien continued climbing until we reached the ledge Brucella had described, an overhanging plateau, which was actually much larger than I had expected it to be. Even despite my curiosity about the gate, I couldn’t stop my eyes from drifting toward the view again, now more spectacular than ever. I was not sure if I had ever witnessed stars truly glitter, but the stars in this clear sky tonight were like shimmering diamonds. It was a mild night, and even so high up, the breeze was not overbearing. It was almost pleasant.
“Over there.” Bastien spoke behind me in a low voice. I turned to see that he was pointing about fifteen feet away from us. Etched into the ground was a circular hole. An abyss. A gate.
So Brucella was telling the truth. It had really been her lucky day that she had met somebody who knew of a gate and she was legitimately able to get rid of me. She knew that Bastien couldn’t object lest it look like we were more than just friends.
Friends.
That word again.
“I wonder if it really leads to where they say it leads,” I mumbled.
“There would only be one way to find out,” he replied, looking at me pointedly. “And I have no intention of inciting you to disobey your parents.”
“Yeah,” I said. “We will check it out with them.”
As we continued staring down into the portal, the silence of the mountaintop engulfed us. Then I stepped back, and we caught each other’s eye.
“Uh, well,” he said. “We found it.”
“Yeah,” I said faintly.
“I suppose we should return now.” He spoke slowly, like he was wholly unenthusiastic about the suggestion.
My eyes returned to the view. We—or rather, Bastien—had climbed all this way. It seemed a shame to leave so soon…
“We still have some time,” I said, raising a brow. “Why don’t we sit for a while? It’s so beautiful up here.”
“It is,” he replied, his voice a tad croaky.
We moved closer to the edge and lowered ourselves to the ground. Sitting next to each other, I once again felt the urge to be closer to him. To feel his touch. Why do I keep wanting that?
I resisted the urge to rest my head against his shoulder again this time, however, and instead said quietly, “I’m glad I’m not leaving so soon, Bastien.”
His gray irises reflected the starlight as he looked deep into my eyes. He didn’t need to answer for me to see just how glad he was too.
Bastien
A war was raging within me. A war I was losing with each moment that I stayed immersed in Victoria’s blue eyes.
It had crept up on me like a thief in the night, this feeling in my chest. This pull toward her. This desire.
Was this what I should be feeling for Rona?
Was this what my father had felt for my mother?
But this could not be. Not now, not ever. It was wrong on every level. More than wrong. It was fatal.
As eager as I had been to steal some time alone with Victoria this evening, now I was terrified. And yet, as I beheld her beautiful face, it was a terror I could not pull myself away from. I was losing myself to something. And it was swallowing me fast.
I drank in her appearance like a dying man. Her sparkling eyes, her rounded nose, her soft cheeks, her full lips. I had always found her lips beautiful but now… I wanted to touch them. I wanted to feel them. I wanted to know what they tasted like. I wanted to delve my fingers into her dark hair, explore every curve of her body.
An uncontrollable surge of longing coursed through me. I barely even heard her as she spoke to me. Her words were like echoes in my head, distant, far away. It felt like the world around me could disappear and I wouldn’t notice.
“Bastien,” I vaguely heard her whisper. “What are you thinking?”
That was my problem. I was not thinking. I’d lost my mental faculties. All I could do was feel.
But feeling wasn’t enough. I needed to reach out and pluck those cherry lips. I needed to…
The next thing I knew, my hands had moved to her face and my lips were on hers. Her breath hitched, but then her arms were sliding around my neck, closing the gap between our chests. Passion already burned through my veins, and her gesture set me alight. She wanted this, needed this, just as much as I did. All I was aware of was the blood pounding in my ears, Victoria’s soft ivory skin beneath my fingertips, her scent and taste beguiling my senses, the way her bosom heaved with uneven breathing. I wanted to possess her. Every part of her. Kiss every inch of skin that I could reach between her clothes…