I shut off the water and rushed through my morning routine.
“Claire brought my clothes this morning?” I guessed, trotting down the stairs.
Jared smiled, standing by the door with my coffee. “She dropped them off at the door.”
I kissed his lips as I passed, and he followed me to the Escalade.
I made it to my desk just as the professor began passing out tests. It was difficult to concentrate; my mind wandered to Jared’s lips — and other parts of his body — and the fact that we had the entire summer to make up for lost time.
I was the last person to finish, and when I handed in my paper, the professor added it to the thick pile, nodding politely.
“Enjoy your summer, Miss Grey.”
“Oh, I will,” I said, smiling when I saw Jared standing in the doorway.
When we pulled to the curb in front of the loft, he turned off the key and sat in his seat, keeping my hand in his.
“I feel like I should apologize to you for last night,” he said, kissing my fingers.
“Why?” I asked.
Jared shifted in his seat. “It wasn’t exactly planned. I feel like I ambushed you.”
“That’s the kind of ambush I don’t mind,” I smiled, leaning over to kiss him. “I’ve never wanted anything more.”
Jared cautiously smiled. “You’re okay, then?”
“I’m better than okay. I’m looking forward to the next ambush, actually.” I leaned over to kiss his neck, making my way to his ear.
Jared chuckled. “We might not leave the loft for the rest of the summer with you behaving like that.”
“That wouldn’t be so bad, would it?” I whispered, grazing my tongue along the edge of his ear.
“And when do you plan on getting your things from Andrews? Your mother is expecting you to move back home this weekend. I have quite a bit of work to do, taking down the tech from your room, the hall….” he trailed off, distracted by my mouth on his ear.
I pulled back and stared at him for a moment. Before I could verbalize the ingenious idea that popped into my head, a broad smile spread across my face.
“What?” he asked, smiling as well.
“Since we’re moving my things…why don’t we just bring them here?” I said, searching his eyes for a reaction.
Jared’s eyebrows shot up in shock. “You want to move into the loft?”
I shrugged, unsure what his reaction meant. I wasn’t exactly confident that the offer was still open. “If it’s okay.”
“If it’s okay? Do you know how happy you just made me?” he said, scanning my face with unconditional devotion in his eyes.
“So that’s a yes?”
Jared laughed out loud, shook his head, and then kissed me enthusiastically. “That is a definite, without a doubt, absolutely yes.”
I giggled with excitement as Jared pulled me over to his lap, kissing me with every bit the joy that I felt. In the course of just twelve hours, the last six weeks dissolved as if they’d never happened. Before the nightmare had ended, we’d gotten our miracle. It had turned out that it was up to us all along.
We spent the rest of the weekend moving boxes and small pieces of furniture. Jared insisted on doing most of the lifting, and I hummed along with the stereo as I unpacked my things. We seemed to only get a few boxes unpacked at a time before we were celebrating my homecoming upstairs, only to come downstairs, unpack a few boxes and start the process over again.
After a heated weekend inside, Jared decided that we should get some fresh air. Monday morning I walked outside to perfect weather. The air smelled of freshly cut grass and sunshine. I lifted my head towards the cloudless sky, closing my eyes and smiling as the sun filtered through my eyelids.
Jared climbed onto his Vulcan and smiled. “Lillian wanted me to ask you to dinner. Before you say anything,” he hedged, seeing my shocked expression, “she suggested we meet in a restaurant. She doesn’t want you to feel obligated, but she would like to see you again. She misses you.”
I sighed. “How can she miss me? I assumed the undeserved partial treatment would end after she heard what happened.”
Jared tucked my hair affectionately behind my ear. “She knows what you’re going through, and you’re the only one that knows what she went through. You have a lot in common.”
“We don’t have to go to a restaurant. She can come to our place or we can go over there. I’m not afraid.”
Jared’s eyes poured over my face, wearing a perfectly content expression.
I raised an eyebrow. “What?”
His eyes turned soft. “Our place.”
He started the engine and I slipped on my sunglasses, climbing on behind him. The summer air whipped around us as Jared flew down the streets, and I pressed my cheek against his back, feeling happier than I ever had.
We came to a stoplight and Jared rested his hand on my knee. “We can get the rest of your things from Cynthia’s in the morning. And if you want to get some paint, we can do that, too,” he said, trying too hard to sound casual.
I peered around to see his face. “And why do we need paint?”
Jared shrugged. “The loft doesn’t exactly scream cohabitation. If you want to make it your own, we can get you what you need.”
“Aw!” I lilted, making Jared cringe and shake his head.
I tightened my grip and then rested my forehead on his back. He stiffened and I raised my head to see what had caused him to tense. Samuel stood in front of us, massive and dark as night. His arms were crossed over his chest, making him seem even more ominous. I cowered behind Jared, my heartbeat instantly pounding in my chest.
“Hello, Nina,” Samuel spoke. His expression seemed to soften but his features were so severe it wasn’t as comforting as he might have meant for it to be.
“You must have news,” Jared said.
“I do,” Samuel said, breaking his stare from me. “Shax has received information that Jack had the book secured in a bank that you and Nina alone have access to.”
“This is bad,” Jared said in a low, portentous tone.
“They also know that Nina’s ring has a code embedded in it that they need. There is talk, Jared. They’ll be coming for her soon.”
Jared sat for a moment, lost in thought. His head jerked up to look at Samuel. “Not if we give it to them.”
“Jared!” I cried.
He turned to me and touched my face. “Nina, I don’t know why Jack has the book. But it’s not worth your life.”
“You’re assuming Shax will stop once he has the book,” Samuel said, his voice matching his frightening features.
“How did they come into this knowledge?” Jared growled.
“How else?” Samuel narrowed his eyes. “Humans.”
I began to ask Samuel what he meant, but just as before, the space he occupied lost any memory of him.
Jared revved the engine and flew to the loft. He dismounted and pulled me off the seat, barely letting my feet touch the ground before ushering me up the stairs.
He kicked the door shut and held my shoulders. “I’m going to figure this out, Nina. No one’s in danger. I’m going to end this, okay?” His words were so fast they blurred together, and his eyes were stormy and tense.
“Okay,” I said, wrapping my arms around him and kissing his lips.
