“You’re wearing the Malkvien ring and you hold my hand which has on the Claitleeff ring. The creature which you just killed has left behind the Bariah ring. When Carnwennan’s edge penetrated the Bariah’s body, you connected to the power of three supreme ancient cults. I have seen many portraits depicting the Sorceress. It had purple hair, just like you.” His tone was pompous.
I looked at him suspiciously. “You just made this up, right?”
“You got me.” His lips curved into a smile.
“Arthur! Stop playing with me and tell who those dead guys really are.”
“That is not for you to know. Now, let’s get back to our training.”
He took his jacket off and after he folded it carefully, he placed on the leather sofa.
My lips parted as I looked over his disheveled blond hair and chiseled face. I noticed for the first time the fitting t-shirt that was clinging to his body and his tight pants that were hugging his long legs. I did not want to take my eyes away from him.
“Why is it taking you so long?” he asked.
The adrenaline rush was still at a high level in my body. I looked down at myself. My shirt was stretched, my hands were trembling hard.
He gently eased my shirt back on my shoulder. A jolt went through me when I flicked my eyes up to his blue eyes.
“Now, get ready for your first controlled time jump.” He pulled me gently into his arms, solid hard muscle and warm. “Don’t be afraid and let me guide you,” he lightly caressed my back and gently pulled my newly colored silver hair back. A faint smell of cologne filled my nostrils.
“I’m feeling so stressed,” I muttered.
He gave me a smile that sent a shiver up my spine. “Why? It is not the first time that you time-hop.”
“It is not the jump. It is the danger, and the secrets, and all the stuff that I still do not know. What if something bad happens to me? What if I am going to grow fangs and become a vampire? What if my nose grows bigger and my ears become pointing?”
He laughed and caressed my cheek.
“Nothing will happen to you. What will happen next depends on you,” he said.
“What do you mean?”
“You agreed to join me and discover the depth of your special powers while we take down our enemies. Have you changed your mind?”
“Freaking no!”
His beautifully shaped lips turned up in a smile as he secured his arms around me. “Then it’s a deal. I am sure that your extraordinaire powers go beyond the Time hopping spectrum. With your skills, we can dive into a Time Hopper’s mind so deep that none of the telepaths I have met could. However, we need to change our plans a little.”
“How so?”
He placed his hand low on my back possessively. I raised my eyes to his face; he was mesmerizing in his beauty. My heart pounded hard in my chest as he lightly brushed his mouth against mine.
“Will you ever let me taste it?” he asked.
“Not in a million years.”
CHAPTER 11
*
“Croque Monsieur and Tartine au Framboise”.
Arthur handed me the plate with a sly smile on his face and naughty thoughts flooded my mind. Thoughts that I should not express for any reason.
“Would you like something to drink? Coffee? Tea?” he asked instead.
“Yes, I want to drink you in.” I was shocked by my thought. Love always got me into trouble and the last thing I now wanted was to fall in love with my trainer who was much more experienced than I was and, I was sad to admit, more a master manipulator. But he was a great cook and loved food.
“Love comes through the stomach.” I shook slightly my head to send the naughty thoughts away.
“Is everything all right?” Arthur asked.
“Everything is beyond delicious.”
“Would you like a cup of Ceylon Black Tea? Or a double espresso? Or orange juice?” He asked playfully.
“In fact, I’d like to taste all your juices now. Darn Gwen, stop it now!”
I blushed with embarrassment, as if he had heard my silent proclamation.
“I want to have a nice warm bath with you. I want you to be my Geralt of Rivia. I want me to be your Yennefer. In the bathtub. And then I want us to get into your cozy bed with the fluffy duvet and ... fall asleep.”
I was so freaking tired. We had been training for three days now, more than 15 hours per day, as if the world would have ended if we trained less.
“A double espresso would be fine.” I tried to unsuccessfully suppress a yawn.
He never seemed to get tired. That would be a great requirement for one’s sex life but when it came to daily life activities, it was hell for me as I could never match his energy levels. The man was a nuclear bomb and I was a grenade. He was the orchestra and I was the horn. He was a five centuries tree and I was Baby Groot.
Apart from the training, we had been trying to track down my family line. Chances were that we would never find out anything about it. As much as we tried, as many old Time Hoppers we asked, and as many ancient books we read, we did not manage to track down my bloodline. You cannot even imagine how disturbing that was. I was feeling like half a person, hoping that I would someday find the fullness the knowledge of my origin could bring me.
I was a good Time Hoper, though. No question about that. I was a darn good one. However, I had not managed to prove that to Arthur yet.
Arthur was the only entity in the world that could make me black out. I never knew whether he was serious or joking with me. I was determined to make him reveal every secret he kept from me, but he was a tough cookie. My determination did not come only
