Chapter 19: Bonding While On The Run

Fear is what fuels Eliana, forcing her to accelerate her movements through the forest. She clenches her teeth in order to hide her pain, her ankle pulsing up her leg. She has her hair tied up, in order to keep it away from the branches jutting out.

“Hurry,” Jasper hisses. “We need to put as much distance between us and Viptan as possible.”

Eliana tries to pick up her pace, but her weak ankle protests. “I’m sorry,” she gasps.

Jasper comes to a halt, giving her a moment to rest.

“Here, get on my back,” he crouches in front of her, his large frame waiting.

Heat builds in her abdomen. Eliana shakes her head, even though he is unable to see it.

“No, I can keep going.”

“Don’t be stubborn. Your ankle is only going to get worse if you continue pushing it.” He clears his throat, “The trees are becoming too dense, otherwise I would shift and carry you like that. This is our only option.”

“But you are still healing,” she counters.

Jasper shrugs, “I am alright. I can do this easily. Now hurry, we have to go.”

Pushing her emotions down, Eliana slowly moves forward, gently placing her hands on Jasper’s shoulders. As she lays her body across his, her heart refuses to calm. Her entire being is pounding, her head filled with his lavender smell as her face is slapped with his ebony hair. There is a tingling in her arms as she clasps her numb fingers in front of him.

As Jasper reaches around to place his strong arms under her legs, in order to hold her up, Eliana releases an unwarranted squeak from the contact. A shiver rushes up and lands in her lower abdomen causing even more heat to burn into her face and tears building in her eyes from the overwhelming emotion.

“What’s wrong, are you alright?” Jasper loosens his grip and tries to twist to look at her, concern contorting his features.

Eliana hides her face from his gaze, “Yes, I am sorry. I was just surprised. I have never been carried like this.”

“Never, not even as a child, playing?” He slowly hardens his grip as he forces himself to stand. It is one solid movement, his strength barely being used.

Eliana shakes her head as they quickly move through the forest once more. “I was not allowed to play as much. I was in class while other children my age were able to play. Even when I had a chance to go out and converse with them, my father refused to allow me to have any physical contact with the children, even the girls. He did not want me to get dirty.”

Jasper’s brow furrows, but Eliana is unable to see it. “Is it normal for children in Zaline to be learning and not to play? Most children I meet do not even know how to write their name.”

Eliana tries to blink away the haze in her mind, “My father wanted me to learn as much as I could. So that I could help others in the future, and not be a simple wife and mother who was unable to do much else.”

“That is kind of your father, trying to give you a better future.” He nods, his breath slightly labored as he slides down a small incline. “You should have been able to play, though. That is what a child should be worrying about, not making sure they can read and write at such a young age.”

Heart racing, she wonders if Jasper is able to hear it, “I believe I still played enough. I do not regret any of it.”

Jasper nods, his hair swaying in the breeze as he runs, causing more of his lavender scent to overwhelm Eliana. She tries to swallow the building emotion that is twisting her heart and causing a quivering in her stomach.

“How long will we be running for,” she asks once she notices that Jasper is beginning to slow. He has been running for hours, not stopping to take a break even once.

“Just a while longer. Climont horses have great endurance; they will be able to run longer than me. I have to put a lot of distance between us so that we can relax and not be worried they will find us,” he explains through his heavy breathing.

“If you overexert yourself, your wound will just get worse.” She sighs into his back. “Please, just rest for a while, I can walk now.”

Jasper falls against a tree, his chest heaving, “We can take a break, but it is alright, I can still carry you.”

Eliana is thankful she is able to slide off his back, her heart beginning to calm, but her skin is left with goosebumps. The lack of his body close to hers leaves her chest aching.

“My ankle is better,” she twists it around and samples standing on only that leg as an example.

Jasper’s lips twitch with a smile, “I am glad that it is feeling better, but let’s continue to go the way we have been, so that it does not have a chance to get worse.”

Eliana breaks eye contact, her face enflamed, as she thinks about the closeness and intimacy it brings when she is on his back.

“There is a small village about a day’s journey ahead. If we keep at this pace we may even get there sooner. We can find food and a change of clothes there.”

“Is it a good idea to stop at this village,” Eliana questions softly.

Jasper releases a long breath and stretches, wincing at the pressure. “It is our only option. We will both be starving by then, and weak. We cannot go much farther than that without food or water.”

Eliana nods, but there is a nagging fear at the back of her mind.

“Come, let’s continue. They will probably know by now that we are missing. It is only a matter of time before Nile tells the Climont soldiers that you have escaped.”

Eliana sighs, but once she is faced with Jasper’s back once more, she freezes. The warmth exuding from his body has fire lighting in her stomach. Words jumble in her brain, one in particular continuously coming forward, but her mind is in such a haze that she is unable to tell what it is. Shaking her head and clearing her thoughts, she slips back onto Jasper’s back and bites down her gasp as he grabs a hold of her legs once more.

She swallows and braces herself as he stands. One thought is brought to the surface as they continue on their journey.

“What will he think of me when he really finds out who I am?”