Jim Gem's Arc

Chapter 5 of 23

Lena's head rested against Jim's arm. The waterfall hushed the room. He turned to say something more, and she lifted her face at the same moment. Their noses nearly touched. He smelled the dust of chalk on her skin, the same as ten years back. His heart kicked. Her cheeks went red, and then his did too. She pulled back fast. Her heel caught the edge of the rug. Her arms flew up. She tipped toward the open window and the black rocks below it. Jim moved before he chose to. His hand shot out and closed around her wrist. He yanked her in against his chest. Her feet found the floor. Her heart hammered where it pressed to him. His arm stayed around her back, holding her steady. Their faces were close again. Closer now. "Nice catch," Lena said. Her voice came out thin. "You've been practicing." "Reflex," Jim said. "Sure." She didn't step away. Her hand had grabbed a fistful of his jacket and stayed there. "That the wolf, or the you?" He didn't have an answer. The truth was he never knew anymore where one ended. The shapes lived in him now, under the skin, ready. That should have frightened her. She only looked at him, quiet and still, the way she always did when he changed. "Both," he said. Jim understood, standing there with her heartbeat against his ribs, that the hidden place he needed wasn't a cave in the hills. It was her. He closed the last inch and kissed her. She rose into it, on her toes, her fist still gripping his jacket like a rope. The waterfall filled the silence so neither had to break it. When they parted, Lena kept her forehead against his. "So," she breathed. "You needed a place to hide and someone to guard it." "Yes." "I'm both." She grinned, and her eyes twinkled in the moonlight. "Atop the waterfall. You practice there. I watch the area." She then smirked. "And you kiss me when you get it right." Jim laughed. For the first time, the dragon didn't feel like a mountain he'd never climb. He had a room, a guard, and a reason to hold the next shape longer. He set his hand flat over hers on his chest. "Deal," he whispered as he leaned in to kiss her again and she kissed back. Hard. Outside, the water kept falling. Inside, he stopped hiding.