I Have Crossed the Stars to Find You - BOOK ONE

Chapter 7 - Ikran

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Rose

The following morning Jake wakes me up early, standing next to my hammock in my home pod and gently shaking me until I wake up. As I let out a yawn and rub my eyes, Jake backs up out of my personal space. I stretch while still laying on my back in the hammock, missing how his eyes trail over my arched back before I sit up, accepting the hand he offers to help me out of the bed and onto my feet.

I open my mouth to ask why he's woken me up so early but I quickly close it when he brings up a finger to his mouth, silently telling me to stay quiet. He picks up my satchel off of the small wooden table I had left it on and hands it to me, I put it on then grab my bow as well and put that on too. Once I'm ready to go Jake walks over to the pod entrance and holds the vines out of my way as I walk through before he follows me out, gently taking one of my hands in his before he starts climbing up the spiral staircase, leading us up to the top branches of Hometree. This time I don't need his help climbing up as over the time I've spent with the clan I've learned how to properly climb up and down.

Once we reach the top Jake puts on his eye guard that I've seen him wear a few times before, mostly just when on his ikran, then he turns to face me with that soft smile that gives me butterflies. If he notices my tail flicking around happily behind me as he steps closer, he doesn't comment on it and instead opens my satchel and carefully takes something out before closing it again. I watch his movements, eyebrows raising slightly in surprise when I see him holding a slightly smaller eye guard that I know I didn't put in my bag. "A stxeli (gift) for my yawne (beloved)." Jake says quietly as he helps me put it on, adjusting it so it doesn't bother my ears and making sure it won't fall off before stepping back a bit to look me over, nodding to himself with a small smirk on his face.

As I puzzle over the last word that he said, trying to figure it out, Jake calls for his ikran, causing me to smile when Bob flies over and perches on the branch in front of us. Jake climbs up then extends a hand down to me and I walk closer, gently petting the side of Bob's neck and laughing quietly when he nuzzles his head into my side before I take Jake's hand and allow him to pull me up. However rather than me sitting behind Jake like I usually do, he's seated me in front of him, my back to his chest as he reaches around me to grab Bob's kuru (neural queue) to attach to his own.

Jake then reaches around me again and gently grabs both my wrists in his hands, directing me to lean down more towards Bob's neck and showing me where to hold on, another laugh coming out of me as the ikran starts purring below us, Jake chuckling as well before gently patting the side of my thigh, leaning down to make sure I can hear him over the purring, "Alaski? (Ready?)" I almost miss what he said because from this close I can feel his heart beat on my back, his thighs caging my own in against Bob's sides to better keep me secure in my seat. I let out a small, shaky breath as I focus on forming an answer, trying hard to ignore the feeling of Jake's breath just a few inches from my neck, "Alaksi."

Missing the smug look on Jake's face when he picks up on the change in my breathing, I gently nuzzle the side of my face into Bob's neck as Jake readies him to take off before I feel his tail wrap around my waist gently to keep my form secure against his as Bob takes off, hurling us off of the top branches of Hometree for a few seconds before leveling out and soaring away. My eyes stay shut tight until we level out, only opening when I feel Jake sit up properly and his tail unfurls from my waist, then I open my eyes and carefully sit up with my hands still braced against Bob's back to keep me steady.