Jade

Chapter 33

He continues to hold me against the window with one hand and works on undoing his pants with the other.  I hear a whooshing noise, feel a cold breeze, then smell lavender and mint.   I am flooded with relief as Aris pulls him back off of me.  I slide down to the floor, holding my neck, gasping for air.  Ripley enters through the bedroom door and rushes to me.  “Are you okay, Jade?” he asked.  I nod my head yes, still gasping for air.

“What are you doing here?” Aris asks the man.  “Ask her,” the man answers, “It is her dream.”  “I know that she did not invite you,” Aris responded, “You are breaking the law by entering.”  “You mean he is actually here?  He created this dream?” I asked.  “Yes,” Ripley answered.  “So, is this his dream, or mine?”  “It is hard to tell,” Ripley answered, “it does not matter.  It should not be happening.”  “Uninvite her,” Aris growled.  “I will not,” the man smiled, “if I can not have her for real, I want her in my dreams.  Nice room, by the way.  Nice cabin.”  Aris just stared him down, then in an even tone, “I am going to beat you, then I am going to revoke your dream walking privileges, then I order you to appear before me within two days time.  If you, Tobias Drake, do not appear before me in two days time, I will issue a death warrant.  And it will be easy for me to find you.”  “You can not do this,” he protested.  “I sure can.  She will not defy me on this,” Aris stated, “she is hoping that you do not appear.  She wants you dead.”  He looked at me with pleading eyes.  He will find no sympathy with me.

Aris approached him.  “Please.  I will stop.”  Aris reared back and punched him hard in the face.  Tobias fell back against the wall.  “Please.  I promise, I will not do it anymore.”  “I will make sure of that,” Aris got down and hit him again.  Aris hit him again and again, over and over.  Then when he was finished he took Tobias out onto the balcony and threw him over the railing.

“Did you revoke him?” Ripley asked.  “Tobias Drake, your dream walking privileges are revoked,” Aris stated, “It is done.  Are you okay Jade?”  I got up and ran to him.  He hugged me tight.  “Will I hurt when I wake up?”  “No, you will be fine,” he answered, “I think we both need a bath though.”  “I agree.  He stinks.”  “Are we still in his dream?” Ripley asked, “How does this work?”  “No.  It is Jade's dream now,” Aris answered.  “If you are both okay with it, I will step out now.  I will start breakfast in a little while,” Ripley told us.  “Thank you for coming,” I told him with true gratitude.  “No thanks needed, but you are welcome,” he responded and walked out.

Aris ushered me over to the bed and we both sat down.  “Are you okay?” he asked.  I nodded my head yes.  Would you like to take a bath now, or wake up and take one?”  “Wake up and take one,” I answered.  “Agreed,” he snapped his fingers.

I woke with a start.  I was relieved to be half laying on Aris.  I slid off of him and looked down at myself to see what I was wearing.  I was relieved to be wearing the pajamas that I fell asleep in.  I looked up at his face.  He was smiling, “just making sure?”  I nodded my head yes, “can we smoke before our bath?”  “Sure,” he stood up, out of bed, and changed into a white snowsuit.  I did the same and we went out onto the balcony.  He lit me a cigarette, then one for himself.  I looked down, at the ground, over the balcony.  “He is not there,” Aris assured me, “that only happened in the dream.”  “Okay,” me, a little disappointed.  “Do not worry.  He will get what is coming to him.”  We both took draws off of our cigarettes.  “In two days?” I asked.  “Yes.  In two days.”  “Can I be there?”  “Yes.”  We finished our cigarettes and went in.

We headed straight for the bathroom.  He started a hot bath.  I got out the shampoo, conditioner, soap and bubble bath.  I poured some bubble bath in and put the bottle back in the closet.  I changed into a green bikini and sat down on the edge of the tub.  He changed into green shorts and sat down next to me, “are you sure that you are okay?”  “I don't know,” I answered honestly, “I almost got away.  I was trying to get outside to you, but he caught me.  That's when I asked for help and knocked on the window three times.”  “He is really cruel, to have me outside, out of reach, while he attacks you,” he stated.  “I told him that I belong to you,” I started again, “He said that I am not yours because there is no mark.  Then he asked why you haven't made me yours yet.”  I stopped and mustered up my courage, “Why haven't you, Aris?  Is there something wrong with me?  Did I do something wrong?”  “There is nothing wrong with you,” he turned the water off and got in.  He stood facing me, “you have done nothing wrong.  You just are not ready yet.”

“What do I have to do to be ready?” I asked.  “We just need to have a long talk about it,” he started.  “Then let's talk about it,” I interrupted.  “Not now,” he stopped me.  “Then when?” I asked.  “Not right after you were attacked by him,” he answered, “now, come in.”  He helped me into the tub. We both sat down.  He grabbed a hold of my waste and pulled me to lean back against him.  “Just relax,” he whispered.  “You always say we will talk about it later, but we never do,” I complained, not ready to give in yet.  “Shhhh….,” he whispered, “Relax and I will give you one.”  “One what?” I asked.  “One answer.”  “Okay,” I agreed, leaning back against him, “do I get to pick the subject?”  “Within reason,” he answered.

I closed my eyes and breathed in his scent.  “Don't put me to sleep,” I whispered.  “I am just helping you relax,” he whispered in my ear.  Then he licked my earlobe.  I shivered.  “That is better,” he whispered.  “What? I asked.  “Your response when I licked your ear,” he answered, “can I wash your hair?”  “Only if I can wash yours after,” I answered.  “Okay,” he agreed.  I laid back and got my hair wet then sat up.  He washed and conditioned my hair, then I did his.

“This water is getting cold,” I commented.  “Do you want to get out?” he asked, “ or would you like to run more hot water and stay in a little longer?”  “Let's stay in longer,” I answered.  He turned on the hot water and pulled the plug to let some water out.  When the water was sufficiently warmer he turned the water off.  He pulled me back to where I was leaning against him again.  He kissed my neck then licked my ear again.  I could feel his warm breath.  I shivered.  “Can I wash you?” he asked.

I tensed up a little, “What do you mean?”  “I use a bar of soap to wash your body,” he explained.  I smiled, feeling mischievous, “only if I get to wash yours after.”  “Okay,” he agreed.  He washed me all over without touching any of my lady parts, so I washed him all over without touching any of his man parts.  Then it was time to get out.  I put the bikini back on.  His shorts were forming as he stood up.  I caught a glimpse of him on accident.  I know that my blush had to be comparable to a tomato.  “It is okay Jade.  I have seen you too.  I am surprised that it took this long for you to see me.”  I stood up and he helped me out of the tub, then climbed out himself.  We went to the closet.  I dried off with a towel, then wrapped my wet hair up in a towel.  We both changed to white snowsuits.  The skin put my hair up in a wet bun, then I put the hood on.

We went out to the balcony to smoke.  He handed me a lit cigarette, then lit his own.  “Alright, it is time for your first question,” he stated.  “How old are you?” I asked.  “The reason that I do not answer that is because I do not know.  I stopped counting years ago,” he answered.  “Well how old were you when you stopped counting?”  “Around three hundred and fifty.” 

“That's just real cute,” now I'm annoyed, “you told me I could have an answer, but you didn't say an honest answer, did you?”  “That is an honest answer,” he stated, seriously.  “So you are over three hundred and fifty years old?”  “Yes.”  “How long ago did you stop counting?”  “My best guess would be about a hundred years.”  “So, four hundred and fifty years.”  “Yes.”  “You said that you had been waiting on me for a long time.  How long would that be?”  “I knew of you when I was around fifty years.  I started seriously preparing for you when I was around two hundred and fifty.”  “So, two hundred years?”  “No, I have been waiting since I was fifty.”

“What did you do during that time?  Did you have family?” I asked.  “I had two wives and one child,” he answered.  “Did you love them?” I asked hesitantly.  “Very much so,” he answered.  I felt a pang of what I think might be jealousy.  “What happened to them?”  “The first one left me for another man.  The second died in childbirth.  I lost my child too,” he answered with sorrow in his voice.  I saw a tear slide down his cheek.  “Oh, Aris, I’m so sorry,” I hugged him.  “Thank you Jade,” he hugged me back, “I didn't expect it to still hurt after so long.  There were no more after that.  I decided that I did not want anymore heartache after that, so I just started preparing for you.”

We stood there hugging for a minute longer then, “Ripley said that breakfast is ready.”  I looked up at him.  I reached up and wiped the tears from his face, “let's go eat.”  I took his hand and led him inside.  We changed into sweat suits and slippers and went down to the kitchen.  I didn't even realize that I was hungry until I smelled the food.  Eggs, bacon, sausage links and toast waited for us on the dining room table.  Ethan and Ripley were already seated and eating.  We took our seats next to each other and dug in.  It was delicious.  Ripley thought of everything, including jelly to spread on our toast.  I could get used to this.

“Thank you for breakfast.  It was wonderful,” I told Ripley.  “What do you usually have for breakfast?  This is what we usually have here,” Ripley asked.  “An apple,” I answered.  “Is that all?  Well get used to this,” he commented, “We have apples if you still want one.”  “No.  I am full,” I stated rubbing my belly.  “ Good, we have a long day ahead of us,” Aris stated, “Tobias Drake will be here this evening.”  There was a moment of silence.  “He sure is wasting no time,” I muttered.  “He would,” Aris spoke up, “I stripped him of all of his abilities.  For us that is like walking around blind.”

“Who is Tobias Drake?” Ethan asked.  “A very bad man,” I answered.  “Get ready to go to the main cabin.  I will explain when we meet with the others,” Aris answered.

Ripley and Ethan both got up and collected the dishes.  It took them about twenty minutes to clean up then they left to suit up to go.  Aris stayed with me at the table.  “Are you okay Jade?” he asked softly.  “I don't know,” I answered, a little fearful, “he's going to actually be here?”  “Yes, but it will be like last time.  He will be guarded and he will not be in the same room as us.”  “Do I get to help decide the punishment this time?”  “Yes.  If you want to.”  “I want to.”  He took my hand and rubbed small circles on my palm.  I felt myself relax.  We waited for Ripley and Ethan in silence.

“Jade, are you ready to go?”  I jumped.  “I'm sorry?” I asked.  “They are ready to go, when you are ready,” Aris answered.  I stood up, “I'm ready.”  He took my hand and led me to the back door.  We changed into white snowsuits on the way and went out the back door.