The Hunting

Chapter 18

This chapter is dedicated to my baby girl Gracie. (I know it's weird to dedicate a chapter to a dog) BUT Gracie was one of my best friends. You will forever hold a place in my heart. You will be dearly missed. Picture to the side is of Gracie and I about four weeks ago.

Zariya's POV

~~~~~

As we arrived in Aspen I began to get nervous. "Hey Roman? How are we suppose to find the watcher?" I asked.

"She's suppose to be on top of that mountain." He pointed to a mountain in the distance. We drove through the city and to the base of the monstrous mountain. Placing the truck in park and climbing out I realized two things. It's freezing cold and the mountain is taller than I thought.

"Closer up it looks a lot bigger." I whined. Roman chuckled.

"Here." He threw a jacket at me. It seems the man who brought us the truck brought two jackets and some other supplies as well. I quickly pulled the jacket on and zipped it up. "Let's go." We headed up the mountain in a slow and steady pace.

*****

"Roman?"

"No Zariya, we are not there yet." He grumbled. Huffing loudly I stopped and crossed my arms.

"That's not what I was going to ask you." I argued.

"Well, it's the only question you've asked me in the last hour so I just figured-"

"Just figured what?" I asked clearly upset. "That I was going to whine and complain some more?" Roman stopped and turned to face me. A frown clear on his face.

"Honestly, yes! I figured you would say something like, 'Roman, my feet hurt!', or 'How much longer till we reach the top?'." He spoke in a higher pitched voice. "Zariya, I don't know! It depends on how fast you walk."

"Oh, someone's trying to be all smart and funny." I said sarcastically.

"Well at least that person isn't being all grumpy and annoying!" Anger ran throughout my being. I marched right up to him, face to chest, and looked up into those sea blue eyes.

"Really? How am I being annoying? Please tell me what drives you so crazy!" I argued. He took a step closer, leaving barley an inch between our two bodies and peered into my eyes.

"What drives me crazy?" He asked, his accent coming out thick. "The things that drive me crazy are all the little things you do. You asked every five minutes if we're there and every time I tell you the same thing. You constantly complain about your feet hurting or how it's too cold. You shiver like a tiny dog and your teeth hit against each other proving the fact. Your cheeks are pink from the chilly air, your lips are turning pale, your eyes sparkle when you're in a heated argument, and this whole time I'm having to keep myself from doing something that I might regret!" He yelled. I blinked in shock.

Roman never raised his voice at me before and I wasn't sure why but hearing him do so made the fire within me flourish. "Oh, yeah? So that's how you really feel? Well, if I'm such a burden why don't you just leave! We don't want want you to do something you might regret!" I hollered. With no warning at all Roman grabbed my face and connected his lips with mine. My eyes grew wide with surprise. Reality stopped, literally speaking. The chilly wind came to a stand still causing the snowflakes to stop in the mist of their dance. I could see every detail that was carved into the falling snow that had froze mid air. They sparkled like diamonds causing me to go into an awestruck daze. My eyes slowly moved to Roman's face. His icy blue eyes were closed and I remembered what was actually happening.

In that frozen bit of time I realized what I wanted. Closing my eyes, time resumed. I placed my hands on his chest and stood on my toes trying to get closer to him. Roman kept one hand on my face but moved the other down and around my waist to pull me into his chest. He kissed me hard and I returned it. The kiss was a longing kiss, a kiss full of raw power and something else I've never felt before. My body was in pure agony, yet somehow it was a good agony. I felt as if fire and ice entwined themselves and ran through my veins, burning and freezing every nerve and muscle. His hand travel down and around my neck and then up into my hair. His fingers gripped and tugged at the hairs sending lava like heat down my spine.