Page 55 of Hunted
“You’re not,” I said, brushing my hair behind my ear.
“I hope I didn’t startle you.”
“A little, but I think that’s expected given where we are, and what can happen at any given moment.”
“Is that what you’ve been thinking about while you’ve been out here?”
I shook my head. Smiled. “No,” I said, “I think I’m just… homesick. Actually, finally homesick.”
Valerian nodded. “I understand.” He looked around, scanning the sky with his eyes, then the trees, then the fence and the snow. “This place feels like home, doesn’t it?”
“Too much like home, yes.”
“It makes you think…”
“About?”
“How life on Earth doesn’t have to be so bad…”
“Already thinking of settling, Valerian?”
He smiled, shook his head. “No… no. Maybe I’m just feeling sentimental after… well.”
Warm blood rushed into my chest. My cheeks reddened. “Right.”
“Unless you’d rather not talk about it again.”
“I don’t feel the urge to avoid talking about it, no. Not this time.” I walked up to him. “Did you want to talk about it?”
“Only to learn your feelings… and to hope that the cold light of morning hasn’t diluted what passed between us last night.”
I shook my head. “It hasn’t. Not for me, anyway. I’m glad we… did that.”
Valerian shoved off the doorframe and came over to me. “I’m glad we did too.”
I took his hand, entwined mine with his. “I know you’re thinking it as much as I am.”
“Thinking what?” he asked.
“What happens now… what happens next.”
He smiled and brushed my cheek with his other hand. “I don’t think you have to worry yourself about that.”
“I’m not sure if you know this about me, but I’ve never been in a situation like this one before. I’m going to drive myself crazy thinking about it. What we do now, what we do when we get to Arcadia, is the Royal Selection still a thing, where does all of that leave us?”
Valerian took a second to reply, as if he was thinking carefully about his words. Normally, a pause like that would have driven my impatient mind crazy, but I accepted it from him. “Not to minimize… us… or what we may have become or could still become, but there are very many steps left on the road to get back to where we were. I don’t believe we should be spending too much of our effort and time considering what could happen, and we should simply enjoy what is. Our efforts are better spent dealing with our situation, and our time is… precious.”
He brushed my cheek with his thumb as he said the word precious, and my heart skipped, danced, and filled all at the same time.
“How do you do that?” I asked.
“Do what?”
“Know what to say to me…”
“I feel like I have gotten to know you quite well during our time together. I’m also a realist, and I suspect that you are too, even if you are full of fanciful ideas sometimes.”
I playfully frowned. “And what’s that supposed to mean?”