Forged by Greed (4 page)

“I’m gonna jump in the shower. Mind joining me?” He wiggled his
eyebrows, smiling.

“No thank you. Stop tempting me, you naughty thing.” Jasmira threw a
small pillow at him. “And don’t ask me again if you can sleep in my bedroom.
This sofa will make a fine bed for you. Or, there’s another small bedroom
upstairs.”

“You know I’m only teasing. I’m happy with what we have. I don’t
want to mess anything up.” His face turned serious.

“Yeah, I know. I’m happy too.”

Jatred took his shirt off and draped the towel around his neck. He
crossed the room and knelt on the floor next to the sofa. He cupped Jasmira’s
face in his hands and kissed her.

“You are dripping wet. Go take that shower and change into something
dry.” She giggled, wriggling out of his grasp.

“And I’m starving, J.”

“Me too. There is a small bakery not far from here. The food is
fantastic there.”

“You got my attention,” he hollered from the bathroom, turning the
water on in the shower.

Jasmira smiled, her eyes back on the mountains. After a short while
Jatred emerged from the bathroom, wearing a towel wrapped around his waist. He
pulled a t-shirt, socks, and a pair of shorts from his duffel bag.

“I want eggs and bacon.
A lot
of bacon,” he said, walking out of the room.

“They’ve got eggs on the menu, I’m sure.”

“What are you gonna have?” He was back, already dressed.

“A muffin. Well, maybe two muffins. I love having the Shifter’s
metabolism. Oh, and a Mocha with whipped cream.” Jasmira stood up and put her arms
around his neck, smiling. “
A lot
of
whipped cream,” she added mockingly.

Jatred chuckled, and then pecked her on the lips. When he tried to
pull away, she pressed the back of his head toward her. Their lips met again
and, this time, the kiss was long and sensual. Jatred slid his hands over the
curve of Jasmira’s waist and her back. He held her in a tight embrace.

“You are crushing me.” She laughed, breaking the kiss.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, loosening his grip, his lips tracing the side
of her neck. He inhaled deeply, and, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment,
said, “Okay, I really am starving. Let’s go.”

Jasmira put her rain jacket on and slipped into her shoes. Jatred didn’t
bother with a jacket. He hadn’t even brought one with him to the cabin. He
didn’t mind rain or lower temperatures, while Jasmira, a Summer Shifter,
preferred dry and sunny conditions.

They ran to his truck, Jasmira shrieking, holding the hood with one
hand and pulling the zipper up to her chin with the other.

“It’ll stop raining soon. Look.” Jatred pointed at the sky. Small
patches of blue sky were visible between the rain clouds.

“Not soon enough.” Jasmira climbed onto the passenger’s seat,
slamming the door behind her.

“So where’s that bakery?” Jatred turned the key in the ignition.

“Do you remember the florist shop? It’s right next to it, just kinda
tucked away between the buildings,” she said, pulling the seat belt around herself.

“Will your grandma be back on Monday?”

“Oh, it’s crazy. She just came back from Peru two weeks ago, and now
she’s in Denver. Normally everyone from the US comes here, to Seattle, for
meetings, but this time she had some other business in Denver. Anyway, this
coronation thing is getting out of control.”

“I told you, the Winter Historical Society is doing it too. My uncle
is not as involved as your granny, but still. He’s gone a lot, and there are
people coming to our house more than ever for meetings and stuff.”

“I wish it was over. I’m totally freaking out.”

Jatred glanced at her, the corners of his mouth twitching. He
studied her for a moment, before saying, “Change of subject then. This place
rocks. I wanna live right in this area. I should check out rock climbing spots here.”

“Okay, so you will like to know this little fact.” She cleared her
throat and gestured at the Hood Canal, visible between the trees to her right.
“
This,
right here is a genuine glacier-carved fjord. It is the only one found in the
continental United States.”

Jatred arched his brows. “Impressive. I
didn’t know that.”

“Grandma told me. Actually, this was one
of the first things the real estate agent said to her, when showing this
place.”

“It’s a good hide-out spot.” Jatred
laughed.

“Yeah, this one and the cabin on Lake
Chelan. But I like it here better.”

“What? How many cabins does your grandma
own?”

“Old money. That’s the
Royal Family
for you.” Jasmira made
quotation marks with her fingers in the air. “They’ve been buying real estate
for generations. I don’t even know exactly what she owns, but I wouldn’t be
surprised to find out she’s got some castle in Scotland or something.”

Jatred smiled, revealing perfect teeth.

“You saw her car collection, didn’t you?” She
gave a short, humorous laugh. “There are seven cars in the garage, and I don’t
have permission to drive even one of them. I’ve got my Beetle and I love it of
course, don’t get me wrong. Just sayin’, that’s all.”

Jatred burst out in laughter, stealing a
quick look at Jasmira. She was laughing too.

“What’s so funny?”

“You are.” He brushed a long strand of her
curly hair away from her face.

“How so?”

“Oh, I don’t know, I never hear you
complain, but here you are, pouting about cars. It’s hilarious.”

“Hilarious?” Jasmira punched his arm. “The
bruise on your arm will be hilarious if you won’t stop laughing at me.”

“
Okay
, I surrender,” he yelped, but continued
chuckling. “Your Beetle is a convertible and brand new.”

“Now you’re gonna think I’m some kind of a
material chick.” Jasmira made a face, her arms crossed over her chest.

“No.”

“No? Fine then. How is that bruise?” She
pulled up the sleeve of his t-shirt and touched his arm.

“Oh, it hurts so much. Ouch!” Jatred
suppressed a laugh, pretending to be in pain.

Jasmira rolled her eyes. They drove into a
small town. Old trees clustered around the buildings, providing patches of
shade from the sun that now shone between dispersing clouds. The teens got
their food and sat outside on a weathered wooden bench. The side of the
building was covered in graffiti. A few benches away sat an older couple,
sipping their coffee and sharing a muffin.

 
When
Jasmira’s cell phone shrilled, she fished it out from her purse, and said,
“Hello, Grannie.” She nodded a few times with an “Aha,” sound, and looked
sharply at Jatred, her eyes opening wide.

“What?” he mouthed silently to her, but
she only shook her head.

“Uhm, no. Penelope couldn’t come with me
this time. Her aunt and uncle are visiting from Boston this week,” Jasmira
cleared her throat and took a quick sharp breath, before saying, “A friend
drove me.”

Jatred stopped chewing his food and
concentrated on the Jasmira’s face.

She briefly looked away, frowning, her
lips pressed together. “Jatred,” she quietly answered her grandmother’s
question. Her eyes and jaws squeezed shut, as if she strained against pain.

Jatred put his fork down and reached for
Jasmira’s hand. She looked at him with troubled eyes and put the cell phone
away.

“Well, she knows now. She came back from
her trip early, and my car was nicely parked in the garage.”

Jatred swore under his breath, his hands
closing over Jasmira’s. “We should have taken your car, not mine.”

“You think? That was a really stupid thing
to do.”

“Now what?”

“Now she wants me to come back home, and
we will have a little
talk
.” Jasmira scowled,
the corners of her lips curled down.

Jatred pulled her close. She put her head
on his shoulder and wrapped her arms around him, inhaling deeply. They sat like
this for a few moments, almost motionless, without talking.

“Ugh, I
hate
this,” she whispered. “Why do we have to hide? Why can’t we
just be together without the rest of the world jumping in to separate us?”

“What exactly did she say?”

“She was shocked, not only because I am
here with a boy but… you know
—
this crazy Race thing. She knows very well
who you are and, of course, she was furious. She wants me to come home right
away.” There was a scowl on Jasmira’s face as she let out a derisive snort.

Jatred reached out and tucked a strand of
hair behind her ear. He leaned in and kissed the spot on the top of her
cheekbone, right next to her eye. “J, I love you. I don’t ever want to leave
you, even if they try to drag us away from each other.”

“I love you too.”

CHAPTER 5

Human World, August 2.

“I can’t believe your grandma grounded
you. It’s just not like her.” Penelope stood with her back to the window. She
wore a white Stella McCartney tennis-style skirt and a blue sleeveless shirt. A
thin pink vintage sweater was loosely tied around her shoulders. Her hair was
pulled into a neat pony tail with a small white scarf. A pair of white canvas
sneakers completed her outfit.

“I can’t believe it either.
 
It’s not like Jatred and I were
doing it
. And she knows that.” Jasmira
sat on her bed, pouting, her legs and arms crossed.

“Then what’s her problem?”

“The stupid Race thing. He’s the Winter
guy and I’m the Summer girl, so we can’t date. Have you ever heard of the
mental bond the Shifters create when they’re together?”

“Sure, my parents told me. Or maybe it was
my grandpa, I don’t remember. Do you guys have it?” Penelope crossed the large
bedroom and sat on the bed next to her friend. She stretched out her legs, the
toes of her shoes pointing toward the ceiling. She lowered herself onto the
bed, leaning back on her elbows.

“We do. I can
sense
what he feels. It was weird at first, but then I got used to it. It gets super
freaky if he’s scared or something. One time he got really angry, and I felt it
going through me. It really shook me up. And we weren’t, like, next to each
other—I was at school and he was home that day.”

“Wow, totally weird.” Penelope shook her head.
“So, now what? How long are you grounded
for?”

“Two weeks! Can you imagine? School starts
in a month. It’s summer. It’s hot and sunny, and I have to stay home.”

“That sucks big time. Can you at least
call him?” Penelope bent her right knee and rested the side of her foot on top
of her left knee.

“No. Grandma took my cell, and I’m not
allowed to use the land line, unless she’s in the room with me.”

“What? You can’t be serious.
Your
grandma did that?”