Rain (The Quest Trilogy-Book Two) (34 page)

Rain noted her pleasant demeanor and noticed the two sleeping bags rolled up and kept side by side, and smiled to himself in relief. She had not taken offense at his move. This was a good omen.

“You’re sure you don’t need any help?” he asked, coming closer on the pretext of checking out the contents of the soup, his body almost touching her hand.

Earth’s heartbeat quickened by a few paces.

“On second thought, there is something I need.” she amended hastily.

Rain straightened up and drew back a bit.

“What do you need?” inquired Rain.

“I could use a chopping board. It’s difficult to cut these vegetables without one.”

“I’m on it.” said Rain, bounding off into the forest. 

Earth let out a shaky breath. Rain returned a short while later with a thick, dried log of wood and set to work on it, sitting as close as possible to Earth without getting in her way.

Earth smiled into the pot, remembering how Rain had choked on a large piece of carrot the first time she had cooked this soup.

“Thinking about me?” teased Rain, noticing her smile.

“Yes.” said Earth, not looking up.

A look of surprised pleasure crossed Rain’s face and his spirits soared crazily at her ready admission. Feeling emboldened, he continued to probe further.

“Sooo … what were you thinking about?”

“You drinking all of this soup.” came the reply.

Rain made a mock face of horror. “But that would kill me!”

“Exactly!” said Earth, smiling serenely into the bubbling pot.

Rain’s spirits took a bungee jump.

“But … I would never be able to see you choke.” continued Earth.

The bungee cord pulled Rain’s spirits back up.

“Why wouldn’t you be able to see me choke?” asked Rain, almost anxious to hear her reply.

Earth looked at him incredulously. “Why, imagine you choking there on soup, when I could have the pleasure of strangling you myself!” said Earth, dissolving into peals of laughter. “You would prefer that to choking, really. I just know you would.” she continued, her shoulders shaking with mirth.

“You’re right, I would.” said a soft voice from directly behind her.

Earth whirled around at the sound of his voice and found herself just inches away from his face. Her eyes locked onto his and the laughter died in her throat. Her brain turned to mush and softly slid away to oblivion as is gaze fell to her lips and then travelled back to her eyes. The moment seemed frozen in time.

She watched the wind blow softly through his thick hair, making it brush his temples.

Oh why did he have to have such a beautiful face? wondered Earth. The wind softened into a sigh … or was that her?

Earth wrenched her gaze away from his and looked down, drawing in a lungful of air and realizing only then that she had been holding her breath. Rain was still standing there, looking at her. Earth moved aside and turned around to ladle some soup into a bowl.

“Here,” she said, handing him the bowl, “it’s ready. I hope you know I was only kidding back there, about you choking.” she explained, resting a hand on his shoulder.

That did it.

There was a crack of thunder and then it started to rain.

*****

All through lunch that day, Destiny seemed to be unnaturally restless and on edge. She seemed unable to do anything coherently, and kept dropping her food while trying to put it in her mouth. By now, they had made wooden plates, spoons, forks, cups and a host of other articles for daily use. Twice, she dropped the salt shaker when asked to pass it and once, she dropped her fork, too. She also kept stealing covert glances at Heart throughout her meal, seeming to grow even more upset with herself each time.

Everybody knew she felt extremely embarrassed about her behavior because each time she dropped something, she would look up guiltily to see of anyone had noticed. They all had, of course, but they kept their heads lowered and pretended like they hadn’t.

What was stranger, though, was that Heart was not only refraining from offering her any help, he was also the only one among them who seemed to genuinely find nothing amiss.

Rain found this highly fishy and kept directing suspicious glances towards Heart’s calm face.

After lunch, Destiny and Earth began to divide the dishes among themselves to be washed, while Rainbow stood close by, insisting on helping the two of them. Here, too, Destiny kept dropping the dishes clumsily. Earth, who could bear Destiny’s predicament no longer, was about to ask her what was wrong when Heart suddenly stood up.

“Besame caray!” he cried, throwing his arms outwards.

Destiny froze where she was standing, and slowly turned around to face Heart.

“Condenado …!” she breathed, “it has been you all along!”

She flung a bowl at Heart and stormed out of the clearing. Earth looked back and forth from Destiny to Heart twice, and then ran off behind Destiny, following her into the forest.

Rain jogged up to Heart. “What just happened?”

“What do you think, happened?” countered Heart, not meeting Rain’s eyes.

“I don’t know… what did you say to her?”

Heart remained silent, so Rain turned to his Geeya.

‘What did he say to her?’

‘He said, ‘Kiss me, darn it!’

Rain’s eyebrows shot to the roof and he turned to Heart in surprise. “You were trying to get her to kiss you?!”

“It would have been a pleasant experience.”

“You have power over people’s hearts. Why don’t you just make her fall in love with you?” said Rain.

“If I did that, I would never know if she truly fell in love with me for me, or if it’s just the effect of my powers. And I would worry constantly, that should I release the hold I have on her heart, she might realize that she never really loved me. Then, I might lose her forever.”

“Hmm … you have a point there.” acceded Rain, getting up and patting Heart on the shoulder. “Keep trying, then… hopefully, love will win out one day.”

*****

How long had she been awake? Probably an hour now.

Was she the only one awake? Maybe.

Had she expected this to happen? Definitely.

Earth gave a sigh and turned around to face the broad back of Rain lying next to her. She had turned in early tonight. She was certain that if Rain slept next to her again, she would never be able to fall asleep once he lay down beside her. And so, she had tried to fall asleep before any of that happened. But apparently, in vain.

Anticipation had kept her awake until he had noiselessly spread his sleeping bag next to hers and once that had happened, sleep was a lost cause. So far, she had counted five thousand sheep, an equal number of doves, and was now onto goldfish, when she decided to throw in the towel and let her heart win out.

If she was going to stay awake all night, she might as well enjoy every minute of it.

It was a clear, cloudless night and the moon shone bright and full overhead, paling the stars into insignificance with its brilliance. Earth watched the moonlight throw its soft glow over the rippling muscles on Rain’s arms, defining each cord and sinew, and felt a strange yearning to reach out and touch him. She stayed still for a while, listening to the quiet sounds of even breaths falling all around her. Was he asleep, too?

If he was, then good, for he was a deep sleeper and would never notice anything if she were to touch him. But what if he was awake? How would he react then?

Only one way to find out.

Earth took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, willing courage into herself. She reached forward with one hand, hesitated for a moment, and then brushed her fingertips ever so lightly on his shoulder. Rain’s muscles flexed instantly at her touch and then relaxed as she jerked her hand back. He was awake! And he was reacting! In a … very good way.

Earth reached forward again, this time lightly brushing her fingers all the way down his arm.

She watched his muscles flex involuntarily wherever her fingers touched and then relax as her fingers moved along. She laughed the softest of laughs, thrilling at the way his body was responding to her touch, and continued to stroke his arm, just reveling in the feel of his warm skin under her fingers. Rain didn’t move, didn’t protest. In fact, he gave no sign whatsoever that he was aware of anything other than the involuntary response his body was giving against his will.

Earth noticed then that the night had gotten dark and looked up to see huge, rain-filled clouds gathering above, hiding the moon behind their grey bodies. Deciding that this much excitement was enough for one night, Earth withdrew her hand. She did not fancy getting wet when she was snug inside her sleeping bag and the night was already so cool.

Rain had been lying awake, wondering if Earth had gone to sleep, and if she had, whether she was dreaming of him. Because he was thinking of her all the time, even now.

He lay thus, one hand crooked at the elbow and with his head resting on it, when suddenly he felt a light, almost feathery touch on his shoulder. His body stiffened and he caught his breath. Had he imagined that?

A few seconds later, it happened again, longer this time, and Rain’s heart began to thump madly in his chest. He didn’t move an inch, hardly daring to breathe because he didn’t want her to stop. She was touching him voluntarily and to Rain, it was one of the sweetest tortures in the world. He had let her continue for as long as her heart desired and then, once she had withdrawn her hand, he had stayed still, waiting for his breathing and heartbeat to normalize.

Several minutes later, Rain felt more in control of himself. Even the sky had cleared and the moon was shining its magical light on all the occupants of the forest once more. Rain shifted in his place and turned around to face Earth. He found her lying with her face towards him, eyes closed and a smile still playing on her lips.

Time to give her a dose of her own medicine, thought Rain with a smile. He leaned up on one elbow to get a better view of her face and then with one finger, lightly stroked her cheek.

Earth’s eyes flew open and her heart slammed into her ribs. What was Rain doing?

His finger traced the side of her jaw and came to a halt near her lips. She held stock still, finding it difficult to breathe. He slowly traced the curve of her lower lip, while holding her eyes captive. She parted her lips automatically, the moment his fingers touched them, drawing in a sharp breath.

Rain’s gaze dropped to her lips and Earth knew that if he kissed her now, she would never be able to stop him. She felt a drop of water fall on her face. And then another, and another.  Rain broke contact and fell on his back, burying his face in his hands with a groan.

He stayed with his face buried in his hands for a long while, desperately trying to gain control over his rioting emotions, and failing miserably. His smile had died the instant he had made contact with her skin. Once again, his body grew hot and blood rushed to his ears. He had wanted to give her a taste of her own medicine but the joke was clearly on him. One touch, and all sense and rationality had poured through his brain like sand through a sieve. He had wanted to kiss her so bad he thought he was going to burst.

Thankfully, sense had returned at just the right time – along with the rain – and he had pulled back.

Sure, he hoped she was
the one
and would love to spend the rest of his life with her, but he was damned If he was going to make that happen by turning them both into trees.

*****

CHAPTER 29

It was shortly after breakfast. Rain and Angel were preparing to leave for their hunt. Rain picked up his bow and began to yell at the top of his lungs.

“Oh, my goodness! Clouds! Huge clouds. There could be a storm, and we could all get blown away …”

Earth, who was inside the tent, poked her head through the tent flap wondering what the commotion was all about.

Rain spotted her and ran straight towards her, still yelling;

“Earth! Look! It could be a storm! There could be rain. There could be hail …”

He jumped over several large pots lying on the ground.

“We could be snowed in …”

Over an unsuspecting Heart’s back.

“It could go on for days …”

Finally coming to a halt in front of Earth.

“See?” he pointed skywards. “See those terrible harbingers of doom?”

Earth looked up at the sky. Before anyone knew what was happening, Rain bent down and planted a swift kiss on Earth’s lips. Then he pulled back, grabbed a highly amused Angel’s hand and flew out of the clearing.

Earth stood rooted to her spot for several minutes. Thunder. That was what had struck her.

Destiny walked up to her and gently placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Are you all right?”

“No, I’m not.” said Earth in a monotone.

“I thought as much.” said Destiny grimly. “I should lock his arms and legs for an entire week. I really should.”

“I could turn his hair grey.” piped in Rainbow. “He hates that. Trust me.”

Earth shook her head at both of their suggestions. “Thanks, you guys. But none of that, please.”

“Turn his face orange, then?” offered Rainbow. “He’d look like one of those mirinda men!” she giggled.

“Seal his lips shut forever?” said Destiny hopefully.

Subodh gave a cough and hastened out of the clearing. Heart rolled his eyes and decided to leave with Subodh to help him with his healing work. All the creatures he had faced in Quniverse until now could not do what their girl talk was now doing – scaring him.

Earth sighed and wrapped her arms around herself. “I just need some time alone, okay?”

Destiny nodded and backed off. Rainbow called her over.

“Hey Destiny, help me make some more bowls and spoons?” she asked.

“Sure. But why?” said Destiny.

“We’re too many here, and there isn’t enough cutlery for everyone.”