Finding the Jewel Read online

  Then she slapped the door shut on the surprised monk’s face and marched back to Tark, who was still standing there silently.

  “Here,” she said, handing him a long-handled spoon. “I hope you’re in the mood to feed each other because that’s apparently how they eat their fukkin cakin around here.”

  The big Kindred sat down without comment but then one corner of his mouth twitched up and a low rumble came from him. It took Chloe a moment to realize he was laughing but when she did, she felt her own mouth twitching too.

  “Stop it,” she said, pointing her freakishly long spoon at Tark. “Don’t laugh at me. I was just giving him a piece of my mind because he was being a nosey little brat!”

  “I-if you s-say so.” But Tark’s eyes danced and he rumbled laughter again.

  Suddenly, Chloe found she was laughing along with him. She didn’t know why—her take-down of the junior monk hadn’t been that funny. But then again, the look on his face…

  Before she knew it, both of them were roaring with laughter. It was a welcome relief of tension and Chloe giggled until her stomach hurt and her eyes were streaming.

  “I don’t know what…what’s so funny,” she gasped at last, sitting down with a plop on one side of the huge, multi-colored cakin.

  Tark only shook his head and waved his long spoon at her, which made Chloe laugh again.

  Finally, though, they settled across from each other and began to eat.

  “What flavor would you like?” Chloe asked the big Kindred, her long-handled spoon hovering over the multicolored cakin. “Or maybe I should ask what color? Since I have no idea what flavors these are.”

  “Th-that one.” Tark pointed his own spoon at a dark blue circle in the center of the cake.

  “Okay, coming up!” Chloe dug a chunk out with her own long spoon—which took a bit of finesse—and poked it carefully across to the big Kindred.

  Tark accepted the bite and chewed it thoughtfully, his golden eyes looking inward. Then he motioned to the cakin with his own spoon and raised his eyebrows in a silent question.

  “You should talk—ask me out loud,” Chloe said.

  He frowned. “Wh-why?”

  “Because, the more you talk—the more you practice—the better you’ll get at speaking without stuttering.” She bit her lip. “I…I hope I’m not offending you. It’s just what I tell my patients—talk or read aloud every day. You need to practice.”

  He frowned. “You t-tuh-treat other p-patients the same w-wuh-way y-you t-treat me?”

  Chloe felt her cheeks getting hot.

  “No,” she said, dropping her eyes. “No, never. I…I don’t know what got into me, earlier Tark. I was completely unprofessional and I’m so, so sorry for what I did.”

  “D-don’t be.” His voice was low and soft and when Chloe dared to look up at him, she was relieved to see he didn’t look angry He waved his own spoon over the cakin and asked her, “Wh-which c-color?”

  “That one.” Chloe pointed to the rich chocolate-brown corner piece. It looked exactly like a double-fudge brownie and her mouth was watering to taste it.

  “Y-you got it.” Tark dug out a good-sized bite and ladled it into her mouth, barely spilling a crumb.

  Chloe took the bite eagerly, expecting to bite into brownie and sure enough, the texture was as melting and gooey as she could have hoped. But the flavor…

  “Ugh!” she exclaimed, finally managing to swallow. “That didn’t taste like a brownie at all! It was like…rare steak and mushroom gravy.”

  Tark frowned and shook his head.

  “S-sorry. I d-d-don’t kn-know any of those f-foods.”

  “I was expecting sweet and I got salty and meaty,” Chloe explained. She shrugged. “It wasn’t a bad taste exactly—just really unexpected.”

  “The b-blue was sw-sweet,” he said, nodding. “I w-was h-hoping for s-salty.”

  “Well, maybe we’ll get lucky the second time,” Chloe said. “Um—would you like to try a different flavor?”

  “Th-that one.” He nodded and pointed to the tomato-red patch near the end of the cakin.

  Chloe carved out a piece and put it in his mouth. He made a slight face and then swallowed.

  “Sw-sweet,” he announced.

  “I'm sorry!” Chloe exclaimed. “You want to try something else?”

  He shook his head. “Y-your turn.”

  “Okay—then I’ll try the one you just had,” she decided. “At least I know it’s sweet.”

  He shrugged and nodded, then dug out a large bite for her. As he deposited it on her tongue, Chloe was hoping for the flavor of strawberries or cherries or maybe even some delicious alien fruit she had never tried. Instead what she got was…

  “Dirt!” she exclaimed, barely managing to swallow the huge mouthful. “It tastes like vaguely sweet dirt!” It even had a slightly gritty texture that made her feel like she did when she accidentally got sand in her mouth at the beach. “Gross!”

  “S-sorry.” Tark raised his shoulders apologetically. “I d-didn’t like it e-either. But I th-thought since it was sw-sweet…”

  “Dirt is dirt, no matter how sweet it is.” Chloe frowned and made a face. “I wish we had something to wash this down with!”

  “Here.” Reaching under the lowered cart, Tark pulled out a stone jug and two tiny cups like shot-glasses which also had long handles on them.

  “Oh, this is ridiculous!” Chloe exclaimed, seeing the cups. “Do they really expect us to try and give each other drinks with these things? We’ll get the liquid everywhere.”

  Tark shrugged and uncorked the stone bottle—which was more like a large jug you might see moonshine in during a movie about Prohibition.

  All it needs is a label that says “Pappy’s Corn Squeezins”—goes great with fukkin-lots cakin! Chloe thought, and stifled a giggle.

  “Could j-just dr-drink straight from h-here, I guess,” Tark pointed out still holding the jug. “If you d-don’t like the g—glasses.”

  “Yes—good idea,” Chloe exclaimed. For that matter, she supposed they could eat the cakin with their hands instead of the ridiculous spoons, but that seemed so messy and uncivilized somehow. Not that drinking straight from the wine jug or whatever it was could exactly be considered good manners but it wasn’t as bad as digging into the huge confection with their fingers like a one-year old with a smash-cake at his birthday party.

  “Fine.” Tark raised the stone jug one-handed and took a swig. He lowered it quickly and swallowed thoughtfully. “S-strong,” he commented, passing the jug to Chloe.

  She wrapped her fingers around the thinner part of the jug, near the top, but the moment Tark let it go, she realized how incredibly heavy it was.

  “Oh!” she gasped, as the heavy stone vessel clunked to the stone floor. If it had been glass she was certain it would have shattered. As it was, though she used both hands to try, she absolutely couldn’t lift it.

  Tark frowned. “P-problem?” he inquired.

  “Only that I’m not nearly as strong as you,” Chloe huffed, trying again without success to budge the heavy stone jug. “God, it’s like trying to lift Thor’s hammer or something! How did you pick this up with one hand?”

  Tark shrugged. “W-want me to p-pour you some?”

  Chloe sighed in defeat. “Yes, please. I guess I’ll have to use the long-handled shot glasses after all.”

  “I’ll b-be careful not to spill on you,” he promised, taking back the jug and pouring her a drink considerately.

  “Thank you.” Chloe wondered if he noticed he was stuttering a bit less but decided not to say anything about it. It probably just meant he was getting more comfortable with her and she didn’t want to mess up his flow by mentioning it.

  Also, she wasn’t sure if the big Kindred getting more comfortable with her was a good thing or not. They had certainly been through a lot of craziness today and even after the laugh that had cleared the air, there was a fair amount of sexual tension between them. Or maybe it was
just tension in her. After all, she had never gotten to come and Tark had. Maybe—

  “H-here you go,” Tark said, breaking her train of thought as he pressed the shot-glass to her lips.

  Chloe opened obediently…and got a mouthful of what felt like fire.

  “Oh!” she choked, shielding her mouth with her elbow as the burning liquid sprayed out. “Oh, that’s awful!” she gasped at last. “I tasted absinthe once back in college and this is even worse than that!”

  “S-sorry,” Tark said apologetically. “T-told you it was strong.”

  “Yeah, well you weren’t lying. Maybe I should just get some water.”

  She went to the bathroom sink, trying not to think about what had happened in here earlier. There was no evidence left, anyway—at least Tark was tidy about that, she thought as she rinsed her mouth out and took a long, cool drink of water.

  When she came back, Tark was studying the cakin again.

  “Which one?” he asked, his spoon hovering.

  “Um…” Chloe sighed. “That one, I guess.” She pointed to a vaguely pinkish rectangle and opened her mouth dutifully when Tark presented her with a bite.

  To her surprise, it was actually good, with a flavor that hovered between banana cream pie and coconut macaroon with some kind of spice like cinnamon or cardamom thrown in.

  “Mmm!” She closed her eyes to savor the bite and then smiled at Tark. “That one is good. Sweet and tasty—you want to try it?”

  He shook his head, his eyes half-lidded.

  “No. But I want to f-feed you m-more of it.”

  “You do?” She looked at him doubtfully, remembering he had said something similar about the Thin Mints—that he would rather watch her eat them than eat them himself. “You, uh, like watching me eat or something?” she asked.

  He shook his head. “L-like to watch you enjoy yourself,” he rumbled.

  Chloe felt her cheeks getting hot and she looked quickly away. He might not mean it that way, but she couldn’t help remembering that he’d seen her “enjoying” herself not too long ago. The big Kindred had caught her with her hand in the cookie jar, so to speak. And it didn’t matter that she’d caught him doing the same thing—it was still horribly embarrassing.

  “H-hey.” Tark reached across the massive cakin and touched her arm lightly with his fingertips. When Chloe looked up, she saw a concerned look on his face. “D-didn’t m-muh-mean—” he began.

  “It’s all right,” she said quickly, cutting him off. “I didn’t think you did. And I’m fine—not bothered at all.” The hem of her robe turned black as she spoke. These crazy color-changing clothes were going to drive her crazy! “Anyway, let me get you another bite,” she went on brightly. “How about this green oval right here? It might taste like honey-dew melon or green apple.” She frowned. “Then again, it could taste like grass or weeds or anything else for that matter. Would you like to take a chance?”

  Tark still didn’t look happy but he shrugged, his broad, bare shoulders rolling with the motion.

  “S-sure.”

  “Okay, here it comes.” Chloe dug out a big bite for him and ladled it into his mouth

  The rest of the meal was eaten in relative silence, though Chloe still exclaimed about some of the cakin flavors. After a while, she felt like she was eating Bernie Botts every flavor beans from the Harry Potter books. The different colors of cakin could literally have any taste at all. She had one that was like licking salty dust and another that tasted horribly like the flavor of blood when you bit your tongue or your cheek. Still another tasted like soap.

  They weren’t all bad though—she did finally get a bite that tasted a little like brownie—though it was bright blue. Chloe tried not to show how much she enjoyed this one—she didn’t want a repeat of the banana-pie/coconut macaroon flavor which had caused Tark to comment.

  But the big Kindred was mostly silent and tense. Somehow the laugher had gone out of their meal which made Chloe feel sad. She didn’t want to feel this tense around Tark—but after everything that had happened between them, she hardly knew what to say.

  At last she hit on the idea of talking about their plans for sneaking out to get the jewel that evening and they were able to occupy the rest of dinner with that…

  Which led them to their current predicament of waiting in the bed-pit until it was late enough that everyone should be asleep and they could go out and look.

  They hadn’t meant to get in the bed together to wait but just as they were finishing dinner, there came another one of those swift warning knocks on the chamber door.

  “Quick!” Chloe had hissed. “What if it’s Monk Taroni? We have to make it look like we’re, you know—following his orders.”

  Tark had nodded and both of them dived for the bed pit—which was right beside their make-shift picnic area on the floor anyway.

  Tark landed in the pit first on his back and then she had landed on top of him, face down. Embarrassingly, their robes melted at once, leaving them pressed together naked in a most intimate way.

  “It’s just me, come to pick up the remains of the cakin,” the voice of the junior monk said. “Where did the two of you get to?”

  “Down here, but don’t look,” Chloe called hastily. She could feel Tark’s hard shaft branding her belly and she was mortified enough without having the nosy junior monk staring at them.

  Despite her warning—or maybe because of it—the blue face with its red, spiky hair poked over the edge of the bed pit.

  “Hmm…” The junior monk sounded surprised. “So you two really are going at it!”

  “Leave us alone!” Chloe exclaimed in exasperation.

  Tark did better than that. Raising up on one elbow he gave the young monk a menacing growl, his eyes flashing fury.

  “Sorry!” The face disappeared at once and the monk left the room with the floating cart in record time.

  “Thank you!” Chloe exclaimed.

  “N-nosey little b-bastard,” Tark growled darkly. “D-didn’t w-want him seeing y-you.” He nodded down to where her bare breasts were still pressed intimately to his hard chest.

  “Oh, well…” Chloe wasn’t sure what to say to that. She rolled hastily off the big Kindred’s chest and torso, noting with relief that her robe-dress reformed its melted part when she broke contact. “Now what?” she asked, sitting up and scooting away a little so that the wall of the bed-pit was right against her back.

  She would have liked to get closer to him—his scent and the warmth of his big body were calling her, temping her like a drug. But she knew if she gave in she’d embarrass herself or do something she would regret—or both. So she stayed huddled near the wall, just looking at the big Kindred.

  He shrugged. “J-just w-wait, I guess.”

  “Oh. I guess so.” Chloe sighed and looked down at her hands. “How do you think we’ll know when it’s time to sleep—for everyone else, I mean?”

  As if in answer to her question, the golden glow which suffused the rocky chamber suddenly began to dim.

  “Oh, I th-think we’ll kn-know,” Tark said dryly, which made Chloe smile again.

  “All right.” She sighed. “I guess now we just wait.”

  “G-guess so.” He nodded in the dimness and then the chamber went entirely dark and she couldn’t see him anymore.

  But though she couldn’t see the big Kindred, she was very aware of him. His big body gave off heat like a furnace and through the darkness his scent drifted towards her, enticing with dark spice and masculine musk, calling her, daring her to get closer…to do so much more than she knew she ought to. In fact, being in the dark seemed to make it worse because her other senses—especially her sense of smell—was heightened.

  No, Chloe told herself firmly. She pressed her back against the cold stone wall of the bed pit and refused to move. No way—you’re staying right here until it’s time to go. No more groping Tark—no more making a fool of yourself. Just keep it together and keep your hands to yourself until you ca
n find this damn jewel of his and get home!

  But as the warm, enticing scent of his skin drifted to her through the darkness, making her nipples tight and her pussy wet, she realized it was an easier advice to give than to follow.

  Chapter Twelve

  “It’s t-time,” Tark murmured, talking on the exhale, as Chloe had taught him. Though their “therapy session” had been pure torture for him because he wanted her so badly, he had to admit she had taught him some useful strategies for coping with his stutter. If they had time for a few more sessions he might even get it under control permanently.

  A few more sessions like that will kill you, growled a dark voice in his head. Tark had to agree. He couldn’t help remembering the feel of her soft little hands roaming all over him as she murmured in his ear in that sexy sweet voice of hers. Just the memory of it made his shaft hard as a rock and the tension rose in him—the need to take her in his arms, to own her, to claim her. It rose so strongly he had to clench his hands into fists to keep from reaching for her.

  Across from him, he could see that Chloe was sitting in a tense posture similar to his own. She seemed to be pressing her back against the smooth, rocky wall of the bed pit and her jaw was set. Was she stopping herself from coming to him? Or was she simply tense because of the awkwardness between them?

  Tark didn’t know but he was glad it was finally time to go. He needed to find the jewel the prophecy spoke of and get Chloe out of here before he did something he would regret forever. He had never been one to take a female against her will but being close to the curvy little Elite was driving him half out of his mind with desire and lust.

  Unbidden, the memory of that moment when he’d seen her touching herself flooded into his mind’s eye—the guilty look on her gorgeous face, her flushed cheeks… and the way her fingers had been stroking her soft, wet inner folds…