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Back in the Wild

  Episode 4 of A Light in Her Violet Eyes

  A Story of the Second Realm

  By R.J. Davnall

  Copyright 2013 R. J. Davnall

  This ebook may be copied, distributed, reposted, reprinted and shared, provided it appears in its entirety without alteration, and the reader is not charged to access it.

  The Second Realm

  Season 1: The Second Gift

  Season 2: Children of the Wild

  The Rabbit Hole:

  Episode 1: Through the Fire and Flames

  Episode 2: The Sins of the Brother

  Episode 3: Did You Never Dream of Flying?

  Episode 4: Catch Me When I Fall

  Episode 5: The Only Thing We Know is That We Know Nothing

  Episode 6: We Have to Go Deeper

  A Light in Her Violet Eyes:

  Episode 1: Wolves at the Gate

  Episode 2: Dragon Fly

  Episode 3: Show Me the Way to Go Home

  https://itsthefuturestupid.blogspot.com/

  Contents

  Back in the Wild

  About the Author

  A Light in Her Violet Eyes

  4. Back in the Wild

  Pevan closed her eyes and let Chag kiss her again. His lips were cold, soft and tentative. The tree against which she lay dug bony knuckles into her back, and Chag, lying half on top of her, was no better. Her blouse had hooked on some twig or branch and pulled tight enough to pinch at her shoulder. It was still the best she'd felt in a long time.

  She was surprised at how much she enjoyed Chag's tenderness. Since they'd met a month earlier, she'd felt his hunger for her in his gaze, the way he stood when near her, often in the way he spoke. Now that she'd given herself to him, though, he was hesitant, slow, either incredibly patient or incredibly nervous. He touched her as if she were a snowflake, to melt at the first sign of heat.

  It was too cold a night for that. She put a hand up to stroke his forehead, then ran it around to tangle in his lanky hair. Held him to her when he started to pull away. He tried to mumble something, shifted slightly against her, but didn't resist.

  Eventually, she did let him pull back a little way, holding him close with her other arm tight around his back. There was just enough firelight to reveal the shape of his face, but his dark eyes held no spark. He was barely breathing.

  "Why so nervous?" She teased, keeping her voice low. Rel and Atla were sleeping off their fatigue on the far side of the fire and waking them would be cruel.

  "Does it... I..." A shiver ran through him and he tried to pull further away, but she held on. He glanced over his shoulder, then turned back to face her. "It's not... bad for you?"

  She raised an eyebrow. "We might need to work on your technique a bit. You kiss like you've never kissed a girl before."

  "I... uh," He went tense. Had she said the wrong thing? It wasn't like he wasn't used to her badgering. From the way his voice sunk even lower, though, she'd touched a nerve. "I might... I kinda haven't."

  "What?" She couldn't help a gasp of laughter. "But you're, what, twenty?"

  "Twenty-one." He mumbled the words so low that the crackle of the fire almost stole them. "Twenty-two in a couple of months."

  She put her free hand to his cheek, trying to offer him some warmth. "Really? You've never..." And at four years - almost four and a half, really - older than her, too. How long had it been since her first kiss? Back before she'd been Gifted, after Rel had gone away to train with Ciarive and she'd started hanging out with the boys in Federas because the girls didn't want to play at fighting Wildren. Of course, the boys hadn't much wanted to play lets-pretend games either, by that point, but they'd turned out to have plenty of other interesting ideas. The better part of two years ago.

  He tried to shift again, and this time she let him roll off her and sit up, facing the fire. He said, "No-one seemed to be interested in me."

  "Well, I think most women are a little afraid of being with a Gifted." It was lame blandishment, and it had never really made Rel any happier when she'd said it to him either. Still, there was an edge to Chag's voice that demanded some sort of answer.

  "They liked Rissad well enough." There was enough bitterness in his voice that she half-expected the words to drip from his mouth. They'd put some distance between themselves and the Sherim, but there were still occasional hints of Wild Power now and then.

  Chag's pose made a lot more sense with that revelation, though. She tried to sound bright. "Really? I sort of assumed he wouldn't be interested. He sounds so focussed." Like Rel on his good days. Chag's brother had earned more of Rel's respect than any Gifted except Dora, and Rel wasn't prone to admiring frivolity.

  "He is." Chag looked back at her for a moment, face hidden by shadow, then turned to the fire again. "But girls throw themselves at him all the time. He used to joke that it was easier to give them what they wanted than drive them away. And he doesn't half play up the hero act sometimes."

  She leaned forward, laid a hand on his back, between his hunched shoulders. "Forget about him, then. He'll never find happiness like that."

  "He seems pretty happy."

  "Oh, for God's sake." She wrapped a hand in his collar and started to pull him back to her, ignoring his startled cluck. "Get over here and be happy with me, alright? Whatever he's up to, you have want you wanted, don't you?"

  It was probably for the best that she couldn't see his face as he leaned in for another kiss. At least he held her a bit more tightly this time. And when he pulled away, it was only to gaze into her eyes. She whispered, "Happy?"

  "Maybe." The tone of his voice stopped her short of rolling her eyes. He finished, "I'd be happier if we were going home. Or at least, if we could go home."

  An image of the Court with one of its towers toppled rose, unbidden, to Pevan's mind. Whatever it was she'd done to get Chag out of the Gift-Givers' prison, it had shaken the Second Realm to its foundations. And the site of Chag's most notorious First Realm crime was less than ten miles away, too. Small wonder he felt so hopeless.

  She stroked a lock of his hair back behind his ear. "We'll find a way to earn forgiveness." Her voice didn't sound convincing even in her own ears.

  "You're really, uh," Chag shifted slightly, as if trying to make some gesture with a hand trapped under her. "This... with me? Like, for real?"

  Pevan rolled her eyes, resisting the urge to snip at him. Well, he was new at this. He'd earned a chance to learn. As firmly as she could, she said, "Yes," and lifted her face to his again. Their lips brushed, and she held herself there, just sharing his air. He rested his forehead on hers, and for once it didn't matter that he touched her as if she were fragile and weak.

  She lay back, slowly, let him rest himself on top of her. It was a moment worth savouring. Bony the little man might be, he was still warm, and in more ways than the purely physical. He laid his head on her shoulder, his ear to her collarbone, and a curl of his hair somehow climbed inside the collar of her blouse. It tingled through her long, slow breath.

  Not that she planned on giving Chag an easy ride. She couldn't keep a sideways smile off her face as she said, "You know, eventually you're going to have to stop doubting me when I tell you I'm with you."

  He stiffened, just slightly. Then, still halting, still awkward, "I- it just seems too good to be true. After yesterday and all."

  "We weren't thinking clearly yesterday, either of us." The way he lay was pinning her upper arm, but he weighed so little that when she shifted her shoulder, he was just dragged into a more comfy position. He lifted his head to peer at her, but she patted him back down. "You've done much better since."

  "You're still worried?" His voice rose a little in surprise. Had he really put the day's eve
nts out of his mind? No; when he spoke again, his voice was stiffer, darker. "We might not have been thinking too clearly today either."

  No point letting him dwell on things that couldn't be un-done. Pevan let herself laugh. "No, today we were rash. Important difference. But yeah, whatever we did to the Court..."

  She tightened her arm across Chag's back just as Rel shifted noisily on the far side of the fire. Chag stiffened and started to pull away while Rel made a show of coughing a couple of times. Pevan tightened her grip on Chag, stopping his escape. Damned if she was letting her brother scare her man off. Rel sat up, and she glared at him, having to squint to make him out past the firelight.

  Letting the words drip from her mouth like honey, she said, "Sorry, Rel, did we wake you?"

  He shook his head. "I was waking up anyway, I think." Then his eyes met hers with a frown. "So is this... Are you serious about him?"

  It was a good job she was still holding on to Chag, otherwise she'd have had to go over there and slap Rel. His 'waking up' had been far clumsier than he normally was. "How long were you listening?"

  "Since we escaped the white cave." His tone matched hers, because Rel never let the opportunity to pass judgement go by. "Two days ago you didn't know how you felt."

  Chag started to shift, but Pevan tightened her grip around his waist, put her hand up to silence his mouth. He'd only say something stupid and put Rel's back up. The best bet was to keep anger to a minimum; after all, there was still the