The Rift

The Rift - Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

I blinked myself awake feeling strangely warm, comfortable, secure, and like something had changed in the world. Oddly the thought didn’t put me instantly on guard, instead I allowed myself to slowly drift into consciousness. The sun was just beginning to shine through the windows and without physical effort I pinpointed the time as around 6 a.m., around the usual time that I rose.

With that strange half awareness that comes between sleeping and being fully awake, I stared around the empty apartment and tried to locate the difference in the air. I tried to work out why I felt so different.

And then the object I was lying on moved and my breath caught. With slow movements, and barely daring to breathe I turned to look at my odd pillow and the strange fluttering exploded in my stomach as I came face to face with Aiden’s sleeping form; his face so close to mine that I could feel his steady breaths across my face.

With a new startling clarity I realised that my head was cushioned on one of his arms and my body was almost flush with his. The thought caused a flicker of heat to rush through my body and I blinked again trying to make sense of the sensation. All I could think was that my body must be extremely unaccustomed to such a radiating heat, I couldn’t remember ever having been so close to another person, human or Mage, it was a new and extremely strange experience.

I knew that I should move away, that I should distance myself from him as quickly as possible and part of me truly wanted to, he was awakening emotions in me that I had no hope of understanding. But as my gaze swept over his face again I found myself caught up in just looking at him; it was like his tousled hair all over again. I had never examined a human so closely so it was hard to objectively judge my assessment, but there was something about Aiden’s features that drew me in.

I had already concluded that I was attracted to him, but now as I lay there, perfectly still, I pushed my strange physical reactions to him aside and instead tried to focus on exactly what made him attractive.

I examined his face slowly, taking in every inch of him from his hairline to his chin. I examined the shape of his eyes and the length of his nose. I gazed over his cheek bones and the places where his dimples appeared when he smiled. Objectively I noted that his face was fairly symmetrical…but that didn’t wholly explain the draw he held for me. I sighed slowly and as I did Aiden shifted again in his sleep, his mouth curling up slightly in a half smile, his cheeks threatened to show the dimples I had just been thinking about.

As if from nowhere the urge to trace the shape of his mouth rose in me and I resisted the urge to flinch. My logic and objectivity had abandoned me again, and without further thought I pushed myself from the camp bed. I needed distance between us before I did something monumentally foolish.

I moved quickly to the window, standing in the sunlight feeling the sun warm my face, I felt oddly cold away from Aiden’s arms. Foolish really considering that I had slept every previous night of my life alone and perfectly comfortable.

Worrying about my strange urge to be close to him it took a great deal of strength to once again face the form of the man lying on the camp bed. I had been asleep for four hours and was fully rested but I knew that humans required more rest than Mages. I wondered how much longer he would sleep for. I wondered what his reaction would be when he woke up; we had not meant to fall asleep together. I should never have let my guard down long enough to fall asleep, but there was just something about Aiden that made me feel calm and…safe. I had never needed anyone else in my life to feel secure before, it was a perplexing idea to think that my safety might rest in the hands of someone other than myself.

With a jolt I realised I was staring again. Absently I wondered if it was against human rules to watch another while they slept, humans didn’t like being stared at whilst awake, perhaps the rule applied whilst they slept too. I forced myself to look away, walking stealthily to the first aid kit to examine my stab wound.