Trois
She could still feel it. It had been so strong, and she had liked feeling it so much. She only wanted to do it again. Kiss a total stranger? That was far from her style. But she had been drawn towards that stranger like steel to a magnet, and the desire she had felt for him woke up like a burning fire in her hips each time she thought of those incredible eyes on her. She had lost all control on herself, on her thoughts, on what she wanted. She never knew a man could put her upside down like that, marking her mind with a red poker so that she believed she never could forget such a kiss.
Heat rose in her body again, and she pushed away the white jersey blankets. She sat up in the bed and put her feet on the ground, trying to make her head stop spinning. And throbbing. And hurting… She moaned and let herself fall back in the pillow, squinting her eyes so the light of the sun wouldn't wake up the marching band in her head. She heard a noise and cracked open one eye, to see Raven was leaning on the doorframe to the bathroom, kind of looking for the worse as well. Raven rubbed both her hands on her face, then looked down at Jade.
"I have to find the name of that drink, so I don't drink it again. That thing is dangerous."
"Yah have no idea." Jade tried to sit up again, and looked up at Raven, who took a good look at her friend. Her mouth slowly opened, and she smiled.
"Oooooh, I think I do! You found yourself a man, Jade?" Jade snapped her head up at Raven, but instantly regretted it as a bolt of pure white pain shot right into her brain. She clutched her head with both hands, massaging her temples and brain skull, but the pain didn't fade right away, settling to throb painfully with every heart beat.
"What? What do yah mean?"
"Don't take me for a fool, Jade… It's written all over your face. Not knowing the symptoms and not knowing you, I couldn't tell… but…"
Jade slowly got out of the bed and put a hand on the bed table, waiting for the room to stop swaying like a small boat in the middle of a storm. She walked to the bathroom. Putting her hands on both sides of the sink, she lifted her heavy head to look at her reflection on the mirror.
The sight wasn't pretty. Her reddish brown hair had mostly come out of the plait she did before going to sleep, and it shot in all directions, the paler bangs over her forehead desperately trying to join with the ceiling. Her green eyes were glossy and red, and her makeup had transferred from her eyes to her cheeks. She moaned and splashed her face several times with very, very cold water, and looked up. She made a febble smile to her reflection. Not perfect, but much better. Only then she saw what Raven had noticed right away. Her lips were slightly swollen and redder than usual, and the corners of her mouth were red, like they have been scratched by…
"He hadn't shaved for a few days, didn't he?" Jade's eyes flickered left to stare at Raven's reflection in the mirror, leaning against the doorframe again, and watching her with growing amusement.
"How do yah know?" Raven's amusement turned into a friendly smile, and she put a hand on Jade's head, smoothing her hair back.
"Honey, you take guys too seriously, but I'm a professionnal in just having some fun. And by reading your lips" she chuckled "I can tell you had a lot last night."
She was hesitating between laughing and throttling Raven, and she settled for the civilized way of reacting. She smiled, and walked back to her bed, sitting on the edge. Looking up, she caught Raven's wink, and made a little laugh. "Ah did."
"I knew it!" Raven hopped to her bed, and sat next to her. "What's his name?" Jade's face went blank, and Raven snorted with suppressed laughter. "You don't know his name?"
"Ah… no, Ah don't."
"Does he know yours?" Jade was blushing by the second, and she was staring at her hands.
"No."
"No!? What, you don't have a phone number or something? Was it that dark you don't remember what he looks like?"
"Oh, Ah remember what he's like" she answered, and blushed even more when she noticed her voice was harsh with the remembering of him, his lips, his hands… Raven squealed with laughter, and she grabbed Jade's arm.
"Oh, Jade! We have to find that guy!" Jade stomach emitted a loud growl, and she put her free hand on it to stop it.
"Later. First, we eat. Let's go downstairs."
~~
The bed and breakfast was a homely, comfy place to be on vacation, and the kitchen had to be Jade's favorite place. A lunch counter separated the kitchenette from the dining room, where a gigantic hard wood table big enough for fifteen lay in the middle of the room, covered with a red and white check table cloth, and decorated with a huge fresh wild flower bouquet every morning. An old brown TV was hung up in the corner of the dining room and was always turned on, showing today's news since the channel couldn't be changed on the old thing, but people were rarely listening to it, prefering loud talk and laughing over breakfast. This morning though, everyone was silent, and the volume of the television was raised to maximum level. Raven and Jade arrived as the anchor announced some accident on the highway, and the stopped in the doorway, seeing everybody's stern face. Jade turned to the land lady, a short and round lady in her fifties, that usualy wore a wide white smile on her face. Today, though, her face was as dark as the people joined around the table, and she looked worried.
"What's going on, mrs Jarry?" The land lady raised her eyes to look at her.
"Oh… The Assassins attacked again. Five high members of the Thieves Guild were killed, including the leader, and one of his sons."
"We are friends to the Thieves Guild" her husband explained. "I have family in the Guild, and we knew Jean-Luc LeBeau and Henri quite… well. The members can come here and seak refuge." The lady moaned, and put her face in her hands.
"I hope Remy's going to be alright" she moaned, her voice muffled in her hands.
To be continued!
