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“Vala… Valaria… Valaria Straits!”
I jerked awake with a full snore but instead of Zane or even Sarah, Jared was smiling widely at me and the all too familiar sense of déjà-vu temporarily made me forget the past weeks. Then everything fell into place.“Judging by the look of pure murder on your face, you’re still confused about what you have recently experienced,” he said.“Confused?” I repeated in a low voice as I slowly rose to a sitting position. “Confused? Do explain, Jared. What’s so confusing about your imminent death?”“Well, when you put it like that, absolutely nothing,” he said annoyingly casual, despite the very real threat to his existence. “In fact, I don’t think I would blame you in the slightest.”“Jared, how the hell can you be so calm right now?” I demanded, my voice cracking. “That was… That was the worst experience of my entire life.”“Worse than - ?”“Yes, worse than!” I yelled, tears slowly rolling down my cheeks. “For fuck’s sake, Jared! What the hell was that?! I mean, was it really hell? Because from where I stood, it was worse than hell! There was no magic, no castle, no you – no nothing! It was horrible! Zane was there but she wasn’t Zane. And, and the screwed up part was that I had to see everything and not be able to do a goddamn thing! I saw myself in this, this, this other life. I was living through her but I knew it wasn’t real, it couldn’t! I spent weeks being this version of me which made me sick to my stomach and miserable and I –”I couldn’t continue yelling at him because Jared shut me up by pressing his lips against mine. Anger boiled inside me but it was so good to taste him, I let him kiss me for a moment. He parted then hugged me tightly. My nostrils were pleasantly invaded by his scent. It was almost enough to make me forget about killing him. Almost.Jared drew himself back enough to look at me. “My dear, sweet Valaria,” he said, happiness pouring out of him, “I can’t even begin to imagine how truly atrocious it must have been for you.”“Damn straight,” I said before I could help myself then sniffled. He laughed anyway.“But dearest, you must understand, I’ve never been happier in my entire life!”“Excuse you?”“You came back to me!” Jared exclaimed. He kissed me. “You can came to me, you didn’t run away as soon as you had an opportunity. And from what I’ve been told, you had quite a few.” I couldn’t help but smile. “But nevertheless, I owe you explanations. You’ve no doubt figured out that what you went through is what Sarah wanted to integrate into my castle. It is based on her own experience with my father but with a crucial difference. The labyrinth she had to overcome was of a simple nature. It only challenged your wits, your imagination and your body, to some extent. Sarah wanted it to challenge your perception of reality. In other words, what you saw was perfectly real. You said so yourself. You saw a different version of your life as it would have looked it if my castle or I had never been a part of it. She argued to me that it was the most sincere method in which the castle could show people exactly how their lives would be like before and after they turned twenty-five.”My jaw had went pass the Earth’s core. For a moment as long as infinity, I remained in that way as my brain tried very hard to understand at least a part of what Jared had just told me. To my brain’s credit, one bit did stick with me. “But I already knew everything was bullshit and wanted to come back to you,” I said simply. “And it took me weeks to get back! What if others aren’t so lucky?”Jared smiled from ear to ear. “But you were barely gone an hour. A full day after you passed out in my arms, if you truly wish to be exact.”[1]I closed my mouth and regarded him blankly. “Say that again?”“Valaria, dearest,” he said as he took my hands in his, “time is perfectly irrelevant once you’re on the other side. There is of course the fact that you were well-aware that everything wasn’t real to consider.” He smiled fondly. “It proves just how special and strong you are. Despite the fact that you had very convincing memories spanning all your life, you had the firm belief that your life was in fact another. Very few people can display such strength of mind and strength of spirit.”“Hooray for me,” I mocked, “but that still doesn’t explain the time difference.”“What inside feels like years are in actuality mere days.”“Oh,” I said simply. “I still have a headache but I guess it makes sense.”“Fair enough,” Jared agreed.“I’m still very, extremely mad at you.”“I don’t expect anything less.”I regarded his smiling composure with increasing annoyance. Before I could stop myself, I grabbed his face in my hands and glued it to mine. I didn’t wait for permission and slipped my tongue between his lips. Jared happily responded and soon enough, our clothes disappeared and we were moaning into each other’s ear or mouth.
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“So that happened,” I said dreamy as I drew lazy patterns on Jared’s chest with the tips of my fingers.“Mmmm,” he hummed appreciatively, holding me closer to him, his eyes closed.I couldn’t help myself but smile silly as I snuggled more into him. Experienced or not, two rounds with Jared Korrick was more than enough for the craziest of nymphomaniacs!“Does this mean you’re less mad at me than you were?” Jared asked sleepily.I curiously looked up at him. He was positively adorable with his raven hair messed up and a lazy, sleepy smile on his face. It was the first time I saw him like that and I felt my love for him grow. I couldn’t help but rub my nose against his then plant a quick, sweet kiss on his lips.“Mmmm,” he hummed surprised. “Is that a yes?”“It’s a keep doing what you’re doing and you might just make it to next year,” I said amused.Jared laughed softly. “I would love nothing more,” he said then slowly opened his eyes. “Well, except you,” he added as he gently put a strand of red hair behind my ear.“Good answer,” I said in a low voice. I raised my head and Jared met me half way. We kissed slowly, enjoying the feel of each other’s lips and parted in the same manner. I rested my head between his neck and his shoulder then both of us peacefully drifted to sleep.Thankfully, I woke up before Jared. I quietly got dressed, lightly kissed his forehead then left the room. The day-to-day busyness of the castle was pure bliss. I apologized to Timo for the way I behaved the day before but the dwarf simply cut me off by saying that I was more than welcomed to such outbursts when there weren’t customers roaming about the place. I happily agreed to those terms.I decided the others could wait until I concluded a little bit of business of my own. And that business went by the names mom and dad. During the entire drive back home, I tried to come up with very good reasons why I wouldn’t be home for quite some time. It was only when I pulled in front of the driveway that the simplest of explanations finally occurred to me. I took the keys out of the ignition and put the handbrake on.Kyra was already barking happy, her paws clawing at the front gate. “I’m here, I’m here,” I chuckled as I more or less wrestled my way inside. “Oh, I’ve missed you too, my sweet girl! You have no idea how much I’ve missed you!” Adorable as those kittens were, they could never compare to my baby.Naturally, I played in the yard with her for a little while because I needed a few minutes all to myself. And deep down, I knew I would miss these moments the most so I wanted to take my time with my precious Kyra.“Welcome home, sweetheart,” mom called from the living room.“Hi, mom,” I called back. I went into the living room. “Hi, dad.”“Hey, honey,” he said with a smile. Both of them were sitting in the two armchairs facing the TV.“How was it?” mom asked curious.“Well, funny you should ask!” I said. “I’m actually here to just pick up a few things then go back.”I suddenly had my parents’ full and undivided attention. I smiled nervously.“Is there something wrong?” mom wanted to know.“No, no. There’s absolutely wrong. Things are actually pretty awesome. I like working on this project so much that I want to keep doing it on the premises, that’s all.”My parents exchanged a look. “We’ll want to talk with Mr. Korrick about this, of course,” dad said.“Of course!” I accepted a little too eager, making mom smile softly. “I mean, anything you need to know I’ll be okay, dad.” I am so glad Zane didn’t hear any of this.“Well, go on, then,” my mother said briskly. “We don’t want you to be late for anything.”I smiled widely then all but flew to my room. I quickly threw together in a bag my bras and panties. I loved everything at the castle but some things I needed to be my own. I tightly embraced my sweet girl then put the car into motion before I took Kyra with me.I was back in Jared and mine’s shared room just as he was waking up. “Hi,” I said softly.“Hello,” he replied, the last remnants of sleep going away. He noticed the bag in my hand and stiffened.I burst into laughter. “I brought this from home, silly,” I told him as I let the bag drop to the floor. I sat down next to him. His relief was beyond comical. I cupped his face with one hand. “Yes,” I told him simply.“What?” he exclaimed stunned.I smiled with all my teeth. “Yes, I would love to stay and help with the new labyrinth.”I yelped surprised and amused as Jared grabbed me by the arms and kissed me passionately.