Jacob's Ladder (String of Fate) by Bianca D'Arc Page A

breakfast as planned, only a little later than originally discussed.
    Jake walked into their cabin and made straight for the plush couch, collapsing onto it while he caught his breath. His head was still whirling with everything he’d seen. Some visions were like that—time compressed into blurred images scrolling by in rapid succession.
    It was hard to follow, but he’d had a lot of experience in sorting out the images. He began to make sense of what he’d seen as Ria moved around the room. She came to him, holding a glass of ice water in her hands. He might’ve sought something stronger but it was too early to be hitting the hard stuff—no matter how confusing the day had been already.
    “Do you always have these visions so close together?” Ria spoke gently as she sat at his side on the couch. She put her arm around his shoulders, her hand pressing into his back, offering the comfort of touch that shifters found so appealing. Come to think of it, Jake found it appealing as well. Especially if it was Ria’s touch.
    “No, this was an anomaly. I think a lot of sh—” He stopped himself from cussing, though he’d already said a few things he probably shouldn’t have in front of her. “Stuff,” he corrected himself. “A lot of stuff is going down right now that I might be able to influence. It usually works like that. Most of the time, I see things pertaining to something or someone I know or can find. It seems to be tailored so that I can be useful, I guess. I’ve always found it handy, except when the stuff hits the fan, like it is right now.”
    “So the vision in your sleep was so you could help my Guard and your friend. And then this one was so you could warn the sea-based shifters.” She seemed to be dealing with his quirks better than he’d hoped.
    “I’m sorry you had to see me like that. I’d meant to give you a heads up before a big one hit, but I didn’t have time. Usually I don’t get like that often. Maybe once a year or so. I was going to warn you so you wouldn’t be concerned when, or if, it happened and you were with me.” Jake had been doing a lot of apologizing this morning and dawn had only just broken through their stateroom window.
    Ria moved right into his lap and stroked his chin, which was covered in stubble, he realized belatedly. She didn’t seem to mind, thank goodness. Her touch felt too good to lose.
    “It’s okay, Jake. There’s a lot we need to discover about each other. I’m just glad Ed knew what was going on. I think you shocked poor Tom though.” She chuckled and he began to see the humor in her words.
    “Yeah, I bet he’s never seen a guy zone out like that before,” he agreed.
    “No Jake…” she pulled back to look at him, meeting his gaze. “Your eyes… They swirled with power. It was like nothing I’ve ever seen and it was very clear you have deeply hidden depths of magic. I think Tom was both scared shitless, and impressed.” She moved in to place a peck on his cheek. “By the way, you can say the word shit in front of me. I won’t faint.”
    He pulled her closer, resting his forehead against hers. “No, sweetheart. Give me an inch and I’ll take a mile, just like any other guy. You’re a lady. More than that, you’re a queen. At least let me try to clean up my language around you. I can’t promise I’ll always remember to censor myself, but it’s a small thing I can do to show you how much I respect you. And if we ever have kids, I don’t want them picking up my bad habits.”
    Her breath caught when he mentioned them having children and he could see the longing in her eyes. He hadn’t thought much about spawning before, but having Ria in his life was making him think about a lot of things he never really had before. He wanted it all with her. Kids. House in the ‘burbs. White picket fence. Big backyard so she could run around in her furry form. Trees for the kids to climb. The whole enchilada.
    He kissed her because he couldn’t