Star Crossed In Time - Chapter 243

When I wake up the next day, at least I think it’s the next day… I wake up to Bai Lei kissing my bȧrė back. I smile and dig my head further into the pillows as I say “Haven’t you had enough?” Bai Lei chuckles low as he continues to slowly kiss my back saying “I will never have enough of you.”

He kisses me a few more times before saying “Your mother and the others want to see you.” My smile grows as I say “They know I’m okay. They can’t give me a day to rest?” This time Bai Lei stops kissing my back as he chuckles again saying “It’s been three days, little star.”

My eyes snap open and I lift my head to turn back and look at Bai Lei with shock. “Three days since we returned!?” He gives me a dark grin as he nods his head saying “I would’ve liked to keep you to myself longer but the others are worried.”

I look at him with disbelief and quickly try to sit up but Bai Lei is quicker. He scoops me up and shifts us to the night bath. He walks us both into the water and lowers me down but doesn’t let me go. He practically bathes me before carrying me out.

I try to wiggle out of his hold but he just tightens his hold and uses his power to dress us both before shifting us to the garden. I try to get down once again but Bai Lei doesn’t budge. This time I look at me with a frown and ask “Why are you not putting me down?”

Bai Lei walks over to the table before sitting in one of the chairs with me in his ŀȧp. He tucks a strand of my hair behind my ear as he says “I have someone coming today to place some… seals on you so that no one can take you again. Until then, you have to remain in my arms.”

I gape at him in shock but when I think about my history, I nod my head and wrap my arms around his neck. I lean in and lightly kiss him as I say “This works too, I was feeling tired anyway.” Bai Lei chuckles and pulls me closer for another kiss.

I don’t know why but after everything that’s happened… I feel happy. I feel free and without a care. I feel like everything that has happened was meant to be and had to happen for all of this to fall into place. It was like the road to paradise was filled with trials and thorns but halfway through, Bai Lei came along and made everything so much better.

When I hear someone clearing their throat, I turn to find my mother and Zhen watching us with knowing smiles. I turn and smile at them both as my mom hugs me tight. It was a little awkward to do in Bai Lei’s ŀȧp but my mother doesn’t bat an eyelash at it.

“I’m so glad you’re okay. We were all so worried and even though Ai told us what we’d need to get you back, Bai Lei wouldn’t wait. He just ran, head first without thinking.” She gives him a disapproving look but the smile on her face softened the whole look.

Bai Lei pulls me against his ċhėst and says “I couldn’t just stay here while she was down there all alone.” I smile at them both but when Zhen places his hand on my mother’s lower back, my smile turns crafty as I look to him and say “I guess I should start calling you father instead of grandfather.”

Zhen and my mother both turn bright red as the four of us chuckle. Ai comes running around the corner, pulling Guozhi behind her as she waves at me with a large smile. I smile at the two of them and lift a questioning eyebrow.

“He’s like a pitiful puppy… he needs someone to look after him.” Ai says with a shrug but the look in her eyes as she looks at him tells me she truly cares for him. Guozhi grumbles but his cheeks turn a light pink color as he looks away with embarrassment.

My smile turns knowing but when I see Zhen’s stern look, I turn to find Ted and MingMing walking hand in hand. My eyes grow large and nearly pop out of my head when my brain tries to figure out when this happened.

MingMing bounces over with a large smile while Ted watches her with a smile full of love. “I seem to have missed a lot… ” I say causing everyone to chuckle but Lady Xue gracefully walks over and says “You’ve been a bit busy lately, even Bun seems to have found a little girlfriend.”

I sit up straight and say “What!? Who?” The others laugh at me as Bai Lei places a kiss on the side of my jaw saying “I’m sure you’ll meet her soon. She doesn’t talk like Bun but the two seem to truly like each other.”

Suddenly, Ren appears with an odd woman in a dark red cloak. Everyone becomes silent as Ren walks the woman over to us. He bows to Bai lei and says “This is the woman, Master.” Bai Lei nods and turns to look at the woman standing behind Ren.

Ren moves over to us and stands by our side, sending me a warm smile before turning back to stone to stare at the woman in the strange cloak. “I hear that you have a way to teether someone to another… is that true?” Bai Lei asks watching her closely.

The woman seems to watch us both for a moment before nodding her head in agreement. Well… I think she was watching us. I can’t see her face, no one can with the cloak on. “That’s right. I can see that you two are already connected but because she’s not from this world, she slips in and out uncontrollably. I can help with that but for a price.”

I slightly narrow my eyes at her as Bai lei asks “What price?” The woman turns to look in my direction as she says “My Realm is dead… barren to us who remain. I will give you what you seek if you can bring life back to our Realm.”

Bai Lei’s hand tightens on me as I say “What Realm are you from?” The woman pauses for a moment before saying “The Realm of Ties.” Bai Lei’s arm tightens around my waist as he says “That’s not a normal Realm… that’s on a different plain. How do you expect us to go there?”

The woman turns to look at Bai Lei before saying “I can bring her myself and before you get worked up, no males can enter our Realm so you can’t come. I give you my word though, even if she can’t return life to our land, I will safely return her.”

Bai Lei looks as if he wants to disagree but something tells me that the woman is someone we can trust. I nod my head and say “Deal” Bai Lei sucks in behind me. No doubt upset that I just agreed to her terms but something told me to work with her.

Her eyes flash under the dark hood as she looks back to me saying “Deal” She waves her hand and everything disappears. When I reappear, I’m standing in a red desert of some kind. Hot wind whips the sand up and into my face, making my eyes snap shut. I thought I could at least tell the others bye first! Dang!

“Follow me,” She says and begins walking away. I squint my eyes and lift my hand up to help block the sand as I follow her. After a few minutes, we come across a huge palace that looks like something out of the movies.

Large towers jet up into the red sky like powerful hands, lanced with gold that reflected the red sun’s bright rays. The gold and white of the palace gave off the feeling of Arabian nights. It was absolutely beautiful and breathtaking.

We quickly walk to the palace and I quickly notice how it was women who stood guard in the same red cloak. After nodding to the women, they allow us both to walk in without another glance. Once inside, I take a deep breath and begin wiping all the sand off me but when I see the cloak fall to the floor, I look up and feel my mouth drop open in shock.