Chapter 5

Even though Ariel was feeling in the mood to be with Nathan, she refused to do anything with him because of how guilty she felt over what happened earlier with the young man who approached her.

She didn't want to remotely believe she was using her husband as a substitute for the young man and so she refused to give into her desires that night.

Nathan for the most part didn't want to pressure her into anything and knew she would eventually seek him out.

Kat parted with them at the entrance of the Tavern and headed to Deidra's house and Terrance and Rory had no problem letting her go somewhere else other than hanging out with them.

When they returned to the house that they were to stay at, Ariel noticed all the work Nathan put into the house while they were gone searching.

The guilt over her reaction earlier hit her and it was all she could do to act normal. She quickly headed off to bed and left the men confused as to what was going on.

Terrance and Rory were sharing the other room and went off into it. Since there weren't any beds in the room they would sleep in their packs on the floor.

As he headed for bed Nathan got light headed for a moment as he bent over to pull his boots free.

He straightened up and tried to regain his balance. After a moment the wave of dizziness passed and so he was able to pull off his boots.

While he was pulling off his shirt over head his chest again felt tender in the area where the boy had hit him. He was surprised to see that it was bruised where he was hit.

Tired and confused he tried to use some white magic to heal it, but the pain didn't go away and the bruise stayed. Not worrying about the bruise as tired as he was, he decided to head to bed to join Ariel. She was on her side to the farthest edge of the bed. It was almost as if she worried about touching him.

"Honey is something the matter?" asked Nathan. He could tell she wasn't sleep yet.

"No, I'm good. I'm just thinking about various things," said Ariel quietly.

"Anything I can help with?" asked Nathan.

"No, but thanks for asking," said Ariel.

As Nathan lay down next to her, she rolled over and cradled with-in his arms with her head on his chest.

While happy to have her close, the act of her doing this caused the bruising on his chest to throb. He would need to really check this out in the morning, but he was sure that he would be ok.

The next morning Ariel was up early and started getting dressed. She was a touch jittery, but for once it wasn't because she needing to be with Nathan. Ariel was still irritated by her reaction to the young man who came up to her in town.

While distracted as she was she didn't notice that Nathan was moving slowly.

Nathan really hadn't been sick before so he had no idea while his body felt so achy all over. Again he tried to use white magic to heal himself, but it wasn't working and he had no idea why.

He might have sat and thought on it, but Ariel's voice rang out from the other room.

"We need to shake a leg boys! We're looking for a mage remember? Let's head into town and get some breakfast" said Ariel to everyone as they came out of their respective rooms.

As the group started for the center of town, Nathan was having hot and cold flashes. He was trying to not saying anything so as not to be a burden, but he wasn't starting to feel very well.

"Nathan, are you all right? You don't look well," said Kat as she saw the others sit down at her table in the Tavern.

"I think its just being in a new bed. I'll be alright later," said Nathan with a smile.

Nodding Kathryn tried to not be obvious, but something was wrong. She could see that Nathan wasn't quite right, but she didn't want to press.

Terrance and Rory saw her looks of concern and it confused them even more.

They had stayed up late trying to discuss what her motives were, but they were still at a loss. They knew that she really wanted to find this Elliot person, but she could just as easily suck it out of Nate.

Then there were all the people they met, men and women, who had nothing but praise for her.

Her actions were a harsh contradiction from the last time they saw her.

They each finished their breakfast in silence before they started off on their day again.

As everyone broke up to again look around for anyone new who might be in town, Ariel slipped her hand into Nathan's and pulled him close.

Nathan was surprised, but didn't question her actions.

As the walked around during the day talking to others, Ariel noticed the young man from the night before was often around no matter where they went. He might have been trying to hide, but to her eyes it didn't matter.

While she only had eyes for her husband, she was able to give him no more real thought until they literally almost bumped into him.

The young man apologized for almost bumping into them, but Nathan thought it seemed as if he almost smirked at him as he turned and smiled at Ariel. Ariel almost seemed to be drawing away from the young man well before he turned and disappeared.

While before she was able to concentrate on Nathan, after the confrontation she found she was again thinking about the young man. She had no idea why she was. With great effort again she pushed all thoughts of him out her mind.

Ariel was sure that it was because it was about time they have some alone time. She thought her uncontrollable lust for her husband was screwing with her mind. As soon as they had some time alone she would correct this problem and then she would be able to think more clearly.

Pulling Nathan closer she tenderly kissed him for a moment and smiled as she looked deep in his eyes.

The young man, who kept doing everything possible to try to be around her, scowled as he saw this. He was sure that the more of his scent that she became familiar with the more likely she would start to seek him out, but if anything she was pulling further away.

He wasn't done with her yet though. This setback only made him more determined to win her away from her mate. He could tell she was in heat and that was a driving factor in its own to help spur him along.

Jarrod also was watching the big man from a distance. While he was able to beg for some food from some of the vendors, he wanted to be there if they found the mage.

He really needed help and he thought that it might be only a matter of time before he did the same thing to another area that he did to his original home.

As the day drew to a close the group again assembled, discussed what little they found, and had dinner before retiring.

Again Kat asked about Nathan and he waved her off as just being tired. Terrance and Rory again appeared to be surprised at her continued concern for someone she tried to kill once before.

Only Ariel didn't seem to notice as distracted as she was. Her mind kept wandering and she seemed to be feeling heated desire to mate with Nathan that was driving out all other thoughts.

While calling it a night, it was all Ariel could do to not drag Nathan to the house. If she didn't know better she would have thought he was dragging his feet. But Nathan wasn't dragging his feet as much as picking up his feet became harder and harder to do with each step.

Waving goodnight to the other two men who were headed to their room, Ariel drug Nathan into their room and started helping him get undressed in the low light as she started undressing herself.

Soon they were naked and sweaty as they started.

But as they continued something was wrong.

Normally Ariel's orgasm felt like they could take the top of her head off because they were so intense, but right now it felt, wrong. She couldn't put her finger on it but they didn't feel the same.