[Music Recommendation: Lenti Sistemi by Atoloi ]
Nova didn't get a chance to correct him. She asked what he was, not his name, before he lunged forward into a sprint, carrying her.
"P-put me down!" Nova exclaimed furiously that she was still being held in this embarrassing position. His arm was tight on her thighs, keeping her against him tightly.
Yoa didn't answer her as those thick legs bunched together again and he leapt effortlessly to a branch of one of the almighty trees.
"Yoa!" She gasped, her eyes widening as she held onto his waist tighter, the edges of her vision blurring with dizziness as she looked down from this height.
"Not safe," Yoa finally answered.
He leapt again, and Nova yelped, clutching hard at his firm muscles. She squeezed her eyes shut as his body moved beneath her, those powerful legs striding and leaping from tree branch to tree branch at a rapid rate.
"W-who…?" Her eyes snapped open to the deep, savage roar echoing among the trees. The forest had grown darker, shadows thickening like smoke, the only light spilling in through slithers of silver moonlight through the thick canopy.
Then she saw them.
Golden eyes gleamed from the underbrush—cold, unblinking, and far too close. Two jaguars exploded from the shadows in opposite directions, chasing after them, fluid and lethal.
Muscles rippled beneath fur the colour of fire and earth. They weren't just hunting.
They were coming to kill.
Jaguars weren't pack animals. Nova knew that much, but these two were working together, running along either side of them and leaping from tree to tree to keep up with Yoa's pace. Their guttural noises were like lightning, snapping Nova to attention each time.
They truly were beautiful. Even she could admire that, the beasts chasing them ferociously while her head bumped repeatedly against Yoa's back muscles. She was sure a bruise would form from the action. He was so solid.
"Hold on properly," Yoa ordered his voice more a growl than words.
Nova stopped her head from hitting his back as much. She couldn't squeeze her eyes shut now. Even if she hated the great heights they kept going, her focus remained on the jaguars leaping in and out of her vision. Her heart thrummed in her chest like one too many shots of caffeine pumping through her veins.
She felt sick from it.
Her breath caught in her mouth as one of the jaguars leapt, its claws outstretched, the gleam in its eyes victorious as those claws reached for her face. "Yo-ahhhh!" She screamed as her stomach dropped, air whooshing around her as they fell. The jaguar hit a tree branch and scrambled to hold on tight, its claws clinging to the bark.
Nova's hair whipped around her face as she tried to understand what was happening. They were flying? Was Yoa like the harpy eagles? She thought he was more beast-like than a type of bird.
Yoa laughed, his throaty rumble reverberating from his chest and along the forest, almost like quiet thunder shattering along the earth. This was meant to be deadly, terrifying but this man was laughing while being chased?!
He's nuts!
I'm going to die. I. Am. Going. To. Die. In the arms of some hot nutcase. It's better than drowning in a lake, right?
Then Nova saw it.
Exhilaration pinged through her.
Yoa slid down some of the fallen branches and grabbed at vines, making them swing and land on another branch, his pace increasing tenfold. The forest blurred around her in colours of greens, browns and shadows. The jaguars turned into dots in the distance.
This man, this beast was so powerful, his strides so long and quick, eating up the distance Nova's head spun.
Yoa had been messing with them? Who was this guy to mess with Jaguars?! JAGUARS. Plural. Not one but two!
He wasn't even breaking a sweat. His muscles bunched, clenched, moved, and under the thrilling and terrifying circumstances, they were more than a little distracting to watch. This closeness allowed her to see the slightest of shimmering markings, like darker splodges under his skin in some places, mostly on the left side of his arms and fading across the skin on his back. It wasn't noticeable until she'd paid attention to him and not the beasts that had chased them.
They ventured higher again into the treetops, running and leaping across branches, using vines when Yoa's leaps fell short at times. Once he was satisfied, his pace began to slow until he walked casually along a thick branch. Still holding Nova tightly to him, Yoa scanned their surroundings, a low rumbling growl shaking the trees, a warning to others that he was in the area. A shiver trickled down Nova's spine in response.
The ferally beautiful giant set her gently to her feet, but her legs gave way beneath her. Nova collapsed against the trunk, fingers digging into the grooves of the bark for support, breath coming fast as she forced her attention away from the dizzying height and the forest floor below. She was looking around at the darkening forest until she felt a wild beast's gaze burning into the side of her face.
Nova's gaze flicked up to Yoa's. She couldn't look away from the intensity of that gaze. He stared at her unflinching, without any form of societal etiquette to look away from staring too long. There was no flush of his cheeks or embarrassment. It should be frightening, something in her gut warning her to stay away from what is definitely a wild beast in a man's form.
Her breaths returned to normal, and her heart rate calmed. Staring back at Yoa distracted her from the deadly height they were at. She cleared her throat and lifted her chin, her mind racing with what had just happened. "What did you do … for that man to attack you?"
Yoa's eyes narrowed. With predatorial grace, he lowered into a crouch and crawled towards her until he was almost hovering over her with that ridiculous build of his—a ridiculously hot build, but that wasn't the point. Those intense eyes pinned her to the spot. "I did nothing," his voice deep and sinking into her skin.
"Then why did you kill him?" Nova breathed out. Oh, jeez, she sounded like she was ready to pounce him rather than interrogate him. Was it really an interrogation if he was the intimidating one here, staring down at her with those eyes like a spotlight stilling her to the spot.
Yoa arched a brow, eyes roaming her features, looking curious and almost bored of the conversation. Did he murder so much that something like this didn't phase him?! Nova shivered. Yoa's gaze snapped to attention, head tilting slightly as he noted Nova's reaction. He would have killed me and eaten you," he stated simply.
There was no remorse for his actions. Nova could understand his reasoning but it also didn't add up. She was highly fixated on this problem right now than everything she'd been through in the span of a day. It was better to compartmentalise and this was the problem of the present— a predator in front of easy prey, her.
Sighing, Nova changed her approach, determined to get an answer from him. "Then what did he think you did?"
"It doesn't concern you," Yoa answered gruffly. His eyes darkened slightly.
"It is if I almost died because of you!"
Yoa scoffed.
Nova narrowed her eyes at him. "I just helped you. I'm responsible if I just unleashed…"
Yoa's chest rumbled slightly, and his face leaned a little closer. Those eyes burned into hers brightly, almost eager to challenge Nova. "Unleashed what."
Nova gulped, goosebumps pebbling her skin, sensing just how powerful he was. "I don't know," she admits quietly.
"You released me because you need my help," Yoa growled, his eyes roaming over Nova's features again. "You don't belong here."
Nova's fingers pressed into the bark beneath her. She was way out of her league with all of this, and she knew she didn't belong there, but hearing those words from him still annoyed her.
"I've been hearing that a lot."