Jasper by Faith Gibson Page B

him think they had a long future,
when Trevor was only playing house for the time being. It would be easier on
Jasper in the long run if Trevor broke things off now instead of hanging around
for a while and then deciding he didn’t want to make the bond permanent. Trevor
didn’t want to break things off, but he also didn’t want to hurt Jasper. But
now, true to the man Trevor was getting to know, Jasper set his mind at ease,
or at least tried to. He said he would take whatever Trevor gave him.
    There
had to be give and take on both sides. If Jasper was willing to be patient with
him, he needed to offer up more of himself than hiding out at home. Waiting on
Jasper to tell him about Theron, he willed the tears not to fall. He had never
been one to cry. Not since he’d told his parents he didn’t want them in his
life. When he walked out the door of their home for the last time, he’d let the
tears flow, washing away eighteen years of heartache. He hadn’t cried since.
Until now.
    “Can
we sit?” Jasper asked.
    Trevor
was interested in Jasper’s long life. He nodded and let Jasper lead him to the
sofa. Before sitting, Jasper lit a fire in the fireplace. Trevor loved the
smell of burning wood, the flicker of the flames dancing around, and the
crackle of the steam being released from pockets in the wood as it burned.
Jasper knew Trevor loved fires, because he had told him as much on his first
visit.
    Jasper
sat down, leaving space between them, and began his story. “I’m not going to
detail every part of my life, because most of it is really boring. After I
fought with the Redshanks, I realized I was tired of fighting. I left Ireland
and traveled throughout Europe. For years, I wandered from country to country, town
to town, doing odd jobs for a roof over my head. I couldn’t work around animals
since they have an aversion to Gargoyles. I did a lot of manual labor. The
language barrier was one of the biggest challenges I faced, since I spoke Irish
and Gaelic with an elementary understanding of most English. I was lucky in
that the O’Donnell had made sure I could read and write, but I didn’t
understand any of the other languages spoken throughout the lands I traveled. When
I took a job, I would ask that half my wages be in the form of teaching me the
local language.
    “I
would stay in one place until I learned enough to travel throughout the
country, knowledgeable of the world around me. I had to move around every five
years or so to keep people from noticing I wasn’t aging. I would choose another
location and start the cycle all over again. It was bearable for a while. I
would start at the southern end of a country and end up at the northern end, or
vice versa. All this time, I never had companionship other than those who hired
me or the others I worked with. Hanging out with other men wasn’t the same then
as it is today. You didn’t have video games to play or basketball courts to
shoot hoops on. You couldn’t hop in the car and go to the movies. It was mostly
work, eat, and sleep.
    “I
did try to find areas where I could escape to the forest and practice with my
sword or bow and arrow. Being a Gargoyle, I often searched for clans that I
might join up with, but they were few and far between, at least where I was
looking. After a couple hundred years of traveling all over Europe, I ended up
in Greece.” Jasper rose and stood by the fireplace. He propped his arm along
the mantle and continued. “When I was sold as a teenager, I vowed then to never
look upon another male with lustful intentions. That was easier said than done.
I’m a full-blooded Gargoyle, and we have needs just like human males. Ours are
probably stronger since we have a beast living inside that demands release.
Anyway, I had lived over two centuries, keeping to a celibate lifestyle. Not
once had I allowed myself to pursue another male. My life had gone from being a
fierce warrior in my father’s army to nothing but a nomad with no