by RS McCoy
As he had during their dance at the Syndicate, Kaide lifted her arm and spun her, this time stopping mid-turn so her back faced him. His lips fell to the exposed skin of her neck before he started in on the network of straps and fasteners that kept her locked in her dress.
“They really didn’t make this easy, did they?” he teased with another kiss below her ear.
Blossom had to clamp her hands into tight fists to temper her excitement. His hands wrapped around her front to pull off a strap. With his every motion, the stiff bindings around her torso loosened, though she knew it would take considerably more work to get her free.
Not that she minded. Standing in the low light of his bedroom, feeling his fingers tug at her dress and his lips that skimmed her skin at every opportunity, Blossom was satisfied to let it last as long as possible. Being so close to another person was new to her, but she was quickly learning to embrace it—an intoxicating mixture of excitement and nerves and yet somehow still calm. Blossom was comfortable with him, confident in their relationship, whatever it was, and content to remain open with him in ways she’d never been with anyone else.
Then, her dress slipped off her frame, cascading to the floor in a crumpled pile. Blossom inhaled deeply and felt the freedom of filling her lungs for the first time all night.
It was a moment later when she realized she stood before him completely uncovered.
It wasn’t the first time he’d seen her, but still it sent a wave of nerves through her. She chewed on her lip as he asked, “Can you let your hair down?”
“I don’t know,” she admitted. “They put in so many pins—”
Kaide crossed in front of her, surveying her figure before he tugged her toward the bed. “Sit down, Beauty.”
Blossom did as he asked and sat cross-legged on the bed. Kaide moved behind her and ran his fingers into her hair, finding a pin and pulling it free. He kissed the top of her shoulder and pulled out a second pin. His lips fell at the nape of her neck as he pulled out the third.
“How many did they need?” His voice was all laughter and awe.
“I told you. You’re the only one that likes this curly mess.” Blossom tried to speak easily, but she found it difficult to concentrate with him so close to her bare back, his fingers skimming her neck and searching through her hair. It was hard not to get lost in it.
“No. I love this curly mess.” He reached around to kiss her cheek as he pulled out another pin.
Blossom was glad for the low light that hid her fiery-red cheeks. She let Kaide find pin after pin and listened to his throaty laugh when he held a handful but still hadn’t found them all. With her thumb, she spun the wooden ring on her finger, feeling its smooth warmth and letting her mind focus on that little task. The rest of her thoughts were consumed with Kaide.
When finally he found the last pin, her hair fell against her neck in its usual ringlets, though a good bit of them were crumpled from being up all night. Blossom ran her hand through them out of reflex, feeling the fullness of her curls as they were revived.
Then, Kaide’s arm wrapped around her bare stomach and pulled her flush against him. Skin to skin, she could feel the relentless drum of his heart. Where she’d become relaxed and at ease, he was still nervous.
Blossom craned her neck as far as she could and met his lips with hers. His mouth was strong and fervent, and just when she thought she might be getting used to his intensity, he undid her all over again.
Nunkai
A HEAVY ARM lay draped over her chest when she woke. The window shade cast the room in darkness, but she could still see it was well into midday.
Beside her, Kaide was sound asleep, his face pressed into his pillow. His breathing was easy and rhythmic, reminding her of his tiger’s purr. Dark hair fell across his forehead, so different from the stern, calculated style he wore as Vice Syndicate. She wondered how many people had ever seen him so at ease.
Blossom smiled at the memory of the night. On his arm, she let her fingertips trace the swirling pattern of ink that spun over his skin.
Kaide woke with a start. His gaze darted across the room from the doorway to the washroom and then finally at her.
She cupped his cheek in her hand. “I didn’t mean to wake you. Go back to sleep.”
He shook his head with a smitten smile. “And miss spending the day with you? Not a chance.” Kaide pressed forward and buried his face against her neck, leaving kiss after kiss until she giggled at his ticklish beard and squirmed away.
Kaide pushed up onto his hands, one on either side of her, and looked down at her with those sapphire eyes. “Marry me,” he said.
“What?” Blossom’s girlish laughs faded in a heartbeat. She’d known all along he wanted to honor his deal to marry her, but Blossom was blindsided by the sudden mention.
“Please, Blossom. Beauty. Marry me. Be my wife. Let me wake up beside you for the rest of my days.” Bare-chested, his muscles pulled taut under his skin as he hovered over her. His intense eyes and flexed jaw left little doubt about his seriousness.
Blossom was only saved from answering when he leaned forward and kissed her. She let herself got lost in his proximity, his chest pressed against hers. When he pulled up, he pushed off the bed and moved to his closet to dress.
This time, she knew right where to find his loose-fitting shirts. She selected one from the drawer and pulled it over her head, feeling the soft crimson fabric as it fell over her frame down to her knees.
“I hope you know that this is an unbelievably good look for you.” He pulled her in for a kiss as he tied the waist of his loose-legged pants. “Are you hungry?”
Blossom put a hand to her empty stomach. “I could eat a horse or two.”
“Well, then, Ms. Frane. A pair of horses you shall have.” A warm smile filled his features. Then, he wrapped his hand around hers and pulled her down the stairs toward the kitchen.
Norsa and Valenta both openly stared as they entered holding hands, him in only his black pants and her in nothing but his loose shirt. Norsa was the first to recover, offering them a giddy, “Good morning!”
Valenta continued to stare for a full minute as Kaide and Blossom both pulled up stools to the small island. Norsa set out a half-dozen trays of fruit, berries, nuts, smoked meats, and speckled cheeses. Without a word, she set a cup of the sour orange tea before Blossom.
She curled her lip at the scent of it. “This is one of those teas, isn’t it?”
Norsa chuckled as she stirred a pot on the stove. “If you mean it’s orange pepper and lilac tea, then yes, it is child.”
Blossom stared at the liquid and remembered how little she’d enjoyed it last time. “It tastes foul.”
“It’s better than the alternative. Drink up before it gets cold. If you think it’s foul now, just wait until it’s lost its heat. Then you’ll learn the meaning of foul.” Norsa couldn’t seem to keep from chuckling. She put a hand on her hip to steady herself as she worked.
Blossom scowled at the cup for several seconds before she got the courage to shoot back the disgusting tea. Her throat burned, and her mouth retained the sour orange flavor. She snatched a berry from the tray and popped it in her mouth in hopes it would wash away the rancid taste left behind.
Kaide leaned forward and kissed her cheek. “I’ll make it up to you. Want to go see a volcano today?”
Blossom nodded eagerly as she popped another berry in her mouth. She crushed it between her teeth and answered, “Which one are we going to see? Is it erupting? How close can we get?”
Kaide erupted in hearty laughter and clutched at his stomach as he gasped for air. “I should have known you’d love to see it. Fire loves fire.” He shook his head as if it should have been obvious.
“Oh, hush,” she said with a smack to his shoulder. “Not everyone grew up with volcanoes. I bet I’ve climbed alder trees taller than any you’ve ever seen.”
“Of that, I have no doubt, Beauty.” Kaide brushed the curls back from her face, and
it was impossible not to blush when he looked at her with such a smile.
“Don’t you have to work today?”
Kaide shook his head. “There’s an unspoken agreement to suspend any meetings the day after a festival. Some of the Syndicates are too fond of their wine.”
Blossom grabbed a handful of nuts and pushed off her stool.
“Where are you going?” Kaide said, his nostrils flared.
“To get dressed. You said we were going to see a volcano. I’m not going like this.” Blossom motioned at his shirt before trotting down the hall to her room, the one she hadn’t seen since she’d been forced into that torturous dress.
It seemed like such a long time ago. Under her pillow, she found her mother’s book and her brother’s coin, undisturbed in their safe hiding spot. From the dresser, she pulled a fresh set of Pyro clothes and managed to get into them without incident. On the floor by the door, she found a new pair of the black shoes she’d been wearing for the last few days. In a matter of minutes, Blossom managed to pull herself together and return to the kitchen, ready to go.
But only Norsa and Valenta were there.
“He went up to get a fresh shirt, child. Meet you out front, he said.” Norsa nodded toward the doorway. Her laughs resonated throughout the kitchen as Blossom trotted through the formal sitting room.
As she sauntered into the entryway and turned to start up the stairs, she looked up just in time to see him on his way down. “I’m coming, I’m coming,” he teased her. “Next time I promise volcanoes, I’ll make sure to be dressed first.”
Arriving on the bottom floor, Kaide embraced and lifted her in a single motion, never slowing even as he neared the front door and brought them into the warm afternoon air.
“Am I ever going to get to go anywhere on my own two feet?” she fussed, unable to hide her smile.
“Not if I can help it. Did you do this on your own?” he asked with a nod toward her Pyro outfit.
“Why? Did I mess up?” Held against him, she couldn’t see if she’d missed a strap or crossed something the wrong way, but she was pretty sure she had it right.
“It looks perfect. I’m impressed.”
“I had a good teacher,” she said with an eyebrow lifted in his direction.
Kaide laughed at her compliment and set her down in the grassy clearing. Hand in hand, they walked around the back of the manor to a small building she’d never seen before. Immediately, she knew it held horses. She could hear their impatient stamping from across the clearing.
“We’re riding?”
“It’s too far to walk. I thought you’d prefer this to the transport, though you don’t seem to be getting motion-sick lately. Were you trying to scare me away?” Kaide pursed his lips and shot her a knowing look.
It was Blossom’s turn to clutch her stomach in laughter. “If only I were that smart. I wish I’d thought of it,” she teased him.
“It wouldn’t have worked.”
“You never know. Maybe I’d have pretended to contract a fatal illness. Or maybe I would have smelled really bad.” Blossom envisioned bathing in wormroot or some other stinky plant to send him running.
“Still wouldn’t have worked.” He said it with confidence, as if he reminded her leaves were green.
They arrived at the outbuilding and found two horses already saddled and ready to go. Kaide offered his hand to help her up. His eyes went wide as she accepted and used his grip to steady herself as she climbed on her horse—the same dark-brown mare she’d ridden on her journey from the Alderwood.
“It might have worked,” she protested. “I’m sneakier than you think.”
Kaide slid his foot into the stirrup and landed in his saddle beside her, still laughing. “Oh yes, Blossom Frane. So very sneaky. You never know when she’s mad or nervous or scared. It’s so hard to tell what that one’s thinking.”
He erupted with such hefty laughter she couldn’t even begin to be upset. She couldn’t deny she was an open book; her cheeks gave too much away.
They spurred the horses out of the building and toward the trees that marked the edge of the clearing, trotting at a good, easy pace.
“Was I awful that first day?” Blossom cringed to think of it.
He nodded with a gracious smile. “Positively horrid. I considered bringing you back a few dozen times.”
Blossom considered him where he sat so tall in his saddle. “Why didn’t you?”
Kaide tilted his head to the side. “It’s difficult to explain.”
“Try.”
He lifted his hand to his face, running it over his beard as he thought for several moments. Blossom waited patiently, listening to the distant rumble of volcanoes and the clop of horse hooves on the trail.
“Being in totem form is different than being in human form. It’s not so much thoughts or words, but rather emotions and instinct. My totem is difficult to control because of its size. As soon as I transition, I’m struck with the overwhelming desire to eat, to satisfy this insatiable hunger.”
“You kept me because you were hungry?” Even as she said it, she knew that couldn’t be what he meant.
Kaide shook his head. “No, that was just an example. In my human form, I still retain some traits of my totem. My emotions swing from one extreme to the other. I’m quick to anger, and sometimes it’s difficult not to strike-out at people. Events like last night test my patience. The only benefit to my totem is my sense of smell. Even in human form, I can smell a hundred thousand times better than I could before my transformation.”
Blossom was sure she wasn’t following. She sat still on her trotting horse and waited for him to find the words to explain whatever it was he was trying to say.
“When I saw you in the Alderwood that day, it was luck. Nothing more. We just happened to be in the same place at the same time. But even before I saw you, I could smell you. Not smell you, but smell you.” Kaide groaned as his usually-articulate words failed him. “I could sense you were a fighter, that you were strong and spirited, and that something insanely haunting flows through your veins. As soon as I first tasted it, I wanted you.”
Blossom rolled her head back and laughed. “Because I smell haunting?”
“Yes.” His voice held no trace of humor. “I would never recover if I let you go. You would haunt me for the rest of my days.”
Blossom swallowed the lump in her throat when she realized he was serious.
“And then I saw you. You came running out of the wood and climbed a tree like you were born in it. I knew I was right about you, about everything. You were strong and spirited and gorgeous like nothing I’d ever seen. I ran straight to your clan and asked after your father.”
“How’d you know who to ask for?”
“I asked for the father of the beautiful young woman with strength in her blood. They took me right to his tent.”
Blossom tilted her head in thought. No one but Kaide had ever thought to describe her as beautiful. She’d about gone mad for years trying to earn the attention of even one boy in her clan. None had been interested then or now.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
Blossom almost asked how he knew her thoughts had turned, but of course he could smell it on her. He’d always been able to smell every subtle change in her emotions.
“You’re lying. But I don’t know why.”
Kaide’s eyes went wide. “What reason do I have to lie? After telling you that I asked for your hand because you smell good, there’s no reason for me to skirt the truth.”
Blossom had to give him that. He’d already revealed more than he wanted. But that didn’t quiet that nagging doubt that something was amiss.
“No one in my clan would have pointed to my father’s tent when you asked for a beautiful young woman. They would have pointed to the Connors’ tent, because Gemini is beautiful. So what really happened?”
Kaide yanked on his horse’s reins so fast it whinnied in protest and stopped short. Blossom pulled her own hors
e to a stop, but by the time she was still, Kaide had already dismounted and was marching toward her.
He put both hands around her waist and tugged her to the ground.
Blossom became suddenly aware of how much taller he was than her. His hands gripped hard to her shoulders and he looked into her eyes as if he meant to see right through her. It was impossible not to feel transparent when he looked at her that way.
“What in the name of the Alder Mother would make you think such a thing?”
Blossom’s mouth hung open as she searched for the words. “I grew up there. Every girl in the clan had suitors but me. Every single one. I couldn’t even get anyone to talk to me.” She felt the old sting of it creep into her voice.
Kaide dropped his head between his shoulders and a moment later, he was laughing.
“It’s not funny.” Blossom tried to wriggle from his grip, but he only clutched her harder, still shaking with laughter. “Let me go!” she protested.
“You really thought no Alderwood boys would talk to you because you were ugly?” Kaide squeezed her hard.
Blossom pushed against his chest so she didn’t have to answer such a horrible question.
But Kaide would have none of it. “First of all, you are far too good for the likes of any suitor, myself included. I won’t have you thinking anything less. Second,” he started before he laughed again. “I suspect there’s a different reason no one would talk to you. Well, three reasons.”
Only then did Kaide release her. As soon as she could see his face, she glowered up at him. “They wouldn’t do that!”
“Wouldn’t they? Do you doubt your three devoted brothers and the lengths they would go to keep you safe? I bet your horse they cornered each and every possible suitor in a five day radius and threatened them if they so much as looked upon your shadow.” Kaide stood tall with satisfaction. He knew he was right.
But Blossom didn’t want to believe it. “They don’t go around threatening people they don’t like. They might be bears but they wouldn’t—”