12. So Many Legs #3
She watched me intensely, her pupils wide as her breathing picked up.
Leaving my hand on her mouth, I pressed a little closer, watching her reaction.
She took a shuddering breath through her nose.
Did she like this? Did she enjoy having my hand on her mouth?
I squeezed just a little, watching her face.
Her eyes widened a bit more, but not in fear. With desire. I leaned in, my lips brushing her ear. “Do you promise to be quiet?”
“Mmm hmm…” she murmured, but it came out as an almost whimper.
I let go, not taking my eyes off her beautiful purple ones as I placed my hand beside her head, caging her in. Our bodies were hardly a breadth away and Cerise’s face had turned the most delicious shade of pink.
She cleared her throat. “Well, that was—unexpected.”
I tilted my head. “You didn’t expect to enjoy my hand over your mouth, did you?”
“Doctor Pendragon,” she chastised, looking away as her blush deepened. “Stop your ludicrous flirting and tell me what the plan is. Why in the world do you want to put these in Doctor Rosenshield’s tent?”
I laughed quietly as I pushed myself off the tree. “Because it will be hilarious.”
“Is this what you do at work? Play pranks on your colleagues?”
“Occasionally. When I get bored.”
She pursed her lips. “Fine. I’ll watch, but I won’t participate in your antics against our leader.”
“Oh no no no, sunshine. I’m helping you find your fun, remember? You’re putting them in the tent.” I tapped her nose with the tip of my finger, then picked up the container off the ground.
She pursed her lips but it was obvious she was considering it. “I’ve never done anything like this before.”
“I know. That’s why you’re doing it. Trust me, it will be funny and it’s a harmless prank. No one will get hurt,” I assured her. “Now come on.”
I led her to Rosenshield’s tent, creeping over the dirt, and paused in front of it. “You hold the container. When I give you the go ahead, open the lid and release them.”
“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” she whispered harshly.
“If you don’t hush I’ll silence you again,” I said into her ear. I could have sworn she shivered but she didn’t say anything.
I crept closer to the tent and carefully opened the front flaps. Cerise crouched next to me, one hand on the lid of the container while the other held it in place. I peeked inside to find Dr. Rosenshield breathing deeply, fast asleep.
I jerked my head at Cerise and she took a breath, leaned forward to place the box in the tent, and removed the lid. She shook the container and the insects flew out, buzzing through the air inside the sleeping quarters.
Cerise jumped up, shoved the container under her arm, clapped her hand over her mouth, and ran.
Where in the world was she going? Was she going to be sick? A pang of guilt twisted my gut over convincing her to partake in the prank. She was so upset by it, it looked like she was nauseous.
I assured my boss was still asleep and rose, striding to where Cerise was doubled over by a tree, shoulders shaking. Reluctantly, I put a hand on her back. “Are you all right? I’m sorry, I didn’t—”
She stood and turned around, hand over her mouth again with tears in her eyes. But she wasn’t upset. She was laughing. Uncontrollably laughing with tears streaming down her cheeks. I scanned her face in the dim morning light. Morning light? Had we been up all night?
I looked to the east and found dawn beginning to break. Yep. It must have been later than I thought when we left our tents. I turned back to Cerise to find she was still laughing and I couldn’t help but laugh with her.
“I thought you were upset,” I said.
“No.” She wiped her eyes. “I can’t believe I did that. I’ve never done anything like this in my life. What would my mother say? She would be mortified.” Cerise laughed even harder at that idea. “That was the most fun I think I’ve ever had.”
I smiled at her, savoring her laugh. It was a beautiful sound—both delicate and full of life. One I wanted to bottle up and carry with me everywhere. One I wanted to make happen again and again.
“Told you,” I said.
The amusement died down and Cerise looked around, finally noticing it was morning. “Oh no. We never slept!”
“Looks like we’ll be quite tired today. Maybe we can sneak in a nap.”
Cerise ran a hand over her face. A shout sounded from Rosenshield’s quarters.
“What in the world? What is that smell?” he yelled.
I grabbed Cerise’s hand and yanked her behind the tree. “Shh,” I said as we both struggled to stifle our laughter and peered around our hiding place.
Rosenshield burst from his tent, completely naked, and frantically brushed himself off, shouting obscenities at the smell and why there were so many insects in his tent.
We kept our hands over our mouths, trying to stay silent as we giggled uncontrollably at the panicking old man. Seconds later, the others emerged from their own tents awoken by the shouts.
“What’s wrong?” Ivan asked, marching over.
Rosenshield continued his shouts, saying something about his tent having a hole in it and how he’ll never get the smell out.
Sylvie approached, then shrieked when she noticed Rosenshield was nude, grimacing and immediately throwing her hands over her eyes.
Cerise and I remained in our hiding spot, grinning at each other like naughty children until the chaos was over.