Chapter 19 Jealousy in Jest #2
The air changed inside the glass building, more flora than even in the forest, the varieties exotic and sprawling in every direction under green lanterns lining the aisles.
There was normally a much brighter light here, something like that ball of fire humans called a sun, but Ragnar supposed even plants needed to sleep.
“Look, Ragnar, it’s like being in a garden, but no one else is here. It’s just us.” Brioni swung herself in front of him and grabbed his hands, leading him in deeper amongst the blooming flowers and twisting vines.
“It is just us,” he said, realizing what she was doing—for him. There was no way she hadn’t picked up on his nerves all night, even after she’d taken him to a tavern where he could see another graying demon. “And we’re inside again.”
She giggled with her bright spark of a voice, ever cheerful. “Yes, that’s how a roof and walls work even if they’re see-through. Take a look at this flower. Aofe says it could make you really sick from just touching it, but it’s my favorite.”
“You are inside again,” he said even more somberly. “Because of me.”
Brioni’s grin faltered and even the purple bloom beside her seemed to wilt a little.
“You spent your life trapped inside, didn’t you? Inside walls, at least.”
“I got to leave the estate sometimes.” She shrugged and wandered a little farther down the aisle.
“My father was trying to set me up with this annoying boy for a while, so he took me to parties and dinners where we could meet. He got the hint after I spilled enough cups of wine that always ended up staining my intended’s clothes.
And don’t forget about those times I snuck out. ” She grinned wide.
“Why am I not surprised?”
She pushed up onto her toes to get as close to him as possible. “You would have been horrified by how bad I was.”
Their lips came together, and Brioni moaned quietly against Ragnar’s mouth. He’d been craving another kiss since she’d left him at the barn, but this time he was softer with her and gently cut it off before passion took over. “I don’t want to trap you indoors, Brioni.”
“What do you mean? You pretty much live outside. You might benefit from a little more indoor time, if you ask me.”
He clicked his tongue. “I live as far from the others as I can very much on purpose. I keep to myself and chase everyone away. But you? You deserve to be free. To go wherever you please.”
Brioni gave him a sour look, but not one that intended to rile him up. “Ragnar, you know my job is to walk all over Heck all day long, right?”
“Well, yes—”
“And I talk to people all day long too. Like too much.”
“That doesn’t seem possible for you.”
She laughed, but there wasn’t playfulness lacing itself into the sound, only bitterness.
“Believe me, there’s a limit. I’m just really good at faking it once I’ve had my fill.
I’m really good at faking a lot, like being interested in pipes or being polite when I actually think someone is a total jerk.
That doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy running all over town and seeing others, I just have to put on an act sometimes to keep everybody happy.
Or…most of the time, even when I go back to the post because I don’t want to let Kat or Alamar down.
But then there’s the time when I get to go to the barn and see you, and I get…
” Her voice hushed with a slow breath. “I think I get to be a little more me.”
That was it, wasn’t it? The feeling that had been tickling at his chest—the feeling of being himself and being around someone else who didn’t immediately want to run away.
“It feels nice in here when we’re together,” she said, laying a hand over her heart. “It makes me feel cozy and safe and quiet.”
Ragnar snorted. “You are not quiet when you’re around me.”
“I didn’t say out loud! I mean in here.” She reached out and grabbed Ragnar’s hand, placing it over her own already covering her heart. “It feels calm and happy and right. Except when you give me that look.”
He raised a brow.
“Not that one, though that one’s good too. The other one.”
He grinned wide knowing his fangs were peeking out.
She giggled, playfulness back with a vengeance. “No, the one that makes me think I’m in trouble.”
“You are in trouble—you still haven’t been punished for all your bad behavior.” Ragnar let his face fall into stern irritation.
Her eyes lit up, and she abandoned his hand for his tunic, pulling him right up against her. “That’s the one.”
His hands found her waist, lifting her up and onto a table as they crushed their mouths together. He felt her tug at his neck, grappling for his hair, and his touch roved over as much of her as he could, bending her backward as their hips met.
Just as she pressed herself against him, there was a clink, and Ragnar abruptly stopped, reaching for a pot she knocked into with her hip before it could careen to the ground. “Perhaps it would be disrespectful to soil Kizros’s greenhouse like this.”
“Soil,” she said and snorted out a laugh. “I guess it sure has gotten late. Maybe it’s time for you to walk me home?”