Page 48 of Pocket Full Of Posies

“I tend to get hot. Wearing no shirt or unbuttoned open collared shirts helps keep me cool. A side bonus of my fire magic.” He answers my question while continuing to smirk at me then licks his lips as his eyes drift down my body. “And you? Why no shoes?”

“It’s kind of for the same reason. Not that I get hot, but because of my magic. It’s grounding, connecting me to the earth. I can hear and understand the plants better.”

“You can hear the plants? I thought you just liked talking to them like a human talking to their pet dog. A one-sided conversation. Not that you were actually talking to them.”

Most earth nymphs have a sixth sense regarding the earth and plants, an instinctual understanding. I sense them differently, more of a conversation and feelings. I can tell if the flowers are happy or sad, hungry or sick because they tell me, rather than a logical tallying of soil nutrients and moisture. Sage explains it as seeing into the chemical and biological breakdown and a knowing of what is needed and what is missing. When he connects with them to make them grow or move it’s a command. An intrinsic knowledge and power over them. Whereas I speak to them, asking them to grow and coax them to do as I say through feeling. Because of that I’ve always felt closer to the earth through touching it.

“It’s hard to explain but yes, I can talk to them in a sense. Not quite as direct as you can with Delphi, but similar. Feeling a tactile connection to the earth makes it easier.”

“Thus, no shoes.” Kai concludes. “I like that you don’t wear shoes.”

“I like that you don’t wear shirts.”

My confession slips free before I can think better of it. Kai’s pupils expand and the heat in the car increases noticeably.

“For you, Blossom, I’ll never wear a shirt again if it’s what you desire.”

That part of me that wants to lick Kai likes that idea a lot. I lick my lips and swallow coating my dry throat before speaking, Kai’s eyes shift from the road to me, tracking the movement before returning back out the front windshield.

“Maybe I do,” I admit in a smoky tone that barely sounds like my voice.

“Very well.”

Kai reaches up and starts to unbutton his shirt even more. He’s already gotten down to his delicious abs by the time I’m able to reach out and stop his progression.

“Maybe after the party?”

Huffing in faux irritation the corner of Kai’s lips twitch in amusement. “Fine, if you insist.”

He doesn’t immediately re-button his shirt, needing both hands to do so and one is still firm on the steering wheel. Instead, he reaches out his free hand and twines our fingers together, resting our linked hands on my thigh after pressing a kiss to the back of my hand.

Our hands remain linked for the rest of the short drive to his house or rather mansion. I know it’s not his but his parents, but it’s still intimidating to drive up to with its manicured lawns, shaped hedges and dramatically up lit spot lights.

Kai parks the car and the bravery I had hours ago has dwindled to steam in my veins. I’m not sure I’m strong enough to go in now. I’m going to say something wrong. Or everyone will think my dress is ugly and cheap. Shit, they’re probably all going to be wearing shoes. I should have asked to borrow some from Calliope. Just because Kai thinks my bare feet are cute doesn’t mean everyone else will.

Maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe Kai was right, and we should just turn around and go home. I’m so out of my depth. Why did I want to do this again? Oh right, I was trying to prove to myself and everyone else that I’m not a total shut-in and can participate in normal social events like everyone else. I think I might have been wrong, or at least jumped the gun on my abilities.

My grip on Kai’s hand tightens to the point my knuckles go white and my markings shift restlessly on my skin.

“Daisy,” Kai forces me to look at him with just my soft-spoken name. “It’s okay. If you need a minute, we can wait, or we don’t have to go in at all. It’s all up to you.”

“Okay. Just, maybe another minute?” Apparently, I’m still determined to participate. Something inside me needing to push myself out of my comfort zone, if just to learn where my limits are. Without trying, how will I ever know?

He doesn’t turn the car off allowing the heat to keep pumping in so I don’t get cold and I know he’s doing it for me. As he said, his fire magic keeps him warm.

Peeling my eyes from the mansion, and few people I see through the windows, I look down to our intertwined fingers and focus on Kai’s rings and bracelets. Most of them are gold, some with precious stones, a lot of them are red, probably rubies. One of his bracelets is a simple gold band with a single small ruby set in the gold. It looks different from the other jewelry he wears. No brand stamped on it or recognizable markings. Just smooth warm gold with a perfect drop of red. I finger it and spin it on his wrist to get a better look at the stone. It’s vibrant and cut in a smooth perfect circle, inlaid in the band, literally. I can feel the bottom of it on the underside of the bracelet.

“It’s pretty, isn’t it? My sister Keiko gave it to me. The stone is a red beryl, one of the rarest stones in the world. She had it made for me for my birthday. Told me she had to find a stone as rare as I was.”

His face softens with remembrance and affection for his sister. The one he told me is the best of all his siblings, even more than Endo.

“It’s beautiful.”

I rub the stone between my fingers, it’s smooth to the touch, not faceted like most stones to make them reflect the light. More like a polished rock. The simplicity a perfect pair to its rarity I suppose.

“Here.”

Kai unlinks our hands and slides the bangle style bracelet off his wrist. Taking my hand again he slips it onto my wrist. It’s far too large for me, and way too precious to give to me.

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