Page 58 of Pocket Full Of Posies

The hand wearing my gold bracelet rests across my abdomen, and I lazily fiddle with the metal. It’s far better suited on Daisy’s wrist than mine. I’m glad I gave it to her. I knew Keiko wouldn’t mind. It was my selfish way of marking her as mine. Unlike shifters who bite and scent mark, nymphs don’t have a physical way of marking their mates.

Mate?

Fuck, I’m thinking of Daisy as my mate. Is that why I wanted her wearing my jewelry? I didn’t have to give her my ear cuff or my bracelet, and I certainly didn’t need to resize it so she couldn’t remove it without significant assistance. My casual fling, intended only to dissuade my mother, has become something completely serious. At least—as far as I know—my mom hasn’t announced my mating to anyone, which is good. At this point though, I could care less what she tells people. No matter what it is, it won’t be happening. I’m with Daisy now, for real, and nothing my mother says can change that.

Looks like I’ll be staying in Snowberry longer than originally planned, and I’m fine with that. I’ll need to find somewhere else to stay. I can’t remain in my parents’ house. Maybe there’s a room or a house for rent. Until then, there’s always the motel. Ideally, I’d prefer to stay with Daisy. To stay close to her and spend every day with her. Until her brother accepts the fact that I won’t be going anywhere, and that I’m unequivocally dedicated and in love with Daisy, I don’t want to push myself into their home. I want to be accepted and welcomed. Because once I’m in Daisy’s bed, I’m never leaving.

I’ve become addicted to her smiles and trying to decipher the changing flowers in her hair. And now I’ve become addicted to her body, her touch, her kiss. The way her tail rests lazily entwined with mine. The satisfied smirk on her lips and softness of her skin. No one I’ve ever been with can compare to the way Daisy makes me feel and no one will ever come after her. She’s it for me. And by the end of the equinox, I’m going to convince her that I can be it for her.

Her hair is almost dry now, strewn in slightly frizzy tangles across her back and my arm wrapped around her. The scent of wet earth and sex lingers in the air. I wonder if others will be able to scent it tomorrow or if the rain will wash it away. Shifters will no doubt scent it, even with the rain. Their noses are like our ears, their most advanced sense. I hope others can still smell us tomorrow. Just one more way to claim Daisy as mine.

“So, what do daisies in your hair mean? Sexually satisfied? And is that a gardenia? Haven’t seen that one before. You’re just full of surprises tonight, aren’t you?” I finger the delicate petals of the flowers and Daisy’s cheeks pinken.

“Daisies mean happiness.”

“So, I make you happy?”

“Very much.”

“Good.”

Daisy nuzzles into my chest and wiggles against me. I should be concerned that we’re in a building made of glass, with unlocked doors, lying on the ground completely naked, but I’m not. I’m exactly where I want to be.

“Would you like to stay the night tonight?” Daisy asks in a quiet voice, and I can hear her nervousness in her soft tone.

“I would love to. But…I think it would be better if I waited.” I can physically feel Daisy drooping in dejection, and quickly add, “At least until your brother doesn’t hate me anymore. I don’t want him to wake up to see me in the morning and make all kinds of assumptions and then I lose all the progress I’ve made with him. I want your family to like me. Unlike mine, yours is important.”

“Your family is important too,” she argues…weakly.

“Maybe Endo and Keiko, but the rest of them can go to hell.”

“Surely there’s others…”

“Nope.”

We lay in silence again, the only sound that of the rain on the greenhouse. Daisy’s idea of family is far different from mine and now that she’s met my mother, and the people she associates herself with, she has a better idea of why I want nothing to do with them.

“My family is not a family,” I begin, trying to put into words what it is to be a Kingsley. “It’s more like a business. There’s the CEO’s and CFO’s, HR department, PR managers, personal assistants, assets, and minions. There’s very little love or emotions between most of them. I mean nothing more to my parents than an asset they can manipulate to grow their portfolio and better their public image.

“I wish they behaved more like nymphs than socialites, but I fear they’ve spent too much time in the human world and have lost touch with their heritage. Theirtruebloodlines. I’ll admit I haven’t been the best either, but that’s because I didn’t know there was anything better out there for me. I thought all I had was their money and partying. Now I know different. Now I have you.”

Daisy looks up at me through thick lashes, with her glowing golden eyes and I can hear her wonderment in her slight intake of breath.

“And I have you?” A question not a statement.

“Yes, you most definitely have me, Blossom.”

“So, when can you spend the night?”

I chuckle at her ability to take such a heavy discussion and shift it towards something easy and comfortable.

“Maybe after the equinox? I’d like to at least speak with Sage first. How does that sound?”

“Do I still get to spend the equinox with you?”

“Of course. I wouldn’t have it any other way. You’ll stay with me, in our tent, for the equinox and after that we’ll see how it goes. But that in no way means I’m going anywhere. I’ll sleep here in the greenhouse if I need to.”

Daisy giggles and the sound holds joy and amusement. I think I’ll make her giggle every day because I want to hear that sound and those emotions from her every day we’re together.

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