Page 83 of Tainted Gifts
She shrugs, acting indifferent as her eyes slowly start to trail away from me, sneaking a glance at the full blood commander. He's busy directing the foot traffic and sending his men on different details. He thinks he's so fucking important. He's just a poor replacement for Clay Jude or Hale Banner.
"Why is it you tell him exactly how you feel, but with me, you hold back? Are you worried I'm going to get mad at you if you're honest?"
She looks away, not letting her eyes rise from the ground. "He can read my mind. Generally, I don't like conflict. I usually get boiling mad, but I get over it without having to tell anyone."
I start to pull her hand in mine, but she tenses before I even reach her. Her eyes move back to the full blood, and then they fall to the ground with all their exposed violet beauty.
"Aria, I'm in love with you. You can't run me off because you speak your mind."
A tear slips out of her eye for reasons unbeknownst to me. I reach over to wipe it from her cheek, but she pushes my hand away, turning her face from me.
"Kellan, I need to tell you something," she says while sighing out, keeping her eyes on the vacant landscape beside the city.
She's finally going to let me know it made her mad. It's about damn time. Maybe we can move forward now.
"Okay," I murmur softly, stroking her cheek in a way that instantly makes her start to sweat - in a bad way.
She grabs her head and puts it between her knees while rocking back and forth, and the full blood shows up almost instantly. He sits down on the other side of her, pulling her into his arms as he coos softly to her, making her pain disappear with just a touch.
This is torture. I may have to let her seek his comfort for a little while longer, but I don't have to sit here and watch it.
"I need to go check on something," I murmur, though it's nothing more than a sad lie.
"Okay," she murmurs while leaning into the full blood, listening to whatever he's whispering so low.
How does a full blood whisper too quietly for me to hear?
Whatever he says makes her nod, and then he wipes a tear from her cheek. I stand there, feeling like the odd man out once more. Then I walk away just as he makes her smile again.
He makes it look so easy. Aria is by far the most complicated, hard to understand, mystery of a girl there's ever been. How can he possibly make it seem so easy to shift her moods?
I fucking hate him.
I huff out, refusing to look behind me, as I make my toward the edge of the city. Short black hair calls to my attention, and I notice Simone sitting in the tall grass where the city meets nature.
Blood is swirling around in the air in front of her, and she's leaned back, watching it as though there's something she's studying. She lifts a finger, and the blood splits, forming a new thread. It's beautiful really.
"Who's blood is-"
She screeches, halting my query, and blood flies all around, part of it splashing me just below the lip. Shit that was close.
"Damn it," she gripes, grabbing her heart. "You scared the hell out of me."
I touch the wet spot below my lip to feel how dangerously close that just came to finding my mouth. Her heart is pounding fiercely, and I cock my eyebrow as I gauge her reaction.
"This is yours? You're playing with your own blood?"
She blushes, which is something she does a lot around me.
"Yeah," she murmurs, not bothering to elaborate freely.
I laugh while sitting down beside her, watching her pull free all the spilled blood and reassemble it.
"What are you doing?" I ask, genuinely curious.
I realize then she's not wearing a bra, which becomes distracting immediately. I look away, trying not to let my eyes fall to the loose, thin fabric showing the perfect roundness lying underneath.
"Checking it for anything out of place. It's times like these I wish my dad was still here. He could do this so much better. You know he could even dissect the section of blood that forced the need for a blood fuck? It's starting to piss me off."
