Page 65 of Tanin's Treasure
“I’m almost done.”
“No. Now.”
“I’m almost- Hey!”
She didn’t get any further as he chose that moment to grab her by the waist and pick her straight up off the ground. She grabbed his shoulders reflexively, the rag dropping with a damp plop. He didn’t move her far. Just across the bridge to one of the chairs she had already cleaned. He set her down on that before taking a step back, looking her over.
“Break time,” he said again. “You’ve been at this for marks now.”
“I just got started.”
“No, you’ve just finished. Here. Drink this.”
He pulled out a water pouch from one of the pockets of his pants and passed it to her.
“I’m not thirsty. Now, let me go. I’m almost-”
He cut her off again, putting a hand on her shoulder and pushing her back down. She glared at him as he twisted the top off the pouch and pressed it on her. Annoyed, she sucked on the tip, just to shut him up and make him go away so she could get back to work.
But the second the water hit her tongue, she realized she was, in fact, thirsty. Actually, she was dying of dehydration. The anger faded, replaced instead by the primitive need for fluids, and she guzzled the entire pack. Tanin didn’t let it go, making sure she drank, so she covered his hand with hers as she encouraged him to squeeze it so the water would get in her face faster.
It ran out too soon. She popped off the end with a sigh of relief, smacking her lips, licking at them to get any stray drops. Tanin watched her as he turned, dropping the trash into Spot’s open can without even looking.
“Thanks,” she mumbled, embarrassed for snapping at him now that she’d calmed down. “Was I really working that long?”
“It’s been a while, and you haven’t taken a break. Your face is really red. I don’t think that’s typical for your species.”
“Depends on the, er…”
Her voice trailed off because he was touching her face. Gently stroking her cheeks. The roughness of his fingers felt good as he brushed them over her jaw, up her cheek, across her forehead.
“You’re warmer than usual as well.”
“I’m okay,” she promised, offering a gentle smile. “I just got a little worked up, that’s all.”
“Do human females typically get worked up like this while nesting?”
“Nesting?” She blinked once before shaking her head. “I wasn’t nesting. I was just cleaning.”
He made a sound that was obviously one of disagreement, his hand lowering back to his side. “I think you’re done for the day. You can continue tomorrow.”
“Oh, but there’s still so much to do in here and-”
“And there will be more tomorrow. And the day after. The mess isn’t going anywhere, and you’ve already done enough. You can start again tomorrow when you’ve had time to calm yourself down. You’re agitated now.”
“So not,” she mumbled, but didn’t really fight him further. He had a point. She had easily cleaned half the bridge already. There was no way Sway would be able to get it super dirty again tomorrow, so she wouldn’t be losing any ground by leaving it to stay until later.
But she hadn’t really expected Tanin to come in and calm her down like that. He manhandled her a bit – malehanded? – but she found she really didn’t mind. It was like trying to be mad about a river sweeping you away or rain getting you wet. Tanin was a force of nature. He did what he was going to do, regardless of your opinion on it.
Honestly, she was impressed by how gentle he had been. He didn’t try arguing, he didn’t snap at her, he didn’t order her to sit down. Even when she tried to stand again, the hand on her shoulder had been soft, more encouraging than demanding. He didn’t toss her around and throw her onto the chair. He picked her up and sat her down with the same ease of movement.
“You’re pretty strong,” she admitted.
He didn’t answer. But he fished another water pouch out of his pocket and passed it to her – after twisting off the cap.
He was so caring. His expression rarely changed, and his tone was always so serious, but the way he behaved and treated her spoke more volumes than any flowery words ever could.
Garnet took the water pouch and sipped it, but didn’t devour it like the first one. He nodded his head once, satisfied, before looking around the half-cleaned bridge. Sway had left at some point, though she didn’t notice when, leaving only the two of them.
