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Chapter 5: Daisy

A boy is talking to me. A half-naked, extremely attractive, nymph male to be exact. From what I can see there’s nothing boyish about him, other than his…nope nothing. I’ve got nothing. He’s all masculine male from my point of view. Which at this very moment is mere inches from his toned bicep.

His skin is a creamy ivory, banded with jagged crimson stripes, like a tiger. There’s even a few framing his face along his jawline and temple. Sharp piercing red eyes steal glances down at me as we walk. The gold and gems on his ears glittering every time we walk through a ray of sunlight, matching the single gold chain around his neck and rings on his fingers.

I’m not sure if he’s flaunting his wealth or if he just likes jewelry. His family is wealthy, it could be normal to him to wear so much. Most nymphs, including my brother, have multiple piercings in their ears and wear dangling ornaments. He offered to help me pierce mine years ago, I never wanted to though. My ears and their inadequacy have always been a source of embarrassment. I don’t want to show them off or draw attention to them. Especially since I can’t glamour them around humans. It’s better to just hide them under my hair and forget about them.

That’s hard to do when Kai literally put them on display, practically causing me to melt under his touch. No one has ever touched my ears. And his touch was warm and extremely enjoyable. So much so, I haven’t even bothered to brush my hair back over my ear to hide it like I usually would.

Kai cradles my hand in his elbow like a gentleman and I don’t know what to do with my fingers. My palm feels clammy, and I try not to touch him too much, but his other hand reaches up and presses down on top of mine, trapping my hand between his and his arm.

Any cold I may have felt is instantly warmed under his touch. His body radiating a steady heat. I absorb it like a flower in the sunshine, leaning towards him on instinct. I can feel my flowers blossoming and changing in my hair with my erratic emotions. Apparently so does Kai because his eyes stray to the top of my head and for once I have no idea what flowers are there.

“I like your flowers. They keep changing.”

“Yeah, they do that sometimes.” No way am I going to tell him they reflect my emotions and which ones they represent. He can already hear the emotions in my voice, he doesn’t need to see them changing in real time on my head.

“I like your red hair. Mine’s such a boring shade.”

“Nonsense. I think it’s perfect. Brings out your eyes. Besides, red would clash with your flowers.”

Kai gives me another dazzling smile and even with my diminished abilities I can sense the truth in his words. He really does like my hair, and my eyes.

I turn my attention back to the path in front of us, trying to ignore my racing pulse. I don’t know how to deal with a male speaking to me like this. Complimenting me and smiling at me so muchwhile shirtless.

Guys rarely talk to me. Everyone rarely talks to me. That could partly be my own doing. Ever since dropping out of public high school to be homeschooled, I’ve become a homebody and recluse. Only going into town when necessary.

Guess I’ll have to go into town now, I realize as I grip the quirky pink dinosaur mug in my hand not currently curled around tight muscles. Or I can just give the mug to Tobias to take back to the shop avoiding the need to go into town at all. Yeah, that sounds like a better plan.

Sooner than anticipated, we reach the edge of the wooded area, and I can see the gleam of my greenhouse not far beyond. The time passing faster than desired. When we step across the threshold to the grassy fields behind the outdoor gardens, Kai’s appearance shimmers as his glamour slides effortlessly into place. For a brief moment his human appearance flashes, lacking his stripes, horns and ruby eyes. In their place he’s glamoured a plain white t-shirt, bare skin withnostripes, and hazel eyes. His red hair remains mostly as it is but lacking the other worldly brightness.

In either form he’s beautiful, attractive. I, on the other hand, reach up and tuck my exposed ear back inside my hair, letting it drape across the side of my face, double checking my tail is securely hidden within my overalls. Realizing there are a few people at the nursery that could see us, I force my hand away from his arm and take a healthy step away.

He may have been kind to me so far but he’s still a Kingsley, and they’re known for their dislike of humans and half-breeds, at least when it comes to their personal lives. Working with them is one thing, socializing is another. Members of his family have purchased flowers from us in the past for their many fancy parties, but not once have they invited me or my family.

Equinox celebrations are different, they’re public, open to any non-human who wishes to attend. But the private events they hold at their mansion, only the select invited few are allowed. I doubt Kai would want to be seen walking so closely with me.

Does he even realize I’m half-human? Should I tell him? Probably. It would end any ideas he has about speaking with me again.

Kai notices my distance and sudden quietness. He stops walking and turns to face me, hands loosely tucked into the front pockets of his jeans. Jeans that sit low on his hips, drawing my attention to his narrow waist and the curving v of muscles there. His human glamour conceals his bare chest with a t-shirt, but to me I still see his true shirtless self, which does not help the situation.

“Something wrong, Blossom? I thought we were getting along rather well.” His tone conveys his confusion, but also his interest.

“Do you know what I am?” I blurt out before I lose the tiny bit of nerve I possess.

“You’re a beautiful female I met in the forest,” he answers smoothly as if that’s the only correct answer.

I blush at the compliment but steel my nerves, I can’t let his flirting distract me. I have to tell him, no matter how much I dread the look of disgust and revulsion I know is coming with my confession.

“I’m an earth nymph, but I’m also half-human. I’m a half-breed.” The words come out weak, and no matter how many times I’ve heard them before or thought them in my head, the sound of them still makes me shrink in on myself.

“So?”

His one-word response has my head popping up to glare at him. That’s all he has to say? So?

“So? You’re family…”

“What about my family?”