Page 14

14

ALWAYS ONE TO RUIN THE PARTY

“W ell, I have to admit, I didn’t expect us to be doing this,” I said.

We were now sitting around the large fire pit as people danced to music that was being played by Marcus. In fact, seeing him with his violin once again, reminded me of being back in time, when I was on stage as he played.

As for the camp, this turned out to be more than some temporary place the small army of Koro’s had set up as a place to sleep for a few nights. It looked more like some pop-up village. Clearly, there were other people that lived here that weren’t geared up to fight. But instead, they seemingly kept the place running smoothly.

Both woman and men were here that cooked, cleaned, and made weaponry. Whether they were demon or human or something else, I didn’t know, but it amazed me to see how they all interacted with each other like there was no differences between them at all.

“I think we could all use the respite,” Jared said, with me sitting in between his legs with my back against him, just like when he had been feeding me his blood.

As for the rest of our group, Orthrus was drinking with Asher by a tent that was set up like a makeshift bar. Marcus was, of course, invested in playing his violin, and Lerna was dancing with her husband Koro, with other locals that had joined in the fun. She looked so carefree and happy, it was heartwarming to see, making me comment,

“It’s nice that she’s so happy.” But then I realized what I said, or more like who I said it to, making me quickly add, “I’m sorry, that was insensitive.”

Jared groaned behind me as he squeezed me tighter.

“Ella, baby.”

“It must be painful, especially after so long and then learning that she wasn’t dead and…” I tried to explain when he ordered gently,

“Baby, stop.” Then he went on to tell me, “Your fears are unwarranted.”

“They are?” I asked, surprised, because I knew how much all of this should have been affecting him. But then he surprised me.

“I don’t feel that way about your sister, even with our past… I actually don’t feel anything at all about it.”

“You mean, not even when seeing her with Koro?” I asked, my shock evident.

“No, especially not that. Ella baby, you are the only one for me, and where I might have once thought myself to be in love with her, I now know the difference.” At this my heart started hammering faster in my chest.

“The difference?” I dared to ask in what I knew was a hopeful tone.

“Yes, sweetheart, as what I had with her is nothing like what I have with you. It doesn’t even come close and now that I know what true love feels like, I realize that what I had wasn’t real. Not like with you and I… this, Ella… this is what is real,” he said, squeezing me again to emphasize his point and making me sigh into him.

However, this was when I noticed that one person was watching this interaction between us with great interest. Tyr was standing by where they served the ale, not far from Orth and Asher, yet his eyes were firmly set on me.

“I don’t like the way he looks at you,” Jared said, obviously noticing where my gaze had landed.

“Then perhaps you need to make it more obvious that I’m yours.”

He scoffed.

“I doubt we could make it any more obvious than what we did earlier,” he said, as we had slept for a few hours before the music and laughter had woken us up.

The noise had prompted me to ask if we could join them, because it was like Jared had said, we all needed the respite. So, he had amazingly conjured me up a black outfit made from the same material he wore, making us match. It was also similar in style to what I wore before, but the jacket wasn’t as long and had ties at the sides to pull in so it fit better. It also came with a hood and wide sleeves that also tied at my wrists.

He had told me how the material was fire resistant and what creature it was made from. I had asked him how he managed to just make it appear, and he told me it wasn’t a supernatural skill he was very good at, which was why the design was more function over style. I didn’t care, it was comfortable, warm, and protective, so I had praised him for doing a good job, making him grant me a warm ‘baby’ before kissing me.

“What do you mean?” I asked in response to his comment about what we did earlier.

“Half the walls are made of cloth, Ella, what do you think I mean?”

My hands flew to my lips, and I gasped.

“Oh God, do you think people heard us?”

A woman serving ale paused by the demons sitting near us and said,

“Yes, we did… oh, and next time, just so you know, things echo quite loud down the length of this valley.” Then she winked, making me mortified, while Jared just chuckled as I gasped.

“Hey! This isn’t funny.” I smacked his arm after first twisting in his hold to face him.

“I beg to differ, as I think it’s very funny,” he argued with a smirk.

“But everyone heard us!” I cried in outrage, glancing off to the side and seeing those same demons nodding with a grin. Which by the way, was soooo not helping!

“So?” he asked like it was nothing, making me snap,

“So? So? Are you serious right now?!”

“Well, it’s a little hard to be serious when you look so adorable in your pouty outrage.”

Again, I hit him, making him grin even more, then he teased, speaking in a louder voice.

“What is this? You wish to take me back to your tent and ravish me some more?!”

“Jared!” I hissed, looking around and seeing people sniggering. To which he burst out laughing, pulling me close before tipping my head back for me to look up at him.

“Chill, sweetheart, nobody gives a shit about hearing us.”

“I do,” I told him, making him frown.

“Why?”

“’Cause what we do is private,” I whispered, making him smirk some more.

“And what we did was private. Now if people hear how fucking amazing we are together, then so what?” he replied with a shrug, making me chew on my bottom lip.

“I guess,” I said, still not entirely convinced, looking away and unsure.

“Hey, come on, give me those pretty eyes of yours.”

I did, which prompted him to say,

“You mine?”

I nodded, but when he gave me a pointed look, I knew he wanted to hear me say it.

“Yes.”

“And am I yours?” he asked next, and this time I was quick to give him my answer.

“Also yes.”

“Then that’s all that matters, because nothing or no one is going to stop me from enjoying my girl or giving her pleasure. So, fuck the camp and fuck this echoing valley!” he shouted this last part, making it indeed echo.

“That’s a lot of fucks. I mean, I know you’ve got a stammer but even that’s a little excessive… and how would you even fuck a valley… hmm?” I stopped when he gripped my chin and pulled me closer.

“Time to shut it, funny girl.” Then he kissed me, making me moan into his mouth as his tongue dominated my own.

“Technically, that was the opposite to shutting it,” I pointed out, making him bite my lip playfully.

“Ah ahh ah,” I said as he applied pressure before he eased off, now soothing the sting.

“Oww,” I complained, making him grin and tease,

“Baby.”

After this I let our loud love making go and went back to watching others dance, something I admittedly was eager to do.

“Come on then,” he suddenly said after I had spent the last ten minutes swaying in his arms to the beat.

“What?”

“Come on, up you get,” he prompted, tapping on my hip.

“We leaving already?” I asked, surprised seeing as we hadn’t long since joined everyone.

“No, but we are dancing,” he informed me, making me grin and ask in a hopeful tone,

“We are?”

“Yeah, before you self-combust.”

I laughed.

“Was I that obvious?”

He chuckled as I got to my feet before he did the same, his actions far smoother than mine. Then he took my hand and led me to where the others were dancing, my sister included. The fire blazed in what looked to be a walled flower bed, one that hadn’t seen anything natural growing in it for quite some time. It seemed like the main part of the camp used for entertainment was once a courtyard to the biggest house in the town, and one that looked to have received the most amount of damage.

“You really don’t mind?” I asked as he led me to an opening in the group. My sister and Koro stopped dancing so someone in a cloak could speak with him.

“Wouldn’t be here if I did, and as long you don’t expect any fancy shit from me, then I think we are good,” he told me, taking my hand and twirling me into him.

“Right, so no dirty dancing lifts… gotcha,” I teased.

“Not sure about the lift part, but if you wanna go dirty on me, then I am all for that, baby.”

I laughed as I placed my hands on his shoulders, and his own went to my waist.

“So, what you’re saying is you want me to use you as a pole.”

His grin was bad to the bone.

“Well, you did fucking fantastic bouncing on it a few hours ago, so if you want to repeat that performance, then consider me your willing slave, sweetheart.”

I laughed, shaking my head when he winked at me.

“You’re incorrigible.”

“Well, how about this… you’re the only girl I ever want to dance with,” he told me on a soft growl, making me melt into him, hugging him close as we swayed.

“Oh, Jared.”

“Of course, I draw the line at the cha cha,” he added, making me throw my head back and laugh, quickly getting lost in this blissful night with him. Of course, I should have known it was going too well.

“Can I cut in?”

I froze, knowing this wasn’t going to go down well. We both stopped moving and I looked up to see Tyr grinning down at me. Of course, he was the only one doing this, as I looked to Jared who looked like he was chewing on broken glass.

“No,” Jared stated firmly, spinning me away from Tyr, and turning his back to the persistent God. Which was when he did a stupid thing in return… Tyr put his hand on Jared’s shoulder and said,

“I was speaking to the woman.”

“That’s my woman and if you like that hand of yours, I would remove it before you lose it for good,” Jared warned, making me groan.

“Jared,” I warned, which of course, went by unnoticed.

“Then if that’s the case, you won’t see anything wrong with me dancing with her, unless of course… you’re worried she wants to be someone else’s woman.”

At this, Jared lost his shit and turned around so quick, even the Viking was shocked. Especially when he found a Hellish looking hand wrapped around his neck.

“Wanna say that again, arsehole?” Jared threatened in a demonic voice, making me rush up to him and say,

“Jared, let go of him.” Something he snarled at me for. But then the Viking grinned, now glancing down and making us both look to see a blade in his hand with the tip against Jared’s gut.

“Tyr! Put down the blade!” I shouted in panic.

“Why don’t you run along and let us men handle this,” Tyr replied, making me gasp in anger.

“What the fuck! What are you, from the Middle Ages?!” I snapped angrily.

“Walk away, Ella, and let me deal with this,” Jared warned seriously, making me scoff.

“Jesus Christ, you’re both idiots! Tyr, you helped me and protected me, and I really appreciate that, but Jared’s my man and that isn’t going to change. But of course, me saying this isn’t good enough for either of you to act like grown ass men, is it?!” I said, and when neither man backed down, I just lost my shit even more.

“Okay, fine, you want to beat the crap out of each other, go right ahead, but clearly, neither of you actually gives a shit about how I feel, oh no, you’re both just too wrapped up in proving whose dick is bigger!” I shouted, walking off while still ranting.

“Meanwhile, I have been through enough shit to last me a fucking lifetime but hey, you guys want to do this now, fucking go ahead but while you’re at it, know that… I DON’T WANT TO DANCE WITH EITHER OF YOU!” I screamed furiously, now stomping back to the tent because I was seriously pissed off. However, the second I stepped inside, I soon had something else to be pissed off about.

Like the sight of a black figure lurking over our bed with his back to me. But more than that…

It was the hand that was quickly held over my mouth as I was dragged backwards…

Into the night.