His dark blue eyes pressed on me, questioning.
Unfortunately for him, today was not the day to piss me off. If he was expecting me to jump from the table where I had been working on invoicing most of the day and run away scared, he had to think twice.
“Good evening,” I said and looked at him only enough to finish my words, before I turned my attention back to the papers in front of me.
“Why is she still here?” The tribe leader must have posed the question to his mate, but I was annoyed enough to answer before Karisha had time to react.
“She can speak for herself,” I snapped and moved my attention to his so abruptly, that my curly loose strands of hair moved along with me, protecting me like a helmet. I had been made fun of at university more than a few times and colleagues compared my savage hair with Medusa’s snakes. That was before I had learnt to condition properly and use setting foam. I suppose this moment would earn me back my nickname.
“Very well, then,” Markos accepted the challenge. “Speak.”
“I happen to be helping your mate with the register,” I pointed and motioned elegantly with my right hand, which was still holding the blue pen I had used for the entire day that had left a deep mark on my middle finger.
“You can hurry up and finish,” Markos ordered without even taking the time to pose a grateful smile or even a nod to acknowledge the hard work that I had been doing. Not that I needed him to, Karisha had been more than thankful and coddled me with sweets and skincare products, but still, I wouldhave expected him to at least acknowledge the fact that I was earning my keep.
“Don’t think you can boss me around like you do everyone else,” I pressed the words and strengthened my back, preparing myself for an outburst.
Only, it earned a scoff from Markos, who crossed his arms over his bare, sweaty chest. There must have been a tradition here, because these men didn’t really feel the need to wear anything else but pants. Still, Markos had always followed Karisha’s fashion, so I was a little more than surprised to see him sporting training leathers.
“March, you are all bark and no bite,” he shook his head with disappointment. “You remind me of those tiny dogs humans like so much… chinhuas? Is it?”
I furrowed my brows for a second, not understanding what he wanted to say. “A chihuahua?” I asked then, appalled by the comparison, but Markos tipped his head back and started laughing.
“That’s the one!” He drew a breath then and fixed his eyes back on me. Through this entire exchange, I spotted Karisha chilling in her bed and watching us as one does a tennis match, moving her head from her mate to me.
“You want to appear fierce and terrifying, but you can’t even handle a kick,” the tribe lord challenged.
Fury burst through my bones, forcing me into a stand. This man knew nothing. Nothing about what I had been through. Nothing about who I was. I started walking towards him, fear abandoning my spirit as the need to prove him wrong possessed me instead.
“You know nothing about me, pretty boy. You are just a bully, and I have more than enough experience with the likes of you to be intimidated,” I snapped, completing my sentence just when I reached him, my face separated from his by only a fewinches. I did not care that he was as tall as Dahr and I had to look up at him. If I had enough guts for the mighty Grannicus, a tribe leader was nothing in comparison. Or so I hoped.
“Is that so, March?” Markos leaned into me, almost to the point of pressing his nose against mine.
“Yes,” I did not let myself be intimidated, even though I already felt my pulse throbbing in my throat. “Don’t think that you can treat me the same way you treat Dahr, which by the way, should be a lot nicer than what you are currently doing. He may be some great warrior you are all worshipping, and he may be sharing blood with whatever ancient god, but he is also your cousin,” I snapped at him and by the way his pupils dilated, I knew I was too far gone in my threat to back down now. So I might as well continue.
“You treat him like a soldier, not like a person. With feelings and emotions. With dreams and hopes. He deserves so much more than fighting all day and being shoved in a tent at night, so you might reconsider your attitude towards him as well, since we are reaching this topic,” I realised that I had started speaking in my teacher voice, but Markos hadn’t hit or kicked me, so something must be working.
“You would like to know why I treat Dahr the way I do?” Markos replied in challenge.
“As a matter of fact, yes,” I mimicked his gesture and crossed my arms as well, involuntarily touching his sweaty abs as I did so, due to my close position to him. Feeling the deep need to protect my man.My man.
Markos must have seen my intentions very clearly because his grin widened. His gaze didn’t unpeg itself from me, but he stepped to the side as he released the challenge, letting me see the person standing right behind him.
“Would you like to answer that, cousin?”
The dreadful feeling of mortification followed me long through the evening. That was, until Markos insisted that Dahr and I stay for dinner and Karisha kept refilling my glass to ‘make me more lively.’
I wasn’t much of a drinker, but any excuse worked to hide my shame and Dahr’s gaze that kept piercing me with a proud focus. I didn’t have to ask if he overheard my rampant rage towards his cousin or what I had said about him.
So I kept drinking.
Long through the night. Long after everyone around relaxed and started telling me the story I wanted to hear most. And long after the giggles started to envelop the night, probably at my expense, because, who knew alcohol gave me such a filthy mouth?
A soft kiss on my temple forced my consciousness awake, making me embrace a full-on headache. My head pounded with viciousness, like a stab wound through my left eye that pierced deep into my brain, making it shake awake all the embarrassing memories of the night before.
How I had climbed on Dahr’s lap and ate dessert from his plate, how I kept complaining about my boobs looking so much smaller than Karisha’s in these krastas and how the men were so lucky because they looked delicious with no vests on.
God… kill me now.
