The Kiss

I kissed her. I held Zierra's face in my hands and when your lips met I could feel something in me begin to break though I wasn't sure what it was. Her hands entwined in my hair and I pulled her as close to me as I could get her without us becoming one person but it still wasn't close enough. I wanted more. I wanted her. Romance was never high on my list of things to occupy my time with. I had fleeting flings and steamy one night stands but romance always seemed out of my reach. However, standing on the balcony with Zierra made me think that maybe I could start making room in my life for something more with her.

She interrupted my thoughts with a soft nip to my bottom lip and, without breaking our contact, I spun her around until she was backed up against the railing. I placed a hand on either side of her and gripped the rail so hard I could feel it strain under the pressure and she tightened her grip on me, keeping one hand in my hair and slid the other to rest on my chest where I'm sure she could feel my heartbeat race. Just as I deepened the kiss more, eliciting a noise from Zierra that made that something in me break a little bit more, I heard someone cough behind me.

"What?" I growled, a little harsher than I had intended.

The voice behind me was skittish and quiet. "Um, pardon me Miss Sapphyre but Master Silver is bringing the party to a close and would like to see you and Princess Zierra before you make your way back home."

I sighed, a little upset with myself that I snapped at a server. "That is fine. We will make our way to see him in a moment. Thank you," they scurried away and I let go of the railing so Zierra would be free. "We should go see him before he passes out somewhere."

She stared at me for a moment, like she was trying to figure something out about me, but decided not to dwell on it long as she walked passed me, letting her hand gently brush my check as she went. Before following after her I glanced down at the railing and found the wood to be cracked from my grip. Sorry Soren.

We found him ushering out the last of his guests with a smile that only grew when he saw us. He skipped over to us, proving that he had sobered a little since we last saw him, and the look on his face told me that he was going to try and tease us. No doubt his sever had told him the position Zierra and I were in. I shut down his curiosity with a glare and a quick shake of my head.

"Oh you're no fun," he pouted at me, which made Zierra look at me in confusion and I simply smiled and shrugged at her. "All business with you."

"Probably because I run a business," despite my sarcastic tone I smiled, teasingly, at him. "Two businesses technically."

"Yes well you also don't work for free," he teased back and motioned for his wife who was standing at the door, still saying goodbye.

Abigail Silver walked over to us at a glide, a grateful smile on her face and her ever calm demeanor never cracking. She pulled a pouch of crowns from the bag she had on her and placed them in my hand. "You saved my husband tonight," she curled my fingers around the pouch and gave them a tap then reached for Zierra's hands as well, "both of you did. And you kept from shedding blood in my house. I can't tell you how grateful I am," she looked at Soren fondly. "He's an idiot but he's a good man and I love him. Now if you'll excuse me, ladies, I am exhausted so I will see myself to bed."

She gave her husband a quick kiss and he watched her walk away with the same amount of fondness she gave him before walking us to the door. "I think I'm going to join my wife," he smirked and winked at me, giving away his intentions. "Whatever mess is left can be worried about tomorrow. You two should get some rest as well."

Our walk started out quiet, neither of seeming to know exactly what to say to the other, though we walked close enough that our hands would brush. At the end of Soren's long drive I noticed that Zierra was shaking and trying to hide it, the next time our fingers brushed I could feel that they were freezing. I frowned and shrugged out of my suit jacket. Thanks to my daemon blood I hardly ever got cold and sometimes it was hard to remember that other people can't regulate their temperature like I could. The Ferox Woods are usually warm so she probably isn't used to how cold Lyca can get, especially at night.

"Here," I gently placed my jacket across her shoulders and she immediately wrapped it around her body.

"You're sure you wont get cold?"

I huffed a laugh as I rolled the sleeves of my shirt up. "I'm sure. I've lived here long enough to be used to the cold nights. Honestly I was getting a little hot in that jacket so the cool air feels nice." She hummed in acknowledgement but didn't say anything and I wasn't sure what else to say myself.

Soren didn't live far from The Wolf's Den, but it felt like we walked forever in awkward silence before The Den came into view. I opened the doors and held it for Zierra, who slipped passed me and immediately made her way to Jayde. He was cleaning a table and his face lit up when he saw us. I came up behind them and ruffled his hair, making him smack my hand away.

"How was it tonight?" I asked him.

"Really slow actually," he sounded like he had been bored most of the night. "It seems like Mister Silver invites a lot of people to his gatherings so not many people showed up. It didn't get exciting until Kari and Lyon walked in with some guy in binds. They just waved and took him to the basement though."

"Do you know who stayed down there with him?" Zierra asked as we followed him to the next table.

"Well Lyon came back up so I would imagine that Kari stayed with him," he seemed confused as to why we were asking about him but then something clicked for him and his face lit up. "Do we have a prisoner in the basement!"

I cover his mouth in a rush and Zierra laughed at his outburst. "You can't just shout things like that Jayde," for once I was glad my business was dead as his shouting didn't seem to bother the select few drunk regulars that were close to passing out at various tables around us.

"But yes we have a prisoner," Zierra answered his question. "He's an assassin, like Sapphyre, but he isn't good like she is. We're hoping to change that, make him see that he can put his talents to good use."

"So he's a recruit?"

"He is a prisoner who may turn into a possible recruit," I grumbled, "but if he fails to adhere to our rules then he will be a dead prisoner."

Zierra sighed and took my jacket off. "I should go relieve Kari. It was my idea to keep him here so I should take the first overnight with him."

"I'll relieve you in the morning. I need to find Lyon, we have some things to talk about but," I refused her attempt to give me the jacket back, "it gets cold in the basement and it's dusty down there so maybe change before going down and keep the jacket so you stay warm."

She hugged the jacket back to her with a smile and we said our goodnights to Jayde, where I lectured him to get some sleep himself soon. Before we parted ways in the hallway Zierra stood on her toes and place a gentle kiss to my cheek.

"Good night Sapphyre."

I watched her disappear behind her door and smiled sadly as I touched the cheek she kissed. "Good night Zierra."

She is going to hate you in the morning. My inner voice lectured me. You shouldn't have kissed her. You knew you'd regret it.

I sighed and made my way to my best friends room, knowing that I would be right. Zierra was going to hate me in the morning.