160 Brand New and Shiny
Ashleigh took Caleb back to the room that had been arranged for him. They had chatted about this and that, but nothing of consequence. They were both keenly aware of the potential for eyes and ears everywhere.
Once they were behind closed doors, Ashleigh broke the charade.
“Five months?” she asked.
Caleb smiled and nodded.
“I don’t remember having that conversation….” Ashleigh said, crossing her arms as though she were upset with him.
“Well, I figured since you put a time limit on me for when you would be introduced to my pack, I should put a time limit on you… Since I know, you won’t marry me until you feel assured that my pack accepts you.”
“And you think it will take five months?” she asked with hopefulness.
“I have no clue,” Caleb replied honestly. “It could take five months, five years, I really don’t know.”
Ashleigh was clearly disappointed by his answer.
Caleb wheeled over to her. He reached up and took her hand.
“You wanted to do this the hard way…” he sighed.
“I know…” she said.
“I love you for wanting their approval,” Caleb said. “But I am not willing to put off our marriage because of someone else’s opinion. You only got five months out of me because I am trying to respect your wish to try with those stubborn idiots.”
Ashleigh laughed.
“Those are your people, Caleb.”
“I love them, but they are stubborn idiots,” Caleb sighed.
He pulled her down into his lap and wrapped his arms around her, burying his nose into her throat.
“I am happy,” he whispered against her skin. “They should be happy for me.”
Ashleigh closed her eyes and used every ounce of willpower she had to push back against the growing desire for his touch.
“Caleb,” she said, pulling away enough for them to face each other. “They love you. Of course, they will be happy for you. But I have broken your trust, so I have broken theirs.”
Ashleigh smiled at him, but he saw the hurt in her eyes. He saw how much guilt she carried.
“I forgave you,” he whispered. Touching her cheek gently.
“Because you love me,” she smiled. “And because they love you, they can’t forgive me so easily.”
Looking up into her sparkling eyes, all he wanted was to start their life together.
“And that is why I will give you five months,” he sighed.
“But what if–” she started to argue.
“No more,” he growled, squeezing her playfully.
“You didn’t let me finish,” she said, with a smile that Caleb told himself was just for him, “what if they accept me sooner?”
Caleb’s eyes swirled with darkness. He gently moved his hand from her waist, trailing his fingers up along her spine, pushing and pulling at her senses with the pleasure of his touch like a warm tide rolling in and out.
He brought his hand over her shoulder and to her chin delicately, nudging slightly. Ashleigh turned like he wanted her to. She let out a soft whimper as she felt his hot breath along her collar bone.
His mouth hovered just over that delicate bundle of nerves they both knew so well. His tongue slipped out between his lips, lightly caressing her skin. She moaned sweetly and he smiled.
“The sooner, the better,” he whispered.
***
“I haven’t met a lot of spies, so maybe my information is out of date… but isn’t telling secrets kind of the opposite of what you are supposed to do?” Axel asked.
Alice laughed.
“It is frowned upon, yes,” she said. “In fact, I’m generally not supposed to give a straight answer about anything. A lot of looks this way then that way. Point up while looking down.”
Axel stared at Alice, she smiled as she spoke, but she stared down at the ground. He couldn’t see her expression, but he felt like it was sad.
“I should be flirting with you,” she said, suddenly turning up to look at him.
Axel’s breath caught in his throat, and his heartbeat thumped loudly in his ears as her chocolate eyes staring up at him caught him by surprise. He hadn’t noticed the golden flecks earlier.
Axel swallowed nervously.
Alice smiled.
“Do you see yourself as two different people?” she asked.
She brought her hand up to his face. She didn’t touch him but instead used her hand to cover the half of his face with his hair pulled down and then switched to the other half.
“The half people see, and the half you hide?” she smiled.
Axel reached his hand up and stopped hers from moving back and forth anymore. He gently lowered her hand to look into each other’s eyes again.
He wasn’t sure why, but he was worried about her. He hesitated to let go of her hand. ρꪖꪕᦔꪖꪕꪫꪣꫀꪶ
“Are you ok?” he asked.
Alice blinked, and then she laughed.
“Right as rain, right as rain,” she whispered and looked away from him.
“You don’t seem to be…” he pushed.
Alice hummed to herself as she brought her arms up in a protective hug of her own body. The tune was upbeat, and she bobbed her head playfully.
That action made Axel feel uneasy and even more worried about her. He swallowed down his own nerves and said something he didn’t expect.
“You said we could trade, right?” he asked.
Alice stopped humming. She slowly looked back at him.
He licked his lips.
“I tell you about my scar, and you tell me your secret?” he asked.
Alice leaned closer to him and nodded. In doing so, the window of cleavage on her dress became that much more apparent.
Axel cleared his throat and looked up towards the stars.
“Instead of telling me your secret,” he said, “I want to ask that you answer me truthfully.”
“About what?” Alice asked.
Axel looked back at her.
“Are you ok?” he asked.
Alice leaned back, surprised by his question.
She considered it for a while before she said anything in return. Axel was okay with waiting. He thought she looked rather pretty in the moonlight. He wasn’t particularly fond of her outfit or matching hair, but the soft look on her face as she thought about his offer. The way she lightly chewed at her bottom lip.
He found himself smiling.
“When you look in the mirror, do you see one or two?” she asked.
“What?” he replied, surprised by the question. “What do you mean?”
“I asked before, do you see yourself as two,” she replied.
“Oh…” he said, “I’m confused. Are you rejecting my offer?”
“No.”
“Then…”
“I need your answer to give you mine.”
“Oh…” Axel said. He sighed as he thought about it. “I guess I sort of see two….”
Alice nodded.
“One you accept, one you fear… no… one that gives you shame,” she smiled.
Axel felt a flourish of anger and embarrassment. He stood from the bench and turned to leave.
“Have you ever seen a kaleidoscope?” Alice asked, stopping him in his tracks.
“The kid’s toy?” he asked, facing her. “Tube with the beads or buttons inside and the mirrors?”
Alice nodded.
“Each time you look through the kaleidoscope, you look at the same thing, but different,” she continued. “Every single time there are still three buttons, two beads, and ten pieces of shiny confetti.”
Alice smiled, but it was a sad smile.
“You bring it to your eye and turn it, just a little,” she said, pantomiming the action. “And it’s a brand new image. Then you do it again, and again, and again. And each time, brand new and shiny.”
Axel sat back down beside her.
“Each and every time, same items, new image,” Alice’s voice fell just slightly. “Do you think that if the items could see through the kaleidoscope, they would recognize themselves?”
She looked at him now. With their golden flecks, her chocolate eyes stared at him as though he held an answer she longed for. But he didn’t know what it was.
“I…” Axel started to answer but found himself unable.
Axel thought he heard a strange sound. He looked around but saw nothing. When he turned back, Alice sat up straight, her body rigid and her jaw clenched tightly.
“Alice?” he called to her.
“Thank you for the chat,” she said, standing up to leave.
Axel quickly stood up and grabbed her hand.
“But our trade–” he said.
“Out of time,” she smiled and pulled away.
“Next time?” he asked, unsure why he wanted there to be a next time, but feeling loneliness in the way she pulled away from him.
Alice stopped; he noticed her shoulders sag ever so slightly.
“Next time, I will be brand new and shiny…” she whispered with a heavy regret as she walked back into the hall to answer the call of her master.