Sweet Peril

“Yes!” I threw myself on top of the oversized downiness and ate the chocolates, one right after the other. Then I sat up, cross-legged, and opened the box that’d been left for me. Inside was a small black dagger and sheath. I grinned. Thanks, Dad.

I was tired, but full of adrenaline, so I decided to explore the room. I opened the giant wooden bureau and found a television. The next cabinet hid a minifridge. I squatted and opened it, expecting to find it empty. But it wasn’t.

It was full of alcohol.

My heart banged and my hands got clammy.

No harm in looking . . .

I sat down, removing a minibottle of tequila and cradling it in my palm. It’s funny how the body reacts similarly to different types of longings, be it a craving for substances or a case of lust: blood and breath quickening, skin heating, palms dampening. With slow deliberation, I placed the golden liquor back in its spot, loving the sound of the bottles clinking together.

A soft knock sounded from the other side of the wall, and I jumped, slamming the fridge closed. I moved my hearing outward through the wall and whispered, “Kope?”

“Anna? Are you behaving?” His voice had a teasing tone. He’d heard the bottles. Aagh! Geez, did other Neph ever take a break from listening?

“Um,” I stammered. “Just looking, Mr. Parole Officer.”

He chuckled.

I wouldn’t have drank anything, but I’d certainly been entertaining the daydream. “I’m gonna take a shower now.”

When I saw the giant sunken tub with fancy bottles of soaps, I decided on a bubble bath instead. While I lay in the foamy hot water, I found myself humming the chorus to Lascivious’s new song. That would not do. So I changed it to the next thing that came to mind: a poppy little tune that Jay always blasted for us girls in his car. Then a horrifying thought stopped me. Was Kope listening to me splash around in the bathtub, singing? He wouldn’t do that, would he? The very idea made me all tingly and paranoid. I slunk down a little farther into the bubbles and shut my mouth.

Once I was good and wrinkly I wrapped myself in the hotel’s plush robe. Dad had suggested we dress nicely for the arena. It was a Christmas Eve fight. I’d brought a flowing black, knee-length skirt made of stretchy material and a fitted maroon blouse. Bad outfit choice. Where was I supposed to put the hilt? The dagger was already strapped to my inner thigh. I couldn’t wear the hilt on my ankle, and it bulged under the fabric of the skirt when I tried to put it at my waist. Kope would have to hold it for me. I sent my hearing into his room.

“Hey, Kope?” No answer. My hearing nudged around his room until it found muffled music, like a radio that had been overturned. I homed my hearing on the music and could barely make out that it was classical, instrumental. My heart sped up as I called his name again. Still no answer. I couldn’t imagine that he’d fallen asleep. He would have told me if he was going somewhere. I listened in his bathroom and also down the hall to the ice machine. Nothing. Picking up both our room keys, I hurried the short distance down the hall and knocked lightly on his door. Still nothing.

I gripped the hilt in its leather case in one hand, and with the other hand I swiped the room key and quietly pushed the door open. Taking a timid step inside the dim room, I propped the door open with my foot. What I saw on the floor in front of the bed made me flush with prickly heat.

Kope was fine. He was meditating. He wore earbuds blaring classical music. I should have left right then, but I was struck still by the sight of him in such a private moment. He was down on his knees, sitting back on his heels, head bowed in reverence. He wore navy running pants but no socks and no shirt. The triceps in his arms bulged and his rounded back was a brown mass of muscle.

The thing that made it hard for me to breathe was the way he completely submitted himself as a humble offering on the floor like that. To see a big, strong man down on his knees, devoid of selfish pride, meditating with his whole being was enough to make a woman weep with admiration.

I’d been staring far too long. When I took a step backward his head whipped up and our eyes collided. He tore the earbuds out with a startled expression in his light eyes.

I was so busted.

“S-sorry,” I said. I ducked away and shut the door, drawing jagged breaths. Behind me I heard Kope open his door and rush out. When I turned, my eyes must have bugged at the sight of his body because he took one glance down at his bare chest and bolted into the room to put on a shirt. I waited, heart pounding with foolish embarrassment, until he returned to the hall.

“Is anything the matter?” he asked.

“No. I’m so sorry. I just, I thought something might’ve happened when you didn’t answer me.”

He relaxed. “I should have warned you. It’s the only time I block my hearing. I did not mean to frighten you.”

“It’s okay,” I whispered. “Do you, um, think you could come in for just a minute when you have time? I want to ask you something.” I held up the hilt to show him what it was about.

“I will join you now.” He followed me into my room.

We sat in two armchairs facing each other across a small desk. I took a deep breath and willed my heart rate to slow as visions of half-naked Kopano danced in my head. I didn’t like him like that, but it was hard not to be affected by such a sight. Okay, he’s waiting for you to say something, Anna. Get it together. I cleared my throat.

“Do you mind holding the hilt for me today? I won’t be able to in this outfit.”