You're My Infinity

Once inside, I notice the strange looks other Pharisees are giving us, and as I let Ronan lead me through the tree, I find my head ducked, refusing to meet their gazes even if I can feel their eyes on me. I don’t know why I’m receiving such odd looks… I wonder if maybe his mother said anything about my leaving, after I had just arrived at that. If not that, I can’t quite imagine what the odd looks are for. Eventually though –thankfully- I’m pulled into a private room and a leafy screen is put into place by Ronan. “Is there something wrong?” He’s frowning.

Sighing quietly, I shake my head and look for something to begin drying off with. “Nothing. I just felt weird with all the odd looks. I wonder if your mom started talking about how I left or something…” Of course, now I was back, which she probably wouldn’t like, but the way I saw it, I couldn’t find my way home and probably wouldn’t be able to. Besides that, it seems there’s a nice chance that Ronan would just find me again. I guess I just have to get used to the idea that this is my home now…

Even as the thought crosses my mind, Ronan disappears for a moment, coming back with something that resembles a towel in appearance, and instead of giving it to me, begins to gently dry me off with it himself. This causes a small heating of my cheeks that I force down. He’s made it very obvious what he wants –maybe expects- from me, but he’s also been very impatient. I’ve hardly been here for more than 24 hours, for one thing, we knew each other one day as kids for another, and everything is just starting to become a little much to take in.

Sure, I’ve accepted the fact that whether I actually want to or not I’ll have to marry Ronan, if for nothing more than the fact that he put a mark on me, and most girls my age are already married. Most don’t even meet their betrothed before the day before the wedding… My mother was even looking at suitors for me. So really, I consider myself somewhat lucky. Even if I don’t really feel any romance towards him, I at least know Ronan and he was my friend at one point. “Love comes in time,” some say, and I hope that if I’ll really be spending infinity with him, that they’re right.

That’s when I notice he’s talking now, and I tune myself towards him so I don’t just seem like I’m ignoring him. “It wasn’t Mother,” he was saying. “The rain tends to weaken us, and we usually avoid it if we can, or at least take shelter. You and I just came in soaking wet, and I’m sure some saw us dancing outside, and would have told the others… Word spreads fast in the tree. They’re likely wondering what is wrong with us,” he explains, gently toweling one of my arms.

At that point, I move to take the material from him, but he pulls back, and I frown. “Ronan, I can dry myself off,” I attempt to argue with him. It seems he doesn’t exactly grasp the concept of “time” or “space” very well, because it can’t have been more than ten minutes since we were outside. Sure, I feel more comfortable with him, but not quite enough for the sort of romantic gestures he’s wanting.

“And how do you intend to reach your wings?”

“What wings?” I blink, and then become alarmed, starting to try and look at my back. “I have wings?!”

I hear a laugh, and then hands are on my shoulders, stopping me and I’m looking into his smiling face a moment. “Every Pharisee has wings, my love. You are no exception. Now will you let me dry you?”

Pursing my lips, I step back from him, crossing my arms over my chest stubbornly. “No, I’ll dry myself. I can use my arms and hands and all that you know,” I say.

He runs a hand through his hair for a moment, looking completely exasperated, but a moment later a smirk appears on his face. That makes me scared… Then he starts walking towards me in a deliberate manner, slowly, with a grin on his face, and I find myself backing up cautiously. “What are you thinking?” I asked quietly.

Suddenly, Ronan lunges at me, and though I jump to move out of the way, he uses the towel-thing, wrapping it around me and trapping me, pulling me against him with a laugh. “Caught you. Now you have to let me dry you off, or you’ll be subject to my convincing.” His breath is warm against my ear, brushing wisps of hair, and I can feel his own wet body near mine, especially since he’s practically pulled me flush against his chest, holding the towel-thing –I’m just going to call it a towel- tightly so as not to let me go.

“Your convincing could use some work,” I say, just before dropping to the floor. It gets me out of the towel, and I duck and roll, coming up short when my body bumps a nightstand. For a moment the air is still, and then I get up, glad the lamp didn’t come crashing down on me, and I turn to see Ronan smiling at me.

I forgot… Pharisees love the chase –and I just ran.

I roll over the bed before he can catch me again, and I see him pause just on the other side. His eyebrows lift high. “You do realize that I will catch you, don’t you, sweet?” he asks, and I can see the challenge glinting in his eyes. In response, I stick my tongue out at him, and he’s hopping over the bed as well, leaving me to try to find cover across the room.

I’ve just about made it too, when arms wrap around my waist, pulling me back, and I make a small noise, finding a small smile on my face, dripping hair falling in my face in ginger strands as I glance back at Ronan. He looks happy too, but before he can start gloating about his victory, I drop my weight. Unfortunately, he doesn’t let go like I expected, and he ends up falling with me, seeming to drop his weight as well, but more carefully, which I’m thankful for because he falls on top of me.

At the same time, he rolls over, and I find myself laying on top of him, my back against his chest and his arms around my waist, holding me there. That’s when I roll as well, twisting at the same time and breaking his grasp. “What, can’t pin me down?” I taunt as I move away from him, feeling a smile on my face. It’s surprising me how much fun I’m actually having.

“Now you’re just teasing me,” was his reply, right before, faster than I could follow, he comes at me. This time he’s smarter about it, sitting on my abdomen and pinning my wrists above my head, his legs straddling my waist. He has enough of his weight on me that it makes it hard to move. I can’t push him off or wiggle under him, but he’s not putting enough weight on me to crush me either. His head is leaning over mine too, grinning at me. “Tell me, can I pin you down?” He moves, one hand now holding my wrists while another one creeps to my neck, caressing a spot I’ve come to know as the mark he’s put on me.

I make a small noise then. “Fine, you’ve caught me,” I amend when an eyebrow raises.

“And?” he probes.

I make another noise, this one disbelieving. “I don’t care that you want to help me dry my wings. You can dry them if you want, but you aren’t drying the rest of me when I can, especially since to get everywhere I have to be naked,” I say.

His grin is boyish at this point. “You said I had to give you time, Emilee, but you’re honestly pushing it,” he tells me, his lips brushing against my lips just then. I freeze underneath him, staring up at him, and he sighs. “But I can wait. Let me do this one thing for you –I’ve already seen your beautiful nude body before anyways, and I promise that besides small things such as this, I will not ask you for more than you are willing to give.”

I chew on my lower lip as I consider him, and suddenly I feel like a shy little girl. What is it about him that sends my emotions through such a whirlwind anyway? “Okay then,” I eventually reply quietly. “Just this once.”

Ronan smiles, kissing my nose quickly before he jumps up, going to retrieve the towel, and by the time he comes strolling back over, I’m standing as well. If I’m honest, I still don’t quite know how to feel around him, about how he acts towards me. I’ve never had someone act like he does… It’s a completely new experience and I’m nowhere near used to it. Maybe I’ll never be.

He shifts over to me then, and the Pharisee styled shirt I’m wearing it pulled tentatively from around my head. He’s standing behind me, probably to make me more comfortable considering how now my breasts are exposed, and I lightly feel his lips against my shoulder for an instant before I feel the material of the towel he has sliding over my skin, drying me off. He gently moves hair out of the way as well, as he dries, and before long, I’m turning around to face him. I’m sure my entire face must be tomato red, but if it is, he doesn’t comment about it.

“You’re beautiful, my Emilee,” he says quietly, looking at me with honest eyes, before he starts to gently towel off my front as well. I assume he’s already toweled the wings I’ve still as yet to see, but if I’m honest, I’m really trying not to notice what the sensations running over my skin feels like, afraid I might do something I don’t want to.

The damp skirt I’m wearing, then is the next to go, as he continues to towel me dry, and he sits on his knees as he towels the lower parts of my body, making me feel odd by the placement of where his head is. I almost just tell him to forget it right then and there, but he finishes quickly, scanning me once more, which ignites fires in my cheeks, before he smiles. “There. I believe you are all dry.” He motions to a dresser. “Go ahead and get dressed,” he says.

I glance at him oddly for a moment, but don’t argue. I wonder how he has female clothes that fit me, why he has them, and maybe how long he has been planning this. Shaking my head softly, I just go over to the dresser, and pull out something that looks like nightwear, thankfully slipping it on. It just feels too odd to be around him naked. Remembering my hair still dripping though, I turn to him with my mouth open, ready to ask a question, and it hangs there with no sounds coming out when I catch sight of his now nude form.

He doesn’t notice though, drying himself off and running the towel through his hair as well, until its simply damp instead of dripping, meeting my gaze as he does so, with an almost challenging look. And I immediately close my mouth and turn away. It isn’t long before the sound of the dresser opening, the rustling of clothes, followed by the sound of the dresser closing meets me, and then I feel a hand at my waist. “Go sit on the bed while I get a fresh towel,” he says in my ear, and then moves away.

I look back at him, seeing him disappear into an adjacent room, and sigh before I go to the bed, sitting stiffly at the edge. He comes out with a fresh towel, having none of my qualms it appears, as he comes over, getting on the bed and appearing to get in a comfortable position before he brings me closer to where he is, whispering a “trust me” as he gently lowers my head into his lap. I would only be seeing the ceiling at this point if he weren’t bent over to look down at me. “I thought this would be a nicer way of drying your hair, and it allows me to spend longer and having you near, too,” he says, not a hint of doubt in his voice as he shifts, moving my hair to where it’s easily accessible and then beginning to gingerly towel it dry.

Like he mentioned, it’s a slow process, and when he acts as if he’s done, he starts to run his fingers through my hair as well, claiming that it is so he can get the tangles out, and eventually I hear a small thump as the towel falls to the floor. Surprisingly, I’m actually relaxed at this point, and after the long day, I’m ready to sleep. I sit up. “Erm… thanks,” I offer awkwardly. “I think I’m going to go to bed now.”

When I start to get up though, he quickly stops me, looking at me with pleading eyes. “I want to share the same bed with you, my love. If you want, we will have separate covers and pillows if you like, but I want to sleep next to you. I want to feel your warmth and sleep better for it.”

Of course I argued with him, but just like always –or so it seems- I did eventually give in to Ronan, though I didn’t take him up on the offer of separate blankets and pillows. We both had clothes on, and that, in the end, was enough for me.