Rune smiled. "Wouldn't dream of it."
When she stepped into the reception, Dorian was already waiting, leaning against the wall with his usual buttoned-up calm that didn't quite hide how tightly his hands were clasped in front of him. It was like every day peeled a layer off him and he let her see more and more of his vulnerable side. He looked too put-together for a casual pickup, but his restless drumming fingers gave him away.
"You look like a man with a question stuck in his throat," Rune said, arching an eyebrow.
"Maybe I'm just happy to see you." He tried for lightness, but his voice petered off slightly at the end.
Before she could answer, Eli appeared behind him, grinning like he had won the lottery.
"Rune! Finally free of this lot?"
She laughed and stepped into his hug. "Barely. How's your little diva?"
"Ruling the household, obviously," Eli said. "Yesterday she staged a coup and refused to sing for the school drama unless she was Juliet.She has a crush on the lad playing Romeo and she does not mess around. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree."
Rune chuckled as they walked toward the car. Dorian followed silently, jaw ticking and his eyes focused on the space between them while he was trying valiantly not to scowl. In a move that did not give his jealousy away at all, he slid between them, making for an awkward trio walking side by side.
Once inside, Eli kept the chatter going - stories about his daughter's tantrums, his mom's bemused exhaustion, the new kitten that had scratched up the curtains and had chewed holes into his socks. Rune was laughing as she relaxed, and Dorian was definitely not. Why did she never relax with him like that? She never laughed with him. His hand drummed once against his thigh before he leaned forward and pressed the button.
The partition slid up between them and Eli.
"Dorian," Rune said trying not to laugh at his antics. "That was rude. We were talking."
He exhaled through his nose. "You look tired. Rest your eyes. "
She folded her arms under her breast which immediately drew his eyes there. "Eyes up here, Dory. You planning to explain why you're acting like a mob boss?"
"I just..." He glanced at her, then away again. "I need to ask you something."
Rune tilted her head. "Then ask."
"What are your plans for tonight?"
"Did Eleri say something? “She frowned. "It’s just a get-together. Some old friends, barbecue and a bonfire."
His tone was too careful when he asked, "The smoke is not good for the baby. I should come."
He seemed to hesitate, “Is that Kai going to be there?"
Rune looked out the window, deliberately unbothered. "Maybe."
He gave a low, annoyed huff.
She side-eyed him. "You realise you sound jealous."
He mumbled a grumpy 'maybe'.
"I get it now," he said abruptly, his voice edged with frustration. "This is how you must've felt when I went out with Eve. And with all the others." He paused, swallowed. "And Margo."
Rune blinked, surprised he was bringing this up. "Dorian..."
He gave a soft, bitter laugh. "Yeah. I got a taste of it with Eli, back in London. You smile at him like that -it just makes me want to punch him and keep punching. I hate it. And then Tom and Finn were all over you. I guess I am the obsessed jealous type."
She didn't know what to say to that, so she turned back toward the passing lights. Secretly, she couldn't help feel a little bit pleased with that.
Recently she did not know what came over her, but she had been bent on testing Dorian’s control. And every time, they both knew exactly what she was doing.
It had started as an experiment. A way of mapping the edges of Dorian’s self-control. She’d traded her sensible cottons for silk so thin it barely qualified as clothing, the fabric whispering against her skin as she moved through the house. Lingerie, she had decided, was chosen not for comfort but for effect.
