He looked particularly handsome today, having chosen his dress uniform rather than the fancy suits and sashes that many of the male guests favored. She knew it was because he didn’t want to spend money on clothing—he was carefully hoarding his nucros to help support his siblings—and that was fine with her. He looked good in a uniform. And whether intentionally or by accident, he seemed to be exuding a little of his dragon scylori today, which meant she would think he looked good in a threadbare bathrobe. Or nothing at all. Her thoughts drifted to the latter, and she smirked at him when their eyes met before they stepped out into the gardens.
They had both been busy with their duties the last few weeks, but the evening before, the weather had cooperated, and they had finally strolled along the beach together. She’d picked up sand dollars. He’d picked up rusted tins and warped springs for whatever toy he planned to build for the children next. After that, they’d had a romantic dinner and she’d taken him back to her room, where they’d spent a lovely and uninterrupted night together.
Trip blinked. “You’re imagining me naked.”
“And you’re reading my mind.”
“I didn’t try. I… it was near the surface.”
“It often is.”
His eyebrows rose. “Truly?”
“Yes, and if you don’t often think of me naked, too, I’m going to be disappointed.”
Another couple walked past then, an older husband and wife Rysha recognized from some of the social gatherings the nobles attended, and they gave her a scandalized look. She assumed they would fall over when they saw that Kaika and both of her kin watchers were active-duty military and attending the wedding in uniforms instead of fluffy, frilly dresses.
I do think of you naked often, Trip said, switching to telepathy, for others were strolling past them and into the gardens. But I’m male. I believe such fantasizing is part of our nature. I always thought—your Aunt Tadelay has been reinforcing this notion, by the way—that women were less lustful and controlled by their, uhm, reproductive urges.
You ought to know that’s not true. I’m usually the one to drag you off to bed because you’re distracted making toys and puzzles for babies, and gifts for Sardelle and me. Besides, you’ve met Kaika. You know she’s plenty lustful.
This is true. It’s hard to imagine her and Angulus… I mean, he’s so serious and unflappable. He barely reacts to anything outwardly, at least when he’s around us.
I’m sure he lets loose in bed and howls like a wolf.
Trip looked horrified and braced himself on the wall. I didn’t need that image in my head.
You brought it up.
Are you sure? That doesn’t sound right.
Positive. Rysha swatted him on the butt and nodded toward the doorway.
They stepped outside onto the elaborate brick-paver pathway that meandered through the gardens, leading to the same open area where the awards ceremony had been. Most of the lilacs had faded, but roses, hydrangeas, snapdragons, peonies, and winged dragons were all in bloom, filling the area with sweet and spicy scents.
Rysha had been surprised when such an early wedding date had been announced—had foreign dignitaries even had time to travel here for it?—but she’d read between the lines that Angulus was concerned Kaika would get tired of the snide comments from the newspapers and the nobility and change her mind. He must have figured that once he got his promise necklace on her, she was most definitely his.
“Are you nervous about standing next to Kaika?” Trip asked, switching to the spoken word, presumably since nudity was no longer being discussed.
“A little bit. I’m surprised she asked me. We’ve been through a lot, but I’ve really only known her for a few months. I’m honored, of course, but she’s known Blazer for years.”
“Maybe you’re the only other woman she knows.” He smirked at her.
She gave him another swat, though she admitted it was possible. Kaika had all manner of men that she worked with and likely considered friends, but in the almost-all-male elite troops, it wasn’t as if she interacted with other female officers that often. And because she was busy and traveled so frequently for her missions, she might not have that much time to pursue local friendships, especially since she’d been seeing Angulus for the last three years. He was the local friendship she no doubt preferred to invest most of her time in.
Trip nudged Rysha and drew her off the path so they wouldn’t be in the way. “I was joking. She sees you as her protégé. I think she was joking when she first used that term when we all met in General Zirkander’s office, but it’s not a joke to her anymore. She trusts you and sees you as her successor. She’s quite pleased that you’ve managed to survive all we’ve been through without getting killed or kicked out of the army.”
Rysha snorted. “Have you been reading her mind too?”
“Only the surface thoughts.”
“Totally acceptable then.”
“Sometimes, they ooze out of people, and I can’t help but notice.”
“That sounds like something Jaxi would say.”
“Yes, I believe it was her excuse originally and that I’m stealing it from her.”
Rysha withdrew a handkerchief and removed her spectacles to wipe a smudge. Her optometrist was bemused—and beriched—that she’d gone through five pairs since starting her elite troops training. She wasn’t sure dragon riders were meant to wear spectacles. But oh well, she’d worn them since she was ten. And she felt proud to have passed the training and to have survived all the tests with her crummy vision. Still, sometimes she wished…
She shook her head and started to lift her spectacles back to her face, there being no point in such wishes.
But Trip caught her wrist before she could. “I almost asked you last night,” he said, nodding toward her spectacles.
“What? Have you come up with some superior form of vision correction?” Rysha had heard of experiments regarding miniature lenses that could be applied directly to the eye, but she couldn’t imagine them staying in place.
“That’s exactly it, actually. If you’re interested. It’s something I’ve been thinking about ever since I was an ass and broke your spectacles.”
“Are you talking about the time I lost control of my sword and attacked you? That wasn’t your fault.”
“I know, but it bothered me to do it. And I know it bothered you that I… knew to do it. That you had that weakness, and I exploited it.”
Rysha swallowed, memories of her feelings returning along with memories of the event.
“Yeah,” she admitted. It wasn’t as if she could lie to him.
“I’ve done some reading and talked to Sardelle about it. I believe I can do something.”
Rysha placed her spectacles in his hands. “I’ll gladly accept any improvements you can make.” She wasn’t sure about the eyeball lenses, but perhaps he could do something so her spectacles would never break or fall off in battle.
Trip nodded, lifted a hand to the side of her face, and gazed into her eyes. She gazed back at him, deciding she shouldn’t think of nudity while he was concentrating on her spectacles. Or was he? He was simply holding them with his other hand. He seemed to be concentrating on her.
A little tingle warmed her eyeballs, almost an itch. It was deep inside of them, an itch she couldn’t scratch.