A Pet for the Dragons

116.

ARIKA

Even after Radrox and Zorge had left, tension was thick in the air. I was still seated in Ivret's lap, but felt awkward. When I tried to slip off, he wrapped his arm around my waist and kept me in place, not letting me move.

"Stay," He whispered in my ear, pulling me closer to him. I tried to ignore the sudden warmth in my stomach at our closeness, but the tension further fuelled it. We remained like this for a few moments.

I couldn't help but lean back and rest my head against his shoulder, seeking more of his warmth. Even though silence stretched between us, it wasn't uncomfortable despite the tension.

It was a thoughtful silence.

"Is everything okay, Ivy?" I whispered, placing my hand on his, which was resting on my lap.

"Did you mean what you said?" He asked. His voice was calm, but I didn't miss his hesitance.

"Mean what?" I asked, even though I knew what he was talking about.

"That I was the first one to have your heart?" He asked, his voice strained. His body was charged with tension, and I could feel it slowly bleeding into me. The air grew too thick to breathe. "Or did you say that just to get back at Zorge?"

My heart pinched, realising what I might've done. His voice had a hint of hope, but he still didn't want to hold onto it. He was still hurt, and I knew my answer would only hurt him more.

"I meant it, Ivy," I told him, lacing our fingers together. "I was scared when I woke up. I thought you all would kill me or something, but you were kind to me. It threw me off then because no one had been that kind to me. I thought you would use it against me later, but you didn't. I realised that you were being kind to me because you were a good man, Ivret. It made me like you instantly,"

"And yet you..." His voice broke, and his fingers tightened around mine. He was still hurt, and he had the right to be hurt. It hadn't been brought up in the past few days because we were all busy due to the summoning.

"Yes... despite that, I hurt you." I said, turning around to face him. A hurt look shrouded Ivret's face, tugging at my heart even more. He was so pure, and it made me feel terrible for hurting him. If only I could go back and fix it. "I'm not a good woman, Ivret," I told him, taking his face in my hands.

He stared at me darkly. The betrayal was still fresh.

"I've done terrible things to a lot of people. That's how I made my living— I was brought up. I'm not justifying what I did to you. I am saying this because I want you to know that I feel terrible for hurting you. I know I don't deserve you or the brothers. I... I'm a terrible person, and if you want to punish me... I'll... I'll take it," I swallowed hard.

"I wish you had talked to me before running away,"

"Me too. I wish I'd been honest with you, but I wasn't even honest with myself in that situation,"

"Then promise me," Ivret demanded, hooking a finger under my collar and pulling me closer until our faces were inches apart. "Promise me that you'll always be honest with us... at least with me if you cannot be honest with them. If you claim that you believe I'm a kind man, you'll trust me and tell me everything,"

I swallowed hard, staring deep into his dark eyes. There was a sudden shift in him that took me by surprise. It stirred some forgotten emotions inside me. My throat tightened, and I swallowed hard again, blinking tears.

"Promise me," He demanded. "Promise me that you will never lie to us about your emotions and won't keep anything to yourself,"

"I..." I was at a loss for words. It wasn't that I didn't want to promise him those things. It was that I was a terrible person to make promises because I always ended up breaking them. The hurt intensified on his face, sensing my hesitance. A tear escaped my eyes to see him so defeated. It felt like I had somehow failed him, making me feel more terrible than ever.

"I'm sorry..." I sniffed. "I never had to do this before, Ivy,"

"Do what? Keep promises?"

"Yes, but I'll try. I want to be a..." I swallowed hard. I never had to think about this before. It felt jarring to me. "Better person,"

"That's not good enough," Ivret said, and I admired him for this. He was kind yet upfront about his boundaries.

"I promise I'll always be honest and never hide anything from you all," I told him. He stared at me for a long moment before his eyes slightly softened.

"I'll take that," He nodded slightly, his eyes focused on me heatedly. I expected him to kiss me, but he tucked a strand of hair behind my ear and let me off his lap. This disappointed me a bit, but I kept it to myself.

From the looks of it, Ivret had a long day, and he looked tired. Before coming here, he'd been hard at work, and still, he didn't seem to have gotten a moment of proper rest... or pleasure. Suddenly, an idea struck me.

"Do you need to be somewhere tonight?" I asked.

"No. I'm not leaving you until those two return in the morning,"

"Good," I said, standing up and taking his hand before tugging him to his feet. "Come with me,"

"Where?" He furrowed his brows and gave me a confused look. It reminded me of his innocence. No matter what, he was so pure in his heart. I still couldn't believe I hurt him.

"Let me take care of you tonight," 

~

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