He loves me, he loves me not – Chapter Three

Select the link below to purchase the full book. On sale!

A short passage from Chapter Three – Copyright © 2005 by Katie J. Gonzalez LebreyaBooks

.

.

“You must be the Lebreyan boy these two have been telling me about.” Apparently, Sarai had finally remembered how to speak.

“I’m only partly Lebreyan, actually. Only my father was Lebreyan.”

“No.”

Minaya raised her eyebrows at the girl’s remark. Who is she to argue? She didn’t know his father, or anything about Ian. She should just go back home!

“You have to be purely Lebreyan.” Sarai started speaking in a dreamy tone as she looked him over again. “Your hair speaks clearly enough by itself, but even in the dark, I can see your nose is perfectly straight, high cheekbones, a strong jaw. And the rest of you,” she stopped and looked him over again, which made Ian twitch, “you are obviously built like a Lebreyan.”

She would have gone on in more detail if Ian hadn’t interrupted. “I must take after my father then,” he said, somewhat uncomfortably.

She stepped forward and looked up into his eyes. “Your father must have been a very beautiful man.” Sarai noticed a small movement to the side of Ian, and then saw the intense glare that Minaya was shooting at her. This caused her to lean back, but then just as quickly pretended Minaya was not there anymore and started speaking to Ian again. “Have you ever been to Lebreya?”

Minaya forced herself to walk away; if she didn’t, something violent was sure to occur. She walked over to the fire, pretending to warm herself with the heat, but she was closely watching the scene through the flames. As Sarai described the wonders of Lebreya to Ian, and actually had the gall to invite him to stay with her if he ever chose to visit, she saw Rade and Karn giving malicious looks to Laren for bringing Ian along. She knew it was only because they were jealous, but it still upset her.

Ian was always so careful to be polite that Minaya often had trouble determining if he was bored by someone’s conversation or not. But although she knew Ian was very interested in the main city, she could tell that he didn’t want to hear any more about it from this girl. He kept fidgeting and looking away. It reminded her of her own situation earlier at the celebration of her birth.

Sarai moved a step closer to him and whispered, but Minaya could still hear her. “Do you want to go for a walk with me? You can show me your little town.”

Ian stepped back, regaining the distance between them. “Uh, no . . . no thanks. I’d rather just sit here for a while, actually.” He moved back quickly and sat against a log, one leg stretched out in front of him and the other bent up to his chest like a shield.

Minaya wasn’t going to give Sarai the chance to move in. She’d had enough!

With long strides she walked over to Ian and sat down in front of him, with her hips directly between his legs. She scooted back against him so that there wasn’t even an inch of space between them.

She leaned her back against his chest and laid her head back into the crook between his shoulder and collarbone, looking directly up at Sarai. Her arm draped possessively around his bent knee.

Ian gasped in a sharp breath. She did her best to ignore his strange behavior and focused on glaring at Sarai; she couldn’t possibly ignore her now.

“Who are you?” the girl spat out.

“I’m Minaya,” and added with narrowed eyes, “Ian’s closest friend,” just to make sure she got the point.

Her possessive hold around his knee became tighter.

She could feel the length of his body behind her and noticed that he wasn’t moving a muscle – not even to exhale. He was hard as a rock, and she wondered at why he might be holding his breath.

When he finally did exhale, it sounded curiously like someone had him in a chokehold.

She thought about turning around to chance a look at his face – to make sure he was well – but Sarai was still looking them over with critical eyes, and Minaya couldn’t allow her to think that it wasn’t normal behavior for them to be sitting so closely.

At last it was clear that Minaya’s point was well taken by the contorted expression that took over Sarai’s face. “Closest friend? Do you mean to say, you think he is actually interested in you?”

Rade moved forward, laughing. “Why wouldn’t he be interested? Look at her.”

Minaya felt the muscles in Ian’s chest jerk a little; a first since she had sat down. Rade peered over her head, to Ian. She would have given anything to see the look on Ian’s face, for whatever it was they shared had Rade looking away with trepidation and he took a step backward.

Laren, oblivious to their silent conversation, laughed out loud at Rade’s admission. “I can’t believe you just said that.”

Karn came to Rade’s defense. “It’s not like you haven’t said the same.”

Laren stopped laughing and shot a nervous glance at Ian. Newly sobered, he averted his eyes and cleared his throat.

Minaya shook her head at the boys’ behavior; they had been such a strange lot around her lately.

Sarai glared down at Minaya. “Clearly this is your own little fantasy.” She flipped her eyes over her in disdain. “These boys, I can understand.” Then she nodded in Ian’s direction. “But he couldn’t possibly be attracted to the likes of you.”

Ian finally recovered from Minaya’s proximity and found his voice. “Of course I’m attracted to her,” he suddenly professed. He was quiet for a moment, then added softly, “She’s everything to me.”

His words echoed through Minaya’s thoughts. While she had always felt affection from him, she often wondered if he was attracted to the way she looked. Lately she would select her dresses, hopeful that he would find them to his liking. When she adorned her hair, she did so hoping he would find her beautiful. She had caught him looking at her as if she might have turned his head, but he had never voiced his thoughts out loud. To hear it from him now sparked a warmth deep inside her. She almost turned to him, suddenly drawn to him, but Sarai’s voice broke through the silence.

“It seems to me that you should have a higher standard,” Sarai spat out.

“A higher standard?” Karn questioned. “And how high exactly, would that be?”

“He’s Lebreyan,” Sarai stated with authority. “He could have anyone he wanted.”

 “She’s all I’ve ever wanted.” Ian’s voice had taken on an unfamiliar tone. “Am I to assume you believe I should be attracted to you? I’m sorry to say, that’s impossible.”

She stiffened at his words.

Rade and Karn were staring at Ian slack-jawed. They had never heard him be even remotely rude before.

Laren suddenly burst out laughing.

Another female voice joined the group from behind the fire. “Problem is, they have so many mirrors in Lebreya that Sarai has seen far too little of the world and far too much of herself.”

Sarai reeled around. “Get out of here, Varissa!”

“Mother has been worried sick about you. Next time perhaps you’ll think about someone other than yourself and tell us where you’re going.”

“I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself!”

As the two sisters continued to argue with each other, Ian leaned close to Minaya’s ear and whispered playfully. “Thanks for protecting me.”

She twisted her shoulders and turned to look at him, only now realizing that her face was inches from his. For just a moment she forgot what she was going to say.

He regarded her back silently, his eyes so vivid at this close distance. She watched the deep black of his pupils expand as he beheld her, slowly roving over the features of her face, responding in his command to take in her every detail.

“You’re attracted to me?” she whispered.

His eyes were locked on her mouth when she spoke, and now they turned up, looking straight back into her eyes. She could see the different shades of green fanning out in his irises, reflecting the light of the fire, and perhaps shining a bit on their own. “You’re beautiful.” It was a simple statement, but the way he said it made her breath catch. His tone spoke as though everyone in the world knew she was beautiful; that it must be obvious to everyone but herself.