The Ugly Duckling Of The Tiger Tribe-Chapter 110: ...or should I just consider this exercise?

<A/N: Back to the plot. Back to work!>

Once they were gone, I stood straight, stretching my arms high into the air and feeling my bones crack.

"Gosh, that was such a long night," I said and looked into the distance, the clear sky, and the way the stars twinkled even though they were being overshadowed by the brilliance of the moon.

"What are you thinking about?" I heard Fenric’s voice and didn’t even bother looking as I said,

"Nothing in particular." Then, I turned to him and asked,

"Wanna take a bath?"

He paused and then his face went red.

I quickly realized what he was thinking and flailed my hands.

"Ah, no, that’s not it. I mean a real bath. My body smells like smoke and all that. Besides, I haven’t had a bath since, you know," my face blushed lightly as I twirled my fingers in the locks of my hair. "...we did that."

He scratched the back of his head, still blushing.

"Yeah, a bath." He said. "You must really like baths."

I chuckled.

"It’s cause I like being clean," I said, drawing closer to him. "Don’t you like being clean?"

I won’t be surprised if I hear him say it’s a hassle after hearing Taruna’s view of baths.

But Fenric didn’t say that. He took one good look at me, blinked, and then the corner of his lips tugged up into a smirk.

He reached for my waist, drew me closer, and said with a smooth tone,

"I like you being clean," he said. "Because then, I get to mess you up all over again."

My eyes widened and I flushed. I didn’t expect him to suddenly flirt.

He laughed and released me, leaving my heart thumping in a jittery way.

I bet he wants to mess me up as much as he wants and if I give him the chance, I won’t be able to walk for a while.

My hips are still aching from what we did in the day but it’s not a pain that distracts me. The problem is, if we keep going like this, I’ll ache in more places and not just my hips.

Ah, or should I just consider this exercise?

You know, as they say, the more you exercise, the more your body gets used to the strain, and it will no longer ache as much as it did at the beginning as time goes by.

I twisted my lips, thinking if it would be the same for sex, since we were using our bodies.

But I weekly drove away that thought bubble by flailing my hand in the air.

"Anyway, I get it," I said. "But I won’t let you mess me up this night," I added, my face heating up quite a bit as I rolled my eyes down. "We already did it earlier. No more for you today,"

"Awn mm," he pouted, looking at me with puppy eyes and dropped ears.

I looked at him in disbelief.

Was he trying to convince me right now?

Oh gosh, his eyes were glittering and he looked so cute that I could rarely resist.

"Won’t you let me do it just once?" He asked and I gulped.

Once turns into twice and twice turns into...

I shut my eyes, doing my best to resist as my body also began to react when a hand pulled me from behind.

Damar hooked his arm over my neck and wrapped his other arm over my waist.

"Don’t let that cub pester you into doing something you don’t want to." He said to me, baring his fangs at Fenric.

"Ah, I... I know."

Luckily, he came just in time because I was this close to falling into temptation.

Fenric clicked his tongue at how Damar had just interrupted but did not act. Rather, he returned the glare Damar was giving him, causing what looked like lightning to strike between their eyes.

Hm, the tension.

"By the way," Damar said as he broke the glare, looking down at me.

His eyes landed on my necklace and he asked,

"A scale is missing."

I immediately flinched.

I knew he would notice but for it to be so soon... He was so observant.

"Did you lose it?" He asked, but I shook my head.

I would rather tell him that I lent it out for a bit than for him to misunderstand me for losing a precious gift he had given me.

It may make him feel like I do not value what he offered.

"No, I didn’t," I said and then turned, feeling I needed to say this to his face for me to know how he felt about my decision. "Look, Damar, there’s something I wanted to make," I said, my eyes fixed on his. "But it’s quite difficult."

"What is it?"

"It’s something called a pot," I said.

"Pot?"

"Yes, pot. I’ll tell you what it’s used for later but trust me, it’s essential." I said and he nodded.

"I know that the things Ari does are not useless." He said, which gave me a sense of relief. "But how does that concern my scale?"

"Well, to make it is difficult so we needed something sharp and hard like your scale to carve it. I didn’t want to because it’s something precious you gave me, but I really need to make the pot. Plus, since he said he would give it back, I felt it would be all right. I..." My heart was suddenly thundering. "I thought I would’ve gotten it back before you noticed, so as not to upset you. Sorry."

For a few seconds, Damar did not say anything, causing my thundering heart to feel even more uneasy.

It was as if he were searching for the words to use, and once he did,

He cupped my cheeks in his palms and leaned in to kiss my forehead.

"I already gave it to you as a gift." He said. "However you choose to use it is up to you, Ari," he smiled softly at me. "I would’ve been upset if you had lost it, cause that would make me feel that my gift was not up to your taste, but knowing you used it for something important warms me. Thank you, Ari."

Heading him thank me made my thundering heart ease up, and the anxiety that struck me fell into a calm warmth that made me smile.

"I treasure it," I said, softly touching the scales. "After all, having this feels like I have a part of you right by my side at all times."

His face heated up and he slowly leaned in as he whispered my name,

"Ari," he was reaching for my lips, but then Fenric cleared his throat.

"Ahem, now that the misunderstanding is settled, shall we go take a bath?" He had a wide grin, proud that he had interrupted the moment, just as Damar had done to him.

They say revenge is the sweetest when the enemy least expects it. I guess that’s how he feels right now.

But this only creates more tension between them.

Sigh, at this rate, will they ever get along?