[BL] I Didn't Sign Up For This-Chapter 33: In Which I Learn Jealousy Is Highly Inconvenient II

Chapter 33: In Which I Learn Jealousy Is Highly Inconvenient II

"I’m not possessive!"

"You wanted to break her hand every time she touched my arm."

"That’s not.. how did you...."

"The binding, I felt everything you felt. Every spike of jealousy, every possessive thought." His thumb brushed my cheekbone. "It was quite illuminating."

I wanted to die, to just sink into the floor and cease to exist.

"In my defense," I said, "she was being deliberately provocative."

"She was. Succubi enjoys causing jealousy, feeding on the emotional chaos it creates." His expression sobered. "Which is why I need to tell you something. Lirien and I have... history."

The jealousy spiked again, I tried to control it, but from Azryth’s expression, I failed miserably.

"Define history," I said carefully.

"Before my exile, we had an arrangement, mutually beneficial. Physical, not emotional, it ended when I was sealed." He was watching me closely. "She’s attempting to rekindle that arrangement. I’m not interested."

"Because of the binding?"

"Among other reasons." His hand dropped from my face. "The binding makes casual physical relationships... inadvisable, the emotional bleed-through creates complications. And besides..."

"Besides what?"

"I’m not interested in her anymore." He said it simply. "Whatever appeal she had centuries ago, it’s gone. I have more pressing concerns."

"Like the Covenant trying to kill me?"

"Like the confusing and increasingly complicated relationship with my accidentally possessive husband." His eyes met mine. "Who is apparently very bothered by the idea of me with someone else."

"I’m not..." I stopped. "Okay, fine. I’m bothered. Happy?"

"Oddly, yes." He moved toward the door. "Come on, we have training in two hours, and I need to make some calls."

"Calls about what?"

"About getting Lirien Shade transferred to our London office, immediately. Permanently."

I stopped walking. "You’re transferring her? Because she flirted with you?"

"I’m transferring her because she made you uncomfortable. Because she openly challenged our relationship, because she’s now a security risk." He held the door open. "And because the thought of her touching me clearly upsets you, and I find I care more about your comfort than her board contributions."

Heat burned through my cheeks.

"That’s... kind of extreme," I said.

"I’m an extreme person, you should know this by now." He guided me toward the elevator. "Besides, she violated professional boundaries, made another board member’s spouse uncomfortable. There are grounds for relocation."

"Another board member’s spouse being me."

"Precisely. You’re protected by corporate policy now, isn’t bureaucracy wonderful?"

We rode the elevator down in silence. I was processing the fact that Azryth was reorganizing his company because I’d been jealous.

"You don’t have to transfer her," I said finally. "I can handle some flirting."

"I know you can, but you shouldn’t have to." The elevator doors opened. "You’re dealing with enough, the Covenant, training, power development, adjusting to this life. You don’t need to also deal with a succubi trying to poach your spouse."

Spouse. He kept using that word more naturally, like it meant something beyond legal contract.

We reached the car. The drive back to the penthouse was quiet, but comfortable.

"For the record," Azryth said as we pulled into the garage, "I appreciate the jealousy, even if it was irrational."

"How is it irrational?"

"Because Lirien Shade could offer me nothing I don’t already have. Or want." He parked, turned to look at me. "You’re infinitely more interesting than casual physical encounters with a succubi I’ve known for centuries."

"Because of the binding?"

"Because of you." He said it with certainty. "The binding makes proximity pleasant, but it doesn’t make your personality engaging. Your sarcasm is entertaining, your determination is admirable, your unexpected possessiveness is flattering."

My cheeks feel warm.

"Oh," I said quietly.

"Yes. Oh." He got out of the car. "Now come on, we have training, and I want to see if your jealousy translates into more powerful strikes."

"That’s not how powers work!"

"Isn’t it? Strong emotion amplifies infernal energy, jealousy is a very strong emotion." He was definitely smiling now. "This should be an interesting session."

He was right. It was interesting.

I knocked him through a wall twice.

"Excellent," he said, pulling himself out of the Riven-shaped dent in the concrete. "Your emotional control is improving remarkably."

"I’m not controlling it, I’m channeling jealousy into violence!"

"Same result." He settled back into a fighting stance. "Again. And this time, really picture Lirien touching my arm."

I hit him so hard he crashed through two walls.

"Perfect!" he called from somewhere in the rubble. "Very controlled destruction!"

By the end of training, I was exhausted, the gym was a disaster zone, and Azryth looked more satisfied than I’d ever seen him.

"This is now my favorite training session," he announced. "We should make you jealous more often."

"Or you could just not let succubi flirt with you."

"Also a valid strategy." He was brushing dust off his shirt. "Though less effective for power development."

"You’re ridiculous."

"And you’re territorial, we’re both learning new things about ourselves." He moved closer, and despite the fact that we’d just spent two hours with me throwing him into walls, there was something gentle in his expression. "I have no interest in Lirien Shade or anyone else, the only person I want touching me is you."

The admission hit harder than any of my training strikes.

"Oh," I said again, eloquent as always.

"Yes." He reached out, took my hand. "So no more jealousy. Understood? You’re the only one I’m interested in, bound or not."

The binding sang between us.

"Okay," I managed.

"Good. Now shower, you smell like jealousy and destruction."

"That’s not what those smell like!"

But I was smiling as I headed for the showers, and through the binding, I felt his satisfaction, his pleasure at my jealousy, at my possessiveness, at the fact that I cared enough to be bothered.

We were definitely not just bound anymore.

We were something else.

Something more.

Something that made jealousy irrational but also entirely reasonable.

"I really didn’t sign up for this," I muttered under the shower spray.

But the words were automatic now, habit more than complaint.

Because the truth was, jealousy and all, I was exactly where I wanted to be.

With someone who transferred board members because they made me uncomfortable, with someone who found my possessiveness flattering instead of concerning, with someone who wanted only me touching him.

The sigil pulsed warmly on my wrist.

Yeah.

Definitely didn’t sign up for this.

But I wasn’t mad about it.

Not even a little bit.