35. Buying jewelry
Lucy
“What’s hard about it?” I asked. “Am I making things difficult for you?”
His eyes twitched. “You really think all we want from you is sex?”
I blinked. “No.”
His eyes brightened. “Really?”
“You said you wanted children,” I said, looking away. “I thought that was… why all the sex.”
He looked like he’d been gutted. “What about… the time at the bar? We protected you. That guy was going to take you from us.”
I blinked. “You bought me for a lot of money….”
“Lucy,” Matt groaned. “You’re our mate. That doesn’t matter.”
I blinked at him. “Okay.”
His eyes twitched again. He looked more frustrated by the second. He stuffed some more ice cream in his mouth.
When he was done, he threw the empty cups in the trash and pulled me away from the area. I could feel how frustrated he was with the way this was all going. Soon, we reached a store with a bunch of jewelry on display, and he pulled me inside.
“What’s your favorite color?” Matt asked.
“Yellow.”
He turned back and pulled me up against him. His expression had lost all of its usual teasing as he looked down at me. His jaw was tense. He looked angry.
“Stop,” Matt said. “You don’t have to lie or pick something at random. I can tell, and it won’t make anyone feel better. Just say you don’t have one.”
I dropped my gaze. “I don’t have one.”
“Better,” he said and turned towards the sales clerk.
I looked out the window and saw the two women looking around. Then the woman’s friend turned and looked at me. She tapped her friend’s shoulder. The woman turned to look at me just as something cold touched my head. I turned and looked up at Matt. He stared at the thing he’d placed in my hair. Then, he shook his head. He took it off and replaced it with another one. Then, he smiled.
“This one.” Matt turned to the clerk. “Are there matching pieces? I’d like to see them.”
“Of course. I’ll be right back.”
I looked up at him. “I don’t want to lose another one.”
“Lose it, and we’ll just buy you another one,” Matt said, cupping my face. “You’re our mate. Buying jewelry is the least of it.”
The woman came back with a velvet box filled with silver and emerald jewelry. He picked up an earring and held it up to my ear. Then, he blinked.
“Your ears aren’t pierced,” he said.
“We do piercing in-house,” the clerk said.
“That would be great!” Matt said and set the earing back in the box. He removed the hairclip from my hair and set it back in the box too.
It had a lot of emeralds and diamonds in it. Then, he led me over to the chair.
“I’ll pick out some studs,” Matt said, easing me into the chair. “Oh, man. Tony’s going to be so excited. We can—”
He broke off with a dreamy smile and shook his head. “Never mind. You’ll see. I’ll be back!”
Matt hurried away. The woman smiled at me and adjusted the chair.
“It must be nice to have such a wealthy boyfriend.”
“He’s not my boyfriend,” I said.
The woman laughed like I’d told a joke. “Oh, I see… Well, that would explain the age difference… Be sure to enjoy it while you can, hm?”
Matt returned with a set of diamond studs set in silver. The woman took them and started fiddling with something on a tray next to the chair. Matt looked excited. The woman dropped the studs into a small container of liquid before putting on gloves and opening a plastic bag full of tools.
“All the jewelry sets, the nice ones anyway, come with earrings,” Matt said.
“That’s absolutely true. Almost all of our limited-edition collections come with earrings. It’s always such a shame when people come in without pierced ears.” The woman started rubbing my ears with something that smelled like alcohol. “I’ll be right back.”
She walked away, and he scooted closer with a bright grin.
“Tony’s going to be so jealous that I bought your first set. He’s never going to let it go. It’s nice to be able to do these kinds of things when he can’t.”
“I thought silver hurt werewolves,” I said.
Matt frowned. “It does.”
“Is it because I’m a half-breed that I can wear silver?”
He blinked and scoffed. “Right. I forgot. No… or at least, I don’t think so. These aren’t silver. They’re platinum. Can’t you tell the difference?”
I looked at the earring in the liquid. “They both look silver to me.”
I glanced back toward where the woman went.
“What is she doing?”
“She’s going to pierce your ears,” Matt said and sat back. “So, you can wear them.”
I winced. “Pierce? Like stab?”
Matt laughed. “It’s not like getting stabbed. It’ll only hurt for a little bit.”
My stomach churned. I gripped the arms of the chair, and the woman came back. I sucked in deep breaths, but it wasn’t helping. Fear welled up in me and made me go cold.
“Relax,” Matt said. His voice was soft, but I couldn’t.
I felt his hand trying to pull mine off the chair, but I didn’t let go. My breathing picked up, and I closed my eyes. Soon, I felt her leaning over me. I didn’t want this, but what choice did I have? My heart started racing. I smelled something like the start of a fire, and the sound of the mall vanished.
Then, I saw flashes of moonlight in my eyes. I smelled the forest and saw the trees from my dream shifting around me. Everything felt like it was floating. A face I couldn’t quite make out was leaning over me. Fire danced on the trees and turned the leaves red. I smelled smoke. I felt the sharp prick of something in my ear. Then, I felt it across my entire body, like I had been speared by a thousand sharp points. I smelled the forest again. Then, I felt the sharp prick of something in my other ear. The sound of rushing water and screaming filled my ears. Then, a wave of cold washed over me, starting at my ears, and everything went quiet. For a long moment, I heard nothing. I felt nothing, and it was almost a relief.
“Lucy?” Slowly, I opened my eyes and saw Matt looking down at me. He looked down at me, his gaze focused on my ears. “They look good on you.”
I blinked up at him, and he stroked my hair.
“Not so bad, hm?” Matt asked and helped me out of the chair. “Do you want to see?”
I shook my head. “I’m fine.”
“They really do suit you,” the woman said as she offered me a little bag. “This is all stuff to take care of your ears while they heal. You’re pretty young, so give it a week or so. The instructions are in the bag.”
“Thank you,” Matt said, taking the bag as I swayed on my feet a little. My stomach lurched. My heart pounded, but the pain was starting to dull until I only felt the throbbing in my ears.
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