Ruthless Creatures by J.T. Geissinger

“Not that.”
His voice is serious, so I turn and look up at him. The
expression on his face is one I haven’t seen before. The
tenderness I’ve seen, but there’s a hesitance, too. Like he’s
worried how I’ll react to something.
“What is it?”
“Look and see. It’s in my pocket.”
I glance down at his gray sweats. The only bulge I see is
right up in front. “You don’t have to play games to get me to
grab that sucker.”
He sighs. “Just put your hand in my left pocket.”
Smiling up at him, I say, “Fine. We’ll do it your way.”
I snake my hand into his pocket, pretending to look for
some treasure that obviously isn’t there, or I’d be able to see
the outline of it through the fabric.
“A-hunting we shall go…let’s see, here’s a nice piece of
lint.” Wrinkling my nose, I flick the link off my fingers and
start digging again. “And here’s a very meaty sort of man part.
What is that—a hip?”
“Lower,” he says, his voice soft.
Frowning at him, I delve all the way to the bottom of his
pocket, until my fingers find something.
Something small, round, and metal.
My pulse thrumming along my nerve endings, I withdraw
the object and hold it up. Then I stare at it with wide eyes,
parted lips, and a profound sense of shock.
Kage takes the ring from me and slips it onto the third
finger of my trembling left hand.
He murmurs, “It’s a Russian love knot. The three
interlocking rings signify different aspects of devotion. White
gold is soft. It molds to the hand, the way love molds two
people together. Yellow gold is hard, the way true love is hard
against anything that tries to break it. And rose gold is rare.”
He looks deep into my eyes. “Like what we have between us.”