InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Purity 4: Justification ❯ Fairy Dust ( Chapter 21 )

"Are you going to answer me or am I going to rip your damn hands off?"

Kichiro glowered at Bellaniece for another moment before shifting his glare to the man poised behind Bellaniece.  Standing in a protective stance with his hands on Bellaniece's shoulders, Kichiro didn't doubt for a moment that this man was definitely her father, and that he was hard pressed to keep from laying into him straight off.  "Call off your dog, little girl," Kichiro growled.

Bellaniece's gaze narrowed.  "It's fine, Daddy.  He was just leaving."

"Not hardly," Kichiro assured her as he let go of Bellaniece's wrist without taking his eyes off her father.  "Your daughter dragged my sister to a dance club tonight," Kichiro remarked.  "I want her promise that she'll stay the fuck away from my baby sister."

"I assure you, I think I'd know if Bellaniece had—"

"Yeah, I'd think you'd know, too, but apparently you don't.  Keep your hedonistic daughter away from her."

The formidable inu-youkai growled as his eyes darkened.  "I don't think I like your implications, pup, and if you slight Bellaniece again, it'll be for the last time."

"Yeah?  Too damn bad.  Ask your daughter where I found them."

"Them?" Cain echoed.

Kichiro rolled his hand in an impatient gesture.  "Your daughter dragged my sister to a dance club," he growled.  "She was being carted around like the flavor of the month—no thanks to your damn daughter."

Cain crossed his arms over his chest as he glared from Kichiro to Bellaniece and back again.  He seemed a lot more agitated, and Kichiro could only hope he was finally listening.  "I will warn you once more: address my daughter properly or not at all . . . As for your sister . . . What makes you think that Bellaniece twisted her arm into going along?"

"If you knew my sister, you'd realize that Gin isn't the kind of girl who goes bar hopping," Kichiro bit out.

Cain's eyes flared in obvious surprise that he masked quickly enough but not before Kichiro noticed the odd spark.  "Gin?  That's your sister?"

"Yeah, that's my sister."  Kichiro shifted his stance as he regarded the tai-youkai.  "You sound like you know her."

"Well, yeah . . . She's my . . . student."

"Good, then you know that she's not stupid enough to go running around at all hours, and to bars, no less."

"I hate to tell you, pup, but no matter how persuasive Bellaniece can be, she hardly counts as someone who'd twist your sister's arm to make her go along with anything."

Kichiro snorted.  "Keh!  I know that your daughter's a spoiled brat who thought she could manipulate me into doing her friend's reconstructive surgery by paying me with your money and lying to her friend.  Doesn't really speak very well for her; don't you think?"

Cain stalked toward Kichiro as he broke into a low growl meant as a warning.  Bellaniece caught Cain's arm before he could reach Kichiro.  "It's okay, Daddy . . . Dr. Izayoi was born in a bad mood."

Cain shook his daughter's hands off but stopped advancing.  "I should have known.  You're just as obnoxious as your father."

Kichiro was caught off guard by that admission.  "You've met the old man?"

"In passing."

"And you're still standing?  He's taken down better than you.  You'll understand if I don't really think you'd care to cross him, should he find out that your daughter was dragging Gin all over hell's half-acre."

"Good, then you'll understand if I beat the living—"

"Daddy, it's fine!" Bellaniece insisted as she slipped between Kichiro and Cain once more.  "I really think you should leave," she warned, backing up in hopes of forcing Cain to step away.

Kichiro crossed his arms over his chest and snorted.  "I'm not leaving till you swear you'll stay the hell away from my sister," he growled.

"I don't turn my back on my friends, even if their brothers don't approve," Bellaniece ground out.  "So you'll be waiting for that promise for a very long time."

"Will I?" Kichiro countered.

'You know, Kich, her father isn't looking too impressed with you.'

'Not now!'

'Oh, right, so you want me to be quiet so you can get both our asses kicked?'

'Yeah, yeah, that'd be good.'

'Keh!  Fine . . . baka.'

"I think it'd be wise to leave now," Cain pointed out in a calm, controlled tone despite the absolute irritation evident in his darkened expression.

"I'll leave," Kichiro agreed.  "For the record, though, it would be wise to keep your deviant daughter away from Gin . . . for her sake and yours."

"Yeah, and I don't take well to threats, pup.  Best you remember that before I decide that you're beneath my time and trouble and kick your ass for fun."

"I've been threatened by better men than you . . . my old man, for example," Kichiro spouted back.  Maybe it was stupid of him to do such a thing.  Trouble was, he wasn't really thinking clearly.  The desire to lay into the youkai was rapidly fraying the edges of Kichiro's better judgment.  "Your damn daughter smells like a fucking brewery, if you didn't notice . . . You'd do well to leash her before she—"

Cain's movement was little more than a blur of color and a soft breeze of fabricated wind.  Kichiro choked as the youkai slammed him against the wall, his claws closing around his throat.  Kichiro still refused to back down.  "Did I strike a nerve?"

"Daddy!" Bellaniece exclaimed as she tugged on Cain's arm.  "Daddy, stop it!"

"Who the hell do you think you are?  Regardless of what part my daughter played in this, she isn't the only one to blame, no matter what you think.  Give me a reason to shred you."

"Daddy, please!  He's going to do Kelly's surgery!" Bellaniece pleaded.

Cain's grip loosened a little.  Kichiro knocked his hand away and glowered at Cain without sparing a glance at Bellaniece.

"Run your mouth off about Bellaniece again, and she'll not be able to stop me," Cain warned.

"If you really think you can," Kichiro shot back.

Cain erupted in a menacing growl.  Bellaniece put a hand against her father's chest to stop him.  "Good night, Dr. Izayoi," she said tightly as she pushed him back into the hallway and started to close the door.  For a moment, Kichiro considered putting a hand out to stop her but shook his head.  Even if he hadn't necessarily won that round, he had at least made his point.

Glaring at the closed door for another moment, Kichiro finally turned and strode toward the stairwell.

Bellaniece lingered with her hand on the door handle, obviously waiting for whatever tirade Cain could muster.

"So tell me, pup, why do you reek of beer?" he finally asked as he crossed his arms over his chest.

She sighed, slowly turning to face him as she winced just a little.  "Some girl spilled it on me.  I tried to wash it out in the bathroom, but . . ."

Cain nodded thoughtfully.  "All right, I'll buy that."

"I wasn't trying to sell you anything, Daddy."

"Hmm . . ."

Biting her bottom lip as she tried not to fidget, Bellaniece pressed her palms together and tried to look innocent.

"I seem to recall you saying that you and Gin were going to dinner."

Bellaniece grimaced.  "They serve food at the club . . ."

"Bellaniece . . ."

"Daddy, I didn't ask her to go, I promise!  We were shopping earlier, and I mentioned how I'd go dancing and stuff with friends back home, and she . . . She wanted to learn how to dance."

"And the part about Gin being dragged around?" he demanded.

Bellaniece shifted from one foot to the other.  "We-e-ell . . ."

He narrowed his gaze and dropped his chin a notch.

"I was in the bathroom trying to wash the beer off of my skirt.  When I came out, Gin was trying to get away from a guy . . . and she backed into another one or something . . . Nothing happened!  Dr. Izayoi came in, lost his temper, decked the guy, and brought us home!"

"Why did he deck him?"

With a sigh, Bellaniece shook her head and tossed her hands up in obvious defeat.  "Because he's a hot-head.  Honestly, Daddy, Gin was fine!  She's hanyou, and she knows how to protect herself . . . She shoved the first guy away pretty hard—hard enough to indirectly start a fight . . . sort of . . . Anyway, these other guys wanted her to dance with them, and—"

"How the hell many were there?" Cain choked out.

"Well, just those . . . three . . ."

"Oh, God . . ."

"I did tell her that she should only dance with people she knows, so I think that it'd help a lot, and she did have fun, I think—at least till her idiot brother came in . . ."

"Bellaniece, you're babbling," Cain remarked, rubbing his temples furiously as he heaved a heavy sigh, "and you're really not helping, either."

"I'm sorry, Daddy . . . Gin really did want to go, and . . . and honestly, I thought maybe she was joking about her family being so overprotective."

"Obviously not," Cain agreed with another sigh.  "Stay here."

"Where are you going?"

Cain didn't stop walking.  "Where do you think?"

The hallway was empty, and Cain hesitated before knocking on Gin's door.  He didn't sense Kichiro Izayoi's presence—all things considered, a very good thing—and he slowly shook his head before he raised his fist to tap.

It took a minute for Gin to open the door, and when she did, Cain blinked in surprise.  She'd managed to catch him completely off guard again. Greeting him in a thin-strapped crimson silk dress that showed a little too much leg and cleavage as far as he was concerned, and still smelled like the club, she nibbled a stick of chocolate pocky in much the same way that a rabbit would munch a lettuce leaf.  She didn't say a word before turning around and heading back around the bar.

Cain repressed the vicious growl that welled up in his throat upon seeing her retreating form wrapped so nicely in the figure-hugging silk that clung to her in all the right places.  The dress was sophisticated yet simple, and on a girl like Gin, it was absolutely devastating . . .

'She wore that to the dance club?'

Cain winced.  'Yeah, she did . . .'

'Damn, Cain . . . This isn't good.'

'Nope, it sure isn't.'

'. . . Want to go hunting?'

Imaging what the men at the club must have thought wasn't too difficult since Cain was probably thinking about the same thing.  He blinked and flushed when he realized he was growling, and that Gin was warily watching him.  'Yep, I do.'

Two empty pocky boxes were tossed carelessly on the normally immaculate counter, and Gin didn't say anything as she fished another stick of the treat out of the foil packet.

"Bellaniece tells me you were out at a dance club," he finally remarked, struggling for a calm that he was far from feeling since he could smell the reek of those faceless men every time Gin moved.

"She didn't make me go," Gin answered, her tone belligerent, as if she expected Cain to condemn his daughter.  "Don't be angry with her."

"I didn't think she did," he replied, "and I'm not angry with her."

'Liar.'

'I'm not angry with her . . . a little irritated, maybe, but not angry . . .'

"Good," Gin said with a sigh.  Her ears flattened momentarily as she started in on another helpless pocky stick.  "I had fun.  I wanted to go.  I've never gotten to do something like that before."

"Gin, go change," he growled, wrinkling his nose at the lingering stench.  He couldn't think straight, let alone try to control his emotions while she smelled like . . . like . . .

'Like someone else?'

'. . . Yeah.'

"What?"

Cain shook his head.  "Go change," he said again, much louder the second time.

Gin straightened her back and glanced down at her dress.  "There's nothing wrong with this dress," she countered, her eyes narrowing as she met his glower with one of her own.

"There's a lot wrong with that dress, starting with the God-awful stink of it."

Gin opened her mouth and snapped it closed again as she gaped indignantly back at him.  "I don't stink!" she informed him.

Cain snorted.  "Pfft!  That's not what I meant!  You smell like . . . strangers."

Gin snorted, too.  "I like this dress.  I don't feel like changing . . . and you can't make me."

He had to count to twenty-five before he dared to try to reason with her.  Gin finished off the package of pocky and grabbed bag of grape gummies out of the cupboard behind her.  "You're still mad at me about last night?"

She made a face as she ripped open the bag and tore the first packet open.  "Nope."

"If you're not, then why are you acting like you are?"

"Because I wasn't mad at you about last night anymore," she replied.  "Now, I'm mad because you're trying to tell me what to do."

"Fine," he countered, leaning across the counter to sniff her again before turning on his heel and heading for the door.

"Where are you going?"

Cain grasped the handle and twisted.  "To go find whoever thought they could rub their scent all over you."

Gin dropped the bag of gummies on the counter and skittered over to grab his arm.  "Why?"

"Isn't it obvious?  I'm going to kill him—or them . . ."

Gin didn't let go.  "What?  No!  You can't do that!  Cain!" she whined as he tried to shake her off.

"Then change clothes," he demanded.

Gin uttered a frustrated growl and glowered at him for a moment before heaving a sigh as she spun around and stomped off toward her bedroom.

'Congratulations, you've officially sunk to a new low,' his youkai remarked as he watched Gin huff away.

'Shut up.  It worked, didn't it?'

'And if she had called your bluff?  What then?'

Cain made a face.  'Who said it was a bluff?  She changes or I kill whoever thought to rub his stench on her . . . Either way, it's a win-win situation . . .'

'You're such a dog, Cain.'

Cain smiled grimly and tapped his foot as he waited for Gin to come out of her room.  'Woof.'

Bellaniece sighed as she watched her father close the door behind him.  It was worse than him being angry at her.  No, he'd given her 'The Look'—the one that meant that she'd disappointed him, and that somehow made her feel worst of all.

'Duh, Belle . . . you should have known that it was a bad idea, from the start.'

Wandering over to the windows, Bellaniece shook her head as she wrapped her arms over her stomach and stared at the night sky.  'How was I supposed to know that she was dead serious?  I really thought she was . . . exaggerating . . .'

'Gin's too earnest to exaggerate.  No, this was entirely your fault.  Kichiro is really upset with her, and your father . . .'

Bellaniece frowned.  'They're more upset with me, and that's how it should be.'

'Really?  Then you've done a fantastic job.'

'If you really thought I did all that on purpose—'

'That's the point, Belle!  You didn't have to do it on purpose because you just didn't think at all!  You never think, do you?  Even if Kichiro hadn't been upset about it, didn't you think for a moment that your father would be?  You know he cares about Gin!  What if he's over there making an ass of himself because of you?'

Bellaniece winced.  'What was I supposed to say to Gin?  That we couldn't go dancing because she'd upset the very sands of time by doing so?  Oh, please!  They're all overreacting!  Gin's absolutely right.  She isn't a pup anymore, and it's about time everyone figured that out.  I'm not saying she needs to go crazy, but just going dancing?  We didn't do anything wrong . . .'

'Maybe you didn't, but the ones who matter aren't going to listen to your reasoning, either.  Do you really think Kichiro Izayoi is interested in hearing anything other than 'yes, you're right'?  And your father . . . At least he has a reason for not wanting Gin out running around.  It's a wonder he is fighting it so hard.  He's all about her lately.'

Bellaniece finally smiled at that thought.  'He is, isn't he?  He's so . . . He's been different lately; happier . . . He seems more content.  Gin's good for him.'

'It does seem like it, but you might want to put a lid on your optimism.  A lot of things can happen, you know?'

'I know,' Bellaniece agreed as she let her gaze fall to the street below.  Cars crept past like a constantly moving string of Christmas lights under the abrasive fake warmth of the streetlamps.  She noticed the late-model silver sedan still parked in front of the building and grimaced.  'Kichiro's still here?  But why?'

She thought he'd left.  She heard him walk away after she closed the door on him, but that was definitely his car.  'This can't be good,' she thought as she slowly shook her head.  'What if he didn't really leave?  What if he goes back to Gin's apartment?"  Bellaniece's eyes widened, and she stifled a moan.  "On, no . . . Daddy!'

Bellaniece didn't stop to think as she wheeled around and ran for the door.  Pausing outside Gin's door long enough to ascertain that her father was there but Kichiro wasn't, she glanced up and down the hallway as she dug her claws into the palms of her hands.  'Where is he?'

'Quick, Belle . . . maybe he's in the lobby or something . . . Just make sure he doesn't come back up here, or there's going to be more trouble than Cain shoving Kichiro against a wall, and you know it . . .'

'Yes, well, I'm not doing this to save Kichiro Izayoi,' she thought as she sprinted toward the stairs.  'Daddy doesn't need the stress . . . and neither does Gin.'

'Yeah, just move it, Bellaniece!'

He was down there.  She could sense his youki.  Stopping on the stairs just out of sight from the lobby area, Bellaniece sat down on a step and bit her index finger claw.

'Great, he's there.  Now what?' her youkai asked.

'Now we just sit here and make sure he doesn't try going back upstairs,' she reasoned.

'Yeah, okay . . . One problem.'

'What?'

'What if he takes the elevator?'

'He wouldn't—" Bellaniece started then winced.  'Then again, he just might . . .'

'. . . I don't want to go down there.'

Bellaniece sighed softly, letting her head fall against the banister.  'Me, either.'

"What the hell do you want?"

Stifling a groan, Bellaniece stood up and lifted her chin before forcing herself to descent the last flight of stairs.  Kichiro stood at the bottom, arms crossed over his chest, and ears flicking in absolute irritation.  "What are you still doing here?"

Kichiro snorted.  "I was thinking about taking Gin to the old man's house."

"You're really something, you know that?  A real piece of work."

He grabbed her arm as she started to walk past him toward the mailboxes lining the wall near the entrance.  "Where do you think you're going?"

"Take your hands off me," she warned.

"Answer my question."

Injecting as much ice as she could muster into her gaze as she glared pointedly at his hand, still wrapped around her arm, Bellaniece sighed.  "None of your business.  I'm not Gin.  You can't make me do or say anything because you think you have the right."

"Damn, you have a sharp tongue."

"You ain't seen nothin' yet, Dr. Izayoi.  Now if you'd please take your hands off me, because I assure you, my father does not make empty threats."

"Not until you tell me where you're going."

"What does it matter?  You don't care, and even if you did, you don't have the right to ask me anything."

"That's where you're wrong," he countered, grasping her other arm and pulling her around to face him.  "You don't have a damn bit of common sense in that beautiful head of yours, do you, Belle?"

Bellaniece's breath caught with a strangled gasp, and she swallowed hard.  She tried to remember that she needed to breathe, but the air around them seemed to be hissing in her ears, buzzing in her head.  She felt strangely dizzy, and for a long second, she thought she was going to fall.  'Beautiful?  Did he . . . Did he just say . . .?'

"You still reek of beer," he growled, but his voice had taken on a huskier quality as his gaze settled on her lips.  Slightly parted as she managed a few weak, stuttering breaths, she tried to speak as words formed and dissolved under the intensity of his stare.  "Damn it, Belle, why do you have to be so . . .?"

"Let go," she whispered.

"Are you going to run?"

"I never run."

"Yeah, I didn't think you would."

His mouth on hers swallowed her gasp as he dragged her closer.  She didn't think to fight him.  She didn't think that they were in the middle of the lobby where anyone who happened to be coming or going would see them.  She forgot to think at all.  Kichiro's lips were soft, warm against hers.  The initial crush of his mouth softened as she relented, letting her body collapse against his as he let go of her only to wrap his arms around her, instead.

All his abrasiveness faded, and in those moments, Bellaniece wasn't sure what she knew or what she really believed.  She didn't have time to stop or to think.  His lips were too insistent, too persuasive.  Her arms were trapped against his chest, against the ripple of muscles that surged under her fingertips.  He broke down her defenses before she had a chance to construct them, and when his teeth grazed over lips, she shivered as her knees gave way.

Very loud throat clearing broke through Bellaniece's idyll, but it still took a few seconds for the sound to make sense to her.  Kichiro tensed under her hands, though, and with a mumbled curse, he shoved her back.  She stumbled but caught herself on the banister, too dazed to even blush as the middle-aged couple on the stairs they were blocking squeezed past the two.  Bellaniece stared at her hands as she tried to catch her breath, and she couldn't meet Kichiro's gaze.

"You really are stupid, aren't you?" he finally asked as the door closed behind the couple and made Bellaniece grit her teeth.

"I'm stupid?" she echoed, unable to mask the hurt in her tone.  "You're the one who—"

"Yeah, and you're the one who was dumb enough to follow me.  You got what you were after, didn't you?  Go on and run back upstairs now."

She might have laughed if his words weren't so precisely honed to draw blood.  The entire situation was ludicrous.  Maybe she did follow him down, but not to kiss him.  She'd only meant to make sure he didn't go back upstairs to Gin's apartment; that was all . . . "You think I came down here to kiss you?  You arrogant, presumptuous bas—"

"Get over it, Belle.  Why else did you come down here?"

Glancing over her shoulder as she told herself that she would not cry, Bellaniece saw the mailboxes again.  "I came down to check the mail, if it's all the same to you."

Kichiro didn't say anything as she forced herself to walk over to the boxes.  Her hand was shaking so badly she had to enter the combination four times before the little door swung open.  Bellaniece jerked the mail from the box and closed it before making herself walk back to the stairs again.  Kichiro moved to block her path before she could retreat.  "I'll have that promise now."

"Promise?" she echoed with a slight shake of her head.  "What promise?"

Kichiro's smile was dry, dull, lacking any real amusement.  "I want to hear you say you'll stay the hell away from Gin."

"Is that why you kissed me?  So you could coerce a promise out of me that I have no intention of making?"

"Why else would I do something as stupid as kiss you?"

Bellaniece could feel the rush of indignant color rise in her cheeks.  "I see," she bit out as she pushed Kichiro out of the way and hurried up the stairs.

She heard the door slam again as she reached the landing between the second and third floors.  Wincing as the sound echoed in her head, Bellaniece quickened her pace.  If she could just get back into the apartment; if she could only reach the sanctity of the bathroom, of the shower . . . It was the one place where her father wouldn't smell her tears.  It was the one place she dared to let herself go.

Vision blurring as she darted up the stairs, she stumbled but caught herself, and she ran faster.  'Daughter of the tai-youkai . . . You cannot cry . . . You must be strong . . .'

Dashing the back of her hand over her eyes as she sniffled and kept moving, Bellaniece clenched her jaw as she fought in vain to keep the tears from falling.

'And you'll never, ever cry over Kichiro Izayoi . . .'

Gin stomped out of her bedroom with her arms crossed over her chest and a definite pout on her face.  She stopped short when she reached the living room only to find Cain holding up a brand new pair of panties with a distinct scowl as he turned them slowly from side to side.

"They won't fit you," she commented mulishly.  "You'd need much bigger panties than I wear."

"Just checking for the date," he grumbled, red-faced, as he dropped the panties onto the untidy pile on the sofa.  "They're all different."

Gin wrinkled her nose.  "Of course they are.  I didn't know what kind would be most comfortable, so I bought different styles to try out so someone can't make fun of my panties anymore."

"I wasn't making fun of your panties," he argued.  "I was . . . appreciating them."

"You belittled my panties," she retorted.  "You . . . mocked my panties."

Cain tried to look contrite; she had to give him that.  Shifting his mouth to the side as he pressed his lips in a line, he cleared his throat and shrugged.  "Should I say I'm sorry . . . to your . . . panties?"

Gin rolled her eyes and stomped past him into the kitchen, heading straight for the one cupboard that contained nothing but candy.

"Good God, Gin!  How much candy do you have stashed up there?"

"There's not that much in there," she argued as she slammed the door closed and ripped open a candy bar wrapper.  "Sometimes I just want candy; that's all."

Cain reached around her to peek into the cupboard again.  Gin slapped his hand away.  "Stay out of my cupboards, Cain!"

He snorted.  "I just want to see what all you've got stashed away."

She narrowed her eyes dangerously but had to swallow the candy in her mouth before she could answer.  "Don't make me fight you."

"You'd fight me over candy?"

"Yes, I would."

"Why is that?"

Gin shrugged.  "My mama wouldn't let me have much when I was a pup, so now that I'm living here, I get to eat as much as I want."

"Was there a valid reason for you not to have it?"

Gin blinked as she finished off the candy bar and grabbed another.  "I don't know . . . She used to say that sugar made me hyper."

Cain seemed to be thinking that over.  He held out his hand and cocked an eyebrow at her.  "Put the candy down very slowly, and step away, Gin."

Gin shook her head.

Cain wiggled his fingers.

Gin narrowed her eyes and uttered a low growl.

Cain's eyebrows shot up in surprise, and he laughed.  "You're threatening me over candy?"

"It's mine," she informed him.  "Get your own."

"Now, Gin, be reasonable . . ."

"I'll bite you if you try to take it," she warned.

Cain chuckled.  "You know, you're going to make yourself sick."

"That's an old wives' tale," she argued.  "Candy can't make me sick.  Papa said that hanyou don't get sick.  Ever."

Cain heaved a sigh.  "Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you."

Gin sighed, too, as her expression shifted into a very thoughtful scowl.  "Have you ever been dancing, Cain?"

His amusement ended abruptly, and Gin winced.  'Uh oh . . . It was probably a bad idea to remind him, don't you think?'

Gin sighed.  'Probably . . .'

"A long time ago," he admitted.  "Never much cared for the crowds."

"I had fun," she ventured slowly.  "I mean, most of the time, I just danced with Bellaniece."  Gin made a face as she dropped the empty candy wrappers into the garbage can.  "I think it would have been more fun if Kaori hadn't done that . . . thing . . ."

"Who's Kaori?"

"The guy I started dancing with," Gin answered absently as she wiped the counter off with a damp cloth.

"What'd he do?"

Gin tossed the cloth into the sink and frowned up at Cain.  "What'd who do?"

"The guy—Kaori . . . What 'thing' did he do?"

Gin wrinkled her nose and hopped up onto the counter, fiddling with the hem of her pink sundress.  "I don't know how to describe it," she said.  "He just sort of . . . bumped his hips against me."

"He what?"

She shrugged.  "I pushed him kind of hard.  I didn't mean to, but he shocked me, I guess . . ."

Cain looked like he was contemplating mayhem.  Gin reached out and caught his hand.  "Cain . . . would you ever go dancing with me?  I mean, I know you don't like crowds and all that . . ."

He sighed.  "It's been years since I've danced, Gin.  I'd probably step all over your feet."

There was a strange sort of shadow in his eyes, the slight hint of an emotion that she couldn't quite grasp, but his sadness was so real to her that it made her heart ache for him.  She tried to smile.  "It's all right.  It was sort of a stupid idea, anyway."

"It wasn't stupid," he assured her.

Cain was trying to hide his feelings for her sake, she could tell . . . It hurt her.  "It's okay.  I mean, you wouldn't really want to do that, would you?  Go dancing with me?  It was a bad idea, wasn't it?"

"No . . . It wasn't.  It's just—"

"Really, it's fine.  To you, I'm just a silly little girl with . . . ridiculous panties, and—"

"Gin, you don't get it," he cut in with an exasperated sigh.  "I wish I did think of you as nothing but a silly little girl."

"I don't understand.  What do you mean, you—?"

"Damn it!"  Cain moved so fast that Gin gasped.  Leaning on the counter with his hands planted beside her knees, he lowered his head to her, covered her lips with his.

Gin sat, frozen, her mind refusing to understand what was happening.  Eyes wide open in shock, she couldn't seem to understand anything at all.  It was a nice kiss—a really nice kiss.  Cain's eyes were closed, and he gently moved his lips against hers as a foreign sense of wonder ebbed through her.

'Doll!  What are you doing?'

'Huh?'

'Don't just sit there!  Cain is kissing you!'

'Eh?'

'Kiss him back!'

Gin started to kiss him.  He moaned softly and moved in toward her.  She leaned back then squealed, tearing her mouth away as she slid off the counter.  Cain grunted and jerked upright and winced as Gin accidentally ground her heel into his foot.  "Oh, I'm so sorry!"

"No, it's okay," he told her.

Gin wrung her hands.  "I'm such a klutz!"

"I think I'll live."

She sighed and stepped back, unsure what to say as the silence grew thicker, heavier.  She frowned.

"Gin, I—"

"You want to see what I bought today?" Gin broke in, sure he was about to apologize for kissing her.  She didn't want him to do that.  Careening around and hurrying toward the living room, she forced herself to sound cheerful, teasing, as she added, "I mean, you already saw my panties . . ."

Cain sighed.  "Okay, sure," he agreed as he followed her toward the sofa.

Gin held up the black dress and gazed expectantly at him.  "What do you think?  Sophisticated?  Elegant?  Sexy?"  She giggled.  "I think those were the words Bellaniece used . . . maybe not sexy though . . ."

For some reason, Cain looked slightly irritated.  "What else did my daughter say?"

Gin's eyes widened, and she dropped the dress over the back of the sofa, giggling softly as she carefully lifted the gauzy white dress from the garment box.  "I don't really think I'll wear this anywhere, but . . . It'd look really nice with the wings."

Cain stared at the dress for several seconds, a thoughtful light brightening his gaze.

Gin held it up to her shoulders.  "Bellaniece said that the dress reminded her of a fairy princess from her story books."

"Yeah, I guess so . . . I painted one of her walls back home: a giant mural of a fairy kingdom, with Princess Bellaniece standing on the battlements of the Fairy King's castle . . . Her dress looked a lot like that one."

"Wow . . . You really love her."

"Sure.  She's my daughter."

Gin nodded, staring down at the dress.  "Some day I'll show you this dress with the wings."

Cain smiled.  "I'd like that."