Page 36 of Settle Down, Princess

I smiled artlessly, as if embarrassed by the memory of the other night. I was, in fact, mildly horrified by what I’d done but thinking about that now wouldn’t help me.

“Would you like to try it, then?”

As Creed edged closer, Arik pulled away from the bar with a hiss.

“I’m going to order us up some grub from the serving girl.”

You do that, I thought, glad to be rid of him. I didn’t need those eagle eyes of his observing everything I was doing.

“If you wouldn’t mind…?” I said, sliding my hand across the bar.

“That won’t mix well with the wine,” the innkeeper warned, but I ignored that well-meaning advice. I kept my eyes on Creed because it was time to start luring this puppy closer.

Creed lifted the glass to hand it to me, but my hands wrapped around his. His skin felt shockingly hot against mine as I brought the glass up to my mouth. I was conscious that I had a witness to this terrible display but reassured myself I’d never see the innkeeper again, so if he thought me some common slattern, seducing the help, it didn’t matter. Because that’s what I was trying to do as I stared into Creed’s eyes and watched them shift from their normally reassuring hazel to a strange yellowish green. I put my lips to the rim and then parted them slowly, taking a mouthful and swallowing.

“Oh!”

That was an entirely spontaneous response. My eyes went wide as I tasted the stout. The beer at The Siren’s Call had been thin, bitter, and harsh, the aftertaste only rounded out by the roseblood. But this? It was thicker, darker, more full-bodied, and yet strangely smooth.

“You’ve got a little froth…”

Creed’s lips twitched and the others burst out laughing as he reached over with his thumb and brushed it across my top lip. He showed me the thin white foam that coated the pad before he pushed his thumb into his mouth and sucked it clean. It was an intimate gesture, exactly the kind of response I wanted. So why did I watch, as if mesmerised, when his lips appeared from behind that dense beard, then were gone again?

“Would the lady like a stout, instead?” the innkeeper asked, and I whirled around, ready to snap at him for distracting me before I collected myself. I forced a smile in the face of his knowing look.

“It’s too much of a drink for me,” I replied, then held my glass up.

“I’ve found us a table,” Arik said, appearing beside the group.

“If you could send a bottle of wine over to the table, I’d appreciate it,” I told the innkeeper.

“Needing a little Lanzenian courage to get you through whatever you have planned for tonight?” Arik asked me, as we wound our way through tables packed with men. Men who were drinking, eating, and chatting at the end of the working day. Men who might be amenable to earning some extra coin helping me. “I’ve got a pouch of roseblood in my pocket if you need some help.”

“What need would I have for courage?” I replied crisply as if I wasn’t planning to make my escape tonight. “I’m going to laze around in a hot bath until my fingers turn to prunes and then eat a hearty meal before going to bed.”

“Alone?”

I paused at that, and he turned to look at me with a smile. Creed might be able to take the form of a wolf, Silas might carry knives all over his person, and Roan might have his massive sword, but out of them all, Arik was the most dangerous. He was too perceptive, and those keen eyes of his saw everything.

“Are you offering to share a bed with me?” My hand went to my chest, my fingers designed to draw his attention right where I wanted them.

Yet my attempt at seduction failed utterly. That sardonic smile was there again, mocking my assumptions.

“I don’t spend more than one night in any woman’s bed,” he told me. “So if you wanted something from me, you should’ve taken it last night. It’s a difficult thing, though, to deny myself the opportunity of listening to your kittenish little sighs as you reach your peak.”

His grin widened as my cheeks flushed far hotter than they had on roseblood.

“Well, perhaps you can press your ear to the wall between our rooms and listen to them as I master what you lot fumbled through.” I wiggled the fingers not wrapped around the stem of the wine glass. “If you want a job well done, you’re best off doing it yourself.”

“Or with the help of someone who promises to listen very closely to your exacting instructions.”

Silas came up beside me as if out of nowhere, and his eyes danced with amusement as he offered me his arm. That was fine. No, more than that. It was good. If he sought my attention, it would make my job tonight all the easier.

“But do men truly listen to women?” I leaned in closer, as if our conversation was conspiratorial. “Is it possible for them to actually see us, really hear us, beyond the dense wall of assumptions they have about the fairer sex.”

“Some do.” Silas escorted me over to the table, pulling the bench out slightly so I could take my seat. “That was the nature of my training in The Guild. We seek to see what actually is, rather than what people assume is before them.”

Which made him dangerous. I forced myself to keep smiling as I considered that piece of information while the others took their seats.

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