Page 67 of Grave Curse

My heart did a silly little twirl before I snatched it up, then took a second to remind myself that I now had a bitchy role to play. Oy.

“Speak of the devil, and the devil appears via a phone call,” I said by way of greeting, smirking a little as I imagined his surprised expression. “I was just telling Ashtray, Mabel and Misty about how you and some weirdo named Red Flag made amess of my shop, and that for once you did the right thing and offered up apology tacos.”

“Ginger’s huffy about you as usual, Tyr, but we’re calming her down with pizza,” Ashtray boomed helpfully, so that Tyr—and everyone else in the store—was clear on the situation.

Tyr’s velvety chuckle made my toes curl. “Do you have me on speaker, Snap?”

“That would be a stupid move. Are you accusing me of being stupid?”

“Oh boy, here we go, Snap and Tyr going for each other’s throats,” Mabel sighed, shaking her platinum blonde head.

Tyr’s low laughter caressed along my nerve endings. “Thanks for letting me know who’s around you. I was just calling to find out what you wanted to do for dinner tonight, but now I think I’m going to have a little fun with you.”

Mayday, mayday. “Before you say another word, just know I’m cooking at home tonight and don’t have time for any of your bullshit.”

“Ooh, a homecooked meal.” The man positively purred his approval, and I had to consciously murder the need to shiver. “Tell me what we’re having tonight, my Gingersnap. I mean, the meal we’re going to have before I make a meal ofyou.”

It was amazing, how utterly blank a mind could go. “Um… well. Not that it’s any of your business, but I’m making my famous parmesan-crusted chicken breasts, Italian green beans with loads of bacon in the instant pot, toasted garlic bread that I’m picking up here, and a nice salad using the last of the arugula, radishes, and cherry tomatoes from my balcony garden. And you’re not invited.” He wassoinvited.

“Sounds delicious, baby girl. I’ll be there by seven, so you can have it ready for me by then, yeah?”

Damn it, the shiver was winning out. “If you insist.”

“I most definitely insist. I also have two requests, and by requests, I mean I want them at all costs. Ready?”

I swallowed. “I’m a pretend-goddess. What do you think?”

I didn’t care that the people around me gave me funny looks. It was Tyr’s delighted laughter that I cared about.

“Okay, my beautiful pretend-goddess. The first request I have is that we eat by candlelight. I don’t give a fuck if no one actually does that kind of thing in real life, I want that romantic shit with you. So pick up some candles, baby. Not the scented kind, just normal ones. The only scent that matters to me is you.”

I so needed to fan myself it wasn’t even funny. “I suppose that’s doable. Next?”

“When you serve our meal tonight, I want you in that black busty thing and thong I picked out for you. And a pair of those fuck-me shoes you love so much,” he added, almost like an afterthought. “Nothing else. Just that. Understood?”

I flushed all the way to my thighs. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“That’s my good girl.” God, how I loved his delighted chuckle. Knowing I pleased him was beyond intoxicating. “Tell me something, Gingersnap.”

“What?”

“Do you like being my good girl?”

For just a moment I closed my eyes. “Very much so. I don’t have the words.”

He made a low sound that made heat bloom between my thighs. “Jesus, woman, just your voice makes me hard, you know that? I’ve got my hand around my dick right now, imagining your lips closing around the dark crown of it. Can you picture that?”

Oh God, oh God, oh God… “Obviously, yes.”

“I want your tongue playing with my piercing, because I can feel that shit way down deep in my shaft, and it feels so good,Ginger. So fucking good.” He groaned through those last words, and I could envision how he looked right now, with his head falling back while he stroked himself. An ache bloomed deep between my legs, where I needed him to be. “Are you wet right now, baby girl? Tell me you’re wet.”

“Mm-hm.” I kept my eyes glued to the paper plate in front of me, so no one would guess there was a party going on in my panties. “All your fault, of course. Whenever that happens, it’s always your fault. No one else. Just you.”

“Poor Tyr,” Ashtray lamented, shaking his shaggy head. “Can’t do anything right in Ginger’s eyes.”

“Oh, I’ll do right by you tonight,” Tyr vowed, and there was a new breathlessness in his tone that made me bite my lip. He was close to coming and damn it, I wanted to see it. More than that, I wanted totakeit—in my mouth, down my throat, between my legs. Being this far from Tyr,myTyr, was almost unbearable. “I’m going to fuck you in ways that’ll make you think that I actually am a god.”

“Swear it to me.” I locked my jaw in place and pushed the words through the barrier of my teeth so I wouldn’t moan along with him. “Swear you’ll do your best, and satisfaction will be guaranteed.”

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