Page 24 of Bombshell

Pinch me, I must be dreaming.

And then Byrne had to open up his big, dumb lion-toothed mouth.

“Damn, you’re quite the bombshell, aren’t you?”

Chapter 7

“Damn, you’re quite the bombshell, aren’t you?” the furry asshole who’d strolled into my shop looking like he’d just stepped out of a Billabong catalog commented as he watched the swish of Effie’s frilly skirt.

I already didn’t like the man who’d come to respond to the ad that we’d put up months ago and this comment sealed my opinion of him.

It had been enough to walk into the lobby to see his eyes raking up and down the length of my mate, taking in the frilly, floral dress she was wearing and her green hair piled high on her head, but it was another thing for him to actually comment on it.

Effie wasmineand I knew for a fact this pussycat could smell my scent on her, and yet he still had the audacity to try and flirt with her regardless. Lion beastmen were the most notorious flirts of the supernatural animal kingdom—it was one of the reasons why the lioness beast women ran the show. Nothing would ever get done if these horny cats had control.

Stepping between Byrne and Effie, I cut off the man’s view of her rear end as she huffed and mumbled under her breath abouthow stupid we men were. At this point I couldn’t even really argue that point.

“If you want an interview here, then I suggest you watch yourself, Simba,” I growled, crossing my arms over my chest as I stared him down.

Or tried to stare him down. Much to my displeasure the guy stood a head taller than me.

Eons ago the Cthulhu race could grow to be as tall as the tallest trees in the forest… but evolution affected us all and thousands of years of crossbreeding left us relatively human sized.

Bryne looked down his flat nose at me and I was half-tempted to see if I could kick his ass even if I was shorter than him.

Then Effie slipped her hand into mine and I could feel her discontent with the situation through the tentative edges of the mental bond we shared.

The same one I still had yet to tell her about. All Cthulhu had some level of mental magic, but it usually required a strong relationship between me and the other person. Effie was the only person who I could sometimes speak to with my mind, though Cash could feel my emotions if I stood close enough to him. My control over it had been slipping as of late, my mind slipping into Effie’s for a flash while we made love allowing me to talk to her but also feel the turbulence of her indecision about us actually being together. It was why I didn’t force the issue of it last night when Effie had stopped me mid-confession.

“Just leave it, Dall, we need a piercer,” Effie whispered in my ear, making me shudder from the closeness of her lips and chasingaway the anger and my thoughts about our special mental connection.

“Do we need this one?” I asked, my voice almost a whine.

“Yes,” was her simple reply as she led the way into the back office which, to be fair, really did need a good scrub down…

And maybe some new furniture.

And potentially a fresh coat of paint.

I hadn’t really done much with it upon buying the shop and all of the decorations were original to when the building had been built.

Effie gestured for Byrne to sit at the old leather couch that I sometimes used to nap when I didn’t want to go down to my grotto and then she settled into my desk chair, leaving me to either sit next to the cat on the couch or stand.

I chose the latter, going to hover behind Effie like some kind of sentinel watchdog as I continued to glare at the lion man who was making himself far too comfortable on my couch.

No one spoke for a long time and we all stared at each other until Effie reached back and gave my hand a pinch, clearly telling me that I should be the one to do the interview.

“So,” I began, clearing the growl out of my voice. “What is your experience with piercing supernatural creatures?”

We needed someone who could pierce supernaturals more effectively than we could, and if that meant pushing my petty possessiveness out of the way, then so be it.

“As I said before the Leonidas family values body modifications so we’ve developed several methods ofpiercing that help slow the healing of supes so that their piercings don’t reject—I also worked at O’Malley’s while I was in university in London and pierce everything from fae wings all the way to dragon’s nostrils when they’re in dragon form,” Byrne sat back, his arms crossed proudly over his chest. “You won’t find a better piercer than me that isn’t already attached to a shop.”

I recognized the name O’Malley almost immediately. That shop was run by an ancient, grumpy troll that had been alive since the bronze age and had also been tattooing about as long—though he’d long since moved on from the original stick and poke method. I had been lucky enough to study under him when I first became interested in body art in the late 1700s and if Byrne had worked for O’Malley, then I knew he was worth his weight in gold.

But I still couldn’t shake the feeling that the lion beast man sitting in front of us was going to bring even more chaos to our already chaotic lives.

Frowning at him, I repeated my earlier question about his family. “You’re Leonidas, your family has more money than they know what to do with. Why do you need a job here? We certainly don’t pay that well.”

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