Page 11 of Gratification in Gluttony

Jude laughed. “Yes, ma’am, quite sure.”

“I just want to gobble you right up, but I’m a lady, and I’ll restrain myself.” She waved a hand at one of the servers, who rushed over with a shot of something bright pink and bubbling. “Bring it quickly, dear, before I devour him right here on the stage.”

“Leave some for the rest of us,” Toni shouted, and the crowd laughed. Oliver punched Toni in the shoulder, barely missing his fin. Jude shot him a chiding, half-hearted glare. Toni waggled his brows in response.

The audience cheered as The Madame took the shot from the waiter and nestled it between her ample bosom. To his credit, Jude didn’t hesitate. He popped onto his toes as the Orc bent down as much as she could without spilling the shot.

Oliver cheered, and Toni whistled. Gem started chanting Jude’s name, and the rest of the crowd took up the call. Entire head flushed in embarrassment, Jude buried his face in The Madame’s breasts and closed his mouth around the shot glass, then tipped his head back and swallowed it.

The crowd brayed their approval, even as Jude coughed and sputtered. The Madame ate up the praise, thanking Jude for his good humor and sending him off the stage with a jovial slap to his ass. It nearly toppled the human down the stairs, but Toni scrambled out of his chair and grabbed his arm to steady him. Grinning loosely, Jude waved at the cheering crowd and allowed Toni to guide him back to the booth.

“I don’t know what was in that shot,” Jude said to Oliver as everyone scooted in to make space for him at the end of the booth. “But it was strong.”

Oliver laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. Jude took a gulp of his whiskey sour. Now that they were technically sitting next to each other—Jude at the end of the booth, Toni in his chair—Toni could more easily study him. He was short, shorterthan Rusty even if Toni had to guess, with a darker complexion than Oliver.

Feeling a little creepy, Toni dropped his gaze to Jude’s flat chest. It looked like a normal chest to him, but what did he know about humans? Sure, he’d seen human porn, so he had a basic grasp on human anatomy, but he wasn’t an expert.

He thought breasts were only for human females, but Jude was definitely a guy, given his pronouns and stuff. So maybe human genders weren’t so cut and dry. Which made sense. There were plenty of Hellian species with more than two genders, and some species with only one. There were even species that changed or chose their gender, depending on the needs of the community or personal gender identity.

Toni glanced at Tad. He hadn’t known her as an Anurlet, so she’d always been female to him. But she’d had to choose her gender when she hit puberty, like all Anura did. Maybe humans were the same way.

Wanting to know for sure, Toni stretched out his leg and nudged Jude’s knee. The human glanced his way out of the corner of his eye but didn’t turn to face him. Instead, he took another sip and focused on the stage where The Madame was wrapping up her set.

Annoyed at being ignored, Toni said, “Pst, Jude.”

Jude bit his bottom lip but still didn’t face him.

With a growl, Toni nudged Jude’s leg again, making the human huff in exasperation before turning toward him. “Can I help you?”

Balancing on the back legs of his chair, Toni couldn’t help but give the cute, little human a flirtatious onceover. “Trust me, baby, I think you can do more than help me.”

“Ew,” Oliver whined from his spot beside Jude.

Dark brows rose into the curls falling over Jude’s forehead. “Is that so?” He returned the onceover, and Toni felt every inchof it like a physical touch. It made the fins on his arms flutter. Unfortunately, Jude looked much less impressed with what he found than Toni hoped. “You look to me like the kind of guy that canhelphimself.”

Toni hissed between his teeth. “Now why you gotta go and wound me like that?”

Jude smirked, eyes dancing with mirth. “Honestly, I think a check to your ego will be good for you. Think of it as a teaching moment. You know, for personal growth.”

Oh, this human had spunk. Toni liked that; he liked that a lot. “Well, sweetheart, I think you’ll find I’m a very eager student. For the right teacher, that is.”

“I am so uncomfortable right now,” Oliver muttered morosely.

Ignoring him, Toni swirled the liquid in his glass, never breaking eye contact with Jude as he added, “And you’ll be impressed with all mygrowth, I promise.”

Oliver grimaced. “Dude, gross!”

Jude, on the other hand, burst into laughter, and Toni preened, taking a swig of his drink. It burned all the way down, settling hot in his belly.

“Wow, that was—wow,” Jude took a sip of his whiskey-sour. “I can tell you’re gonna be about as subtle as a bulldozer.”

“I don’t know what a bulldozer is. Is it sexy?” Toni waggled his brows, bringing another chuckle from Jude.

“Sure,” he said.

“Then I’m a bulldozer, baby,” Toni said haughtily, and Jude shook his head and rolled his eyes. But he was smiling, and it made Toni feel things. And not just dick things. Other things. Like,feelingthings.

“You’re something alright,” Jude said, though it didn’t sound like an insult. It didn’t sound like a compliment either, but Toni would roll with it.

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