Page 8 of Howl for the Gargoyle

I leaned back, some of the dust in the ruff of fur around his throat puffing into the air. It was an aphrodisiac, and it tended to accumulate on the moth fae when they neared their quarterly mating cycles every few months.

Astraeya didn't bother disguising her eye roll. "I'll see what I can do. Have you considered maybe you ought to be the one hiring the service?"

Elias's nose wrinkled, and his antennae drooped. "I can find my own sex. I want work, a fun puzzle."

Elias was the only partner at MSA who picked his own clients. I didn't know what he meant by puzzle, but Astraeya must have, because she nodded and started to turn back to her desk.

"I'll watch the intake forms for you. Come in, Rafe."

Elias huffed at the dismissal, but he moved out of my way and left without another word. I rounded Astraeya's desk, helping myself to a seat.

"Good news or bad news?" I asked.

"Good, I think," Astraeya said, glancing up from a folder, not pretending to miss the meaning of the question. "You got good scores on your last appointment, and I have a new client for you."

It was good news—a relief, actually. Be excited, I reminded myself, but the words rising to my lips weren't thankful.

"What kind of client?" I asked.

Gargoyles and humans were technically compatible, but it required a lot of control on the gargoyle's part to keep from hurting the human. I wasn't interested in holding myself back, so I skipped the human clients who flocked to MSA.

"Fairly new werewolf," Astraeya said.

I reached a hand up to cover the frown that fought its way onto my lips. "Full moon?" I asked.

"Before, yes."

I nodded. I'd had werewolf clients in the past who needed to burn off libido and aggression before a full moon. Sometimes during. They were rough and dominant, and seemed to enjoy the freedom that came with an impervious partner—claws, fangs, and all. I'd just had one werewolf client cancel with me recently because they'd mated. It made sense for MSA to find me a new one. And with recent cancellations, I couldn't really justify turning this one down.

"Less than a year into her transformations. She's…she's interesting," Astraeya said, flipping through her file. "In the initial interview, she was primarily concerned with not being able to hurt her partner. We did an early arousal response test, and it's definitely not typical werewolf stimuli, although we are a couple weeks out from the full moon, so maybe that's not so present at the moment."

My hand slid from my mouth. "What do you mean?"

Astraeya's mouth hitched in a half smile, and she shrugged. "See for yourself."

I leaned forward, accepting the tablet from her and turning it to face me. MSA tested arousal in clients by giving them visuals and text scenarios, asking for them to be rated on a scale of one to five.

"Conversation," I said, eyebrows bouncing up. "She's rating higher in mental stimulation than visual?"

"She made us some notes about what seems to trigger her libido near the full moon, but her normal scores are definitely more intellectual than physical. Romantic too. Intimate. I'll make sure she does a second stimuli response test the day of the appointment, but I figured I'd show you these since they're outside your usual wheelhouse."

I smirked. "Ast, are you saying I'm not intellectual?"

"I'm saying your clients don't usually give you a lot of opportunity to make conversation," Astraeya pointed out, clicking sharp black painted nails against her desktop. "What do you think?"

"Think?" I asked, and then scoffed at myself. Maybe I wasn't very intellectual. "About the client?"

"Do you want to work with her, or should I ask someone else?"

I pulled up the file of the images she responded most positively to. Muscular and veined forearms, lush interiors, a full window of plants, a throat exposed by an undone collar. I paused on one image. It was a plate of food, fancy like in some kind of five-star advertisement or cookbook, roasted carrots and a dribble of sauce, puffs of puree dotted around the edge.

"I want to work with her," I said.

This was what Elias was talking about when he said he wanted a puzzle, I realized. A woman booking a sex worker to help her deal with new aggression and hormones, but one who got turned on by fine dining, luxury, and small physical details. If her werewolf urges weren't leading the way for our appointment, I would have to…seduce her. I couldn't remember the last time I'd had to put much effort into prepping a client.

My eyes narrowed as I flipped through the images again.

Shit. I might need to ask Elias for advice. He'd be so smug.

---