Page 15 of Secondhand Garagyre

Indignationand fury rival for supremacy within me.

How.

Dare.

That.

Fat.

Fuck.

“Consideringyou’re inBradley’spocket, and have been for years.That’sfucking hypocritical coming from you.You’venever respected a woman or her reputation in your life.Sodon’t you dare insinuate thatIam anything less than the honest, law-abiding citizen thatIam.Mypersonal life is just that.MYPERSONALLIFE.Unlessyou have anything further to say to me,Isuggest you leave and tellBradto fuck off for me,”Iend with a furious hiss before continuing.

“Now,I’veasked you to leave twice.Iam in my home, have done nothing wrong, and unless you have a legitimate reason to be here, which you don’t, you need to leave.Ihave no issues submitting an anonymous tip toInternalAffairsto have your entire office investigated.Hopefullyso thoroughly you feel violated.Justlike you violate the rights of citizens, you should protect every damn day.”

Fora second,Gradywavers, as if hemightactually have a conscious, but then his face twist in a vicious sneer. “You’reluckier than you know,Paisley.It’slucky for you thatBradleywants you, and the rest of us can’t touch you.Orelse…” his words trail off menacingly, andIfeelLaithog’sbody tense.

But, with that parting shot,Gradyand his deputies turn to leave.

LaithogandIwatch them as they exit my yard, climb into their vehicle, and leave my property.Wewait until the tail lights have completely faded from sight.Thesecond the lights disappear, the rigidity leavesLaithog’sbody, and he relaxes.

“Littleone,Ifeel as though there is much for you to tell me,” he states as he turns to me, closing the door with his tail as he does so.Thehuman glamour fading to nothing now that our unwanted guest is gone.

Isigh heavily.

“Iwas afraid you were going to say that.”

Chapter Seventeen

LAITHOG

Thehuman maleis not to be trusted.

Imay have been asleep for millennia, but my instincts about beings were never wrong.Themale looks wrong; he smells wrong, and he speaks in hidden innuendos… as well as not so hidden innuendos.Hisvisit visibly alarmedPaisley, even though she hid it well behind affronted bravado, andIneed to know why.Thehuman males could not hear the rapid beat of her heart, or smell the acrid scent of her fear, butIcan.

Iam not at liberty to just kill whomeverIwant, no matter how much they might need killing.Humans.Isneer to myself, always have attachments.Thatthought makes me pause as my eyes slide across the female in front of me.

Well, almost all of them.

Thefact that she is alone deeply troubled me.

After, what is his name?Ah, afterGradyleft, we retreat into her kitchen, where she starts preparing our evening meal, after releasing her little, deformed beasts from their cages.Bothof the disconcerting creatures are loitering in the kitchen, dancingaroundPaisley’sfeet as she cooks, making her smile fondly at them.

IfIlayahantaught me nothing else, she taught me not to prod a female into action until she’s ready.Thispertains to many things.

Talking.

Fighting.

Fucking.

Thelast thought makes my tail curl, but that isn’t the priority of this evening.Ineed to ensurePaisleyis comfortable with my presence in her life beforeIattempt to woo her.

Iam not human, after all.

Paisleykeeps shooting me looks from under her lashes that she thinksIdon’t notice asIsit at her kitchen table.ThechairIcurrently reside in gave her a bit of a giggle.Shehasn’t ever seen someone with wings attempt to sit in a backed chair.Naturally,Iplayed it up a bit in my attempt to bring some levity back to her face.Makinga large display of sitting, fidgeting, and grumbling beforeIturned the chair around for me to straddle it finally softens the firm line of her mouth.

Thesilence that descends is comfortable and lacks the strain from earlier.Iwatch as she flits across the kitchen, and watch with twisted amusement as her wee beast follow her for every single step she takes.Whateverit is she’s preparing smells delicious, and it makes my stomach grumble with hunger.

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