Page 81 of Bourbon & Blood

“Everyone’s been lovely,” I confessed.

“They know you goin’ through it,” he said and dropped into a vacant camp chair near me, palming the inside of my thigh.

I squeezed my legs together, trapping his fingers and chuckled a little and he smiled at me faintly.

“You needin’ some cock already?” he asked, and I laughed and nodded.

“I can wait, I promise,” I said.

He wiggled his hand and squeezed the top of my thigh and said, “You can ride me as long as you need to tonight, cher.”

“I like the sound of that,” I confessed softly, as plates loaded, Chainsaw and Louie made their way this way, beers in their other hands.

“Boys,” La Croix intoned. “Meet my little Alina. Alina, these are the last of my boys. The big bastard here is Chainsaw, and this one’s Louie.”

I shaded my eyes. “Louie has to be only the second normal sounding name I’ve encountered so far,” I said.

“Ah, yes ma’am, but it’s short. It’s short for Loup Garou,” he said.

“Goodness!” I said. “I’d ask, but I know it’s improper.”

Louie grinned at me and said, “It’s ‘cause I seen one.”

Chainsaw sat down on the ground and rolled his eyes.

“Sure, you did,” he said and shoveled a gar cake in his mouth.

“You ain’t got to believe me,” Louie said. “I know what I saw, though.”

I smiled a little bigger and held out my book. “I was just reading about swamp lore and just got to the part about the roux-ga-roux,” I said.

Chainsaw was big, like La Croix, only taller and with a layer of fat over his muscle that made him appear softer somehow. I didn’t believe he was for a minute. Not with a name like Chainsaw. Although he seemed a lot more jovial than the rest of the men of the Voodoo Bastards, sort of along the lines of Hex and Saint.

La Croix’s daddy shouted something our way again and La Croix ignored him.

“Worthless bastard,” came out of his mouth and I stiffened, sitting up.

“Did he just—?”

“Just ignore him, cher. He’s drunk as fuck.” La Croix shifted in his seat and gave my leg a squeeze.

“I don’t care!” I said. “You’re his son. He shouldn’t talk about you like that.”

I scowled and stared past the men sitting with me in the direction of the bitter old man.

“Eh, yeah, they got history, sweetheart. Don’t you worry about it,” Chainsaw said.

“Nobody fucks you like family,” Louie declared quietly.

I looked from one to the other and settled on Louie who looked mighty uncomfortable.

La Croix’s dad started shouting again and La Croix made to stand up. Chainsaw stood up swiftly and put a hand to La Croix’s shoulder.

“Whoa, brother. No sense in doin’ somethin’ rash now. You already went to prison for beatin’ some sense into that cocksucker once – it ain’t work. No sense in doin’ it again. Besides, you got your lady here.”

“Why don’t you go sleep it off? Ain’t nobody here care or wanna listen to your bullshit! Nice to meet you too, you drunk fuck!” I shouted, and the party fell silent. People stared openly at me. La Croix’s dad jerked back and blinked like he’d never thought a woman’d speak to him in such a way, and I didn’t care.

It was one of the other women who laughed first, and then a ripple of laughter spread out throughout the partygoers and the tension eased. One of the old-timers put a hand on La Croix’s daddy’s shoulder and spoke low and insistent to the man.

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