Page 183 of Monsters in Love

Elfhame? It was on the tip of my tongue to mention that I went there too and to ask which elder and possibly, which assignment. After all, the faculty loved him or at the very least loved his family's name. Maybe he knew about Coventry or maybe this assignment had something to do with that anyway.

Though curiosity ignited within me, it didn’t feel right asking about that sort of stuff now. It still felt very real, and I wanted to keep this fantasy bubble just a while longer. I would be back in the academic fray soon enough and for once in my life I was just going to let myself enjoy the present and not worry about what might happen in the future.

And so I let myself be charmed by the three orcs, as we swapped stories about neutral subjects like class work and professors and allowed Declan to feed me from his hand. When I had my fill, which was embarrassingly a lot, I realized that Declan hadn't eaten more than a few bites.

“You are supposed to leave soon and you barely ate anything,” I told him.

A devilish claim sparkle in his eye. “That is because I wished to keep your taste on my tongue.” He had me on the table where my plate had been. Somehow the remnants of our breakfast disappeared, and I was sprawled on top of it.

He tugged on the belt that held my robe closed. It parted easily, revealing my naked body to him. He descended on me like a man starved.

No wonder he had wanted to keep this robe on me.

Sometime later when I was finally dressed and thoroughly satisfied in every way possible, they took their leave of me. They went to the terrace entrance so they didn't have to go through the tavern. Evidently something that they were tracing or that errand that they needed to accomplish first had them going in this direction.

“You don’t need to make any promises.”

Declan gripped my chin tilting my head up so he could stare deep into my eyes. In that gaze, echoes of heart beats thrummed over my skin.

What magic was this? My flesh wanted so much to stay connected to him. This couldn’t be. This was a one-night stand, nothing more.

Right?

Anything I might have said was taken away as he kissed me. He swept away my rationalizations with a sweep of his magical tongue. “You are ours now, little witch. Remember that. We will return from our hunt and finish this conversation. Be our good witchling and say that you understand.”

The words he wanted left my mouth before I could guard them. The power he wielded.

“The room is yours until the end of the month when we return. You will use it so I know you are protected and fed.”

I had a feeling that Declan would never leave unless he had the last word, and so I kept my thoughts to myself. Next week would be soon enough to establish my boundaries and tell him where to stick his overbearing head.

Capricorn Jade

When they left, I finally turned my phone on and saw messages from Bo.

She had been having a delightfully one-sided conversation and in it she proclaimed that the only reason why she didn't launch a search party for me was because Tia and her pixie net work have been keeping her updated on all the latest gossip including the various sounds that were unholy and demonic and thoroughly frightening that had been coming out of the suite.

My face flames with heat not necessarily because of the sex but because people had heard her.

Since I was going to stay here I might as well get ready and help Tia out downstairs. It would be fun knowing that I could work a shift that was purely optional. Besides, Bo would most likely be here soon, and she would want to know everything.

Afternoon rush was nice and steady. Not too crazy where I felt like I would want to kill some entitled customers. And not too slow where I felt like I was wasting my time. At least Tia paid her staff a fair wage, unlike my previous gig as a bartender on the other side of the tracks. The servers made a pittance and had to tolerate the attention of the bottom of the barrel for tips.

Bo had come in some time during the rush and sat in her usual corner of the Tavern. She was there for people-watching and tea-spilling, specifically my tea from last night. I would drop a cliff hanging teaser between rounds and at one point, she helped me bus tables just so she could hear the orcish play-by-play. I tried to be discreet and leave off the details, but Bo wasn’t the chief huntress of her generation for nothing. She knew when I was trying to hide details and took a near-sadistic pleasure in skewering me trying to get them.

Dinner rush was steady, so I stayed and help despite Tia shooing me away. “Girl, that Declan is going to be on me for making you work too hard.”

“You don’t have to worry about that Tia. It’s not as if he’s my you know boyfriend or anything like that. It was just a one-night stand.”

She arched a finely sculpted eyebrow at me. “There have been many couples who have come and gone through my hallowed rooms. Not one of them had the night that you had. That ain’t no ‘one-night stand,’ my dear.”

Bo simply nodded with a smug look on her face, agreeing with everything that Tia said. I rolled my eyes and took my tray. It was one more round of bussing and then I was supposed to clock out and head back upstairs. Declan hadn’t been exaggerating. He paid for accommodations for me through a Sunday evening with a retainer in case I needed to stay longer.

It was such a short walk to campus from here; I wanted to give in to Declan’s offer. For convenience, of course.

Who was I kidding? I was secretly hoping that it would be convenient for them to find me here and maybe pick up where we had left off.

My face flamed at the thought. I made a last lap around the tavern to make sure my customers had everything they needed. Scanning the tabs at the bar, I tallied all the receipts for Tia so she wouldn’t have to, before turning my apron in for the evening.

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