Page 79 of Feral Guardian
“Dishes!” a shrill voice screams from above.
I drag my thumb along her lower lip, pulling it out from between her teeth. “Some night.”
Chapter twenty-four
Lily
Alastair got about three whole seconds in the bath before he’s flying out of it, soapy water trailing down his neck. We rush to gather our things and dress, my legs still trembling from everything he made me feel.
Gods, the things he made me feel.
I can’t live with myself if I don’t get him every night. He made me promise I would tell no one, and that this would end when we got home…
But what if we never went home?
Mother wouldn’t miss me; she wants Reina to be queen, anyway. I’ve always known this, and Alyse does, too. Reina is the golden girl, the light of the kingdom, bright in the dark. I’m a fucking monster who can turn her snatch into a weapon.
We don’t have to go home. We can pretend that pirates got me. We can disappear together.
Alastair stops me before we ascend the stairs to the kitchen. His brow is furrowed and he won’t meet my gaze. “Please.”
“Please what?” I turn to him, my hand coming up to cup his face.
He captures me by the wrist and stops me, his eyes going hard and cold. “Stop doingthis to me.”
“You said I could find my release with you whenever I wanted,” I say, coldly.
His jaw works. “I did, but you’re…what you’re doing isn’t that. You’re notusingme.”
I scoff. “And you’re not just pleasuring me, are you?Mine, isn’t that what you said?”
Red shimmers through his dark eyes. “I didn’t mean it.”
The admission shakes me. My stomach flip-flops and threatens to squeeze me to death, but I hold steady. I won’t let him see his effect on me.
I pull my hand away. “Fine. I didn’t mean what I said, either.”
I march up the stairs. Igor’s wife is holding out an apron for me with a heavy scowl. I don it and she points to three bowls of stew balanced on a tray.
“Table two, left of the hearth,” she says, then turns to Alastair. “Gloves, soap, dishes. Get at it.”
I pick up the tray and balance the edge of it on my shoulder as I walk into the main room. The revelry is even greater now with the sour beer hitting everyone’s stomachs. I make my way through the room to the second table next to the hearth. The men seated there have no whore to entertain them, and so they take an eyeful of me.
Their appraising gazes are all positive, and I don’t know why, but I revel in it. Alastair doesn’t want me. He doesn’t want tofuckme. But these men do.
“Here’s a tip for you, lovely,” says one man as he holds out a silver.
I push his fingers back and close his hand around the coin as I lean down with a broad smile. “Buy me a drink later instead?”
He grins stupidly. “You can count on it.”
He’s not a bad-looking man. A little lanky, a little dirty, a little drunk. He’s not Alastair, but maybe that’s what I like best about him.
I shoot him a wink and then return to the kitchen. Igor’s wife has another round of soup doled out for me. Alastair looks over his shoulder as he scrubs used bowls in the basin. I remain aloof, pretending his watchful stare doesn’t make me feel anything.
“Table four on the right near the door,” she says.
I step out of the kitchen and Igor calls me to the bar, holding out a flagon of beer.
