Page 22 of Untraceable
She cleared her throat. “That was just mean.”
He chuckled. “Goblin peppers.”
“Right. Should have looked closer.” Her voice was hoarse. “Next.”
She pushed through to the next pizza and got hers and took a bite to scour the taste of his goblin peppers out of her mouth. This round went better as she served his two slices, and when he rubbed her back, she turned and stared at the peppers and then at the king’s calm face. “How bad is it?”
He grinned. “These are sweet. Promise.”
“Sweet and hot?”
“Just sweet. No more heat than the pepperoni.”
“If you are lying, I will portal my butt out of here.”
“You have portal skills?”
“How do you think I got away when they hunted me?”
He nodded. “It’s safe.”
She leaned down, slowly opened her mouth, and took a bite. She closed her mouth and chewed. She wrinkled her nose happily. “Good.”
He laughed and exhaled.
“Not that I can taste much after the goblin peppers.”
He winced. “Right. I should have kept those for last. I didn’t count on you eating in ascending preference.”
She snorted and went for her final slice. “My favourite makes all the badness go away. Perfect crust, perfect ratio of pepperoni to sausage. You can definitely have too much sausage.”
He paused. “Noted.”
She grinned and bit down on her perfect slice. She groaned happily. “I do appreciate a nice crust, but the right toppings just bring it all together.”
She handed him his plate, and he let out a sound close to a growl.
She pivoted to watch him eat, and a fox with a lot of tails was eating pizza with her. She blinked. “Huh. It explains the statues, I suppose.”
He grinned, showing a lot of sharp teeth and a narrow muzzle. “I thought it best to get it over with.”
“Right. I had heard you were a fox spirit, but it wasn’t something that concerned me.”
“Please be concerned.” He chuckled and resumed his more socially normal form. “It is easier to eat pizza this way.”
She smiled. “You were doing fine.”
“The narrower features are better for other things.”
She ate and tried to think, and then she remembered the brush of soft fur against her inner thigh. She lowered the crust. “Oh. Those other things. So, you...”
“I did.”
She exhaled. “Right.”
“The tongue is better for—”
She covered his mouth with her hand. “Yup. Got it. I remember.” He raised his brows, and she yanked her hand away. “Sorry, Your Majesty.”
