Page 3 of Tentacles and Teeth

“Believe me, I’d love to! You just keep waving it around!” That prompted a wave of jokes about his “tool,” and I rolled my eyes. While he postured, I caught up on drink orders. In my opinion, dicks were wildly overrated. Most especially my brother’s. I shuddered.

My gaze wandered over the crowd, searching for long wavy hair and pale skin wrapped in gray silk. I found her dancing with two other women, her body moving like sex. Slow, grinding sex where the orgasm built and built until you couldn’t tell when you started coming because everything felt so damned good. Her head was thrown back, exposed neck sheened with sweat. I caught the shaker before it hit the bar top—barely—dying to say “fuck it” to the rest of my shift and drag her out of there. These twat-blocking assholes couldn’t do too much damage in one unchaperoned night, right?

Khalon’s head twisted to follow my stare, his locs sweeping over his shoulder. When he turned back, his glare had melted into a wide grin. “Not just thinking about it. Little sister’s got plaaans.” He dragged out the last word into several sing-songy syllables, wildly entertained by my plight.

“Yeah. I do,” I confirmed. The song ended and Katarina opened her eyes, meeting mine almost immediately. What I was thinking must have been clear even to her human eyes, because hers became drowning pools. Then Katarina’s eyebrows furrowed as I smirked and indicated the small woman with long, silky ears beside her. She didn’t move, so I nodded to the other woman again. I fought back a grin at the suspicious narrowing of her eyes, but Katarina shrugged, touching the woman’s shoulder and waving my way.

Bunny looked over, a bright grin creasing her cheeks as she saw me. I jerked my head towards my brother and mimed giving a blowjob, demand in the set of my eyebrows. Bunny exploded with laughter, bending at the waist and guffawing before she composed herself enough to hurry over.

“Really?” My brother tried for disgust at my impertinence, but he radiated hunger as he tracked Bunny’s approach. He was such a bitch when his needs weren’t being met. Lucky for everyone, the big asshole was handsome, powerful, and charming when he wanted to be. Right now, all I wanted was for him to go away so I could fantasize about all the filthy shit I wanted to do to Katarina.

Bunny didn’t even pause, calling out a cheerful, “Hey, Sid,” as she hopped into my brother’s lap and started unbuttoning his shirt. I counted in my head. 1. 2. 3...there we go. Khalon growled, tentacles shooting off of his skin and wrapping around Bunny as he hauled the giggling woman away.

Katarina was grinning at me, hiding it behind her drink as she pretended to listen to some hulking troll I didn’t recognize. I narrowed my gaze on him, hefting a bottle consideringly, and Katarina’s eyes widened. I didn’t have to waste perfectly good whiskey, though, because the troll followed her gaze, flinching. When Katarina turned back to apologize, he was gone. Her shoulders shook with laughter as she swayed back onto the dance floor.

A familiar blond form slunk into the seat my brother had just vacated. I folded my arms, waiting for Silk to break the silence between us. When there was a lull in demands for drinks, he leaned forward.

“Are we good?” His knuckles were white as he gripped the bar.

“Good?” I snorted. “Just like that?”

“Nothing happened.” His voice was a hair from petulant, grating on my nerves. My brother said he was a good man, just needed to grow up a little. I’d yet to see proof.

“Because I stopped you, asshole. Not because you suddenly learned to listen when someone says they’re not interested.” The scent of cedar and cinnamon had me pouring a double bourbon over ice without pausing my words. “What were you gonna do next? Haul her off to sample your ‘charms’? How do you think that would have played out?”

I slid the drink over, still glaring at the blond Fae jerk in front of me. Fenn growled as he took it, the low lupine sound both a warning and a threat. My roommate’s eyes were dangerously pale as they locked on Silk, his quick mind having no trouble picking up the context.

“Fuck.” The shame that washed over the prospect’s pretty-boy features made me pause. He scrubbed his hands through his hair, which somehow fell into perfect artful disarray rather than standing on end like it should have. “Yeah, I probably would’ve—fuuck!”

Well, shit. My brother might be right. That was annoying as hell. I leaned close, my voice deadly serious. “Sort yourself out. You don’t get this conversation a second time. I find out you’ve pulled any more shit like this—and I will be watching—and it goes straight to my brother. We clear?”

His eyes were steady on mine. “Understood. I won’t fuck up again. And Sid? I’m sorry.”

I nodded once, dismissing him, and turned to Fenn. He sipped his bourbon, his eyes cold as they lingered on Silk.

“I thought you had work to do tonight?” I asked.

He grunted, scowling, and threw back the rest of his drink. His jaws flexed as he crunched the ice as if it personally offended him.

I shook my head and poured him another. His latest project must be going exceptionally well.

“His victim ok?” Fenn’s voice was a rumbling growl.

“Oh, yeah,” I replied, my eyes drawn to her across the bar. “She’s perfect. The goddess in gray silk over there. Katarina. Mine.” Her name rolled off my tongue with a purr. I was smug, and I sounded it, but who the fuck cared? She was the most delectable creature, and she had soaked the air with her sweet arousal forme. My brother’s ego didn’t stand a chance against mine at that moment.

Fenn followed my gaze, stilling for a long moment. His nostrils were flared when he turned back. “She the one that smells like fucking honey?”

I nodded, my chest expanding as I drew the lingering smell of her arousal deep.

“Damn.”

“Thank you.”

Silk tapped the bar with a knuckle, inserting himself into our conversation. To his credit, he didn’t flinch at our matching glares. “Let me take over your shift. A sort of apology to you both, right?”

“You haven’t earned that kind of trust, Silk. Not from me.”

“I have,” Fenn interrupted. “I’ll close out. You take care of her,” he jerked his head towards Katarina, “I’ll take care of the dumb pup here.” At my nod, he leveled his hard stare at Silk. “You. Barback. Check the tables. Now.”

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