Page 82 of Silver Tongue Devil

“I still say, one hoe for the whole place? She must be exhausted. You’d think there’d be a couple of hoes by now.”

My hand going to my face, I exhaled. Why was I even bothering?

“Don’t you have a stuffed pig to go hump?”

“Pam is to be spoken about with respect and love,” he exclaimed, looking around, nestling closer to my ear. “Let me tell you, I know from experience that shedoes notlike being called that in or out of the bedroom. She got so mad at me. Though she didn’t mind being the pony one time.”

My eye twitched. “I walked into that one,” I muttered to myself. “That was my fault.”

Scot, Corb, and Vane prepared us to dock. The bustling port was getting ready for market day in the slums of the city. Humans and fae moved in and out of this area freely, unlike a lot of other countries, but mainly fae lived here. Only a sliver of land was left to the servants and workers of the fae elite to inhabit.

How fast, when the world divided, class and money took all, forcing the middle class to fall into poverty. There were only two races, fae and human, and two classes, rich and poor.

“Is it breakfast time yet? I’m starving.” Sprig licked off the last bits of butter and pancake from his fingers, syrup in his fur and covering his mouth. There was a reason Zoey and Ryker hand-fed him. The sprite was a natural disaster around food.

“You literally just ate.” I wiped off his fingers and face with my shirt. “Like two seconds ago.”

“Us sprites need to eat constantly or we whittle away and die.”

“Could I be so lucky?” I picked him up, plopping him on Tsai’s shoulder behind the helm. “Here, you’re now on babysitting duties.”

I left it up to them to figure out who I was referring to.

Cooper strolled up to me, the heat already dampening his brow. He wasn’t used to this kind of humidity coming from the Pacific Northwest. Rain, yes, but the type of heat that strangled you, clogging your lungs, wrapping around you like a wool blanket with the heater fully blasting, no.

“You coming?”

“Yeah.” Cooper nodded. “Need to get a few supplies. Better clothes for this weather. And AB wants to see if the long-distance walkie-talkie Lars gave us will work on land. She needs to tell Zoey she has Sprig.”

Lars was trying to create new devices to work in this magic-infused world. He had the best engineers, scientists, and doctors leading the way, and they were making good leaps, but still, there would be hiccups and setbacks along the way.

“I’m coming too,” a voice slunk up my back, her statement reminding me of a fantasy I had last night. I wanted to say the shower was a one-time thing, but I had woken up in the middle of the night, my body craving hers like a drug. Half-asleep, I had no guard up, letting my mind free, and fuck, did we get dirty. It felt so real, like I could feel her weight on me, smell her, taste her.

My muscles locked up, my walls rising.

“No, you’re not.” I scowled at her.

“I’m sorry?” She cocked her head, folding her arms.

“I’m out,” Cooper scoffed, giving me a look that said,Good luck, pal. “Meet you on the dock.”

I barely heard him. I faced Kat, my arms mirroring hers.

“There is no need for you to go. You’re going to stay here and out of trouble.”

She stayed quiet, but she was anything but silent, and I had the urge to run after Cooper.

“Not only do you have no say in what I do—”

“Technically, you’re my prisoner.”

“Nor do I give a fuck,” she continued, ignoring my assertion. “I need some underwear, pants, and a shirt that doesn’t stink of you.”

“I’ve been told I smell good.”

She stepped up to me. I clamped my hands tighter on my arms because all I wanted to do was grab her hips and drag her all the way into me.

“It amazes me someone hasn’t killed you yet.”

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