“It became my business when my brother’s wife convinced mine to take an interest in the two of you.”
Giss drank several swallows of tea and then set her cup down. “Is it a problem for us to all become friends?” she asked.
“I don’t know yet. That’s what I’m trying to determine.”
Commander Calex dipped the tip of his finger in a teacup and then rested his arm on the rest. Melsint tipped her head up and her tongue licked his finger several times.
Gissandre’s head turned sharply to watch the other woman playing the sweet and submissive pet.
Evston set his teacup on the floor and refilled his tumbler with liquor. “Larsinc?”
“You can call me Linc. And yes, prey,” Linc said.
Giss’s green eyes narrowed and turned to look at him. “That’s an oversimplification, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“So then maybe you could say that too?”
“You can go to bed, sweetheart,” Evston said. “Mels, why don’t you take her to their room?”
“Probably best,” the commander agreed.
Melsint stood and held out a hand to Giss.
“No, absolutely not.” Giss slid an arm around Larsinc’s and gripped his bicep.
Melsint, ever the little peacekeeper, came to kneel in front of Gissandre’s chair, trying to coax her out of it.
“It’s all right,” Linc said. “Separations don’t sit well with either of us.”
“She’s not ready to hear you speak frankly on this topic,” the lord said with certainty.
Giss’s grip on his arm tightened. Linc sighed and turned his head to look at her, then he leaned closer. He spoke into her ear. “At the core of everything, there’s one truth. Here it is, sweetness. No one and nothing will come between us. Not here. Not anywhere.”
“Promise?”
“Of course.”
“Should I stay with you? Or go to bed?”
“You should stay with me, but you should cover your ears.”
She laughed. “That’s absurd.”
He kissed her cheek, then turned back to the brothers. “Go ahead, Evston, ask what you need to ask.”
“How strict will your training of her be?”
Gissandre stiffened.
“I can’t say yet.”
The handsome young lord drained his tumbler and set it aside. “Is it something that interests you? Having her strictly trained?”
“As something to explore? Yes. Under the right circumstances.”
“Such as?”
