Azul eyed them as he hauled himself out of the carriage.“More of your men in every port?”
“You can’t be jealous,” she taunted, throwing his words back at him and feeling ever so much better about herself.
“No,” he answered on a sigh.“I can’t.”
Was it her imagination that he’d deliberately echoed her words, also, and that they carried a similar weight of regret?
Yes, Bandit,she told herself.Itisyour imagination, so get a grip.You haven’t mooned after an unattainable guy since Miss Mulry’s and you’re never going back to that pitiful state.“Clear?”She rather snapped out the question, deciding not to tell Azul the truth, that she’d never seen either of those guys before in her life.Petty of her, but a girl had her pride.
He reached into the passenger seat and snagged the magic wand.“Now I am.”
“Everything folds up in Katu when he changes,” she explained.“You can leave that inside.”
“You grabbed your sword,” he pointed out.
“Force of habit—and you never know.”
“Exactly,” he replied, this time pitching his voice higher, clearly in imitation of her.
“You’re not funny,” she told him, triggering Katu to shift back to animal form.The carriage shimmered, clicking and condensing, until the black jaguar leapt onto the black grass, stretching and panting.She was glad she’d made the decision to stop.Katu looked parched and a little worn.She’d like to give him a rest, but that wasn’t going to happen.“Come on, baby cat,” she crooned, stroking a hand over his solid, glossy black head.“Let’s get you fed.”
Unlike Giant Jo’s, this place had no restaurant, nor did it have—as she supposed was standard for the “we hate helpful signs of all kinds” fae—any posted rules.So, she left Katu off leash and guided him to the closest ambrosia station.
“Is that safe?”Azul asked, jutting his chin at Katu.
“Being off leash?Sure.Katu and I have been together since he was a kitten.”She scratched behind his ears and he pushed his whiskers along her hand in affection.“He’s my one true love.”She waited for the scathing retort to that as she fumbled coins into the pump, swearing at the prices.But Azul said nothing.
As Katu eagerly drank, she stepped back and found Azul leaning against a post with folded arms and crossed ankles, watching them intently.Her prince was always a broody one, but this felt different.“Something wrong?”she asked, not certain what that very serious expression meant.
His face cleared and he shrugged off whatever mood that had been.“I keep expecting fell wolves to emerge from the shadows.Or an iron demon.Or something even worse.”
“There’s worse?”she returned lightly.
“You don’t want to know.”
“Yeah, I probably don’t.My motto in life is that I’m happier not knowing shit.Keep my eyes on my own work.Let the rest of the world take care of itself.”
“Except for Dy and Katu.”
“Even them.Katu is fine without me and Dy can take care of herself.She doesn’t need me.”Hadn’t for years, which shouldn’t sting.It was good that Dy had more people to look after her.
Uncomfortable with the conversation for no good reason, Cha checked the level in the trough.Katu still had a bit to go.She tapped a foot and crossed her arms, then felt like she was mirroring Azul, who still leaned against the post, observing her with that unnerving scrutiny, and uncrossed them again.She was restless to get going, that was the problem.Itching to get back on schedule.It had been ages since she’d been nervous around a boy and she sure wasn’t relapsing to the bad old days.
“Can I ask you something, Arantxa?”Azul uncoiled from his lounging position and stepped closer to her.They hadn’t spent really any time together when they’d both been standing up, and she realized now that he topped even her lanky height by half a head.For no good reason, her heart skipped several beats, then settled on a thudding, up-tempo rhythm that made her twitch inside her skin.
“I don’t know why you’re asking permission now—nothing seems to have held you back so far,” she cracked, hoping to lighten the mood and lessen the tension.It didn’t work.
“This is different.Personal.Important.”He eased closer, that intent expression on his face stirring her blood to an even wilder temperature, a sultry hum in the air.“Intimate.”
Well, shit.If he planned to ask what she thought—okay,hoped—he might, the timing stunk.She’d have to say no, since they had zero time for dallying, and she hated risking that he’d take the rejection badly.In Cha’s experience, if you told a new guy ‘no’ once, even telling him ‘later,’ they got all butthurt and wrote you off.Sometimes, even the tried-and-true guys who should be reasonably sure you meant the ‘later’ in all sincerity still had hissy fits.
And none of this mattered, because there wouldn’t be a later for Azul and her.
After she dropped him wherever he wanted to get to, they’d never see each other again.This could be her one chance to sample his sweet, deep blue delights and she had no choice but to bypass it.Being responsible sucked.She wanted to explain all of this to Azul, that she really wanted him, and not just as a temporary release, though that would be more than nice.But, wait, howdidshe want him then?
Well it didn’t matter—see aforementioned imminent separation—and there wasn’t any point in trying to explain any of this, especially since emotional competence wasn’t her forte.
“So?”She drawled instead, emotionally incompetent jackass that she was.“Ask.”
