She reached a hand forward.
He tensed, thinking she’d touch him.
Instead, she caressed the air directly above a shoulder, back and forth, back and forth, a breath from making contact.
A frisson—raw energy—bolted down his spine.
“I’ll leave an impression you’ll never forget,” she said, her lips hugging each word before spilling it.
“By the Ethers, man,” Lev said.“Take her up on it, already.This is torture.”
He had no idea.
“No,” Alobaz said.“I’m not looking for company.”
The temptress’ smile tightened for a second so quick it was possible it hadn’t happened.Her smile widened.“Aw, see, you’re missing an important point.I’m not ‘company.’I’m your dream come true.You just don’t know it yet.I’ll take you places you’ve never been before.”
“Thanks.”Should he be thanking her for making him lose control of himself?“But still no.”
With a creak, the door to Slake swung open.A few of the whores emerged, along with Crute, all blinking at the sudden sunlight.Crute carried a bag, a rough one made to hold grains, braced in both arms.
Glancing between Alobaz and the temptress, Jaeda took a hesitant step toward him.In the past couple of months they’d been patrons of Slake, he’d never seen Jaeda intimidated by another woman.She and the other whores seemed to look out for each other.
But the temptress intimidated her without even deigning to look her way.
Alobaz didn’t blame Jaeda.
The temptress was a serpunta cloaked in the skin of a goddess.
At that thought, he studied her eyes closely, searching for the slight vertical elongation of the pupils that would signal she actually might be one of the serpent changelings.He’d never heard of a serpunta being rebirthed into a sänglure, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t happen.The Opalese World had seen stranger.
All he noted were dabs of amber—like the golden sun itself—of a brown so creamy it was like molten caramel.Like the Fuerin themselves had painted her irises.
“Uh,” Jaeda said, with another glance to the temptress before returning to him.“The girls n’ I wanna thank you.Really, truly.”
The temptress snorted.When Alobaz looked at her, there was no sign she had.
Alobaz grunted at Jaeda, maybe at the temptress too.
“We’ll never forget ya,” Jaeda said.“So long as we live.”
Another snort from the temptress.Jaeda frowned, looked at her, and was quick to glance away.
Jaeda put a hand on Crute’s back.“The boy, he doesn’t wanna come with us.He wants to come with y’all.”
At Alobaz’s sudden attention, Crute stretched his mouth wide, teeth clamped, eyes pleading.
“No.”Alobaz shook his head.“Way too dangerous.”
“I’ll stay outta the way,” Crute said.“Won’t be no trouble at all.I’ll help!”
“Not an option.”
Crute’s lips stretched so that those two over-large front teeth of his stood out against his bottom lip.
Alobaz shook his head some more.“Notan option.”
Crute wrapped his arms fully around the bag, clutched his hands together in entreaty.“Puh-lease?It’s my dream.For real it is.You’d be making my dream come true.”
