“Whatelseis cloying? Try again. You’ve smelled it before . . . perhaps in the alley where we first met?”
She sniffs louder this time. Slowly, her eyes widen. “Redcloud.”
I nod and grab my mug. Once I take a fortifying sip, from behind the rim, I mutter, “I dabble in the stuff. I won’t lie to you.”
Sephania snatches her mug off the table and drinks, if only to hide her astonishment. “Still?”
“What do you mean,still?”
“Well, our alley meeting was nearly ten years ago. I just figured . . . I don’t know . . .”
“That a user would suddenly decide to quit once they reached the decade mark? Addictions don’t work like that, honey badger.”
Her eyes narrow as she drinks more. When she slams her mug down, she’s already finished with the first cup. I’m impressed with her drinking ability, but I think she’s doing it more to drown the chaos that looks to be permeating her mind at this news.
She leans forward. “So you’re an addict, then? By the Damned, Garro, why didn’t you ever tell me?”
“Ashamed, I suppose.” I shrug lightly and finish my drink, reaching for the bottle to pour us another. I figure the barman won’t mind, or notice. “Didn’t think it was pertinent information.”
I’m shocked when her hand falls on my knuckles over the mug. “Did you think I would be angry?”
“Haven’t thought much about it since I’ve had you around. Except these last three months have been trying and I’ve maybe . . . relapsed a bit.”
She hugs me then, shocking me even more. Her chin falls on my shoulder. “I’m so sorry, cub. I didn’t know.”
I pull her back, furrowing my brow. “You needn’t pity me, Seph. It’s not your fault and it’s not your problem. It’s an affliction I must deal with on my own.”
“No, you don’t have to deal with it on your own. I’m here.”
Yes, but how could you possibly help, short of wishing to smoke the damned stuff with me?I glance over to a closed door, past her shoulder, and she notices.
“Is that the den where it’s smoked?” she asks.
I nod slowly. My eyes lower with embarrassment.
“Is this where you disappeared to for two weeks when you left us, Garro, when you captured Dimmon Plank? You said it only took three days to track him down.”
Surprise colors my cheeks. “What—no! Honest. That was when my Loreblood power came alive. I wasn’t lying when I said I lost myself and became trapped in seeing through the eyes of animals. I stayed in Nuhav a while to try and hone the skill, not to smoke redcloud.”
By the tenderness of the smile on her gorgeous face, she seems to believe me. She pats my knuckles again when I glance over her shoulder fiendishly. “If you’d like to go . . . partake . . . I understand. I won’t judge you.”
My head shakes on its own, before the forlorn tone in her voice can reach me. “No. You’re here now and you’re all I need and want, sweet mistress. It was a bad idea coming here. You’re right.”
I make to leave the counter but her arm tugs me back—commanding and arousing in her strength. Suddenly, her curves are pressed up against me, swallowing me, and I thank the Damned for her touch.
A devious smile curls her lips. “If it’s me you need and want, I can think of somethingmuchbetter than redcloud to satisfy you, Garro.”
She kisses my chin, nuzzling up to me.
I smile against her cheek. My lips ghost over her ear. “You’ll be my drug, lass?”
“I’d much rather you stay addicted to me than to that shit holding you back.”
The barman returns to his side of the counter, annoyingly, and clears his throat as we cozy up to each other. “I just made Banooth stop his shenanigans, half-blood. Don’t make me boot you, too.”
Sephania giggles against my neck. I briefly wonder if the cloying scent of the redcloud hasn’t gotten to her, for her to be so abruptly lustful. It’s much too quick for her to be tipsy already.
Then I remember she’s been separated frommefor three months, also. It’s a two-way street, and clearly she’s missed me as much as I’ve missed her. That notion makes me harder in my pants, more needful for my commanding mistress to do her worst to me.
