Both their heads swung to his mother, who looked entirely too pleased with herself over the bomb she had just dropped into the conversation. “She has that big shop. Plenty of space. And she would never say no to you for anything.”
He could tell Grace was giving him alook. Ranar refused to make eye contact with her, refused to acknowledge his mother’s fictions, but he could feel her look the same.
“Perfect. I think it’s gonna work out great for everyone, I really do. I’ve been thinking about it for weeks. And we can help you with the space, the boys from the farm can flip it in a weekend. You should see the magic they work on the barns. If someone will be home this week, I can have Brogan and Zeke —“
“If you’re sending handsome farmhands to the house, I can leave right now.”
He was going to remind his mother of this afternoon in two weeks, Ranar decided as she swished triumphantly from the room, when she needed his help resetting the television remote.
Grace waited until they were alone, almost visibly counting. When she got to five, she pounced.
“If you don’t tell me everything right now, and I mean fuckingeverything, I’m going to call Tris. Andhe’llfind out. And he’ll root out everything you think you’re hiding plus the shit in your past you’ve already forgotten about, so unless you want your sex life to be front page news, you’d better spill.”
Ranar scowled. Tris was a gossip columnist, an absolute menace wherever he went, and was one of Grace’s longtime friends. She had known the sneaky satyr for more than a decade, and she clearly wasn’t above using him as a weapon.
“That is so low of you —“
“I will call him right now, don’t test me. Why was I not the very first person to hear about this?”
Ranar blew out a breath in aggravation. “Because she doesn’t exist! My mother and my daughter have decided to spin yarns together as a bonding experience, I guess. They saw Sumi in here one time and they both decided —“
“Sumi? Pink Blossom Sumi. Whose party you ghosted like a fucking loser, ghostingmein the process, after I worked so hard to get you there? The one I said literally from day one was flirting with you?ThatSumi?”
There was nothing he could say. Ranar already knew the conversation wasn’t even worth continuing. Grace would proclaim victory, would insist that he ought to be indebted to her forever, and he wasn’t willing to give her the satisfaction. He rolled his eyes, making a dissenting noise in his throat.
“I didn’t ghost, I stepped out for some air. Those social media girls were tripping over my tail, there was no room! But I didn’t leave. Sounds like you indulged in a few too many of those cosmos and didn’t know whether you were coming or going.”
“Oh my stars, you fucked her didn’t you? You did! I can tell, don’t try to deny it!”
“Oh,howcan you tell?”
Grace was practically crowing. “Because your ears are turning red and you’re not actually a very good liar, Ranar. You fucked her. Did she actually pull down her dress and ask if you wanted to squeeze her boobies?”
Ranar slouched into his coil. He didn’t want to have this conversation. He didn’t want to think about the things they’d done that night and how much he’d enjoyed it. Wanted to think even less about the way she’d turned up two days later, bringing him coffee and lunch with instructions to keep his strength up, kissing his cheek before she sped away, leaving him dumbfounded in the parking lot. He most especially didn’t wantto contemplate the way he’d replayed the events of that night on a near constant loop, practically needing to wear an apron twenty-four hours a day to disguise his arousal.
“I’m pretty sure she fucked me, actually. She didn’t ask me to squeeze anything. But shedidask if she could lick my slit, and I blacked out after that. I don’t remember what happened the rest of the night.”
She was a heap of blonde curls, face down on the table, shaking in laughter. “I feel like I deserve a monument in the park for this. I knew she was perfect for you! Asked if she could lick your slit, fucking hells. Thank the goddess one of you is willing to make the first move. You know you love bossy women, hurry up and marry this one.”
“Again, how doyouknow that?”
Grace was still laughing as she pushed up from the table, checking her cherry-red lipstick in the mirror before turning to the door.
“Because I’ve been bossing you around from the day we met. I’m going to be proud of myself over this the rest of the week, I really am.”
Ranar squirmed once she had left. He could still feel the heat of Sumi’s mouth, the drag of her tongue over the most sensitive spot on his body. Grace was right — she was bolder than he’d ever been, had been right from the start. She was ruining his life, throwing his entire existence into shambles, and had been brazen about it from the beginning . . . but she had an audacity that took his breath away, and he would have been lying if he pretended it didn’t turn him on. It was turning him on right now, feeling the slight vibration of his cocks in their sheath.
This was going to be a stressful few months, this transition, and what was that she had told him?Please let me know if there’s anything I can do to help you. Anything at all.His handoperated with a mind of its own, tapping open his phone and scrolling to her name.
Hi
He groaned at himself.Hi, really? What are you, ten? Mid at best, on your luckiest day. Pathetic. A pathetic worm.
Hey! What’s up? Something you need?
Every time he closed his eyes he could see her there above him — dark hair hanging around her face, her cheeks splotched pink. The second time they’d had sex, she’d been fully in control. Her head had dropped back as she rode him, her rosy lips parting in a moan he heard rattling through his brain every time he attempted to focus on anything else.
She hadn’t waited for him to be smooth, hadn’t waited for him to make the first move, hadn’t waited on him for anything.She’d still be waiting.She had taken what she’d wanted from him, straddling his body, riding one of his cocks as his hands roved over her body. She had been the one to reverse them, requesting a repeat offast and dirty, had instructed him to hold her down once more, pinning her beneath his muscle and weight. He still had marks on his back from where her nails had scratched against him.Was there something he needed?
