“Yeah, I thought so too.” He scratched the back of his neck. “Want me to show you the shop?”
“Hell yeah I do! But this isn’t time travel, is it? You’d have to use some serious magic—”
“No, Poppy. It’s not time travel. It’s locked away memories.” He tapped his temple as he walked toward the shop. “When I tried my powers, I was sucked into Kai’s memory. I wanted to know if I could pull someone else into my memory to show them around. Looks like it worked.”
“But didn’t you just show Thaddeus and Kai what you saw of my memory?”
His lip curled in a burst of anger, but he smoothed his features. “Sorry. I get irrationally jealous thinking of you with anyone but us.”
“It’s fine. I’d kill someone if they tried to pull any of you.”
He chuckled. “But, I was able to show them the snippet of your memory. We weren’t actually there like you’re experiencing now.”
“That’s really fucking cool.” I followed behind him, and we walked through the door.
Heat smacked into us as we entered, and I took in the shop.
This is where Blaise worked the majority of his human life.
“All of my life, to be exact,” he added.
Iron hooks perched on the rafters above us, and rusty chains dangled from them like a unique decor piece. The brick forge I noticed from outside was a lot bigger than I thought it’d be. Next to it was a pile of scrap overflowing from a time withered barrel.
“What’s that?” I pointed to a large, rusted metal block with a flat surface.
He grinned. “That’s an anvil. It’s a forging tool.”
“Is it the thing you beat metal on?”
He huffed a chuckle. “Brilliant deduction.”
I went toward the wooden workbench and ran my hand over its rough surface. “Have you ever taken a woman in here before?”
Pink tinged his cheeks, and he hid his face with his hand. “Why’re you asking me that?”
I bit my lip.
It’s so fucking hot when he’s shy.
He dropped his hand. “I’m not shy.”
His cheeks were still red, and I shrugged. “Is that a yes, then?”
“No.” His expression turned serious. “I didn’t have sex with anyone as a human, so fucking anyone in here never happened.”
I choked on a breath. “What?”
He came over to me, caging me in between his arms as he planted his hands against the workbench. The wood rubbed against my back as I bent my neck to look up at him.
His heated gaze burned my entire body with one fucking look. “Why’d you ask? Care to change that?”
“Absolutely I would.” I ran my hands up his chest and wrapped them around his neck. “But first, explain to me why the fuck you were a twenty-six-year-old virgin.”
“Life was bloody hard back then, Poppy. I had my mother taken from me as a child from sickness, and my father died in his sleep. I had no siblings. The world was brutal, and humans were so bloody weak. I didn’t want to bring a child into that.”
My chest squeezed at the thought of Blaise not wanting children. “Did you ever fall in love?”
“I thought I did a couple of times, but it was the same ending.” He shook his head. “They wanted a family, but I didn’t.”
