“Fuckinggross. Who worries about such a thing?”
She plucked up her wine glass, swirling the burgundy liquid. “You asked. I answered.”
“Well, when we’re up at the Otto estate, I promise to protect you from pregnant nighttime spiders.”
She rewarded him with a breathy little laugh and his wolf shivered.Make her do that again.
Ronin mentally swatted the creature away. Though he wouldn’t mind hearing it again as well.
“One more,” he said. “At leastyouranswers are entertaining.”
She smiled at that—a dazzling, unguarded one—and he made a note of her reaction.
Little she-wolf liked to be praised.
Her enchanting silver eyes scanned the paper before she folded it, creasing the edges precisely, and placed it back in her bag.
When she returned her gaze, it was full of mischief. Something stirred low in his gut.
“What is your biggest fault?” she asked.
He ran his thumb over his bottom lip, delighted to see her glance at the movement. “Other than this face of mine?”
Confusion pinched her brows. “What’s wrong with your face?”
“Can’t go anywhere without a female or seven collapsing at my feet. So inconvenient. Why do you think I’m always late?”
Mireille’s eyes rolled so hard he was worried she might fall right out of her chair. Though, he did notice the corner of her mouth quiver.
It was that tiny tell that encouraged him to share a real answer. He’d already laid himself bare once tonight—the first time in years, decades even, that he’d done so with anyone other than Selene. There was something about Mireille’s unapologetic frankness that he appreciated. So different from his sister’s endless coddling. It was…refreshing.
“I wish I could stop drinking this.” He rolled the empty Delirium bottle between his hands. He hated that he’d already noticed exactly how long it was taking the waiter to bring his second one.
Mireille softened at his confession. “Why’d you start in the first place?”
“It happened after my caging.” He couldn’t look her in the eye as he ripped the label. “Without the outlet of shifting, it’s hard to control my wolf’s violent cravings. I get…urges.”
Mireille sucked in a sharp breath, and a tangy whiff of fear wafted across the table.
He lifted his eyes and wasn’t surprised to find her looking at him quite differently than she had at the start of this dinner.
“It’s fine, Mireille. Although you do smell incredibly tasty, I saiddifficultto control. Not impossible. Just don’t piss me off and I promise not to eat you.”
Another scent joined her fear. A deepening of her musk. Unmistakable.
His wolf perked up again.Mmmmm. Shewantsus to eat her. We should forget about this boring conversation and ask her if she’d like to come back to our place so we can spread apart her thi?—
Enough, Ronin snarled.No one’s eating anyone tonight.
His wolf huffed a frustrated breath and settled.
“Anyway, the Delirium helps keep things in check.”
Mireille’s throat bobbed. “Have you ever tried quitting?”
“Many times.” He fought to suppress those memories, the pain roiling through his body, how ill he’d become. It wasn’t worth it. The Delirium always beckoned him back. This conversation was getting too fucking depressing. “Your turn. What would you change about yourself?”
She cocked her head, then shot him a coy grin. “Not a fucking thing.”
