“Do you want to see it?”
I pull the dress on, then turn to face him while I lace it up. “Maybe.”
“I’ve never known you to not be curious,” he says.
“And I know you don’t do anything that doesn’t benefit you,” I say.
“You’re right. I don’t think I’ll show them to you. At least not yet. They’re rather intimate.”
I roll my eyes. “I think I should go.”
“Not yet.”
With a sigh, I cross my arms over my chest. “You don’t have a history of holding up your end of the bargain. You want me to participate in these things, yet you keep Anya away.”
“You’ll be reunited soon enough.” He pulls out my chair. “You need to eat. I will keep my hands to myself.”
It benefits me to be on his good side, and I am feeling hungry again, so I return to the table and begin to eat. He drains another glass and I notice his eyes are heavier. His movements less graceful.
“You’re drunk,” I point out.
“This is what you do to me, little raven. I can’t think straight around you, so I drink. It keeps me from acting on my…darker impulses.”
I don’t even want to go there, but possibly he’s more honest while drunk. Ludis always was. “Why am I really here tonight, Caiden? We both know you’d be having more fun with some other woman.”
He sets his nearly empty glass down on the table, then fills it to the top. “Aside from the fact that you intrigue me?”
“Don’t play with me. I know you too well.”
“I think you do. You might be the only one who sees me. How strange is that?” He takes another drink.
I wait, hoping he continues talking.
After he sets his cup down, he lets out a long sigh. “I want to see your magic. Figure out what it is you can do. Without you holding back. I want to know if you’re like me. Or if you’redifferent. If you’re useful in some way, other than of course, pleasing me.”
I groan. “You couldn’t help yourself could you? You had to add that comment in to remind me how much of an asshole you are.”
“You’d rather I placate you with sweet words and false promises?”
“We’re so far beyond that,” I tell him.
He leans across the table. “I think you like it. I think you like when I remind you of how desirable you are. And I know you’d enjoy yourself if you just gave in.” He leans back. “Besides, I’ve never had any complaints.”
“That is not how you get a woman to bed you.” I drag my finger around the rim of my glass to distract myself from the fact that he might be on to something because I’m enjoying our conversation more than I should.
“It works on everyone but you.” He lifts his glass to me in a salute.
“Because they’re afraid of you. Or they want something from you.”
“Well, I think youwereafraid of me. At one point. And youdowant something from me, yet you resist. Even when they have a man waiting for them, so many women are eager to warm my bed.”
For a moment, I almost feel sorry for him. How would he ever know if anyone liked him for who he was? Then I remember that he’s insufferable and that’s not a mistake most people would make. He knows exactly who he is. “Well, I know you. They don’t.”
He laughs, then takes another drink. When he sets the glass down, some of the wine sloshes over the side. At this rate, I suppose I could wait until he drinks himself to death. My browfurrows as I consider all the times I’ve seen him in this state. It’s not unusual for him.
He grabs the bottle and pours more into my still very full cup. I make an effort to drink some to appease him. Then, I eat. As if we’re just having a normal dinner. “What else are you hiding, Caiden? That drinking isn’t because of me. You’re running from something, aren’t you?”
“You’re too smart, you know that?” He’s slurring a bit.
