“Good,” she said.
“Good,” he repeated.
They finished the meal in silence, but it was charged with something new. For the first time, he wished they had a true mate bond so he knew what she thought and felt.
The next night, Pudding was already in his office when he arrived.
He hadn’t seen her since before the mating ceremony. He’d thought of her occasionally, but less and less as the days went on.Most of his attention had been occupied by the upheaval in his household and the mundane tasks of his office.
But here she was, a basket over her arm, smile wide, settling into the visitor’s chair with the easy familiarity of someone who’d sat in it a hundred times. She propped her elbow on his desk and her chin on her hand.
“You look different,” she said cheerily. “Less miserable.”
She was flattering him. He was well aware that his expression was frozen into a perpetual grimace by his scars. “Do I.”
“I take it you liked the little gift I sent you.” She cocked her head, her butter-colored curls falling to one side. She laughed at his utter bewilderment. He had received no gifts from her or anyone else. “You said you needed an heir.”
His tail snapped behind him in surprise. “You sent Hanna to me?!”
Pudding nodded smugly. “Came to me with that little problem of hers. I thought of you right away.”
A storm of emotions stirred up. Annoyance at being manipulated, for one. She had no right to meddle. But he had involved her, hadn’t he? He’d asked her to sate his needs…ones he knew she couldn’t fulfill. He should have known that Pudding, ever a professional, couldn’t rest until she had.
“I suppose you want coin for your efforts, even though I didn’t ask for them.”
She pursed her full lips. “Doesn’t everyone need money, even the wealthiest? But I meant what I said. She was a gift to you, so I don’t expect compensation.”
“Then why are you here when I didn’t call for you?” he asked bluntly.
Pudding lifted her basket to the table, peeling back the linen covering to reveal another carved phallus. This one was larger than the other and decidedly inhuman, with the ridges andknot of a gargoyle. “I just picked this up from the bonecarver. Thought you might want to see me ride it.”
Rather than stirring up his depravity, the reminder of his impotence chilled him. Why, though? It was a simple fact, one he’d lived with for years. He supposed that these past weeks with Hanna had softened him. She did not want nor need his cock. He’d forgotten that it was a failing that his didn’t work.
He shook his head. “I’m afraid not.”
She pouted at him, leaning forward so her breasts nearly spilled out of her bodice. “Are you sure? It wasn’t cheap, you know. I went to a lot of time and effort to find a carver willing to make it.”
He searched his desk and found a small purse of silver coins. Pushing it across to her, he said, “For your trouble.”
Pudding took the money and smiled, and it was the kindest, saddest thing he’d seen in a long time. “All right, then, it’s yours. Good night, love. I won’t come again unless you ask.” She rose and turned to go, leaving her basket behind.
“Pudding.”
She paused, head high.
“I am grateful. She is indeed a gift.”
“Don’t make me cry. I’ll charge you by the tear.” She winked, and then she was gone.
He stowed the basket under his desk as the keepers brought in the next human. He barely heard the complaints today, just recorded them while his mind was elsewhere. More specifically, while his thoughts dwelled with his mate, while she slept on the seventh tier, perhaps for the last time in her own nest.
He wanted something.
He wantedher. Not her body, though the thought of Hanna’s body did provoke his mind in a way he had no business entertaining given the state of his equipment. He wanted the look on her face when she gazed out at the city. He wanted thesmall, startled laugh that escaped her in unguarded moments. He wanted the quiet of their meals together and the scent of her roses. He wanted to see her smile when he came home.
In a world that had stolen so much from her, he wanted to be the reason for her happiness.
Chapter 14
