“If we ever get there, I will treat you gently if that’s what you want.”
“Has anyone ever treatedyougently?”
“I don’t want to answer that.”
“It’s okay.” Talon squeezes my hand and nods to the door.
And I can’t think of a time where I was the one in charge in the bedroom. Or treated gently. Everyone always just wanted to use me and I had to let them.
I kick off my shoes and leave them next to Talons. They look so right next to each other. He leads the way down the steps and to the parking lot.
“It’s silly, but I brought paper fans.” Talon pulls a pair of fans from his back pocket. “I made them.” They’re perfectly pleated, as if he measured each fold. They’re both pastel pink and blue, like cotton candy.
“You added lace.” I snap mine open and fan my face.
“I liked the delicate detail.” He opens his much more gently than I did mine. “I like to do little projects around the house. Like the fans, or the cider I brought to the party, all the treats. Sometimes I do puzzles, but I get bored with them easily.”
“More than I do. I haven’t figured out a hobby I enjoy yet. Gabe does a knitting club, but I haven’t joined it yet.”
“Why not?”
I scuff my foot along the concrete. “Because I’m afraid I won’t be good at it.” I fan my face a few times, not wanting to give him a reaction from my face. I’m terrified I’d be terrible at knitting and resent my friends that enjoy it.
“No one is good at everything they do.”
“True, but as a courtesan, I had to learn quickly or there were consequences. I’m still getting used to not dealing with consequences for failures.”
Talon stops and squeezes my hand. “I’m sorry you went through that. I don’t think people know what the courtesans go through. I know I don’t.” He looks up and sighs. “Honestly, I really thought you just…”
“Laid under people every day, all day?”
“Yeah,” the word is so damn quiet.
“That was a lot of the job, for sure, but I’m highly educated. We start training at three and it never stops. We focus on language, and politics, and conversations. We have to learn how to seduce anyone. And not sexually seduce every time, but to seduce them to trust the Winter King for whatever he wanted.
“Since we can’t lie, we have to get creative. It was exhausting work, and not just the sex part. There were times I didn’t sleep for three days straight and I was expected to keep parties entertained with stories or music or dancing. I wouldn’t wish the job of a Fae courtesan on anyone.” My shoulders drop, and I huff out a breath. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be. I know you mentioned going to the community garden, but my griffin wants to show you our flying grounds.”
I suck in a breath. “I would love that. I haven’t flown in too long, and I think it’d be fun to fly with your griffin.”
“I’d love that,” Talon says, and we turn to go down the path towards the woods.
“Wheredoyou live?” I ask.
The sweetest smile lifts Talon’s lips. “A cute little cottage in the woods, and I have a field for a backyard. It’s pretty perfect for me. It’s isolated, and I get a lot of space for my griffin. He doesn’t want to fly all the time, but he does want to be released, and I tend to repress him.”
“But why?”
“He’s very demanding.”
“What’s it like to have a second form? I’ve only ever known being Fae, which comes with wings and sometimes a special gift, but not often.”
Talon chuckles. “It’s strange. I don’t know how it works for other shifters. Like, I don’t know how it works for Beau or Sparkle. Or even if Gabe has another voice inside his head. But for me, sometimes it’s just another feeling, an instinct that I know isn’t mine. There’s a rumbling in my head that I know isn’t coming from me. But my inner griffin, he likes to demand to get his way. Sometimes it comes as thoughts, other times it’s visions, and other times it’s just him stomping around in my head.”
“I can just imagine.” That image in my mind of Talon’s griffin, jumping and stomping around in a field, having a hissy fit, is so cute. “I can’t wait to see your griffin.”
“He’s pretty excited to present himself to you. He hasn’t done that since, well, I moved to Hex.”
