3. The Tender Caress. #2
Harlow definitely doesn’t know what I mean.
“Have you made your choice?” the hostess asks him. “If it’s your first time at the Tender Caress, I can give you a tour of the place and the courtesans.”
For a heartbeat, I wonder if his pride will get the better of him and he’ll pick a courtesan just to fit in. Will it be a woman or a man?
But his uncertainty wins, and he just says, “No, thank you. I’ll pass for today… I…”
“Of course. There are quieter rooms for people who enjoy simple talks and exchanges. I’ll accompany you in a moment.”
Then she looks at me expectantly.
“I’m here to see the Madam,” I say.
“Of course. I’ve already rung the bell. She’s aware of your visit.”
Right on cue, Madam Claudia Lafferie walks down the marble stairs in a beautiful blue gown. Expensive gems twinkle over her brown skin, and her long dark hair is up into an impressive hairdo. Her lips are blood-red.
“Jayce, my love! It’s been forever since you came to me!”
She offers me a hand, and I kiss it, like that the hostess’. I’ve been coming to the Tender Caress for years, back when the Blunder had another name and sailed the seas instead of the heavens.
The hostess leads Harlow away, but not before I notice his lingering look on us. I feel a little bad for leaving him alone for his first time at the Tender Caress—just a little.
“Come now, lover,” Claudia says. “We have much to catch up on.”
Lover , of course, is only one of the many pet names she gave me over the years.
Claudia and I have never been intimate. Only men interest me in that manner.
The Tender Caress has many beautiful male courtesans on offer, but I’m here on business tonight, even if I let my crew have their fun every time we visit.
Claudia leads me up the stairs and to her office. It’s as opulent as the rest of her establishment. She offers me a seat on one of her chairs—far from her desk. We’ve been doing this dance for years, and she doesn’t require playing the Madam with me. In a minute, I have an expensive drink in hand.
“I heard your last dragoner died six days ago,” she says, taking a pull on her long cigarette.
“News travel fast.”
She smiles. “Of course. And the world of fire scroungers is a small one. What happened?”
I sigh. “He fell off a mountain.”
She contains her smile, but barely. It’s bad luck to make fun of the dead, but some of them make it really difficult not to.
“Is the sweet little thing I saw with you downstairs your new dragoner?” she asks.
“Yes.”
“Try to keep this one alive, Jayce. He’s adorable.”
I chuckle and shake my head. “I’ll try my best.”
“If he ever has a change of career in mind, send him my way. I can definitely find customers for his special brand of shy but eager scholar.”
“Somehow, I doubt he’s the kind of man to enjoy such pleasures.”
“Oh, lover, you would be surprised. Many kinds of people hide their wilder side.”
“I believe you. Now, to business.” I pull out three small vials of liquid-fire and put them on the small table between us. “What do you have for me?”
An hour later, I come out of Claudia’s office three liquid-fire vials lighter—she’ll sell them to one of her rich customers for more than their market value—but with a knowledge of what’s new in the small world of fire scroungers.
Unsurprisingly, the pleasure houses of the country are the best information network.
They sell pleasure, but their true profit comes from intelligence gathering.
Men and women like to talk when they’re drunk on liquor and sex.
Claudia told me a young dragon fought a bigger one north of the Spine before he escaped, wounded, to the mountains. Two fire scrounger crews are already on the hunt. I intend for us to join it at first light.
I walk down the stairs and make my way to the lounging area where the hostess left Harlow. He’s still there—I expected him to make a run for the ship.
He’s sitting on a couch with a book open on his lap—he must have taken it from the impressive bookshelves along the walls. A man sits by his side, talking to him. He’s tall and burly, with leather body armor. A guard from the city watch, looking for company.
And it looks like he has his eyes set on Harlow. They are… flirting, if I am any judge.
The man laughs at something Harlow says, and his hand lands on his upper thigh. Harlow’s eyes widen, and is that a faint blush I notice in the candlelight?
Interesting .
I walk to them, happy to interrupt.
“You know the pleasure of his company is not for sale, right?” I say to the guard, arms crossed over my chest.
The man looks up, frowning.
If looks could kill, Harlow would have murdered me in cold blood just now.
“What—” he says. “He’s not—”
“You’re not?” the man asks him directly. “You’re not working at the Tender Caress?”
That seems to take the wind out of Harlow’s sail. “No… I’m…”
“Visiting,” I provide with a grin.
“Yes…”
“I’m sorry,” the guard says. “You’re so beautiful, I thought—”
I cut him off, looking at Harlow. “I’m going back to the Blunder . Care to follow?”
My dragoner gets to his feet too fast to be casual. “Yes. What about the others?”
“They’ll find their way once they’ve had their fun. Certainly at sunrise. Let’s go.”
We leave the man behind without so much as a goodbye. He’ll count his losses and look for another man for the night.
Harlow walks to the bookshelf to replace the book he had been reading, but I grab it out of his hand before he can. He watches me curiously as I hide it inside my coat.
We find a boat to take us back to the airship in less than a minute.
At first, we spend the journey in silence. But then Harlow can’t hold it in anymore, and he says, “I can’t believe he wanted to buy me.”
“Buy your time,” I correct. “Slavery is still punishable by death in the kingdom of Hargos. People aren’t for sale.”
He groans. “You know what I meant.”
“Yes. But it shouldn’t surprise you. You looked particularly… delectable tonight. I don’t blame him for wanting a taste. And there you sat, looking all pretty in a pleasure house, as if waiting for a customer.”
Harlow sputters, struggling with words. “I’m not—it’s—fuck you!”
I bark out a laugh. The young dragoner doesn’t know when to take a compliment, apparently. I feel like pushing him some more.
I lean closer. “Next time, take him up on his offer. Who knows? A good tumble in the sheets might help you lose that chip on your shoulder.”
Harlow gasps and tries to shove me into the water. I must admit, he has some balls. If he had pushed me overboard, I would have crawled my way out of the canal and hunted him down all over Nethermere, wet and furious.
Luckily for the both of us, he’s predictable. I avoided his weak attack and jumped out of the boat and onto the docks as we arrived at our destination.
Harlow follows after me, fuming.
By the time we reach the Blunder , it looks like he hates me even more. Before he disappears below decks, I pull the book out of my coat and offer it to him.
“Here. You can finish reading it,” I say with a smile. “Goodnight, Your Royal Highness.”
I walk into my cabin—the only one not below decks—and close the door behind me before he has time to say a word.