Chapter 24 #2
The interior is set up with a stage at the back with a catwalk that juts out into the room.
Surrounding this catwalk are tables and booths.
Probably about fifty percent of them have patrons in them.
Down in front. directly before the catwalk, is a large booth, and that’s where I find Caspian with Silac and the new dragon.
When I get closer, I can see they all have beverages in front of them, but Cas’s is still full, and he looks slightly uncomfortable.
His eyes widen when he sees me approach, and he jumps to his feet. “This isn’t what it looks like,” he blurts out.
I giggle and give him a kiss before sliding into the booth and pulling him down next to me. I’m sandwiched between him and Silac.
“It looks like you’re having a good time with your friends, and I’m okay with that.”
“Woo-hoo, hell yeah, Lila. Cas, your woman is amazing!” Silac holds up a hand to high-five me, and I return the gesture.
He’s in humanoid form today, and I really want to get a good look at him, but short of bending down and peering under the table, I’m shit out of luck.
Cas still has a worried little frown on his face, but I just pat his leg.
“Hi, Tirrian, how are you?” I ask the dragon who has been nothing but hostile to me.
He stares at me, his dragon eyes unblinking as he crosses his arms over his broad chest. He’s not wearing a shirt, and the lights of the club make the holographic effect of his scales and skin shimmer and shine.
He’s fucking stunning, with the oil slick black skin and shimmery, holographic pink scales on his wings which are tucked in tight against his back, but all that attractiveness doesn’t make the ugly attitude any better.
“I was good until you got here,” is his gruff response, and I want to say that I ignore the vitriol, but that shit hurts.
“Tirrian,” Silac scolds, but I wave him off.
“It’s okay, Silac. I get it. He’s Dylan’s cousin, and he would feel resentful of the way he got removed from the circus.”
“Because you’re a mate stealing whore and then influenced your grandpas to get rid of the competition,” he snarls and leans forward aggressively.
My mouth drops open in surprise, and Caspian stiffens next to me.
“Is that what you were told?” I ask, a little surprised that the dragon alpha would spread lies.
“I didn’t have to be told. My cousin was kicked out of the circus, and when I got here, the love of his life was shacked up with frellscum.
“Hey now, that’s enough.” Caspian slams his hands on the table and stands up. “You know nothing. I never even considered mating with Dylan. My kraken would not allow it, and I never gave him any impression that I would.”
“Not to mention Dylan was a man-whore of epic proportions. Was Cas supposed to stand around and wait while Dylan fucked anything that walked, or didn’t, on the ship?” I point out dryly.
“And he was kicked off because he attacked Lila, not because he was competition. He wouldn’t accept that my kraken made the choice.
He pushed forward, mated, and bred her and took it all out of our hands.
I’m just lucky that Lila was gracious enough to forgive and accept us.
” Cas sits back down and grabs my hand, squeezing it.
The love in his eyes is obvious when he looks at me.
“When he heard this, he lost it and tried to shift and attack Lila. At no stage did Dylan ever ask me to be his mate. We hadn’t even had sex for a long time because he was happy sticking his cock into everything else.
Dylan didn’t want to be tied down, and I made it perfectly clear to him that my kraken would not mate with him.
My kraken is fussy, he wanted a female to bear his young, and a surrogate was not going to be a suitable replacement. ”
Cas looks at Silac when he says this, and I have a feeling that maybe there was something between the two of them in the past. Silac nods with understanding in his eyes, and I make a note to ask Cas about it later when we are alone.
“Well, I’m happy for you, my friend—for both of you. We need another round of drinks to celebrate.” Silac waves a hand, looking over my shoulder for a waitress.
Tirrian is still silent and judgmental, and I guess it’s going to take more than an explanation to win him over. I shouldn’t care whether the dragon likes me or not, but I should be wary. His cousin turned out to be a duplicitous asshole, so I’m sure the trait runs in the family.
I feel more than see someone arrive to take my order.
When I turn my head to ask for a rilaxious, the words stutter to a stop.
Standing in front of me is a tall, stacked, half naked voluptuous three-breasted, four-armed woman.
She has mottled green skin, except for her nipples which are bright orange, and a pretty face with tusks and backward facing horns on her head.
She’s wearing sparkly black hot pants and nothing else, and holding a tray with one set of arms and a tablet with one of the others.
She puts the last on her hip and poses, smiling brightly.
“What can I get you boys?” she asks, ignoring me completely as she bats her eyelashes at Silac.
I groan silently. Great, another passive aggressive female. I’m so sick of all this shit.
“Oh, I didn’t see you there. Hi, lovely, what would you like?” She moves all her attention from the naga to me and smiles brightly. “Sorry, we don’t get a lot of women in here. I’m Tully.”
Phew, crisis averted. She seems nice enough, but I have a feeling there’s a reason they don’t get a lot of women in here, and that explains why Cas looked so nervous before.
“Lila.” I smile and wave. “I’ll have a rilaxious,” I tell her, and she makes a note on her tablet.
“And we’ll have another round of the same, thanks, beautiful.
” Tirrian’s attitude has done a full one eighty, and he’s smiling at Tully.
Holy fuck, he’s hot when he smiles. Oh, who am I kidding, he’s even hotter when he’s aggressive.
He makes my kraken’s tentacles curl. She likes his whole grumbly, growly facade. Me, not so much.
She nods and makes another note. “I won’t be long.
” She turns and walks off just as the lights dim and unfamiliar music blasts through the sound system.
The track is sultry, seductive, and slightly Middle Eastern sounding, which makes me think of hot nights in Marrakesh.
Sure enough, when a spotlight appears in the middle of the catwalk, my suspicions are confirmed.
This is a strip club. Standing there is a tall, voluptuous female—or I’m guessing it’s female considering most of the bar is made up of male patrons.
Now that I think about it, that should have been my first clue.
I’m really going to need that drink now. I hope Tully returns quickly.