Chapter 11
I tried not to gape up at him, but it was almost impossible.
Something about how easily he just killed those men to protect me sent warmth flooding through my body, urging me to press closer to him.
I dug my fingers into the fabric of his shirt and only realized how tightly I held him when he tried to move away from me.
My grip on him didn’t weaken until he glanced pointedly down at me with a devious grin.
After such bravado, Reiven plopped into his seat unceremoniously and called for another beer.
Gatelo hadn’t even raised his face from slurping down his stew. “You’re just asking for someone to shoot you in the back, making a show like that.”
“Sometimes a show is necessary.” Reiven shrugged, then motioned for me to come closer, rather than sit back down in my chair. “Come here.”
“N-no. I’m not yours,” I spat, despite all the heat in my veins that threatened to paralyze me if I got close to him again.
“Well, pretend you are, Blue. Don’t want another pirate grabbing you again, do you?” While I hesitated, Reiven yanked me to sit on his lap. He didn’t even bother to hide his grin at how I pushed against his chest to keep my distance. “Now, now. I thought you enjoyed faking things.”
I glanced around. Several of the bar’s customers had paid for their tabs and left after Reiven’s little demonstration, and a few of them dragged the bodies of the men he had killed outside, leaving streaks of crimson across the floor.
The remaining patrons, aside from us…they were nonchalant about it, but they were watching us still.
I didn’t get the sense that Reiven was truly worried they might attack, but he wanted me to play along with his ruse to try to disinterest them further.
My skin sizzled as I wrapped my arms around his neck and leaned close to his ear to whisper, “Maybe I’ll fake tearing your throat open with my teeth. ”
Reiven chuckled.
Over the next hour, the other customers trickled out of the tavern, leaving the three of us alone.
My companions had their fill of food and drink, and Reiven struck a match to light one of his odd cigarettes.
He shoved the box of matches into his back pocket, and the cloud of smoke that puffed out of his mouth came with a sigh of relief.
I leaned away to avoid the bittersweet, woodsy scent and the burning irritation it brought to my eyes.
“What, do you want to try it?” he asked coolly, offering the cigarette to me.
“I don’t want anything that’s already been in your mouth.”
Reiven shrugged and dug the smoldering end into the table, leaving a circular black burn in the wood. When he went to take another swig of alcohol, only to find his mug empty, his nose scrunched like an annoyed child’s might.
Before he could shout at the barmaid to bring him another, I seized his mug and jumped to my feet. “I’ll get you another one. Just relax.”
He narrowed his eyes, but I grabbed some of his coin and hurried over to the counter.
Since we were the last group here and Reiven scared off a good chunk of her customers, I figured the barmaid despised us.
I wouldn’t put it past her to spit in every single drink she brought him.
Would have served him right, anyway. She refilled his mug and slid it back over to me, filled to the brim.
I took a drink, the amber liquid bitter on my tongue, but it had to be done.
“Siren, who is that man you’re with?”
I knew from her tone she wasn’t talking about Gatelo. I rolled my eyes and reached into the front of my shirt, glancing over my shoulder to make sure he wasn’t paying attention. “He’s nobody. Absolutely nobody.” With a pop, I pulled the cork out of the vial and added the liquid to the beer.
“I thought for certain he was a captain of the Eventide Brigade.” The barmaid set down the mug she was wiping clean of fingerprints and stared dreamily at the back of Reiven’s head. “I heard one of them was in town tonight, and he has that kind of intimidating aura about him…”
Alright, maybe she was nursing a crush on Reiven. Unthinkable.
“He’s a common pirate. And he has a tiny, disappointing dick.” I swirled the beer around inside the glass, pleased that it was impossible to tell I had added anything.
The woman definitely noticed the empty vial I shoved back into my bra, but the excitement and intrigue had drained from her face the moment I crushed her hopes of Reiven being some roguish captain of the Eventide Brigade.
She accepted my remaining coin in exchange for her silence and disappeared back into the kitchen.
I brought my special concoction back to our table, but I didn’t release the handle until Reiven looked up at me. “A token of peace between us? For Ash’s sake?”
He gave me a huge, victorious grin. “Are you already giving up on this lovely tit-for-tat thing we have going on? I’ve been enjoying it.”
It took every ounce of my control to not throw the whole drink in his smug face.
It would be such a pretty sight to see him surprised and annoyed as his perfectly windblown hair dripped with beer.
I savored that image and leaned closer to whisper in a fake-sweet voice, “Don’t you think we’d make better friends than enemies? ”
A hint of disbelief still shadowed his face, but he accepted the mug from me and drank. I threw Gatelo “the look,” and he silently meandered away, through a side door that probably led to a storage room.
“We could never be friends,” Reiven muttered. “You hate me too much.”
“I only hate you because you’re such a prick.”
“And because I used to be a pirate.” Half of his drink was already gone.
It was almost impressive that, with how much alcohol he had this evening, he seemed to only have a slight buzz.
Wit still sparkled in his dark eyes, but as I hoped, his eyelids began to droop half closed.
“Look, if we ended up as friends, I might actually miss jabbing at you.” He yawned and lay his head on his arms on the table, keeping his slitted eyes fixed on me.
“Tell me, did they name you Reiven because your heart is as black as a raven’s feathers?”
At first, my question seemed to confuse him, but then he laughed softly.
“I think my heart is perfectly red, thankyouverymuch.” His words slurred together.
Perfect. Reiven slammed back the rest of his drink, and as if the alcohol hit him with some epiphany, he turned a sleepy, mildly drunken glare on me.
“I know what you’re trying to do. Hypnotizing me with your eyes and—humming while you brush your hair and—smelling nice all the time—”
What in the world is he babbling about?
He pointed at me accusingly, though he could hardly lift his hand off the table. “I’m not weak. I won’t give you the pleasure of charming me to my watery grave just because you’re pretty.”
Alright, he must have been more intoxicated than I thought.
“You actually think I’m pretty?”
Reiven blinked and stared at his now empty mug.
“Stuff’s strong.” He didn’t seem to have the energy to continue our conversation, as the spiked alcohol pushed him over the edge into sleep.
With luck, he would be out for a solid half hour, but I wouldn’t put it past him to wake up earlier out of spite.
I had to hurry, before he had any idea something had happened.
I dashed through the same door Gatelo disappeared into a few minutes ago, and I had been right; it was a storage area.
Crates, barrels, and sacks of grain and rice littered the damp stone floor.
The light was so dim, I completely walked past where Gatelo stood beside a stack of wooden crates. He hissed to get my attention.
“There you are! Where is it, Gatelo?”
The off-white of his teeth gleamed in the darkness. “Kiss me first.”
He struck a match and lit a lantern nearby as I hopped up to sit on one of the stacked crates.
The light and my new proximity to his face revealed the greed and impatience that glowed in his eyes, and it nearly made me sigh at how predictable Humans were.
He leaned forward with far too much enthusiasm, so I grabbed his shoulders to stop him.
“Why don’t you just let me take the lead here? I promise it’ll be worth it.”
Gatelo grumbled an agreement.
I put on that mask I used to wear when someone paid for my time at Nightwhisper.
It was easy to pretend I desperately wanted a man, even if I felt absolutely nothing around him, especially if there was a purpose to it.
I eased myself to sit on the very edge of the crate and pulled him closer between my thighs.
After taking a moment to pretend to admire how handsome he was, I ran my fingers along his face and up through his shaggy hair.
Before I talked myself out of it, I brushed my lips against his neck. Gatelo shivered and held tightly to my hips as I trailed kisses up to his jaw.
“See? Not bad, right?” I whispered in his ear, earning another shiver.
I dug my fingers into his hair and pressed my lips against his, gently at first, but he quickly and clumsily deepened the kiss.
The taste of stew and alcohol lay heavy on his tongue as it worked against mine.
But I was a professional, so I pretended to enjoy every second.
It went on way too long. Eventually I pulled away with a false smile of contentment as he breathed, “Damn, he was right…Siren kisses are amazing. So I’m able to breathe underwater now?”
I nodded. For a moment, I was afraid he was going to kiss me again, so I hurried to move us along. “You have your payment. Now give it to me, Gatelo.”