“God no. I just need someone fun to take the edge off…being lonely.”
“Is that code for needin’ to get laid? I can’t tell.”
I could feel my face heating.
“Ah right, yeah. Thought so.” She nodded. “Yer just findin’ yerself, you are. You don’t need to go worrying about nothin’ t’all. All you need right now is a willy that stands up as long as you need it to. Trust me, younger is better. Maybe aim for twenties. It’s never fun when they’re done before you’ve even gotten goin’.”
I blew out a slow breath, her talk greatly helping. It felt like the clouds of doom had parted, letting in a little sunshine. That sunshine was cutting through all the crap I’d been brainwashed to believe about what “proper” women could and could not do.
“Thanks,” I said, reaching for the bottle.
“I got it.” Austin strolled up behind the bar, ignoring someone waving to grab his attention. He wrapped his large, scarred hand around the wine bottle.
“Are your hands soft, Austin?” I asked without meaning to, my mind running away from me.
A crease worked in his brow and his body tensed. “When they need to be,” he said, his voice deep and rough.
“She means soft, not gentle,” Niamh said. “When does your shift end? We need to talk before she can’t function anymore.”
“Good Lord, my tolerance isn’t that low,” I grumbled as Austin pushed the glass of wine my way and affixed the cork.
“Ye still do, yes,” Niamh said. “As soon as ye grow into that power of yours, it won’t wear you out so. I have faith ye’ll be able to hang on a little longer.”
“I’ve got help on the way,” Austin said, pointing at someone further back in the crowd to get their order. “And no, they aren’t soft to the touch. I’ve never… That’s not something…”
“My hands aren’t either.” Niamh analyzed her palms.
“Shut up, yes they are. So is your face, I can tell.” I slid my fingers across her palms.
She yanked her hands away. “Janey Mack, do you wash yer hands with sandpaper or something?”
I huffed out a laugh. “Clearly I need to invest in some magical skin cream. Damarion’s hands are really super soft.”
“That’ll feel nice when you finally take off that chastity belt.” She winked at me.
“I just have no idea how he does it. Mine keep getting rougher and rougher as I work with the weapons. I hope he doesn’t care…”
“If yer hands are in the right place, he won’t even notice.” Niamh chuckled.
As I took a sip from my glass, I finally noticed Sasquatch to my right, hunched over his beer and half turned away from the bar, showing me a little of his back.
“A glutton for punishment, huh?” I asked Niamh, ignoring him.
“He’s making a statement, the eejit. He’s putting his faith in Austin to protect him—meaning he’s declaring Austin as the stronger alpha. He doesn’t realize that we don’t need to resort to violence to make him regret waking up this morning.”
“He’s been through plenty tonight. We’ll leave him alone.”
“Sure, say that now when yer on the sober side of that bottle. Once yer a fan of the el’ gargles, your tune will change.”
Donna, the cute twenty-something who worked in a wine-tasting room on the main strip and who turned into a rather gross rat, practically danced down the inside of the bar, a big smile on her pretty face. “Hiya, Jessie.” She waved as she hustled by. “Quite a night, huh?”
From right behind me I heard, “Hey.”
I jumped, spun, and blasted out a pulse of magic. The room at large groaned, someone shrieked, and the chatter died away. Everyone doubled over, as though a bomb had gone off and they were dropping for cover.
Everyone except for Austin. He didn’t flinch, but every muscle on his very impressive body was clenched, including his jaw.
“Sorry,” I said, shaking my head. I lifted my voice. “Sorry! Austin startled me. My bad.”
After a silent beat, movement and chatter picked back up again, and Austin rolled his shoulders. “Ouch.”
“Why would anyone in their right mind want to attack her?” someone said into the din, everyone straightening up.
A little glow infused my middle. That was a nice thing to say—it meant I was getting better.
“I didn’t even feel it.” Niamh took a sip. “It’s good to be on the inside, Austin Steele. You should try it. Then she’ll protect you instead of battering you around. She’s getting stronger. That el’ gargoyle is doing his job.”
“Sorry,” I repeated, trying to scoot over to make some room and bumping into Sasquatch. He scowled but didn’t budge.
“It’s fine, I’ll stand.” Austin pushed in a little closer.
“Hey, listen, sorry about what happened earlier,” I said, wanting to clear the air. “I didn’t realize about you and Damarion. You know, the whole alpha thing. I didn’t know he’d cause a problem.”