I grinned, giving the older woman an exaggerated wink. “Yes, I’m told I have impeccable taste.”
Laughter brought youth back to Ysabeau’s face as she shook her head and resumed her stitching.
I returned to perusing, thumbing a satin said to be enchanted with cooling and moisture-wicking properties, when the bells rang out behind me, a charming peal of sound that introduced a less-charming disruption. I’d turned my head just enough to see who had entered through my periphery.
“Oh mygods,do my eyes deceive me?” the woman crowed, twirling a strawberry-blonde curl around her fingertip. “Or is that Kieran godsdamn Vistarii waltzing through a sex shoppe in the middle of the workday? Can’t say I ever expected to see the likes of you in a place like this,Captain.”
I nearly flinched at the way she attempted to roll her tongue around the title with the same sexual implications Arken did. The stranger—and shewasa stranger to me—was sloppy in her execution, but even if she knew how to flirt, it would have sent the same slimy wave of disgust down my spine.
“All in a day’s work,” I murmured, not deigning to glance up, and hoping the woman would take the hint and leave me be.
“So is this where all my hard-earned taxes go, then?” she teased, and I worked the muscle in my jaw to bite back the risingsnark, knowing damn well the obnoxious woman hadn’t worked a hard day in her life.
I steadfastly ignored her, exchanging a look of exasperation with Ysabeau before walking toward a rack of slinky robes and pajama sets.
Regrettably, the blonde followed.
“You know, I’m not with Fionn anymore,” she drawled, taking the spot right next to me, trying to paw at the dusty rose slip I’d been eyeing.
I let the weight of her implications drop to the floor with my silence, moving toward another piece.
“Though, I’m sure I could invite him back to my bed, should you be so lucky to take me out for a night on the town…”
I stiffened as she tried to run a hand “seductively” around my neck, catching her by the wrist, but not fast enough to stop her from extending a finger and prodding at the freshly bitten flesh on my neck where Arken had graced me with the gift of a bruise this morning.
“Don’t touch me,” I muttered, shaking her off. This woman was getting on my last nerve.
Attempting to put some distance between us, I returned to the table in the far corner of the room, picking up a pair of panties I’d noticed when I first walked in.
“Do you have these in any different colors, Ysabeau?” I asked, holding them up for the seamstress to observe. These ones were rather similar to the panties I’d so rudely cut off Arken, the ones she’d claimed were her favorite. The woman liked consistency, so if there were other options, I’d take them all.
“You know, I think I might,” she mused, tapping her chin before turning around to check her stock in the back.
Unfortunately, that gave Ysabeau’s other customer the audacity she needed.
“Come on now, Captain—” she teased, reaching a hand toward my waist, or maybe my fucking groin.
My eyes flashed, whipping my head in her direction and baring my teeth on instinct. Thick ropes of Shadow immediately wrapped themselves around her wrist, throwing her predatory hand back with enough force that the woman stumbled.
“Do not. Fucking. Touch me.”
“Well.” She sniffed. “That’s certainly not what you said around this time last year.”
That was it. I was fed the fuck up.
“Neandra, the only reason you got fucked that night was because your boyfriend had pretty eyes and a nice cock.Youwere something I tolerated for the sake of getting Fionn on his knees, and it was almost worth it, because he is phenomenal at sucking dick. But as I told youbothbefore leaving your bed,I don’t do repeats.”
She cocked a challenging brow, crossing her arms over her chest.
“You sure about that? Because the grapevine has been buzzing lately, let me tell you. All these whispers in the taverns suggest you finally took a truelover,Captain. Is that who you’re shopping for, then?”
“That’s none of your fucking business,” I growled.
“Isn’t it, though? I should like to meet this girl, I think, if only just to shake her fuckin’ hand. Most of us would, actually.”
“Us?”
Neandra rolled her eyes. “You think we don’t talk in these streets? You’ve left a long enough string of ex-lovers behind to fill a room with folk to commiserate amongst themselves, Captain. And we’re all ever so curious as to what it took to finally nail down Sophrosyne’s finest specimen.”