A waitress came to gather up our plates during the gap in the conversation. She was Fae, and now that I knew what to look for, it was obvious in the way she held herself—as well as the black stag-like horns that branched out from her head and the razor-sharp fangs peeking past her lips when she smiled. She also possessed that ethereal beauty all Fae had, even those who, like Teighan, were more rugged and war-torn. There was just something… enchanting about them. An aura that followed their every movement while their eyes pierced your very soul. No one could convince me that they were anything other than deities incarnate. You just had to look at their perfectly sculpted forms and their soft, shining veils of hair. The waitresses was no exception. It was downright impressive, actually. She had it braided, the brown locks swinging against her back as she retreated from our table. The tail end, tied neatly with an orange bow, reached to just below the swell of her⁠—

“Stare a little harder, pet, and I may have to challenge her to a duel.”

I flinched at Cair’s sudden closeness, floundering like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “I-I wasn’t… I mean, I was, but that’s not⁠—”

“Hush.” He interrupted my rambling with a gruff chuckle. “It was a jest.” My shoulders dropped, relaxing with the assurance that some rando’s blood wouldn’t be splattering the path anytime soon. But then Cair inched forward, head lowered and voice pitched low. I swallowed thickly as he said, “As long as you know who you belong to, and whose cock fits perfectly into your snug little hole, you may go ahead and look all you want.”

I blushed, glancing around to make sure the tables on either side of us hadn’t heard him. When I turned back, the smug grin that greeted me earned a withering glare. “She has pretty hair,” I griped. “That was what I was staring at.”

Cair hummed in agreement before declaring, “Not as pretty as mine.”

I rolled my eyes and took a sip of my drink, ignoring how his laugh made me tingle. “No one is as pretty as you, and you know it.” Arrogant bastard.

Pouting, I forced my gaze to the crowd so that I no longer had to look at the smirk plastered all over his gorgeous face. Teasing me was his favorite sport, but I refused to give him any more satisfaction on this occasion. We were in public, and I didn’t need to be sitting here with a fiery red face and a semi.

I could embarrass myself enough without his help, thank you very much.