“Trying to make me jealous?” he asked. “I’m glad a man keeps your bed mussed up. May we all be so lucky as to find someone to fuck until our days are done. Here, here.”

He raised his mug to his own insincere cheer.

She laughed lightly, turning her body away from him as she murmured her own musings to the crowd, sipping on her beer as she said, “I don’t much care for the company of men.”

Clearly, this piqued his curiosity. She’d expected as much. It was a particularly unevolved brand of male who fetishized the fantasy of two women together. She’d pegged him for exactly that sort of man and dragged a finger lightly along her collarbone, allowing it to trail down her neckline, pretending to be lost in absent thought as she drew his attention to her breasts.

Suddenly interested, the duke adjusted his posture. “Well,” he prodded, “do share with a poor lad. Make my night a bit better, would you?”

She smirked. “Normally I’d say a lady shouldn’t kiss and tell, but this…this changed my life. Have you been to Priory?”

The duke shook his head, leaning in. He clarified, “Your beloved is in Priory?”

“Oh, to call her mine,” she sighed. Emily took another deep gulp of her beer. The raucous tavern noises drowned her thoughts for a moment, exacerbating the pleasant memories that stole her away. She continued dreamily, “This goddess belongs to no one. She is mine as much as she’s anyone’s who can afford her, if only for a moment. Though, I’ll be damned, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime price to pay. I will say, there aren’t words for the night we shared. It ruined all men for me. And to think! I was once engaged to a merchant’s son.”

His interest dimmed once more.

“I’ve had whores,” he said dismissively.

Twice in one night, she fumed within. No bother. As with all things, underestimation was their power. Emily kept her face serene as she said, “I’m sure you have.”

He watched her with a bit of surprise as she stood to leave. Clearly he’d expected her to battle him for the pleasure of being in his company. He raked a hand through his golden-brown hair, loosening his locks as he examined her.

“And when you tire of your whores,” she said, keeping the word as light as she could, “as all earthly things become tiresome, and if you find yourself seeking something transcendent, look for the Selkie.”

That had been all.

She’d gone back to Priory that very night only to be met by a barrage of questions from Millicent. Exhausted, Emily didn’t have time for Madame’s line of questioning.

“And?” Millicent insisted. “Did you get any promises? Any guarantees?”