use anything that came in a bag. The Faire had tried to pass that nonsense on him once, and he had gone and lectured the open void of a sky about how stupid a decision it was for twenty minutes. It hadn’t made the same mistake twice.
He watched Cora as she fiddled with the little infuser, clearly not knowing quite how to use it. To Simon’s knowledge, she didn’t drink tea. She preferred coffee. He didn’t mind the darker, more bitter substance, but his upbringing stayed true in beverage alliances.
She was so beautiful when she wasn’t trying to be. He suspected she didn’t really recognize it herself. All the better. He could not stand women like Anastasia whose only real redeeming quality was their appearance. The Diva preened and strutted and had nothing besides a pretty face and a sinewy body to lure in mates. Sadly, that was usually all that was required.
Cora was beautiful. She took pride in her appearance. But she had so much more to offer than only the curves she had been gifted, even if he did love to play with them.
For one…he was beginning to suspect she was just a little bit evil.
He smiled. He wondered if that quality had been there before, or if she had been given a little bit of his own wickedness when he was forced to Sponsor her. It didn’t matter anymore. He stretched again, wincing at the twinge in his back as he flexed a piece of freshly healed skin, and grunted.
The sound caught her attention, and she looked over at him with a tired and relieved smile. “You’re awake. Are you all right?”
“It was hardly the first time I’ve been flayed by Ringmaster. That tub of lard has peeled my skin off on several occasions. It’s nearly a holiday game. A roasted ham, Christmas crackers, and lovely round of ‘Skin the Puppeteer.’” He sat up, audibly cracked his back, and sighed in relief. “I do appreciate you stepping in when you did. Otherwise you would have likely had to carry back my flesh in a ball along with my clothes.”
She wrinkled up her nose. “You’re joking.”
“About which part?” He stood, cracked his back the other direction, and smiled. “And the answer is no, regardless.”
“Blechk.” She shook her head. “I’m not used to all this carnage yet.”
“You’ll adjust in time.” He walked up behind her, slung his arms around her waist, and pulled her back against him. He adored how she seemed to fit perfectly. Like two pieces of a puzzle. He kissed the top of her head. “Tea? Why?”
“For you.” She yawned as she slumped back against him.
“Did you sleep, Cora dear?”
“No.”
“Not out of concern for me, I hope.” He tilted her head so he could kiss her temple. “I was fine. We heal, cupcake. I shot you in the chest to prove that fact, didn’t I?”
“I know, I know. I wasn’t only worried about you. I was worried about…everything.” She pulled in a long breath and let it out slowly. “What do you take in your tea?”
He chuckled. She didn’t want to talk about it. That was fine. He’d take his time. Reaching up to a nearby cabinet, he opened it, plucked out a little squeeze bottle of honey in the shape of a bear—truly hideously American thing that it was—and flicked it open with one hand. “I can take it from here. Sit down. You look as though you might fall asleep on your feet.”
She smiled, nodded once, and didn’t fight him on the matter. She slipped from his arms to sit at his table, carefully shuffling aside some of the papers and scattered sketches. “I won’t look, I promise.”
“Why would I care if you—Oh. Yes. That.” He cringed. “I was not in my right mind when I said you couldn’t see my sketch of you. It was…a complicated matter. You can look at my work if you like.” He turned his back to her, not wanting to see her face as he went about squeezing some honey into the tea and fetching a spoon to stir it. “Although most people would say I don’t really have a ‘right’ mind. Simply various degrees of wrong ones.”
Her single laugh from behind him made him smile. It faded after a moment. “You were up all night thinking about whatever it was the Faire told you, weren’t you?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
When he was done, he dropped the spoon into the small electric dishwasher. It was a new-fangled piece of equipment,