Page 49 of Microburst

But it was a win and she didn’t care. I didn’t see one smile or moment of victory. She was just… Cold.

“She’s amazing,” Gavriil said from next to me, talking about Mystic Frost. He wasn’t as bad as some of the other candidates and admitted he needed to get out and some air. He was handling the auctioning project with me and was dedicated but just inexperienced.

“Yeah,” I agreed, impressed once again and glad I’d brought him. I’d been here several times now—when she was fighting and a few times not. The noise of the place just helped clear my head.

And drown out my dragon who was still pissed at me most days.

I watched as Mystic Frost toyed with another fighter. I’d easily spotted the first time that she was holding back. She honestly reminded me a lot of Sagan the way she watched her opponent and took them seriously but mostly seemed bored. So not dismissive or egotistical and always careful… Just realistic about her level.

She snorted when the fighter lunged for her in a sloppy move and again I thought of Sagan. How she showed up at my room again Monday night, and when I’d let her in, she’d just snorted.

Yeah, duh, of course I was going to let her in when she wanted sex. I was an asshole at times, not fucking stupid. I wanted her.

I wanted her more than I should. I wasn’t going to deny her when she… She was right and it was exactly what I had said I’d wanted and the sex was amazing. It was the best sex of my life. Fine, it wasn’t as great as what we’d shared before, but those times one of us had beendruggedand drowning in pheromones.

I frowned, thinking of last night when she’d come back too and she’d seemed sated, but it hadn’t been like before for her. Though it was only one round and not several.

And she still wouldn’t sleep over.

“You good?” Gavriil asked when my beer bottle broke in my hand and I made a mess.

“Yeah, just thinking of that appraiser,” I lied. One of them was giving me a hard time like I was a fucking infant and I didn’t hide how much it was pissing me off. Like enough that I thought he wasn’t worth the drama and was about to talk to Sagan. If he was that dismissive and downright demeaning, he could miss something with his ego.

“Grab me another?” he asked when I said I was going to get a replacement.

I nodded and went to the bar. It really upset me that Sagan didn’t sleep over, but she needed to handle things how she needed to. But it really was like the sex wasn’t the same for her or just… I adjusted my neck when I realized it was because she’d hadbettersince me.

Joris. Joris Fucking Visser, who would probably end up being her mate, was probably perfect in bed too just like in everything else.

“You should be happy for her when you won’t be what she needs,”my dragon snapped.

Yeah, well, I wasn’t perfect.

I glimpsed Myriam while I was waiting for our beers. I’d seen her there a few times, asking her what she was doing there the first time. The look she’d given me like I was a fucking moron actually amused me. She muttered I was a sexist jackass and walked off.

That was… Okay, fair actually,butI wasn’t an aide to the queen.

Just one of her mating candidates so again… Fair.

I did a double take when I sawBelindawith her. What was the ancient doing there?

Well, currently laughing, but that actually made sense because she seemed to want to learn everything about “this new age,” as she called it. Plus, that was a woman who wanted to be tapped in, so again it really did make sense. And given they were both close with Sagan, they would get along too.

“You’re just annoyed they’re closer to her than you are and she actually wants to spend time with them, not you. She only wants sex from you and only one round that she doesn’t seem to enjoy all that much,”my dragon mocked in my mind.

And I broke the beer bottle in my hand that the bartender had just handed me.

I sighed when he shot me a validly annoyed look. “Rough fucking week, mate. I’m sorry.” I pulled out my wallet and gave him a hundred. “I think I’m done drinking.”

“Yeah, maybe don’t be around all this testosterone and go for a walk,” he suggested, but at least wasn’t pissed with that kind of tip.

I brought Gav his beer and said I was heading out. He was looking at me with wide eyes and a bit like a date I was ditching and then I realized I kind of was. I’d brought him and this wasn’t his scene.

“We can finish the fight,” I said. “Sorry, just…” I mumbled something about family stuff and he nodded, mostly focused onthe fight. He thanked me for the beer and I was glad when Mystic Frost lost patience and knocked the guy out.

“We’re gonna come back, right? I want to see this again but…” He glanced around.

I nodded but also wanted to tell him to grow a set and like stay to step outside of his comfort zone. For real.