Page 2 of A Reckless Indulgence

Lowering his head, he snakes between floral arrangements and serving trays. He rounds on the last row of tables, and Roderick is still oblivious, trailing hungry eyes over his companion. It’s no surprise Roderick enticed some unsuspecting ingénue to join him for dinner. Poor girl. She has no idea what she’s gotten into.

Cav knows he shouldn’t say anything yet. He should play it cool, he should sit at the table, but the fire inside him burns up his better judgment. He opens his mouth to call out —

But something stops him. He can only make out the woman’s back, but that’s enough to make his mind grind to a halt. Her body is as plump and juicy as peeled lychee, her luxuriously wet hair piled atop her head. Her dress clings to her curves, styled to look like she’s dripping in pearls and absolutely nothing else.

Heat surges up Cav’s throat, and he swallows to stifle the draconic ember in his chest. He shouldn’t stare. He’s here to keep an eye on Roderick, and despite what a disappointing subject that is, he has a job to do.

A waiter squeezes past, setting a charcuterie board and drinks on Roderick’s table. Roderick doesn’t so much as glance his way, gesturing instead to the view out the window. The woman follows the motion, but Cav doesn’t. He watches Roderick flip back the gem on one of his rings and tilt it over the woman’s glass, dispensing something powdery. Then, Roderick lifts his own drink in a toast.

Cav digs his claws into an empty chair beside him and drags it across the aisle until it’s right next to Roderick.

The man recoils at the instruction, but his eyes sharpen when he recognizes Cav.

“Ordered for me already?” Cav asks sweetly, snatching the woman’s drink and lifting it toward Roderick in mock-salute. “You know I hate when you don’t ask.”

Roderick’s slimy smile stays in place. “I’m entertaining a guest.”

Cav reaches past Roderick to dump the woman’s drink into a plant. “Then they’ll have to forgive me.”

Around them, the buzz of conversation falters. Roderick shifts in his seat, but Cav sinks back in his chair, plucking the lemon wedge from Roderick’s drink into his mouth.

Roderick straightens his ascot. “I paid for my visit to your ship.” He lowers his voice. “In full.”

“I’m not here about your payment,” Cav spits, dragging his finger inside the woman’s glass. When he holds his claw to the light, it sparkles with grainy dregs. “I’m here about what you tried to do during your visit. What you tried to do here.”

“Do you mind?” Over Cav’s shoulder, the woman grows impatient. “You’re interrupting our evening.”

She doesn’t realize the danger she’s in, but Cav does. He refuses to look away from Roderick. “Trust me, I’m doing you a favor.”

“Well, undo it.”

That voice stirs a chord deep inside Cav. It’s hauntingly familiar, a tune he hasn’t heard in so long, but one he’s never forgotten. It reverberates inside him, singing through his veins when he turns to face the music.

Everything about Lyx is cool, like splashing into water on the longest day of summer. Strands of soft pinks and purples color her hair like a fuchsia flower. Her milky blue skin glows nearly translucent before it darkens at her hips. Purple scars wind around her arms and chest in thin ropes across her skin.

She looks exactly as he remembers. She is the siren who haunts his dreams, even if the hollows under her eyes are darker. Her brows knit tighter. Her scowl deeper, like it’s daring a smile to cross her face.

There’s no recognition for him in her eyes; she’s as detached as if she were looking at a stain on the tablecloth.

Cav’s heart twinges. He can’t blame her. The last time she saw him, he was so weak he was hardly recognizable, battered by waves and sun. She doesn’t remember the two of them in her grotto. Her frustration butting up against his lazy smile, her hands roaming his skin, her gasps against his mouth…

That’s what does it. As if the memories are playing across Cav’s face, Lyx’s expression changes. She does remember him. Her fingers curl into the tablecloth, pupils blowing wide before they shrink to slits of unadulterated hate.

“You.”

TWO

Cav

Loathing rolls off of Lyx in waves. She doesn’t hesitate, grabbing a cheese knife and slamming it down into Cav’s sleeve. The blade tears through the fabric, narrowly missing his arm.

“Lyx —”

Behind Cav, Roderick tries to stand, but Cav and Lyx both grab for him to force him back into his seat.

Whispers ripple through the restaurant. Across the room, the host speaks to a burly man and points in Cav’s direction.

He has to wrap this up, but his guilty conscience has him turning back to Lyx. “Listen, I know —”