Page 116 of Something Handsome This Way Comes

Well.

Milo very much doubted a sane person would be smiling and pleased by the amount of bruising, bite marks, and scratches that were scattered across his body.

I’ve never cum so much in my life.

He hissed as he reached for another gulp of his revitalizing potion, looking down to see a very obvious circle of teeth marks right over his nipple. The canines left a deeper impression than the others.

“Fucking hells Grievance…” Milo said, shaking his head and swallowing yet another dose of the buttery potion.

The banging came again, so distant Milo almost mistook it for the pop of wood in the grate. But it came again, more insistent this time. A distant shout.

Groaning, Milo slid free from the bed, grabbing the nightstand for a moment as vertigo momentarily made him wobble.

“I’m going to kill Rowen,” Milo said once again.

This wouldn’t have happened if not for that stupid drugged muffin…

Milo found his favorite knitted pink sweater. It was torn to shreds. Groaning, Milo managed to shuffle it on, his shoulder spilling out and a slide on the hem going all the way to his hip, but this was the best he had right now.

The banging continued.

Hissing Milo slipped from the bedroom, closing the door silently behind him and wrapping his arms around himself. The rest of the cottage was freezing this far from the fire.

He followed the sound, coming from the front door of the apothecary. It must have been a true emergency for someone to bang on his door while the store was closed. Heart pounding, Milo sped up, reaching the front door where the bangs were loud enough to shake the glass, and a voice clearly yelled from the other side.

“Pembrooke!”

BANG

BANG

BANG

“Pembroke, wake up! If you don’t open up, I’m breaking through the window— oh!”

Rowen pulled back as Milo yanked the door open.

Speak of the sugarcoated devil, and he shall appear.

Milo’s eyes immediately fell into a glare, his lip snarling at the sight of the baker.

“You better have a damn good explanation⁠—”

“Milo!” Rowen interrupted. He looked like he’d sprinted over here from bed. He was still in his pajamas. A rather dapper matching set with pinstripes. Milo half expected a matching cap. “Thank goodness I caught you. Sadie just told me—well. I think you grabbed the wrong box. I’m gonna need those back⁠—”

“So I don’t find out they’re laced with succubus venom!?” Milo hissed out through a snarl.

Rowen froze. And for the first time, the baker seemed to take Milo in. The shredded sweater. And the assorted collection of bite marks, scratches, and bruises that dotted just about every inch of exposed skin.

“Oh fuck.” Rowen breathed.

“Yeah. Oh fuck,” Milo hissed back at him. Then stepped outside into the cold, closing the door so he didn’t wake up anyone in the house. “What the fuck were you thinking!?” Milo yell-whispered into the frigid night.

“I— Well, it wasn’t completely me. Sadie had this idea. I told her it was too dangerous. But she has this succubus friend, and I guess she sent over a vial of venom and⁠—”

“You decided to bake it into muffins?!? Are you crazy!? Do you know how illegal that is? I could report you right now.”

Rowen raised his hands, color draining from his handsome face. “Those weren’t supposed to leave the kitchen. I swear. The second Sadie told me what happened, I ran over.”