Page 46 of Badmouths & Bards

“It kinda fucking does.” Tala glared. “If something’s bothering you, fucking say it.”

“That’s rich coming from you,” Ameriden glared right back.

Gods damn it, if that wasn’t a little hot.

“Oh, I’m fully aware of my bullshit. I never said I wasn’t. But we aren’t talking about me, we’re talking about you.”

Tala wasn’t certain why she couldn’t let it go. Why she needed to know what was bothering Ameriden as if she could possibly do something to fix it. It was confusing, but she couldn’t let it go and Tala refused to back down and Ameriden could tell. His wide shoulders slumped a little as he withdrew his arm from her, lost in thought.

She might have been impatient as fuck, but Tala wouldn’t rush this. Just because it wouldn’t matter once the job was over, didn’t mean it had to be a terrible experience. Or maybe her head was still too sex drunk and her belly too full of cheese to think straight.

“Gimme a kiss and maybe I’ll tell you,” Ameriden said with a petulant pout.

Tala slapped his abs—a bit harder that time.

“Are you fucking serious—” she groaned in frustration, yanking his face to hers. “Fine, fucking get over here.”

The kiss was harsh, Tala putting all her frustration into it. She nipped at his lips, but that only seemed to excite the asshole. When she yanked him from her mouth, fingers twisting in the short strands of hair at the nape of his neck, Ameriden looked way too damned pleased with himself.

This fucker.

“Spill, you arrogant prick with an eight pack.”

“So, you did notice,” Ameriden grinned, but settled upon seeing her lethal glare. “Okay, okay. You wanna know about shitty people, right?”

Tala nodded as she shifted her hold on Casimine’s hand under the blanket. They were all still very naked, but somehow it didn’t feel weird. Casimine was pleasantly warm, his breath cooling her skin as she waited for Ameriden to gather his words.

“I… have some people from my past,” Ameriden licked his lips, glancing at Casimine’s sleeping face. “Before I met him, I mean. I can’t go into too much details about it—don’t give me that look, it’s not because I don’t want to say it, calm down. It’s because it’s bigger…. maybe even dangerous.”

Dangerous?

That piqued her interest. Was there someone from Ameriden’s past that might have sent the ring and flowers? She hadn’t even considered that their stalking problem might have been personal—though it made sense. A lot of destructive behavior was personal one way or the other.

“My family is… well, they’re powerful, to say the least. I don’t have a relationship with them anymore, but sometimes I wish I did if only to shove my career in their faces,” Ameriden sighed. “Nothing says ‘fuck you’ like seeing their son live his life without their approval.”

“Story of my life,” Tala said. “My family’s shit, too.”

“Yeah?”

Tala nodded. “I don’t know if you noticed, but I’m kind of hard to deal with.”

Saying it out loud felt… well, not as bad as Tala had thought it would. She hadn’t seen her family since she was twelve or so—it was hard to keep track of time when Tala was spending her days being angry at everyone. Screaming, crying, throwing up and all that. Not very healthy or fun to be around. Tala had been completely unsociable for the first year with the Moon Maidens. She only ever spoke with the High Priestess who had been responsible for her.

“Maybe a little,” Ameriden said. “But I’ve been told I can be hard to deal with, too. Ask Seira… or him.”

“You’re a scared kitten compared to me,” Tala laughed. “I made my first teacher at the Moon Maidens cry when I was twelve.”

Ameriden whistled lowly. “Yeah, well, I got my tutor fired when I was eight because I hated the sound of his voice.”

“Oh, so you were lucky enough to have a tutor?”

“As if you weren’t. I can tell, you know. Rough exterior or not, you can’t hide the fact that you were a rich girl from me, sunshine.”

Rich was pushing it in Tala’s opinion, but there was no denying that a family that could afford to send their kid to an academy for the arcane had some gold to their name. A lot of gold. But Tala didn’t want to linger on herself.

“And him?” She gestured to Casimine on her shoulder.

Ameriden’s stare grew soft.