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He cut himself off as my pulse leapt.
“Never mind,” he said casually. “Hey, so, I better go. I’ve got a… thing.”
“Me too,” I said quickly. “I need to… Uh, so, I’ll be in touch soon about… event stuff.”
“Event stuff. Awesome.” Overly cheerful, he drawled, “Nice talking to you, Anita. Speak soon.”
“Yeah.” I licked my dry lips. “Speak soon. Bye.”
The call disconnected. I slowly lowered the phone from my ear, the plastic case damp from my sweaty palm.
Well. That was that then.
Chapter Twenty-One
Nuni
“S vyn,” I mumbled to my massage therapist as his giant thumbs pressed into my lower back. “Have you ever dated a human?”
“Dated? No, boss.” He dug in harder, making my eye twitch. “Had a one-night thing with one once, though. Would’ve
liked to see her again, but… wouldn’t have worked out.”
My eyes popped open. “Why not?”
He chuckled, shifting lower to start working on my left hamstring. “Well, I was terrified of hurting her, for one. She was a tiny thing. Plus, you know, demiurgus and human anatomy don’t mix too well.”
“Mm.” I stared down at the floor through the hole in the massage table. “But, so, how did the one-night thing wor-hhhnnngh.”
My entire leg spasmed as Svyn pushed hard against the back of my thigh with his knuckles.
“Fuck, dude,” I panted, wincing. “Do you inject concrete into your giant hands every night? Jesus Christ.”
“You’re tense, boss,” he observed. “You mean did we fuck?”
My ears fluttered. “Sorry, bro, you don’t have to answer. Inappropriate question.”
“It’s all good.”
Svyn had been my massage therapist for a few years now—he was the best—and we often shot the shit, so I was glad I hadn’t overstepped.
“We didn’t fuck fuck. No way. But, I mean…” He chuckled. “I keep my claws clipped short for work, so…”
“Ah.” I nodded as best I could with my face in the hole. “Got it.”
“You interested in a human, boss?” he asked conversationally, but I could only answer with a pained grunt as he dug his giant fists back into my hamstring.
“I just… was wondering,” I eventually managed to get out. “My brother recently started dating a human.”
“Gotcha.” There was a pause, before Svyn warily asked, “And you’re… wondering how they fuck?”
My ears went wild. “No way, dude, no. I was just… Okay, there is this human woman…”
He chuckled. “There we go.”
I scowled at the floor. “It’s not… It’s nothing.”
It really was nothing. I didn’t even know why I’d brought it up with Svyn. I hadn’t seen Anita for two weeks. We’d spoken via email—polite, formal messages about the event. She was getting the invitations designed. She’d asked for the finalised guest list. She was waiting to hear back from Piquante about a food-tasting appointment and she’d sent over a preliminary menu for me to approve.
