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To Rex’s credit, he didn’t ask questions, probably because he heard far stranger things than her statement from other patrons. She lined the glasses up in the long bar and got to drinking, tuning out most of the noises around her. On her tenth glass, she began to feel the buzz, and her ears caught the sigh of a woman beside her.
“I know this sounds silly, but I find him so hot.”
“It’s not silly, Ilsa,” another female voice assured, tone admiring. “I think he’s handsome too, with his commanding aura and the way he dresses.”
“No, you don’t get me. He’s not just handsome to me. He’s hot…as in dirty hot. Those formal clothes and that harsh handsomeness he has going on makes me want to strip off all the layers. Do you see those broad shoulders, that gorgeous mouth? I bet he’s a beast in bed.”
Pearl hid her smile behind a sip, understanding lust at work. Subtly, she glanced to check out where the women were looking and found her stomach drop when she realized who they were talking about. But…really? Henry?
The man was sitting at a corner table with Ozak, the last person she expected him to hang out with, and the two were deep in conversation.
“He has the thickest thighs,” the first woman continued with a dreamy sigh. “You can’t tell under his dark trousers, but I was on a long meeting with him once or twice, and when he stretched them…heavens. I could tell there were tons of muscles underneath. With his commanding nature, I just knew he would know how to use them.”
Pearl’s eyes flicked to the man’s thighs, then his chest. Reluctantly, she acknowledged that there might be truth to what the woman was saying, especially since she felt that commanding nature herself.
“Is that so? He doesn’t strike me as someone who would be wild in bed,” the second woman said.
“It’s always the cold creatures that you don’t expect. Ugh, I want to ride him. Hard and long. All night. I bet he has the stamina too.”
Unbidden, an image of a faceless woman bouncing up and down on Henry’s unclothed form floated in her mind. But what came into focus was the strain in his muscles and the sweat from his body…then, the pleasure when he hurtled his hips up and fucked the woman as much as she fucked him. The woman was right. That commanding aura would extend to bed, and his arrogant nature wouldn’t allow for him to be ridden long. He would flip them until she was on all fours, would slide in from behind, and order her to come—
“He’s an arrogant ass.”
It took Pearl a while to comprehend that she had spoken the words out loud—not loudly enough to alert the whole bar, but just enough for the two women beside her to hear. Belatedly, she brushed the image off her mind, irritated that it had gotten there in the first place.No. Hell, no. Sleeping with him was the least of her fantasies, no matter how open she was to things and how objectively hot he was. It was disgusting. It was unacceptable.
And apparently, she was looking a little bit crazy to her audience.
“Hey, Pearl. I didn’t see you there,” the second woman greeted, expression friendly. Pearl peered closely until she recognized them through her buzz.
“Hey, Luna. Sophie.”
Sophie wasn’t as friendly, a frown in place and back straight. “Pearl. He’s not an arrogant ass.”
“Yes, he is.”
“You’re just mad that a Lyra wouldn’t even bother looking in your direction.”
Luna’s eyes widened. “Sophie!”
“It’s true,” Sophie insisted, looking her nose down at Pearl—an action that Pearl knew all too well. “The Lyras don’t date down, least of all their perfect heir. You’re very beneath him.”
She shocked the two when she nodded.
“Good. Because he’s not my type and I don’t date arrogant asses.”
“Why, you—”
“Have a right to your opinion,” Luna said firmly, clamping Sophie’s mouth with her hand. “Pearl, I’m sorry. My friend here’s drunk and horny.”
“So am I. Kind of. And don’t be sorry.” Pearl noted Luna’s sincerity and flashed the woman an equally sincere smile. “We’re all entitled to our opinion.”
She ignored the two after that, even when Sophie resorted to glowers and subtly placed insults. She kept drinking, needing the blankness of her mind more than the triumph of besting an equally drunk woman. On her fifteenth glass, the two had left the bar. So had Ozak, but Henry was still there, and it almost felt like he was…monitoring her.
Everything he had said to her earlier came rushing back to the forefront, including what she overheard yesterday. She tried not to give in to pettiness, but oftentimes Pearl found she lost that battle. Before she knew it, her steps were taking her closer to him, until she was sitting beside him. Henry didn’t look surprised, further cementing her theory of his monitoring.
“My brother’s not a disappointment to the community. If there’s anyone to blame, it’s Brian, his best friend—the guy who manipulated him into using dark magic. My brother was innocent.”
Now he was surprised, but maybe it was just because her voice cracked. That he didn’t resort to silence caught her off guard.
