Page 30 of Let Me Win You

“Well…” I cleared my throat, holding my entire form as stiff as a rock. “There is a very simple explanation. At some point, I decided to become a better chef than Gul and spent several centuries learning and perfecting my cooking.”

“So, you became an amazing chef just because you wanted to best your brother?”

“Mostly for that reason, yes,” I admitted. “I enjoy being the best.”

“You really take sibling rivalry to a whole new level, Invi.” She shook her head, but the smile on her lips was that of amusement, not judgement.

“The problem is that all my brothers are really good at something,” I said. “Trying to compete with all of them is incredibly hard and often disheartening.”

“You hate losing,” she remembered.

“Very much so. There is nothing I hate more. I do anything to win, even if I have to spend a century or two at the stove, learning to cook while risking burning my tail—” I cut myself off, realizing it probably wasn’t a good idea to remind her of my visual short-comings.

Thankfully, she giggled, covering her mouth behind her hand in a gesture I found irresistibly adorable.

“It sounds dangerous,” she teased. “Well, let’s see what else you achieved after taking all that risk.”

She moved closer to the table, and my hope for an evening with her grew stronger.

Setting the tray on the table, I pulled a chair out for her. “Why don’t you take a seat? Have a glass of wine? Red or white?”

To my relief, she hesitated only for a moment, before sitting down.

“Well, normally, I prefer red,” she said. “But it’s rather warm here today, isn’t it?” She cast me a furtive glance, while pulling at her tight neckline to let the air under her dress.

And now I was thinking about everything she hid under that dress, which didn’t help with containing my straining cocks at all. I plopped into the chair across from her to hide my raging double erection.

“It’s warmer here, in the wetlands.” It cost an effort for my voice to sound more or less normal as I poured her a glass of chilled wine, then poured one for myself, too, because I needed tochillthe fuck out here. “The air is more humid, which adds to the heat, I believe.”

“This place is only a short walk from the town. How is the climate here so different?”

“Distance doesn’t have the same meaning in Purgatory as it does in your world. Our climate is rather subjective. Many factors affect it, even state of mind sometimes.”

“Interesting.” She seemed distracted, unbuttoning the two top buttons of her dress.

I forced my eyes away from the sliver of her skin revealed in the opening but wished she’d keep going. The effort it took me not to stare at her neck and chest, weakened my control over other parts of me. I felt a horn pushing through my skull and quickly covered it with my hand, pretending to rake my fingers through my hair.

“Yes. Purgatory is a world of its own.” My voice came raspy this time, despite my best efforts.

“I’ve been here for two days now, but I still know very little about this world,” she said. “I didn’t explore it much, mostly because I was told to stay in the teahouse for my own safety.”

Her words hung between us in the silence that followed. I was the one she’d been hiding from in the teahouse. I was the reason she had to hide.

“You’re afraid of me…” I exhaled, crushed by it.

She gave me a prodding look. “Not enough, clearly. Since I’m here now, despite all the warnings.”

Now was my time to set things right between us.

“Nic, I’m so, so sorry.” Shoving the chair away, I did what the legs allowed me to do much better than a tail would—I fell to my knees in front of her. “I wronged you. There is no excuse for what I did, other than my fervent desire to get to know you better. Please forgive me. If I could, I would take you back home instantly.”

“Would you?” She focused on my face as if trying to confirm the meaning of my words in my expression.

“You don’t trust me.” It came out as a statement, even as I had intended it as a question.

“How can I?” she sighed uncertainly. “Everything I thought I knew about you turned out to be a lie.”

“Not everything. Actually, everything I ever told you about myself is true. But if you have any questions, just ask. Ask me anything you want.”

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