Page 73 of Let Me Win You

Gul was extremely lucky that Nic had never voiced a single word of complaint about her stay at his place. I still felt that I should’ve at least punched him once or twice for taking Nic away from me, however briefly. But my sweet, kind woman talked me into letting him be. She harbored no ill feelings toward my brother. And since I would do anything for her, she easily convinced me not to retaliate against him.

“Well, you know…” I scratched behind my ear. “Gul is Gul.”

“Has he had any parties recently?”

“No.” I couldn’t deny it. Gul hadn’t been himself lately. He hadn’t had a single party at his house ever since Nicole left. “Honestly, I’m not even sure he sleeps in his house or if he sleeps at all. Last time, I found him wandering aimlessly in his sunflower field.”

“I should go talk to him.” She set aside her empty bowl, but I tightened my tail around her, holding her in place.

“Don’t Nic. You did nothing wrong and have nothing to fix here.”

“Even if losing his ‘prize’ isn’t the cause of his sour mood, Invi, something is eating at him. Do you think he’s missing Ira? Were they close?”

I shrugged. “Not more or less close than any of us are. We all miss Ira. But we didn’t lose him forever. He just got stuck in hell and is working for the demons, for now.”

The sinners dragged Ira into hell, like they had almost dragged me in, too, if it hadn’t been for my brave, stubborn Nicole who held on and refused to let go.

Since Ira didn’t have Nicole to save him, he was stuck in hell now for possibly a few centuries or longer. But he was able to call Sup and let him know what happened, so that we wouldn’t worry too much. Yes, the demons had phones in hell, and they let Ira use one.

Mother left Purgatory the day after the race, finding something better to do elsewhere, which didn’t surprise anyone.

And Gul was roaming the sunflower field, looking for something he never had.

“What if Gul needs help?” Nic worried.

“If he does, he’ll ask for it.” I adjusted my grip on her. “Nic, darling, he’s a big sin. He’s been around for a long time. One can’t possibly live for as long as we have and not have an existential crisis on occasion. He said he wants to be alone. Let’s honor his wish and let him be, at least for a little while.”

She drew circles with her finger on my tail absentmindedly. “Well, you know him better than I do. I hope you’re right.”

I reached over to brush the curl dancing in the breeze away from her face. The wrinkle between her eyebrows didn’t leave her forehead, and it pained me to see her upset. Whatever bothered her, my instinct was to make it better. And I knew exactly how to distract her from the gloomy thoughts about the matters that she couldn’t change and shouldn’t be wasting her time worrying about.

“Well. I should probably start on those cakes.” She adjusted a strap of the thin white camisole she wore in Purgatory when we were alone. The light material allowed her skin to breathe in the warm air of my wetlands. But it also allowed me to see every curve of her body through it.

Propped on my elbow, I slid a finger down her shoulder, catching the strap to drag it back down.

“Invi?” She glanced at me, caught the heated expression in my eyes, and blushed.

“Mhm?” I hummed, dragging the strap further down her arm.

The embroidered edge of her neckline slid down, too, exposing the voluptuous swell of her breast. I swallowed hard as heat throbbed through my entire length, pooling in my groin.

She angled her head, and repeated my name in a scolding voice now, “Invi.”

The hard bud of her nipple poked against the flimsy fabric of her camisole as I pulled it lower still.

“We have time, don’t we?” I asked innocently.

She licked her lips. “Time for what?”

I shifted the tip of my tail to slide the rattle under her skirt.

“For a little snack for me,” I murmured, leaning over to kiss her bare shoulder.

Her cleavage teased me with the view of the partially exposed areola. My mouth watered, but I couldn’t kiss her breasts in this position.

“May I reposition you, my sweet darling?” I lifted her with my tail.

“Invi!” She squeaked, grabbing onto the coil of my tail around her middle and kicking her feet up in the air.

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