Page 46 of Witches and Wine
She went silent for a beat, staring at me like she was about to hate admitting something. “He smells like butter and pine, alright?”
Chuckling, I rested the fork on the now-empty iron plate and jutted my thumb behind me. “Want me to go talk to him?” I wiped my mouth with a cloth napkin.
“No,” Tambie shouted, lurching forward, her cheeks heating when everyone turned to look at us, including Dagnar. “No, Dion. I forbid it.”
Damn it all to Tartarus. Thiswasdistracting.
“You forbid it, do you?” Tossing the napkin onto the table, I pushed off my thighs to stand. “Now it’s a must.”
Tambie opened her mouth to protest, but when nothing but squeaking and gurgling came out, she sat back in defeat. “Fine. Please don’t embarrass me, D.”
“No promises.” I winked at her before walking to the counter.
Dagnar snapped his green fingers when I approached. “Dionysus, right?”
“That’s right.” I propped an elbow on the counter. “I’m surprised you knew that, considering this is probably only the second time I’ve been in here. No offense.”
“None taken.” Dagnar let out a hearty chuckle, the large two tusk-like teeth protruding over his top lip shifting when he talked. “I frequent Bacchus. Hell of a place you run there.”
“Glad to hear it. Other people’s enjoyment givesmejoy.”
The words stung more than they usually did. I wanted to make Chelsea happy. It would bring me far more joy than the glee of dozens of strangers on any given day.
“What can I get for you? The ale here isn’t mixed with ambrosia wine, but it tastes damn good. Perfect honey hops froth, too.” Dagnar clapped himself on the chest with pride.
Patting my stomach and blowing out a breath, I replied, “I’m already filled to the brim from one of those pies, thanks. But I did want to?—”
A female with pink skin, red eyes, and bleached white hair snaked her arm around Dagnar’s waist from behind. She walked her fingers up his stomach and pressed her crimson, plump lips to his bicep, kissing him there. Her darker pink spade tail flicked and spiraled itself around one of Dagnar’s legs. She was a female demon I gathered—a succubus.
Peeking over my shoulder, I slid to the right to block Tambie’s view of the unfortunate setback. “This the missus?” I gave a curt nod to the succubus, who flashed me sultry eyes the moment they landed on my face.
Dagnar chuckled and kissed the demoness’s cheek. “Not my betrothed, but sheismine. Isn’t that right, Vila?”
Vila scanned me from head to toe, attempting to cast whispers into my mind. It wouldn’t work. There were only so many beings that could manipulate a god’s mind, and asuccubus was certainly not one of them. After realizing this, Vila chewed on her bottom lip, seeminglymoreintrigued. “That’s right,” she cooed at Dagnar but still looked at me. She stroked one of his tusks with a single finger.
Godsdammit. Poor Tambie. The first being that she’d shown interest over in years, and this was what happened.
“On second thought, Dagnar, why don’t you pour me one of those ales?” Sighing, I stood and tried not to look back at Tambie.
Dagnar gave a prideful, toothy grin before moving to a display with three golden taps and tubes leading to giant metal casks with wooden fencing around them. He lifted a mug, tilting his head to one side as he stared at the foam forming. Once satisfied, he slid the drink to me, and I handed him a lyyke coin, Arcane Cove currency.
After giving Dagnar a nod as a thanks, I sipped from the mug and fought back a moan. Fuck. Itwasgood. I stared at the orc over my cup’s rim, and he flashed me a pair of expecting eyes.
After wiping the foam collected on my mustache, I pointed at the ale. “Fucking good, bro. Real good.”
“That’s what I love to hear,” Dagnar answered and circled his arms around Vila’s waist.
It was a wonder the hulking orc was a retired warrior. I could hardly imagine him lodging an ax into a person’s skull after making dough for his meat pies on the same day.
Tambie sat with her spine zipped straight, and she raised a hand when I approached the table. “No need to beat around the bush. I saw everything. He’s taken. Moving on.”
Slamming the mug down and purposely making her jump because I wasnothaving it, I leaned over the table and pointed behind me. “She’s a succubus, Tambie. She tried to seduce me right in front of him. You think that’s going to last?”
Tambie shrugged and flicked a crumb from the underside of her claw. “Plenty of beings try to seduce you, Dion.”
I flopped back to my seat and snorted. “You’re not wrong. And if it weren’t for Chels, I may have taken her up on it to prove a point to both youandthe orc.”
“Ah ha,” Tambie announced, pointing a stiff arm at me. “So, shewaswhat this whole distraction business was about. I knew it.”
