Two girls. Two secrets.
Only one can survive.
Years before Nelle Wychthorn plans her escape, Tabitha Catt may unearth something in a Horned God's lair that is the key to freedom.
Desperate to save her beloved aunt from a dark curse, Tabitha is out t...
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A hank of hair had fallen across Tabitha's eyes and she pursed her scarlet lips, trying to blow it away. Her freckled cheeks were rounded with the attempt and glistened with a light sheen of perspiration and a blush of color. She didn't smile when her gaze met mine but her eyes did, and my heart erupted into a staccato pulse. Electric desire rushed through my body tingling the tips of my fingers.
Oswain's drunk grin was sloppy and too big for his face. "Thanks for the drinks and setting us up here, Mr. Crowther."
"No problem, Oswain—"
"Oswin," Tabitha interjected, the warmth in her eyes frosting over.
I frowned, running my hand holding the cigar over my slicked-back hair. "Huh?"
She pinned me with an astounded steely gaze.
Her tall gardening friend jumped in, and with a dismissive flip of his fingers, said, "Oswain-Oswin, whatever, it's cool."
"No, it's not," she shot back, tapping him on the chest, furious that I'd gotten her best friend's name wrong, and part of me did feel slightly bad. "That's not your name." There was a challenging tilt to her mouth when she schooled me. "It's Os-WIN. Not, Os-WAAAIN."
Hells-gate. Her prim reprimand had lust scorching my skin.
"Tabitha," OsWIN hissed beneath his breath, rapping his fingertips against her upper shoulder and whispering to her urgently, "Upper rank... Upper rank..."
Tabitha ducked out from under his arm, stepping right up so we were toe to toe. She pinched my cigar from me, drew in the piquant smoke, and rolled it around in her mouth before blowing it out in a thick stream right in my face.
I jerked my head back, waving the smoke away.
Holy shit, I was in so much trouble with her, but all it did was clench my entire body tight with excitement.
"You don't scare me, Mr. Crowther." She twisted around to Oswin and shoved a finger so close to my face that I weaved sideways. "He doesn't scare me."
She turned her defiant gaze back to me and I held it with my own, breathing hot air over my flattened hand before purposefully rubbing it on my upper chest as if warming it up, readying to spank her.
Her pupils flared and the hand holding my cigar lowered to her middle. A moment later her eyes sparkled with amusement, and her lips twitched on a ghost of a grin.
My expression was bored and disinterested, the complete opposite of the rest of me which was super attentive to Tabitha in her short flirty dress and fiery attitude. "Duly noted... Miss...?"
"Tabitha Catt," she replied airily before drawing in a mouthful of smoke from my cigar, which she obviously wasn't going to give back any time soon. Tabitha had a thing for stealing my cigars whenever we went out, puffing away, and pretending to be me. "Nice to meet you, Tabitha."
