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Tallak raised his brows while he sipped his coffee, leaning against the counter in the Murrays’ kitchen and watching the exchange between Lily and Baz, who were sitting at the table in the breakfast nook, joined by their respective mates, Alek and Isa. Despite not being biologically related, Lily and Baz displayed an impressively realistic sibling relationship, good-natured bickering and all.
Tallak had come to spend some casual quality time with Basil, and then Lily and Alek had shown up, and now everything had devolved into a happy little family gathering, much to Tallak’s bemusement. Though the kids made efforts to include him, he still lurked a bit on the outside, uncomfortable uncertainty a background buzz to his thoughts. A whole roomful of fae to slaughter? Not a problem. But a merry round of complicated relations? Fuck if he knew how to act.
Rose had wandered in at some point, evidently in one piece and functional, so he wouldn’t have to dismember anyone tonight. She’d grabbed something to eat and skulked off to her room, waving off the invitation to join the jolly gathering.
Hazel was present, too, and had politely ignored Tallak for the entire time he’d been there. It wasn’t that she seemed mad at him. More like she was acutely focused on…anything but him. Which he sure as fuck would have to change.
“Nuh-uh.” Baz shook his head at Lily’s accusation, drawing Tallak’s attention back to the conversation. “You beat me up for that, remember? We’re even.”
“I did not.”
“Did too.”
“Did not.”
Alek cleared his throat. “I’m sure I’ll have to pay for this later, but I’m gonna have to side with Baz here. You beat him up good, tsvetochek.”
Lily whipped her head toward Alek. “What? How would you know? That was before your time.”
Alek sent her a slow, sensual grin. “I was watching your house for a while, remember?”
“Perv.” The sparkle in Lily’s eyes belied her rebuke.
“I had a front-row seat to your wrestling match with Baz after you came home from that date. You guys duked it out all across the backyard and ended up lying on your backs laughing.”
“See?” Basil said around chewing the bite of cake he’d just taken. “We’re square, sis.”
“Incidentally,” Alek said to Lily, “that was the moment I realized I had a crush on you.”
“Awwww.” Lily interrupted her glaring at Baz to flutter her eyelashes at Alek.
“I’m still gonna pay for this later, aren’t I?”
Lily gave him an affectionate smile. “Absolutely, traitor.”
Basil’s laugh ended in a grunt and a cough as someone evidently kicked him in the leg underneath the table.
“Kids,” Hazel gently admonished.
And even though all parties present were most definitely long past being children, all of them suddenly looked a bit sheepish. Maternal magic would do that, Tallak guessed.
Not that he’d know. His own mother hadn’t exactly been the loving type.
Shrugging off the shadows of his past, he set out to remind a certain witch of his presence—and his suggestion from last night. He grabbed a peach from the fruit basket and positioned himself such that he was directly in Hazel’s line of sight from where she sat at the table.
When her eyes found him again—as they inevitably did every couple of minutes, no matter how hard she outwardly tried to ignore him—he bit into the peach with all the gusto of a man savoring the first taste of something sweet in decades. He didn’t much have to act for it, as he still remembered all too vividly what it was like to rediscover real food after twenty-six years in the fae dungeon.
To round up his little show, he sensually licked the juice from the peach in slow motion, all the while holding Hazel’s gaze.
Her eyes widened, then flicked away. A beautiful shade of rose tinted her cheeks.
Tallak smirked and switched to eating the peach in a normal manner as soon as Basil looked his way. He nodded at his son and commented on something Alek said. The conversation at the table continued casually, none of the others aware of Tallak’s little game.
But every time Hazel’s attention swung to him again, he’d slurp, suck, and lick that peach in a way that would get him arrested for public indecency if he did it anywhere outside in front of a crowd.
And damn if it didn’t work.
Hazel grew progressively more flustered. That shade of rose had darkened to a full red blush, her eyes were dilated and glassy, her breathing coming faster. Anger mingled with barely suppressed lust in her expression. He was surprised he didn’t see steam curling up from under her collar.
