Page 117 of A Sanctuary from Shadow
I glowered. FuckingGentian—he seemed dead set on ruining everything I held dear.
Maybeitwasthehomemade wine Ox broke out, or all the talk of soulmates, but something had put my hosts in an amorous mood. Tansy started the raunchy anecdotes, and everyone else followed suit, trading accounts of their best boudoir exploits. Detailed accounts. Things not even my closest BFFs and I had ever discussed.
I listened as I finished supper, trying not to blush.
Oh, knock that off, Aunt Aylie’s voice harangued me.I’d swear you were a Puritan.
So, I listened—without choking on supper—as Tansy discussed her favorite experience with anal. I giggled in all the proper places as Olea and Ox narrated the tale of their first hook-up—somehow, they’d managed through the bars of a cage. And I didn’t make a peep as Sedge described screwing a tavern wench on the back of a galloping horse. However, when Pete regaled us with the tale of how Gentian whored him out to two of his friends’ ceylas, I couldn’t withhold my appall.
“Hewhat?” I spat, clenching my bowl.
Pete waved Ox’s wine bottle in disregard. “Fear not, virtuous youngblood, it did me no harm. I got to sleep in a bed, for once, aye. And the company, though not the sweetest, suited me fine.”
Ox snickered. “Those overweening beyns certainly were fond of you.”
Pete opened his hands. “What can I say? I deliver.”
His friends groaned at his boasting.
“Of course, they might’ve liked me for the simple fact that I’m human.” He glanced over at me. “Fae and humans can’t conceive, ken? So, they could enjoy a nice romp on me without the concern of offspring.”
“You mean—you weren’t—didn’t you feel—used?”
Everyone laughed at the notion.
Pete’s expression slanted. “I suppose I did, but I was quite happy in the using. Besides, I used them right back, didn’t I?”
My face burned. “How should I know?”
He chuckled, eyes dancing. “I suppose you wouldn’t, virgin that you are.”
I gaped at him.
“Oh, that’s not nice, Peter,” Tansy chastised, flashing me a sweet, mildly condescending smile. “She’s old enough to have fed the kitty.”
I fought the urge to ball up like a hedgehog.
“Aye, she is,” Pete agreed, ignoring my disconcertion. Maybe relishing it. “But she hasn’t. Have you, Shorty? Otherwise, this conversation wouldn’t put you in such a dither.”
Oh, how I resented his certainty.
“Stop it, Pete,” Olea said. “You’re making her uncomfortable.”
“Precisely my point,” he returned.
Such arrogance! I couldn’t let it go unanswered. “For your information, you asshole, I’m not a virgin. I was just confounded by your cavalier attitude toward being raped.”
Pete’s brows rose. “Raped?”
“Yeah!” I goggled at him. “You were raped, you dumbass.”
He scoffed, sitting straighter. “That’s ridiculous. I—”
“Did you have a choice in the matter?” I flung the question at him. “Did you even like the beyns Gentian lent you to—like you were some goddamn lawn tool?”
He blinked at me, sobering.
“If you’d said no, struggled, what would’ve happened to you?”
