I almost went light-headed at the thought of adding girth to Greid’s dick. Vaginas were capable of stretching well beyond the thickness of any penis, including demiurgus ones, but still. If that was a thing—and possible for us—I was pretty sure I still wouldn’t want it.

“Would that feel good though?” I asked curiously. “For the demiurgus, I mean. Like… wouldn’t it completely dull all the sensations?”

“Oh boo-fucking-hoo.” Corva gestured dismissively with her glass. “You mean like the ones who claim condoms make it ‘not feel as good’? They’re still fucking a hole. There’s still friction.”

I snorted, then couldn’t contain my laughter. Corva joined in, grabbing the champagne bottle to top up our glasses just as one of the suited demiurgus from the next table sauntered over.

“Hi there, ladies.” He leaned down, placing a hand on the table, and shot us a wide, cocky grin. “Sounds like you’re having a very interesting conversation. Why don’t you two sweet things join me and my friends for a—”

“We’re fine here.” Corva shot him a cool smile before shifting in her seat to face me better, effectively blocking him out. “As I was saying, Beryl, in our private conversation, if fucking a cocksleeve didn’t feel good, they wouldn’t be so popular.”

My eyes darted to the guy still standing behind her. He looked desperate to stick around for the discussion, but his friends were already guffawing at Corva’s instant dismissal of him. After a few more seconds, he pouted and slunk back to his table.

Once he was gone, Corva rolled her eyes. “‘Sweet things’,” she muttered. “What a tool.”

That set me off again just as I was taking a sip of my drink, and I almost snorted champagne out of my nose. The bubbles wreaked havoc on my sinuses, making my eyes water. Corva chuckled, leaning back in her seat and taking an elegant sip of champagne, whereas I was pink in the face and giggling like a teenager. But weirdly, I didn’t feel self-conscious. Corva may have been nothing like me in every way, but I knew without a doubt that she didn’t care about that. She didn’t care that I wasn’t all refined and fancy, with a high-powered job and an amazing wardrobe and the innate ability to be cool and calm and elegant in public.

Maybe she wouldn’t care about my past.

I sobered up as soon as I thought it, fear clenching my belly. I immediately dismissed the idea of telling her. I didn’t know her that well. Nowhere near well enough. And I’d had a lifetime of keeping my cards close to my chest, so I wasn’t entirely sure why I was feeling this weird urge to share with her. To tell her about the cult. To get it all off my chest to someone other than Greid.

Maybe it was a desperate desire to convince myself that my past wouldn’t always be a millstone around my neck. That I’d be able to be honest when people I met asked about my childhood or where I went to school or what I did in my twenties.

Because I knew, realistically, that it wasn’t something I could just pretend didn’t exist forever. Not with every single person in my life other than Greid. What if I met more of his family? What if we stayed together for… a long time? I didn’t like the thought of Greid having to lie to his mother and siblings forever. Not at all. That wasn’t fair, even though I knew he’d tell me it was fine and that he didn’t mind. I couldn’t—and wouldn’t—ask him to do that.

“So. Greid the jeweller.” Corva gave me a mischievous grin. “Tell me more about him.”

“Oh, well, I mean… He’s just the best.” I flushed. “He’s really sweet. And kind. He—” I could go on forever about Greid, so I forced myself to stop. “You have seen him, actually. That first morning we met at Deep Brew, when you were on the phone to your ex, he was with me.”

“Was he?” Corva’s brow rose with interest.

“Yeah, you—” I coughed awkwardly. “You kind of checked him out.”

She threw back her head and laughed. “Well, I check out a lot of people, darling. Especially now I’m free to act on any attractions.”

“Have you been seeing anyone since it officially ended with Gorig?”

Corva had filled me in on the finalisation of her matehood’s dissolution when we’d bumped into each other at Deep Brew a while back.

“A couple of one-night stands, but nothing serious.” Her eyes gleamed, and she leaned in conspiratorially. “You know, speaking of interspecies relationships, there was actually a human I was wildly attracted to a while back.”

“Oh really?” I perked up. “Who?”

“A woman who worked for a rival event planner. I’m bisexual, by the way, in case that wasn’t obvious.”

The guy at the next table over was still clearly eavesdropping on our conversation, because he scrubbed a hand over his face with an agonised expression.

“We met at an awards ceremony,” Corva continued. “But I was still mated at the time, so…”

“Why don’t you ask her out now?” I asked eagerly. “Now you’re single.”

Corva’s mouth quirked into a dry smile. “Because I poached her and now she works for me. It wasn’t hard—her old boss is a complete jackass. But there is no way in hell I’d get involved with one of my employees. Too messy. Too much of a power imbalance.”

“Ah. Yeah.” I sipped my champagne, relaxing back into my chair. “I understand.”

“There weren’t ever any deep feelings there, anyway. It was just”—Corva sighed—“pure carnal attraction. She’s gorgeous. And feisty. And bi as well.”

The guy at the next table loosened his tie and downed his drink in one swallow. I shot him a scathing look that made his ears flutter, but he doubled down and waggled his eyebrows at me with a leering expression. Perv.

Corva laughed, lifting her glass. “Well, cheers to hot people. Whoever they are, whatever species or gender. Excluding the tool at the next table over.”

I burst out laughing, clinking our glasses together. “Cheers to that.”

“Do you want us to walk you home?” I asked Corva as we struggled into our coats. Well, I was struggling. My vision was a little blurry, and I kept listing to one side.

“No, darling, I’ll be fine. I ordered a cab. I’m only a couple of streets over, but fuck walking in these heels any more than I have to.”

Her voice was slurred, but mine was too. My face was numb from laughing and smiling so much. We’d ended up sitting at our table for hours, talking about everything. Our jobs, food, places in the city—that had mainly been Corva suggesting places for me to visit—and more about her fraught matehood with Gorig. The first time a question about my past came up, I’d just told her that I’d had a strange childhood and she’d dropped it, sensing I didn’t want to talk about it. That was it. It had been that easy, and I’d been able to relax completely.

Now I was a little tipsy—okay, more than tipsy. I was drunk. And I was desperate to see Greid.

I pulled my phone out of my coat pocket and peered down at the screen, trying to focus my wavering vision, to see if he’d responded to my text. I made a face when I realised it hadn’t been as coherent as I’d thought.

don now!!1 wil u cpm meet me??? xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

For some reason I’d sent a second text that was just another row of x’s that filled half the screen. He’d responded, and I felt my already warm face flush even hotter when I read it.

lmao. yeah no prob. on my way.

“Oh god, do I look really drunk?” I peered up at Corva—no, two Corvas—and saw her blinking slowly back down at me.

“No way,” she told me emphatically, but as she said it I had to reach out and grab her arm to stop her swaying too far to the side. “Totally sober.”

I wasn’t sure I believed her, because she looked as drunk as I felt. She tried to tuck her arm through mine, but seeing as she was at least a foot taller than me it ended up in my armpit.