Sneak Peek (Patreon)

Alessa's eyes snap to you. "${Name}," she calls from across the chamber, her tone one of relief.

"No greeting for me," Hadrian mutters under his breath.

"The favorite becomes obvious," you say with quirked lips.

Hadrian's exhale is the ghost of a chuckle. "It was always obvious," he says, resting a hand on your lower back to give you around a table. "I never stood a chance. It's hard to, with you."

"Don't worry, big man," you assure, sending with a side glance. "You're my favorite."

His smile is coy. "I had an inkling."

"Is that so?"

The man looks ahead, away from you, and adds in a low, insolent hum. "I, uh. I'd hope you wouldn't part your lips as eagerly for Alessa."

The sound you make is halfway between a laugh and a gargled choke.

- - -

"As I savored the shape of your lips, I felt you tense when I kissed the left side. I assumed it hurt still, so I avoided it thereafter." Alessa's hand sprawls over the left side of your face, careful not to touch your wound but looking at it closely. "I noticed the same this morrow, and I finally understood. It is not pain that has you shying away, is it?"

Alessa doesn't wait for an answer. "I— I thought you would prefer me not to mention it, but, as always, I was... inadequate. I choose wrong."

"Alessa," you begin, not truly knowing what you want to say. She's right. You don't want it mentioned. But why did her previous silent sting, too?

Alessa pays no mind to your plea. "Washed or unwashed, bloodied or not, and scarred or not, you are still..." Alessa refuses to break eye contact, even as red paints the top of her cheeks. *"You possess a beauty worthy of making those dead goddesses weep with envy." *"You are as striking as the dead gods the Church cowers from. And thrice as handsome."