Kinked (Elder Races, #6)

As she stood with her arms crossed, Grym came up to her side. In his human form, Grym was dark haired with even features. In his Wyr form, he was nightmarish, with huge batlike wings, a demonic face and gray skin as hard as stone.

He had his own small share of groupies, as did all of the sentinels, but Grym actually didn’t like to talk much and that fact tended to put females off, at least after the first night or two. He was one of the few entities whose companionship Aryal found peaceful, and he had used that fact more than once to defuse her volatile temper.

She had wished more than once that there was a sexual spark between them. Unfortunately there wasn’t. Years ago, they’d even experimented, but neither of them had any interest in taking things past first base. They had long since settled into an unconventional yet entirely comfortable friendship.

Grym stood close enough that their shoulders brushed. “You didn’t get him,” he said. “Sometimes it happens. You gotta let it go.”

“No, I don’t,” she said. She scowled at him.

Grym rubbed the back of his neck. “Aryal, with the kind of hours you’ve put into digging into Quentin’s life, if you haven’t found any hard evidence by now, it’s very likely you’re not going to.”

She shook her head. “Doesn’t mean I’ve got to let it go. Just means I haven’t found it yet.”

He turned to face her, his mouth pursed. “Have you ever considered that he might be innocent?”

She angled out her jaw. “He’s not.”

“Well, if he isn’t, sooner or later he’s going to trip up. In the meantime, you earned this night too,” Grym told her. “Don’t let him ruin it for you.”

She made a face as Grym clapped her on the back and disappeared into the crowd, headed for the nearest bar. Caeravorn was ruining the night for her. Just the very fact of his presence at the celebration made her stomach tighten. Watching him enjoy himself was about as pleasurable as taking a bath in acid.

He exuded testosterone along with all the rest, an alpha male supremely confident in his own abilities, and why wouldn’t he be? He had just clawed his way to the top of the Wyr demesne and earned his place with the best of the best.

Her gaze narrowed. He was a beautiful man, she’d give him that. He owned a popular neighborhood bar named Elfie’s, where he tended to wear clothes that were more upscale, but here he dressed simply like the other sentinels in jeans, boots, and a dark blue T-shirt that turned his blue eyes brilliant.

Sex would have always come easily for him. It would come even easier for him tonight. He could have as much sex with as many people as he wanted.

One of his companions was a corporate lawyer for Cuelebre Enterprises, a Wyr lioness who was the antithesis of Aryal in almost every way. Aryal studied the other woman, assessing her as if she were an opponent. Instead of Aryal’s six-foot height, the lioness stood at a snuggly five foot six. Males were suckers for females of that size. The other woman had a sinuous, curvaceous torso, while Aryal had an athletic build, her muscles long and lean.

The lioness’s limbs were tawny and sun-kissed, her piquant face cleverly made up to emphasize her tilted eyes and full mouth. She wore four-inch heels, and her waist-long hair tumbled down her back and was lightened with expensive golden highlights.

Aryal had gray eyes and angular features, and the only time she had ever worn makeup was when she had gotten drunk with her friend Niniane, who had somehow managed to coax Aryal into letting her put pink lipstick on her. That experiment had lasted all of five minutes. Aryal wouldn’t be caught dead in heels of any height unless they hid a spring-hinged blade, and she barely remembered to brush her thick, black, shoulder-length hair, which was why it so often ended up tangled, especially just after a flight.

The lioness stood on tiptoe and leaned against Caeravorn’s arm as she said something in his ear, deliberately brushing her breast against his bicep. Then she sent a warning glance around to the others who stood nearby while she licked at the champagne that dripped off his chin, and Caeravorn grinned and cupped her ass. Clearly if that chick had anything to say about it, she would be his only partner for the night.

Aryal’s lip curled. Aw, look. Two Wyr felines going into heat. There wasn’t even any suspense to it.

Caeravorn turned to give the female a slow, sexy smile, and his gaze fell on Aryal. His long blue eyes narrowed, and his expression chilled. He said something to the female as he pulled away from her. She gave him a pouting, kittenish smile and made as if to follow him, but as she tracked his trajectory, her gaze fell onto Aryal and she jerked to a halt.

Yeah, that one was irritating, but she wasn’t stupid.

Caeravorn shouldered past a few people and approached Aryal, his eyes glinting. He was broad shouldered, lean hipped and long legged, and he had a lithe, almost boneless stride. Aryal’s gaze drifted over his hard face and equally hard body. Under the cover of her crossed arms, her talons came out, quiet and slick like well-oiled switchblades. She clicked them together as he prowled close.