Page 1

Chapter 1

Beryl

The little café on Finnegan Square was packed this evening. Maeve, my colleague-turned-boss, had invited the people who had been involved in the renovations for a party.

Struan Fox, the contractor, and all of his employees had come. Even Ross Graham, our new coffee supplier, was here. The hulking Minotaur stood in a corner and kept his huge melancholic eyes fixed on Autumn.

My colleaguewasgorgeous, but sheesh.

Let‘s hope he doesn‘t get drool on his shirt.

I heaved a little sigh.

You‘re just jealous, Bee.

And it’s true,I thought to myself as I wiped down the shiny new counter. Nobody had looked at me like that inages.

My bestie, Rhys, had tried to hook me up with the son of one of his lace suppliers, but the date had been so bad I’d left on a pretence after only half an hour.

Apparently he had a big cock, but I wasn’tthatdesperate.

“Did you know that there are four hundred-sixty-five different kinds of white lace?”

My eyes flitted over to the Orc carpenter who stood only a few feet away from Ross. He talked to one of his colleagues, a beefy human guy.

I bet the he was boring, to.

“Did you know that there are four hundred and sixty-five different kinds of wood?”

Sure, babe. But I’m only interested in one kind.

As usual, I lost control over my facial features. I turned away, but not before I caught the Orc’s gaze flickering over to me.

Look your fill, big boy. I know I look great.

My boss’ mate, Taran, had connected me with his corset maker. I was so sure he was the reason I’d been able to afford getting anything from their shop, and for the first time in my life, my pride hadn’t gotten the better of me.

Taran always looked hot as sin in his corsets. His lacy black one was a personal favourite of mine. Looking didn’t hurt anyone, did it?

We Sylphs appreciated beauty; it drew our eyes. Exactly like that sexy Orc across the room drew mine.

I’d gotten Maeve to lace my corset up, strapping me in. I loved how it hugged my upper body.

It‘s almost indecent.

I wanted it so much and had never felt hotter than I did in my new silver-white corset. It might have been one of the reasons for the seductive glances I kept throwing the hunk across the room.

The Orc was so solid and composed. The spot where a fox logo was stitched into his shirt was also directly where his pec bulged and his pebbled nipple pressed against the tight fabric. He also had a tortuously sinuous line of scar tissue on his neck and walked with a limp, and it all made him even more attractive.

Beauty, not perfection.

I found it so hard not to stare.

Get a grip on yourself, Bee!

Iwantedto get a grip on myself. That is, I wanted to rub one out to take the edge off. The corset teasing my nipples did shit to help me keep my cool, either.

I was thankful our new work uniform came with heavy leather aprons that prevented my hard-on from taking someone’s eye out.