Page 38 of Hush Darling

The mysterious women reminded her of sirens, the kind that tempted the sailors to their deaths at sea. From the melodic way they spoke to the captivating way they lured the men closer, they enchanted everyone who came near enough to get swept away by the current of lust and desire.

Then she noticed the familiar figure of another woman hiding in the shadows, much like herself. Belle was scowling at Peter as he lounged amongst the sirens while they poured him wine and massaged his body.

Wendy quietly approached Belle, wondering if their exclusion somehow created an alliance. “Is it always like this?”

Belle glanced at her dismissively, her scowl returning to Peter. “Yes.”

Wendy followed her gaze, feeling forgotten by Peter but not as betrayed as his little outcasted friend. She didn’t know or care to know their history, but she personally lost interest in being more than his acquaintance after seeing how quickly he jumped from female to female. No wonder the woman was angry.

She glanced back at Belle, taking pity on her. “Are you in love with him?”

“Only a fool would love Peter.”

Maybe she was a fool then because she appeared deeply bothered by the sight of him with other women, and she’d tried to drown Wendy for merely showing up tonight.

What was it about Peter that made him so captivating? Women not only loved him, but men also craved his attention. Perhaps it was that his attention never lasted longer than a few minutes, and its rareness made it all the more valuable.

Wendy didn’t love Peter, but she certainly allowed him liberties she’d never allowed anyone else. At the hint of regret, she turned her focus to other things.

“You aren’t friends with those women?”

“Who? The mermaids?” Belle curled her lip. “Fuck those bitches. They’ll sweetly drown you all the while acting like they’re doing you a favor.”

“Like you tried to drown me?”

Belle met her stare. “I wasn’t pretending to be sweet. At least with me, you know where you stand.”

Speechless, Wendy could only blink. They were all bitches.

“You’re all wasting your time anyway.”

Wendy frowned, not liking the idea of being grouped in with those women. “What do you mean?”

“Everyone knows Peter’s future’s promised to someone else.”

“Who?” Her father certainly knew no such thing. Neither did she for that matter.

“He’s betrothed to Lyra Wilde.”

Wendy’s eyes widened. “Peter’s engaged?” Her stare jerked to the cluster of women fondling him. One had her hand in his pants while another kissed him. “That…whore.”

“He’ll never go through with the wedding. Peter sees marriage as a debt. And Peter hates feeling indebted.”

Wait until Father learns this, she thought. That should shatter any lingering illusions about Peter being an upstanding gentleman.

“How does his fiancée feel about him kissing other women?

“She has no control over him. Peter’s his own person. He’s wild like the woods, and he does what he wants.”

“Well, eventually, he’ll grow up. All men have to.”

“Not Peter.”

One of the sirens straddled Peter’s lap. Belle scoffed in disgust and walked away, leaving Wendy, once more, abandoned and alone.

Frustrated by the spectacle he was putting on, Wendy marched over to her self-involved host, disrupting him before a true Roman orgy began. “Peter.”

He didn’t hear her. His face was hidden by a curtain of hair belonging to the woman currently making out with him. She cleared her throat.