Page 114 of Saxon

Jean-Paul laughs at this. "Your honesty is refreshing, my dear." He tosses back the last sip, sets the tumbler on a side table, and heads for a door. "I'll be in touch with the location. At your leisure, Ambrosia will show you to your quarters."

Ambrosia—the body-painted woman, bows in my direction. She spent the entire conversation sitting on the floor with her back to the door we came in through, her tigers’ heads on her lap. You wouldn't think you could get used to the presence of live, unchained tigers, but apparently, you can.

Jean-Paul disappears alone through the door, opposite the one we came in through, and Ambrosia opens that door, gesturing.

Terra pauses near the woman. "Rude question, but…can you talk?"

The woman is tall and slender, with a dancer's figure, the paint on her body, now that I take a moment to really look, is a reproduction of Van Gogh's Starry Night, the star-swirls centered on her chest, the blue background wrapping around her lower half. Even her face is painted. Her hair is black, and loose, glossy, hanging down her back. She's barefoot.

She opens her mouth—no tongue.

"Oh. I'm sorry."

The woman shrugs.

"Can I pet them?" Terra asks. "The tigers?"

The woman's eyes widen, and a smile crosses her face. She presses her hands onto each tiger's backside, and they both sit.

"Untrained my ass," I mumble.

The woman rolls her eyes, shakes her head. She takes Terra's hand and slowly guides it to the nearest tiger's shoulders—the huge beast rumbles and huffs, its head rotating to gaze at Terra curiously. It does nothing else, however, as Terra gently, carefully strokes its back. The woman removes her hand from Terra's, cautiously. Terra bites her lip, gingerly stroking the animal’s black-and-white striped fur, growing in confidence as it fails to pounce on and maul her.

The beast nudges her hand with its huge head, exactly like a house cat demanding ear scratches. Terra giggles at this, somewhere between terrified, shocked, and amazed.

The tiger allows her to scratch its ears for a while, and then, much like a house cat, rises and lazily wanders away, thus ending the petting session.

"Thank you," Terra says. "That was amazing. They're beautiful."

The woman nods, an elegant gesture of acknowledgment. She kisses each tiger on its head, and they both nuzzle her, purring and emitting gentle snarls of feline happiness.

She leads us through the door and back to the party, which is in full swing.

"It worked!" Terra hisses in my ear.

I wrap my arm around her waist. "Thanks to you. You're a fucking marvel, you know that?"

She blushes. "I was terrified. I thought for sure I'd gotten us killed."

"He likes you. More proof of how incredible you are. Balls of steel, baby."

She laughs, leaning into me. "I was too scared to even come in here."

"But you did."

She blinks up at me. "I did, didn't I? And everyone liked my dress."

"Obviously."

She takes my hand, turns the palm to face her, and kisses it, as we take our seats. "As long as you're with me, I feel like I can do anything."

My heart swells. I can't speak, can only swallow hard. "Same, baby. Same.”

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