Demon Untamed (14 page)

She grinned like a feline toying with prey. “Then let’s do this.”

A round of cheers erupted from the other patrons, who had apparently been listening. Ethan turned to the room, catching a few pitying head shakes in his direction.

Sonya disappeared into the storeroom and reemerged with a bottle filled to the brim. He recalled that particular brand had tasted very strong.

“I’m starting off at a disadvantage,” he pointed out.

“Not for long.” She poured herself a generous portion and then downed it in a few large gulps. When she lowered the glass, she feigned a sweet smile. “Does that seem about the right amount?”

He jerked his chin to the bottle. “Better have a little more.”

Not bothering to argue, she refilled her glass and emptied it just as quickly as the first. Then she pulled out a second glass, filled them both and offered him one.

Ethan lifted his and took in a mouthful. “Are there rules to this game?” he asked.

“We go till one of us falls over.”

“Sounds good.”

Demons may have a naturally high tolerance for alcohol, but she was just a wisp of a thing. That should work in his favor.

“And to keep us both standing, we’ll both be serving customers as we go.”

“Very well.” Ethan moved behind the bar and finished the contents of his glass, then held it out for her to refill it. “I believe you’re behind again.”

Sonya laughed, shaking her head before she chugged down her drink. “I’m not carrying you back to your room when you pass out.”

“That’s fine, He said. “Consequently, I
will
be carrying you back to yours.”

She frowned at him. “You’ll do no such thing.”

“Are you afraid you’ll lose?”

“Not in the slightest.”

He gave an impish grin and jiggled his empty glass at her.

Before long, he lost count of how many bottles they’d finished. His blurry vision told him five sat on the counter, but three—or maybe four—others had been deposited in the waste disposal unit.

Word of their competition must have spread through the ship because the pub was now bustling. Patrons crowded the bar and called out orders, obviously trying to confuse the both of them. From the corner of his eye, Ethan saw money exchange hands and knew bets were being made.

Sonya and Ethan stumbled around, filling orders and making sure their own glasses never completely emptied. Each time one of them fumbled with their footing, the room would erupt in howls, and both he and Sonya would join in the laughter.

Sonya wobbled on her feet for the seventh time—at least he thought it was the seventh—as she crossed to the other end of the bar to take an order.

By the sounds rolling through the crowd, Ethan determined that the room was evenly split, half cheering for him, and half for Sonya. He would have commented on her near fall, but all his concentration was focused on keeping himself upright. He’d nearly sunk to the ground a dozen times already.

Sonya returned to his side of the bar with a devilish grin and wiggled their shared liquor bottle at him. He glanced down at his almost empty glass.

As she sloshed more liquid to his glass, she leaned over the counter top, braced on her forearm. Her position gave him a clear view of her succulent cleavage. He stifled a groan.

She smiled up at him. “Ready to give up, pirate?”

He frowned. She’d been doing little provocative things like that all night. It was driving him mad, and she knew it.

Abruptly, he took a step toward her, and she straightened. He gripped her by the arm and leaned in to whisper in her ear. “Teasing me with your body will not help you win this,
vietta
.”

She reared back, eyes wide. Deep crimson spread over her cheeks. “What? I wasn’t…” She skated a worried glance over the crowd as if fearing someone had heard his whispered accusation. Then she narrowed her gaze at him. “Your mind games won’t work.” She turned to take another order, her movements slightly stiffer than before.

Did she not realize the power of her attractiveness? Could that even be possible? But as he continued to observe her, he started to suspect that might just be the case.

By the time they had gone through another few bottles…each…Ethan’s legs were like some kind of wobbly confection, nearly unreliable in their support. Worse, the slipperiness of every surface seemed to have increased tenfold.

Sonya wasn’t in the greatest shape either, but she still managed to complete orders while swaying her ass to the music.

When a wave of dizziness splashed over him, he feared he might just lose this tournament—a fear that was confirmed a few moments later when he found himself face up on the ground.

The crowd was a mix of groans, cheers, and laughter.

Sonya leaned over him with a triumphant grin. Her words came out slurred, yet teasing. “I’d appreciate it if you take the first shift tomorrow.”

He groaned and let his head drop to the ground.

Chapter 13

Sonya sat at the captain’s console, hoping Sebastian and Anya were alright. It had been several days since they’d left for Undewla.

Even though Aidan had found no definitive evidence that Marik might still live, no one was ready to assume the worst.

To Sonya’s surprise, Ethan hadn’t argued over having to work in the pub with no pay. In fact, he hadn’t even seemed angry. He did, however, continue to unnerve her with his frequent prying gaze.

When he had accused her of using her body to distract him, she had been so caught off guard that she had nearly stumbled to her ass. The thought hadn’t even crossed her mind, but afterward she felt overly self-conscious of her every move.

Miserable tease
, he had called her. The idea of it rummaged around in her brain, and she instinctively realized he enjoyed a little teasing.

She quelled the dangerous presumption.

Unfortunately, her body seemed to clasp on to the notion. Much of her time, lately, was spent in the training room.

She didn’t know what, but something was happening to her, something that was changing her to the core…. And it scared the hell out of her.

And now, with both her brothers and Marik gone, she had no one to confide in and no one to pummel but the training dummies.

She let out a harsh sigh and stood. “Aidan, take command. Call me if anything happens.”

He offered a thumbs up in response and turned back to his console.

She headed to her room for a quick wash and wardrobe change. Then she surveyed her image in the mirror. The short black skirt rode high on her thighs. Her stocking were black and diamond woven. The purple satin corset, strung with black string down the front, followed the delicate curve of her waist and hips.

She raised her chin. Sure it was provocative, but she didn’t don these clothes to be a tease. One would need persistent male attention to be a tease.

She finished the ensemble with a dark choker around her neck, then made her way to The Demon’s Punchbowl.

She heard the blaring music long before she reached the entrance.

Her jaw dropped.

Center stage, surrounded by a crowd of hooting males, stood two busty females with Sonya’s good ale being poured down the fronts of their white blouses.

Her fingers balled into tight fists as she stomped her way to where Ethan was mixing a drink at the bar.

As he poured, he looked up with a grin. Noting her expression, his smile dropped. Then his gaze traveled her body, and another expression came over him. She froze mid-step. He’d given her that look before, and she’d easily disregarded it as nothing more than a means to irritate her. Now she recognized it for what it was:  pure masculine interest.

But surely he wasn’t genuinely attracted to her. It must be that he had decided to retaliate for losing their wager by making her as uncomfortable as possible.

His eyes lowered to her bodice where, she had to admit, her cleavage was looking damn good. She stifled a sudden urge to jiggle her torso.

What was wrong with her?

Ethan struggled to school his features as Sonya approached. The damn female was dressed like his living fantasy!

“What do you think you’re doing?” Sonya’s outrage rode over the blaring music.

Long after her blushing act the night of their bet, Ethan had wondered if she was really so oblivious of effect on the males around her. That barely-there top and skimpy skirt was drawing attention away from the two lovely ladies on stage.

She had to see that.

Cool liquid splash over his fingers and splattered onto the bar. He stopped pouring and handed the glass to the customer who had ordered it. The man blindly grabbed for the glass, unable to take his gaze away from the now soaked women who had begun kissing each other.

“It looks like I’m serving this fine gentleman,” Ethan replied without looking back at her.

Sonya banged her fist on the bar. “I am not running a brothel here!”

“That’s good, because if you were, you’d be dangerously low on employees.”

Sonya pointed to the sexual display. “Was this your idea?”

He lifted his thumb and forefinger together. “I may have made a tiny suggestion.”

Sonya grabbed him by the collar, bringing his face closer to hers so that they were both leaning over the bar. “This is not one of your pirate dens. This pub is my life, and I will not have you defiling it.”

He couldn’t resist dipping his eyes to her chest, even though he knew it would heighten her ire.

She bared her fangs. “You’re fired! Get out!”

“Wait, wait, hold on.” He reached up and gently removed her hands from inching around his neck. “Look around for a second.”

Grudgingly, she obeyed and then shrugged, focusing her rage back on him.

He pointed past the melee of overly excited men surrounding the two females. “Those two are in a committed relationship. They’re just having some fun with the boys and putting a little spice into their relationship.”

Sonya took that in for a moment. “You’re kidding.”

“Not even a little. They came in during a lover’s quarrel. I got them to kiss and make up. And they just didn’t want to stop. Who am I to stand in the way of true love?”

“And how did you get them to kiss and make up?”

“The same way you get any two females to kiss. You get them drunk.”

Sonya almost laughed at that…almost. He wished she would just relax and let him take care of her tavern. Sure, he had pulled a few pranks before, just to aggravate her, but now he only wanted to help. There was nothing better for him to do, anyway. He’d made no new ground translating the book, which was irritating in and of itself, and he was currently useless in the ongoing search for Nadua and Kyra.

He tried to convince himself he had done enough up until this point, and now it was fate’s time to put in a few hours, but that didn’t sit well with him.

After assessing the full scope of the crowd, Sonya plopped down on a stool. “Fine. You’re not fired.”

Ethan gave a theatrical bow. That was probably the closest thing to a compliment he would ever receive from her.

“Just get me a drink,” she ordered.

“Of course, my liege,” he mocked. For someone who hated taking orders, she sure liked to give them. Incidentally, he knew how to cure her of that. Not that she would let him try.

Then again, maybe she would. From the corner of his eye, he found her studying him. He wasn’t dressed in anything special, just a loose white shirt and a tan coat adorned with the usual gold buttons and buckles. As he fixed her drink, he scanned her intent and found she did not wish to be caught appraising him.

Curious.

By the time he turned to place the drink in front of her, she had already averted her gaze. She gave the liquid a quick taste and then snapped, “Ethan, you had better not put this much alcohol in everyone’s drinks.”

“Special for you, my captain.”

Rolling her eyes, Sonya took a large gulp. As soon as she finished it, he started mixing her another.

When the music changed to an encouraging beat, Sonya slipped off the stool and moved to the dance floor. Ethan was relieved to see her actually having a good time. Maybe she’d take a break from being such a hard ass.

She tugged a male onto the dance floor with her. After an awkward moment, the male pulled her close and began gyrating against her.

Ethan’s mood took a nosedive, but he wasn’t sure why. He’d wanted her to have fun so she would leave him to his job. Right?

Maybe it was because that particular male had recently been seen putting the moves on several other females in the joint. But what did Ethan care? He was sure Sonya could take care of herself. It wasn’t as if she actually desired the male. Surely she had better taste than that.

Or perhaps that was
her
male. The one she used to slake her need.

He turned to a waiting customer. The woman was rather cute and seemed to be giving him a come-hither look the entire time he fixed her drink. He’d noticed this female earlier in the night, and many times before that. She was often attached to a different guy, offering them that same inviting smile she displayed now. Jade was her name. And tonight she was alone.