Jane Kindred - The Dragon's Hunt

Rhea was skeptical of the need for all this drama. She suspected his fear of being set free was all part of the illness. “You’ve wrangled your way out before?”

“I’m told I have, yes.” Leo didn’t elaborate, though he looked uncomfortable.

“Are you saying you become violent?”

“To my knowledge, I’ve never done anything totally random, like attack someone out of the blue. But it’s kind of like a blackout drunk. I’ve been jailed on assault charges for fights I’ve apparently been goaded into.” He colored slightly. “Or started.”

She realized she hadn’t even run a background check on him. She wasn’t off to a very good start with this business stuff. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“I just want you to understand the seriousness of the problem. I wouldn’t go through this if I didn’t think it was absolutely necessary. I haven’t attacked anyone unprovoked, but I’d hate for there to be a first time. And I’d really hate for it to be with you. Promise you won’t let him charm you.”

“Duly noted.” Odd that he’d referred to himself in the third person. “And I promise.” She tried to keep her tone light, but she was starting to wish she’d let someone know where she was tonight. On the other hand, it was almost dark and nothing had happened to convince her he even had this dissociative disorder. “So what do you do all night while you’re tied to a chair? It has to be pretty boring. Isn’t there some medication you could take that would be easier than going through this?”

“If I could afford the medication, sure. But it also makes me kind of lethargic and dull. And it isn’t foolproof. Since I only have these episodes for a few weeks out of the year, this works well enough.”

“Why do you suppose that is? These few weeks, I mean. What’s significant about them?”

Leo smiled. “Are you analyzing me?”

“I’m just curious. I’ve never heard of a dissociative disorder with a time element.”

Leo lowered his eyes, like she’d caught him in a lie. “I have a confession to make.”

Rhea swiveled the stool back and forth idly. “What’s that?”

“I’ve been screwing with you.” He looked up, blue eyes twinkling. “I don’t have a dissociative disorder. When you caught me last night I was embarrassed to admit I was messing around in here with my toys and got myself stuck. So I made up the whole thing when you confronted me this morning.”

A rush of anger propelled her off the stool. She’d always hated being the butt of a joke. And she’d always been too gullible, which people like Leo tended to pick up on. People who thought it was funny to see how far they could take something before she caught on. Rhea wanted to punch him.

“You’re a goddamn jerk.”

“I really am. I’m sorry.” He seemed genuinely contrite, but she wasn’t falling for that. “To tell you the truth, I never thought you’d believe me. But I couldn’t help myself. The only disorder I have is that I’m a compulsive liar.”

“You’re a compulsive liar.” Rhea folded her arms. His eyes had taken on the darker hue or deeper intensity she’d noticed the night before. Maybe it was just the light in here. Or maybe it wasn’t. “If you’re a compulsive liar, why would I believe anything you just said?”

“Ooh. You’re good.” Leo’s expression changed from contrite and slightly chagrined to an almost sultry gaze of appreciation. “You’re very good. I like playing with you.”

“Playing with me.”

“Isn’t that what we’re doing? I suppose dull-as-a-sack-of-hammers Leo told you I was dangerous. Are you my babysitter?” He waggled his eyebrows. “Care to sit closer?” Rhea followed his gaze to his lap without thinking and quickly looked away from the prominent bulge in his pants. If this was all an act, he was one sick puppy. “Don’t tell me you and he haven’t been intimate.”

Rhea met his eyes once more, glaring defiantly. “Me and who, exactly?”

“Candy-ass. Leo the Dull.”

“So you’re not Leo. Is that what I’m supposed to believe now?”

“Me?” Leo smiled, utterly charming. “I’m Leo’s munr.”

“Munr?”

“His subconscious. The distillation of his will and desire. His id, if you like. I occupy the skin and retain control over the vital processes, the hamr and líkamr. Leo the Dull is ruled by his hugr, the essence of his conscious thought. You might call it the soul. I call it fucking annoying. Happily, it’s off doing some dull soul thing. But he doesn’t trust me, so he locks me up. It’s really unkind.” He gave her an adorable pout.

“So this is real, then. This isn’t just more compulsive lying?”

Leo—or Leo’s id—gave her a dramatic sigh. “If I said I was lying about being a compulsive liar, would you believe me? So many layers of meta. And so boring. When we could be having fun.” He gestured with his hips, and Rhea almost made the mistake of looking down again but caught herself. Leo laughed good-naturedly. “Come on. You don’t really think I’m dangerous like he told you? He’s a puritanical child. I’d never do anything Leo isn’t capable of doing himself. He’s repressed and he expects me to sit here all night, a slave to his tight little repressed ass, just because he’s afraid to be his authentic self.”

Rhea leaned back against the cabinet. If this was an act, it was Oscar worthy. It also didn’t seem like a dissociative episode. Not that she was any judge. But she’d seen magic before, and this had the air of a magical transformation.

“Have you made up your mind about me?” Leo smiled up at her.

“If you mean have I made up my mind about whether you’re telling me the truth—”

“No, I mean, have you made up your mind about whether you’re going to satisfy your curiosity? He won’t remember any of this tomorrow. You could have your way with me. But be gentle. Technically, I’m a virgin.”

“You’re unbelievable.”

“You have no idea.”

“And neither do you, according to you. If you’re never allowed free rein when you’re in control of the—what did you call it?”

“The hamr and líkamr. Appearance and form. The skin, if you like.”

“So if you’re never in control of the skin, how do you know you’re any good?”

Leo laughed, the rich, deep laugh that made her loins tingle. “Because, darling, I’m the one with the hard-on. Trust me, I know how to use it.” He gyrated his hips again, making Rhea suck in her breath involuntarily. “Ha, I knew it. You want me. Come on. You don’t even have to let me go. Just come closer. Please,” he added, and that one little word sounded sincere.

Rhea gritted her teeth. “I’m not coming over there, so you can forget it.”

“Why?” He growled the word in frustration. “I’m not trying to trick you. I just want a little kiss. A taste of your lips. Just to satisfy what we’re both feeling. What do I have to do to convince you I’m sincere?”

“You’re not sincere. You think this is a game.”

“Rhea. A hard-on is not a game.” He sighed, head back against the headrest once more. “It’s not as if I could pretend to have one.” He had a point. One that didn’t bear examining.

“I think my hanging out here while your soul is supposedly off skipping the light fandango was a bad idea. You’re going to spend the entire time trying to manipulate me into letting you go, and I’m going to spend the entire time being super annoyed.” Rhea took her coat from the rack. “I agreed to observe your transformation to validate your claim that you have a dissociative disorder, and I’ve done that.” She pulled the coat on. “So good luck to you.”

As she started through the curtain, Leo’s voice stopped her. “Did you tattoo me?” He sounded surprised.