Levi watched him finish with the dishes. “It’s all right. Should I help you with that?”
Iason, who was putting a plate with the other stack of mismatched dishes in their cupboard, raised his brows. “Now you ask, when I’m done?”
“I don’t know how this works,” Levi said. “I don’t live in human houses, ever. I’ve never used bowls before. But if we should be dividing labor equitably, and you prepare food, and Sophie cleans after the food, perhaps I should put the dishes away.”
“A god, helping with the dishes.” Iason shook his head, then went and found a glass and a bottle of something. “I don’t mind.” He held the bottle up. “What about whiskey? Do gods drink whiskey?”
“I’ve had it before. Arwyn likes it. Or maybe it’s not whiskey but that liquor they have in Arktos, made out of flowers?”
Iason winced. “Athenero? It’s terrible. It tastes like soggy, bitter pine needles.”
Levi smiled and accepted a glass of whiskey. “Arwyn says he can only taste things that are very pungent.”
“Well, that would certainly count.” Iason tossed back the drink in one swallow. He made a face. “It’s not much worse than whatever this is, if we’re honest.”
Levi drank his whiskey the same way Iason had, but it made him cough; it was too strong, and he didn’t care for the taste at all.
Iason laughed. “You sound like a cat sneezing.”
“A cat,” Levi said, fixing Iason with a sharp look. “Acat.”
Iason took Levi’s glass and washed it, then poured himself another drink. “I’ll have to hear you cough as a dragon, but for now, yes, a cat.”
“Why are you having more of that?” Levi asked, letting the part about the cat go. “You said you didn’t like it.”
“I had a bit of a day,” Iason said into his glass. “I wasn’t cavorting in the sea with Sophie and some sirens. I was admitting who I was to Lazaros and pulling magic used to control children from tattoosonsaid children.”
Levi took the glass away before Iason could pour more of the whiskey into it. “You need to get out of your head, my wizard, but I don’t think liquor is the best way.”
Iason startled, then looked toward the dark window. His profile was lovely. Levi had seen beautiful humans before—Azaiah had once been human, and he was one of the most beautiful people Levi had ever seen—but he liked Iason’s sharp nose, his full mouth. Even the scars were attractive. Iason, like a shark, wore his scars well. His hair was too long, pale silvery blond that almost looked violet in certain lights, and thin enough that it shone like spun silk.
“What? You’re staring, dragon.”
“I find the way you look pleasing,” Levi said. “Is that a problem?”
“A problem? No. A surprise? Yes.” Iason leaned back against the counter. He’d not eaten much at dinner, and maybe the liquor had gone to his head, because helookeda little more relaxed, even if Levi thought that was probably somewhat deceptive. “I didn’t think I had the face to bewitch a god.”
“I like things that are interesting,” Levi said. “You’re interesting. I thought about you, when Sophie was with Meleah. Whether you were all right.” He reached up, smoothing the frown between Iason’s brows with his thumb. “Whether you were scowling. Why not let me help you relax? I taste better than that whiskey.”
Iason inhaled. “I’m not going to use you to feel better.”
“I’m offering.” Levi slid an arm around Iason’s waist. Iason always looked so shocked when Levi touched him. “Come with me. Ward the bedroom again. I’ll make you forget about your afternoon, for a little while.”
Iason met Levi’s gaze, his own unreadable, but then he inclined his head and, to Levi’s surprise, leaned in and pressed his face very briefly to Levi’s shoulder. “All right. I do want that. Today was difficult. Being reminded of what I was.”
“A wizard?”
“No, that was actually… nice. I could help, for a change. I meant that I was once a loyalist.” Iason pulled back. “But it’s too late to change the past, so I’m trying to fix what I can. It doesn’t make it easier, though. If I think about it too much—what I did.”
“Then for now, my storm, don’t think about it.” Levi tipped his face up and kissed him. “Think about me. I’m much more enthralling than politics or the past.”
Iason’s laugh was a hot rush of breath against Levi’s mouth. “I suppose you are, dragon. I suppose you are. Very well. Get me out of my head, if you think you can.”
Levi, in response to the challenge and the dominance threading Iason’s words, picked him up and headed toward the stairs. Iason flailed humorously for a few seconds, grabbing Levi’s shoulders much the way Sophie had earlier.
“Don’t you know, you shouldn’t tease a dragon,” Levi told him, carrying him straight to the bedroom. Sophie, who’d been finishing up in the bath, took one look at them and started giggling. “Don’t worry about Iason, Sophie.”
“Okay,” Sophie said, on a strangled laugh, as Iason—clearly embarrassed—put his face in Levi’s shoulder.
