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.
Rhea turned, adjusting her collar, to see him studying what he’d called the allrune on his right forearm. “You asked me to touch it up. You don’t remember?”
“I tend to ignore Leo the Dull. He spends his time studying chemistry or something. It’s a snooze fest.”
“Molecular biology.” Rhea shrugged when he looked up at her with a look of curiosity. “That’s what you said. You dropped out of the molecular biology graduate program at NAU.”
“NAU.”
“Northern Arizona University. In Flagstaff. Where you met Theia.”
“Theia.” Leo’s eyes registered sudden recognition. “That’s why you look so familiar to me. You’re Theia Dawn’s sister.”
The usual irritation at having someone make the connection prickled on her skin. “And that, I presume, is why you’re sitting there sporting your misplaced ‘admiration’ for me.”
His eyes seemed to go a shade darker, and he leaned forward sharply, jerking against the restraints with such ferocity that she jumped back even though she was several feet away. “Don’t do that,” he snapped. “Don’t you dare stand there and try to tell me I don’t know my own feelings.”
“I wasn’t exactly talking about your feelings.”
“Desire. That’s my purview. I know all about desire, and I’m not some stupid animal ruled by my prick who’ll just wave it at anybody with tits.”
Rhea’s face went hot. “I didn’t say you were an animal, and I don’t appreciate the way you’re talking to me. Being Leo’s id—”
“Munr.”
“Whatever—doesn’t give you a free pass to be an asshole.”
Leo looked taken aback. “I’m an asshole?”
“Yeah, you are. Pretty much.”
“You’re the one who just accused me of being attracted to you because you look like your sister. I’d say you’re the asshole.”
Rhea flicked the hair out of her eyes in frustration. “How does that make me an asshole? You dated my sister! When you walked in here two days ago, it was because you thought I was Theia. It doesn’t take a genius to conclude that your interest in me—your desire—is misplaced.”
“I’d show you how misplaced it is if you weren’t such a chicken.”
As Rhea opened her mouth to tell him to go to hell, the realization struck her that she’d been drawn into an argument with a man’s id, and she burst out laughing.
Leo glowered at her. “What’s so damn funny?”
“This...” She lifted her arms, encompassing the room, the evening, the two of them. “I can’t believe I’m arguing with you about the sincerity of your hard-on.”
His glower wavered, curving upward into a slight smirk. “I’d have to concede that it’s a first in my experience.”
Rhea
