Warrior Rising (Goddess Summoning #6)(81)

“Oh, please. Your boy is sleepin’ like a drugged old woman in a rest home. He’ll be out for hours.”

“Okay, fine. I’m coming.” Kat followed Jacky as she grabbed a wineskin from the table by the banked campfire. There was no one around except a sleeping maidservant, and she didn’t move when the two of them trudged from camp. “And for your information, the simile is supposed to be sleeping like a baby, not like a drugged old woman.”

“Kat, you need to spend more time in a hospital setting. Babies sleep like shit. Drugged old women sleep for days. Get a clue.”

“And now you’re being fresh. Maybe I should just go back—” Kat began but Jacky grabbed her hand.

“Sorry—sorry. Ignore me. I haven’t had coffee since I’ve been white. It’s made me a little cranky.”

“Jacqueline, where are we going?”

“To dig clams.”

“Huh? It sounded like you said something about digging.”

“Yes, I did. Don’t steamers sound good to you? Lots of butter?”

Kat stared at Jacky and almost tripped over a tuft of sea grass. “Wait. Are you telling me you’re digging clams for Patroklos? To eat?”

“We. We are digging clams for Patroklos to eat.”

Kat’s giggle started in little bursts, but every time she looked at Jacky the bursts got bigger and bigger until Jacky glared at her while she wiped her eyes and gasped for air.

“What!” Jacky said.

“You—are—cooking—for—a—man,” Kat said between fits of laughter.

“Am not. This is almost exactly like going to the grocery to buy the stuff so that someone else can cook for my man whilst he and I sit back and enjoy dinner.”

“Oh, poor deluded girl,” Kat said, only semisuccessfully controlling her hilarity. “Let Dr.

Kat help you. Honey,” she said slowly, like she was talking to a second grader. “You are actually hunting and gathering, and coming precariously close to being domesticated.”

“You know, I just saw you naked. You are scrawny. I do believe I could kick your ass.”

Kat burst into giggles again.

“And,” Jacky added, “you need a good bikini wax.”

“Really?” Kat asked innocently. “Are you sure? Could you take a closer look for me?” she said as she pretended to hike up her robes. “This body is new and I really don’t know what’s what with it.”

“Oh, Jesus wept, do not lift your goddamn skirt!”

“No, really, nurse. I think I feel a burning sensation. Can you check it out for me, please?”

“You are the nastiest thing I know,” Jacky said, trying not to laugh.

“Which is why you lurve lurve lurve me!” Kat said hoisting up her skirts and dancing around like a cancan girl.

“Would you stop messing around? My man wants some steamers and that, along with the best sex he’s ever known in his virile young life, is just what I’m going to give him.”

“Hey Miss Smartie, do you even know how to dig for clams?”

“How can you even ask me that question? My people grew up near the water.”

“But you grew up with me near the center of the country in Tulsa. Hello. No ocean there.”

Jacky drew herself up to her full, yet miniscule height, and Kat thought how funny it was that she could be plunked into a body the direct opposite of hers, and still retain so much of her innate gestures and expressions and just plain physical stubbornness.

“I Googled clam digging for that last vacation we were going to take. You know the one—before we died?”

“Yes, I do have a vague memory.” She frowned. “But in the Cayman Islands I didn’t remember anything saying we had to dig for our own food. Hell, we weren’t even supposed to have to get up to get our own drinks.”

“Nevertheless, I did some research. Follow my lead and all will be well.”

“Hey, what’s Patroklos doing right now?” Kat asked.

“Sleeping.” Jacky’s smile was slow and totally nasty. “Did you know there’s a whole other world waiting to be discovered—by me—in that man’s mouth?”

“Do tell!”

“This mornin’ he woke me up with his face between my legs. I thought I’d died, again, and this time there was no question about whether or not I was in heaven.”

“And to imagine that I may have been likewise awakened had you not messed that up for me,” Kat said.

“Relax. Your boy did not look like he was up to any calisthenics this morning. Let him recover, hussy. Anyway this shouldn’t take long. When we get back you can slip into bed beside him and see if you get lucky. By the way, I did notice Achilles has a nice, long length of thigh.”

Kat waggled her eyebrows. “That’s not the only long length he has.”

Jacky laughed, then she caught Kat’s gaze. “We’re completely in love with them, aren’t we?”

“Completely,” Kat said.

“It’s very odd,” Jacky said.

“Yep,” Kat said. “You know, I think I’m going to miss champagne almost as much as hot running water.”

“Well, you could squander your wish on a lifetime supply of champagne,” Jacky said.