She was probably right that he didn't really help her where it mattered. He could please her, but the centuries they'd known each other, he'd never been able to give her much more than that. In fact, her connection to him hindered more than anything — sometimes he wondered why she risked it, considering there was little for her to gain from the time they spent together. Not exactly a delightful thought, but an impossible one to escape all the same when she was off in her own world and he was left in his. Two things that would never and could never intersect.

Pixie wasn't the only devious creature that liked to muss up his pristine black shirts. Still, considering what she was using the damage for, he didn't mind much. He slid closer to kiss her, letting his palms tighten at the soft lines of her upper thighs. He'd have been quite content to abandon conversation for her mouth (he pretty much always was), but her inquiry made him sigh and pull back to watch the electric green of her eyes. "Staff, likely. Someone clever enough to make it subtle." Only a bottle or two unaccounted for, but still more than enough to make him wonder. It wasn't that he didn't have the money to cover the brunt of the cost. It was more the principle of the matter. The pirate didn't think it very honorable for an employee to abscond with his stocks when he paid them well as it was.