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“Not yet. We’ve got places to go tonight,” he whispered, clearly fighting himself.

I licked my lips, tasting myself, and dropped eyes to where his pants were tented. “Like that?” His husky laughter rang out, but I ignored it. Instead, I reached for him and palmed the hard tent of his pants. Phillip’s eyes instantly closed, probably not expecting me to be so forward, and he groaned low in his throat. “Seems a bit troublesome to walk around with this rubbing inside your pants,” I joked, feeling powerful with a man like Phil succumbing to my touch.

Now I get why he does it.

“V,” he breathed my name, eyes opening with heat. “Later.”

I didn’t stop and continued to palm him over his pants. “Don’t tell me you’re really taking me to a sex party this time? I’ll walk out, Phil. I’m not joking. I’ll leave you there.”

The Hunter pinned the arm I used to touch him between our bodies, his hungry mouth working over mine with every intention to consume. Then he retreated, out of reach again, and frustratingly kept space between us. Gathering his bag and mine, Phillip threw my purse over his shoulder like it belonged there. “I don’t share,” was all he said before exiting our room, half-mast and not the least bit worried about it.

25

Holy Hocus Pocus

PHILLIP DRAGGED MEdown a steep set of steps, heading beneath another level of pavement to a door concealed by nothing but concrete. Its entrance wasn’t anything special, but when I closed my eyes and really felt its energy, it wasn’t a normal door and it made me pause.

“A sex—”

Phillip put a finger to his mouth, smirking. “Don’t you trust me at all?”

My lips puckered with disgust. “Is that a trick question?”

After Phillip surprised me with an expensive meal, one with several courses, and we’d shared a few less-than-innocent glances, Phillip drove out of town, near an embankment. The area was a long stretch of decrepit industrial park, abandoned nearly ten years ago by the looks of it. Many of the buildings were covered in graffiti, while others barely stood. The parking lots were cracked and vegetation grew where the broken slabs had come away. To anyone else, a very odd place to take someone on their birthday. To me, suspicious because I knew better.

Phillip may be many things, but he didn’t do something for no reason.

At first, I worried the other Hunter was there to act out a sexual fantasy in public, and I couldn’t pretend I wasn’t a little bit interested in participating. Then I wondered if he’d taken a last-minute mission. But as we descended another staircase below the earth and came to stand in front of an entrance seemingly forgotten, I no longer thought so. The door creaked and shuddered, then opened with a loud screech over pavement when my partner pressed his hand onto a stone next to it. Blue light painted the floor next to our feet, and Phillip’s exhilaration was clearly visible on his face.

Like a kid in a candy store. It’s definitely a sex party.

“Peccatum is one of the largest underground magic-user clubs in the United States.” The Austrian’s blue eyes ignited with mischief, and Phillip touched my cheek with the back of his hand. “No better place to train and have a bit of fun while doing it.”

I opened my mouth, but the enthusiastic Hunter hauled me inside and down another set of steps.

The thunder of music drowned out my thoughts in an instant. A space swarming with bodies expanded out as far as the eye could see, and a rainbow of colorful flames levitated above us—aided by magic, no doubt. A long stretch of bar occupied one side of the underground space, catering to any person looking for a drink and a show. Dancing mist and translucent air of varying colors sparked and burst over several people standing behind the bar top, exposing them for what they were.