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It wasn’t my finest hour stealing back a woman I’d previously abandoned, but I couldn’t give her to anyone. Not to that obnoxious wolf. Not to a man who would’ve treated her like a goddess and was one of the kindest blokes I knew. And especially not to some kotzbrocken who didn’t deserve to breathe the same air as V, let alone touch a single stretch of flesh on her flawless body.

“I think that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said in all the time I’ve known you,” V snarked, eyeing the Dark Fae skeptically.

I snapped out of my eternal worship, sure the clever vixen had read my mind. But thankfully, she only regarded Cash like he was the scum of the Earth.

I should scorn the young Hunter. Hiding our emotions was basic level Hunter training, but this inadequacy was one of the reasons I wasso enchanted with her. V couldn’t hide what she felt, and it comforted me to see the way she beamed when she caught sight of my proud grin. Her entire face glowed with happiness, and I wouldn’t trade a single fucking emotion to make her abetter Hunter.

V could overcome any foe regardless of what her face said. No need for a poker face when you burned entire buildings to the ground with your power.

“It’s your funeral, dude. Just don’t get in the way of the real fighters here, m’kay?” she added, winking at me and making my hands ache to restrain her to a tree, or the ground, or maybe some wall nearby. If I wasn’t careful, my dick might get hard thinking about all the ways I’d have her when we finally got a moment to ourselves.

The things this woman does to me…

“You okay over there, buddy?” V teased cutely, and I realized belatedly that my internal struggle was ironically showing on my face.

Yeah, V was more dangerous than any enemy out here. She made someone who fought with the best of them forget himself and fall into temptation with a single smile. It no longer took me by surprise how much I didn’t recognize myself around her.

I’d become an absolute idiot with the woman.

“Just considering how best topunishour enemies today,” I whispered in a seductive voice her direction, lips tilted with the insinuation behind my words. If she was smart, and she was, she’d pick up on the hidden meaning without effort.

The fiery Hunter’s eyes danced across my face before flicking down to my lips. “What, that’s even something you think about? Just spank them with Blood Slayer. Isn’t that how you always do it, anyway?”

Oh, she wanted to play.

Cassius offered the two of us a confused glance, clearly not following, and I had to be glad he wasn’t. It’d ruin the fun.

“I think I’ll use my hands today,” I teased, rubbing my neck with a tattooed hand before wrapping it around the girth with my eyes trained to the lass. “I’m feeling a little creative. I want to watch them squirm.”

Her eyes dropped to the hand stroking my neck and she swallowed, comprehending exactly how I’d punish her later.

Cash, having been totally oblivious to the brewing sexual tension, cut in matter-of-factly, “Wouldn’t that be pointless with vampires, or am I missing something?”

V’s impish grin made it torture not to taste that sweet mouth and suck those deliciously plump lips of hers. “If there’s a way to do it, Phil will find it. He’s just a persistent asshole like that.”

Fuck, I wanted to take her by the throat, pin her to a tree, and tongue-fuck her mouth while the stupid bastard watched. Then I’d bind the asshole to a tree and have my way with her somewhere far enough away that her sexy moans couldn’t be heard by his undeserving ears.

Cassius sighed in his usual petulant manner. “You Hunters are so weird. I’ll never understand why you enjoy hunting down and finding creative ways to kill others. You call me the villain, but from where I stand, it’s you two.”

V snickered, eyeing the idiot beside her. “Says the guy who helps the worst assassin in this place and then pretends he didn’t have any hand in it. At least we know what we are. It may not make much sense to you, but we have something to protect. What are you protecting? Your own neck?”

Cassius’s eyes widened and his jaw worked, unable to rebuke her statement.

Proud wasn’t a strong enough word for how I felt in that moment. Then again, the venom she spat at Cash indicated a huge shift in her treatment of him. She no longer aimed to appeal or sympathize with the Dark Fae. So I quickly deduced a bargain was struck, and I’d need to be careful with how I went about finding out what was agreed upon, and how. Still, it was good to see my companion back to her old antics, and I soaked it in before reality dawned and everything went to shit again.

Because it would.

It always did.

Chapter 26

Feelings for Two

Iwasn’t sure for what reason being in the predicament I was with Cassius made me think about Sloan and wish I could see him, or why that morning I pocketed the ring the Jason Statham sounding Hunter gave me, but all day it was Sloan I thought about in quiet moments and not the Austrian at my side.

Even after I promised myself I wouldn’t.

Every sly smile and playful word Phillip gave me was a dagger to the heart. Last time I’d felt like this, it was when I was with Nigel. Why the fuck was history repeating itself? It didn’t fail to confuse me why it was Sloan I worried most about having pheromone-altered feelings. It should be Phillip. Why wasn’t it Phillip? Was I truly broken, or did the Brit work his way into my heart without me noticing?