The Trouble with Cash
“You Hunters just adore walking from here to there, and literally everywhere. It’s maddening,” Cassius finally proclaimed petulantly. “Well, we civilized magical folk prefer faster means of transportation.”
Digging a hand into his pocket, Cash pulled out a tiny stone. To anyone, it looked like a river rock you’d find anywhere in the area. It wasn’t a fancy-looking gem like they typically used in movies, and I eyed it with curiosity.
Phillip leaned against a tree, arms crossed. “It’s maybe five miles to town at most, and you want to waste a precious transportation stone on it?”
I flicked my eyes over to Cash, whose mouth was pursed unattractively. “You forget, Hunter, I make these as easily as you do those little barbaric inventions of yours. I could summon a vehicle, but you made it perfectly clear I wasn’t permitted to, so this is the next best thing.”
Taking a car left us vulnerable to attack.
We couldn’t move quietly or react effectively in one.
Man-made things were also extremely susceptible to magical assaults, and it could lead to more harm than good using one.
So, when given the choice, Hunters preferred to walk, flit, or a pairing of both.
But unfortunately for Cash, he couldn’t flit like the two of us, so we were stuck with walking for the moment.
“I don’t trust wherever that stone will take us,” Phillip added decidedly, light eyes flicking over to mine. “So it’s the cuff or we walk.”
Cassius dropped his head back, sighing loudly in frustration. “Get on with it then, Hunter. My feet hurt, I’m hungry, and it feels too open out here.” Throwing out his arms like a child having a tantrum, the Dark Fae sent nothing but glaring rage at my partner.
Pulling the familiar silver string out of his pocket, Phillip strode forward and wrapped the Truth Bracelet around Cassius’s arms. Then, smirking, he asked, “Where does the stone go?”
Fae were hurt by iron, that little myth was true. Like I said, the supernatural world seemed pretty damn helpless when it came to metal in some form or another. Vampires, silver. Werewolves and their kin, gold. Fae-born, iron. The list went on and on.
So, Cassius was beyond lucky Phillip didn’t use iron instead of the silver he chose for the Truth Bracelet. This chat would go a little differently if he had. Probably like a squealing pig running from slaughter, and the very thought of it gave me the most devilish smile yet.
Huffing dramatically, Cash looked square into Phillip’s eyes. “The stone will take us to the town five miles away. Happy now, Hunter?”
Unwrapping the silver string from the Dark Fae’s arm, a roguish smile tainted my sexy partner’s mouth. “Quite happy, yes.”
Rubbing his arms, Cash grumbled under his breath.
“That shit stings every bloody time.” After glaring at Phillip one more time, the Dark Fae beckoned me over with a hand.
“Come, come. You’ll need to be touching me for this to work, and I don’t want any complaints about touching this disgusting Dark Fae, capiche? ”
This saucy asshole is going to get himself smacked at some point. Mark my words.
Slowly, I made my way over. Phillip had already landed a hand on Cassius’s shoulder, clearly hurting the Fae with his grip because I caught the purple-eyed dude flinch, then heard him girlishly whine “Owie.” It took every bit of my Hunter training to keep a straight face through the entire ordeal, and I internally applauded myself for not cracking a single smile.
After another huff, the Dark Fae outstretched his hand with his palm up politely to me.
I was tempted to look at Phillip, but that would send the wrong message, so I grabbed Cassius’s hand like I wasn’t hesitant at all.
What I hadn’t expected was that the Dark Fae would be surprisingly hot to the touch, and I visibly reacted the second his hand enclosed around mine.
With one side of his mouth tilted, Cash peered over at me and brazenly said, “I can get even hotter than this when I use more than just my magic, V. If you’re ever curious, just let me know and I’ll show you.”
A loud smack rang out only a half second later—called it!
—and Cash’s head was thrown forward with brutal force.
My perfect vision easily caught the slow-motion punishment my violent companion paid to the Dark Fae, and it nearly made me cackle.
But again, I held it together long enough to play a sympathetic friend to the loose-tongued asshole who didn’t deserve it.
“Phillip,” I admonished gently, “please don’t brutalize our mission companion. Who knows what talents will come loose and fall out of his ears if you hit him with all your strength.”
“I beg your pardon!” Cash erupted angrily, and Phillip was already losing it to a fit of laughter. “Well, I suppose I deserve that.”
“You do,” I agreed with a glare. “I’d be careful how you treat me because, while Phillip will never be on your side, I can be swayed.”
“V,” Phillip warned, playing his part well.
The Dark Fae grinned like a damn imp, and I tried to ignore the small part of me that was utterly attracted to him for it. “I quite like this partner of yours, Phillip. She’s a great deal smarter than you and much nicer to look at.”
Smirking, I tossed Phillip a triumphant look. “I win.”
Phillip gripped Cash so hard the Dark Fae cried out.
“Okay, okay. Don’t get your knickers in a twist, sheesh.
No sense of humor at all on this one,” Cash complained, sneaking a glance at me and grinning when he caught me smiling against my will.
“Hold on tight, if you’d be so kind,” the punished Fae demanded, his thumb caressing my hand tenderly and drawing my gaze over to it.
I might be totally misreading the signals here, but I was starting to think that I’d effectively seduced the man. Granted, I’d only intended to encourage a comradery and not an illicit liaison, but beggars can’t be choosers.
The rock in Cassius’s hand glowed and vibrated above his palm before the air was sucked right from my lungs and my head went light and hazy. Everything was spinning and confused for a second before we stood behind a set of brick buildings, somewhere in a back-lot where very few people wandered.
Phillip eyed Cash’s hand still holding mine and dragged me away from the Dark Fae by the arm. “Cheers,” he remarked mockingly. “Our accommodations are elsewhere, but you hang out here and try not to get killed, mate.”
The Dark Fae’s smile dropped. “We’re not staying somewhere together?”
“And let you steal my partner while I sleep? My, my, you must really think I’m a stupid bastard, Cash.
” Phillip’s hand found my lower back as he addressed the man, not at all worried what message the closeness might suggest to a clever mind.
“You’re only here because V thought you’d be useful, but I’m still not sure whether or not you’re worth keeping alive.
You run your mouth and switch sides any chance you get.
So let me be clear, you’re here purely because of this woman, and when she gives me any reason to rectify that, I’m going to take it. Capiche?”
Shots fired!
I quietly admired how Phillip folded that smarmy little “capiche” comment into his snarky monologue, taunting the other man’s use of it.
It didn’t occur to me I might be enormously turned on by Phillip verbally assaulting someone in my presence, mostly because he did it to people I cared about who didn’t deserve the tongue-lashing.
But the familiar tension between my legs argued I absolutely could be aroused by something as simple as this.
I’m most definitely a nympho. Certifiably so.
Cassius’s eyes jerked over to me, searching for something. “Then I guess I owe you my life, milady,” he finally entreated, lips lifted slightly. “I won’t forget it.”
Something about his expression hit me again, and even though I knew he was a master of manipulation, I was effectively caught by the sincerity of it.
“Um, right,” I retorted slowly.
“Until tomorrow,” Cassius said pointedly to me and me alone before bowing his head. Then fixing his shirt and pants, he strode towards the main road and took a left before disappearing from sight.
I watched him until Phillip’s fingers slipped between mine and my hand was pulled. “Come, love. We can flit from here.”
Smirking, I grasped the older Hunter’s hand and we quickly escaped the town, leaving Cassius behind.
It wasn’t even two seconds after the motel door shut when the other Hunter was on me like a lion would be a gazelle.
Lion analogies, V? Really? That’s what we’ve amounted to as a person?
The gorgeous oversized man stripped out of his shirt, exposing nothing but tattooed muscles and the sexy piercings I always found myself eager to play with.
Everything on him was flexed and taut, the same way it was in a fight.
It was mesmerizing to look at this close up.
Even though I’d seen it a hundred times in the bedroom, it still got me all hot and bothered before one touch was exchanged.
Hooded ice-blue eyes gazed at me when I took several steps back, discarding my jacket and weapons.
Each hit with a distinctive thud on the carpet.
My pulse raged in my ears, knowing the look the Austrian gave me to be one that meant I wasn’t going to get a wink of sleep.
Not that I minded. But playing coy was sort of our schtick, so I evaded his reach before I was captured by firm hands and slammed down onto the bed with enough force to steal a gasp from my throat.
The beautiful jerk really got off on the chase and fight I gave him each time.
As he once described it, Phil wanted a brat he’d need to tame with a spank or two.
I’d never admit to anyone out loud how much I enjoyed being it for him.
Granted, being a brat came naturally to me.
I wanted to be punished, just a little. I wanted to fight, argue, trade saucy insults, and then feel the other Hunter’s massive hands around my throat, squeezing the air I didn’t need.