23. The Trouble with Cash
Chapter 23
The Trouble with Cash
“ Y ou 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.
Phillip’s knee parted my thighs roughly, and my voice fled in a surprised moan. “You were a little too convincing today, mein Schatz. Almost as if you wanted to be punished,” he admonished in a voice laced with sexy displeasure.
Don’t ask me how I know the difference between regular displeasure and sexy displeasure, I just do.
His powerful body hovered over mine as one of his tattooed hands slid along my naked stomach, lifting my shirt away from my breasts. When my eyes dropped to his hand, Phillip grabbed me around the jaw and forced my stare back to his. After satisfying himself with the desperate look twisting my face, the Austrian offered me an impish smirk and bent his head down to suck my nipple into his mouth after skillfully yanking the lace of my bra away.
I shifted and swiveled against the sensation, already giving into him. His mouth was so hot and his tongue so wet that it didn’t take much to make me a vocal mess. The powerful older man worshipped the flesh and nub of my breast, an expert at giving me pleasure.
No matter how many times I found myself under him, every time was a new sensation and feeling. It never failed to surprise moans from my throat .
Blunt nails scored their way down my toned stomach, and I curved up, groaning in need. “Don’t forget whose you are,” Phillip whispered huskily, stealing a hot kiss.
His gorgeous glittering eyes met mine from inches away, then he tugged at Sloan’s ring on my finger. Slowly understanding what he wanted, I took it off with some hesitation and Phillip haphazardly tossed it onto the floor. Out of his pant pocket, the Austrian pulled out a beautiful ring that was a deep red, surrounded by a woven nest of black and gold.
But for some reason, my eyes strayed briefly to the discarded opal ring, not sure what the sudden pang in my chest was with the very thought of not wearing Sloan’s ring anymore, but I tried desperately to do away with the flittering thoughts.
I stared at the new ring as, bent over with his chest expanding and retracting with effort, Phillip fitted it over my left-hand ring finger. He brushed back his loose black locks with thick fingers and licked his lips. Hesitantly, pale eyes flicked up to meet mine, and I couldn’t help but stare stupidly back.
I’d never seen the powerful man look so vulnerable, and at one time I’d even go as far as to argue the other Hunter was incapable of it.
Still, my eyes wandered back to Sloan’s ring, and thoughts of the other Hunter appeared unbidden in my head. It was quite literally ridiculous to be here with Phil, wearing his ring, and thinking about someone I’d been convinced wasn’t the person I wanted.
What’s happening to me?
Phillip offered me a sheepish smile. “It’s time for you to stop wearing another man’s ring,” he implored in the sweetest voice yet .
I should’ve been over the moon, but the words dropped like lead in my stomach, and I’d never been so instantly uncomfortable as I was under one man while dreaming of another.
What the fuck is wrong with you, V?!
Then Phil’s mouth was right next to my ear, dropped so low it wouldn’t be detected by human, or even supernatural ears if they weren’t close by, and my thoughts snapped to attention. “Cassius may be tempted to keep you for himself at this rate, so keep that ring on at all times, maus.”
I startled slightly when the whispering Hunter’s hand sunk into my pliable gym leggings and he drove several fingers into me. My heady moan was swallowed by his hot mouth and tongue overwhelming mine, smothering every sound that tried to make its way out. I couldn’t spare a moment for the conflicting thoughts inside my head because the older man knew exactly how to distract me into a mindless mess.
Pinned down to the spot, my stomach and chest retracted sharply with every hard lunge of his fingers.
It was torture not to be able to move, but truth of the matter was, it’d be easy to overpower the brute. I was stronger than him—and one utter of “goblin goo” and he’d set me loose himself. But I didn’t want freedom. I wanted Phil and every ounce of pleasure he gave me, good or bad.
“Do you understand?” Phillip asked, stalling his hand’s mesmerizing movements. “Answer me.”
I sucked in a sharp breath. “Yes.”
“If Eros gets a whiff of betrayal or the trap we’re setting, he’ll move quickly and desperately,” Phillip went on, fingers flicking and twisting. “Then we’ll both have to react accordingly.”
My hips gyrated, chasing pleasure. “You’re sensing betrayal? ”
Something in the other Hunter’s eyes cut through the lust and pleasure like a sharp-as-fuck knife, and it all but ended my desire to continue this little interlude of ours.
When his hand froze, fear hit my chest and I grabbed hold of the man’s face. “What is that look?” I demanded. Phillip’s eyes strayed, so I sat up and forced him to meet my gaze. “Phil?” I dropped my voice to the same barely-there whisper his took when he beseeched me to keep his loaded-with-intentions ring on. “What are you not telling me?”
“They were called Royal Sirens,” Phillip finally said, eyes igniting with something akin to dread.
“Who were?”
Phillip’s hands took hold of my hips, keeping me steady. “The ancient Fae blood you’re mixed with.”
Royal Sirens?
“So…” I pieced it together. “You think I’m seducing Cassius with my abilities from that?” I surmised slowly, knowing the answer already. “And with you and Sloan? Nigel?”
His eyes narrowed violently. “No—”
Oh, god. Sloan. Had I seduced him with some unintentional power? The revelation hit me as hard as a punch to the stomach, and I had difficulty voicing my next question—feeling somewhat miffed that I’d given Phillip a chance to tell me everything in the hidden lab and he hadn’t until I dragged it out of him today.
“But how can you be sure?”
The weight in my stomach was outright painful. If I’d inadvertently seduced everyone I met, then how could I ever trust the feelings I shared with others? Trust the feelings Sloan had for me ?
Why am I thinking about Sloan right now? It should be Phillip.
Shaking the thoughts away with vehemence, I refused to let the confliction of my feelings distract me from what this all meant. It was the inevitable other shoe dropping. I’d never be the girl with a happy ending, not really. I’d spend a lifetime second-guessing people’s feelings for me and wondering if endangering them was worth it.
And as if sensing my line of thought, Phillip took strong hold of my face and brought my eyes back to his. “I was falling for you well before those parts of you were ever activated.”
I opened my mouth and then shut it, ignoring the pang of guilt for worrying about Sloan before paying the man in front of me a thought. “You can’t know that. Nothing about my blood has been straightforward. I’m the first of my kind, as far as we know. How the hell can you be certain, Phil?”
There’s something seriously wrong with me. Fuck.
I tried to free myself from his hold, but Phillip chased me and our mouths met again; this time in a way that made me want to cry, mostly because Phillip would never truly know how much I’d betrayed him.
“V…”
It was rare for Phillip to struggle to say something, and it only hit me harder to see the powerful man at a loss, completely unaware of how I felt.
Swallowing the hard lump in my throat, tears broke free of my eyes and I didn’t even bother to hide them. “You kept this from me all this time and chose to tell me now, why?”
Phillip’s thumbs gently wiped away the steady stream of tears, and he sighed loudly. “Because I promised I would be honest with you, and because it doesn’t matter how I came to love you, only that I did. You can argue whatever you’d like, but I’m not letting you go ever again, lass.”
I sucked in a sobbing breath and took hold of his wrists. “If I seduced you—”
A smirk tilted his lips. “Who says I didn’t seduce you first? I hear teenage girls can’t help but fall for their super-hot teachers.”
Now he’s pulling the teacher card?
“Your baseless confidence is always so impressive, but you’re not the one with mystical seduction powers here, Phil,” I bemoaned, and Phillip’s smile widened.
Fuck, I don’t deserve him…
Cheating girlfriend with Nigel. Cheating with Phillip. It had to be some kind of cosmic joke at this point for me to be in the arms of one and yearning for another. I couldn’t even blame being young anymore—this was depravity.
The gorgeous man’s eyes glistened like they always did when he found what I said amusing. “Oh, I think some would argue differently.”
“You’re a real tool, you know that,” I grumbled, avoiding his all-seeing eyes. “So what, I’ve been seducing everyone with pheromones or some shit?”
“Who knows,” Phillip replied, not helping at all. “Like you said, you could be doing it with some kind of power, or it’s just that natural V charm. But one way or another, Cash is falling for you.”
“You have to be kidding me,” I rebuked resentfully.
“And only I get to ogle you like that,” Phillip added with a boyish grin.
Hasn’t stop me from ogling, apparently. Fuck my life, seriously.
“So that’s your real issue here,” I taunted, leering at the older Hunter .
Phillip didn’t miss a beat. “I don’t like to share.”
It was evident he was concerned about what the attachment meant for our plan. The usually fifty-steps-ahead Hunter hadn’t expected this plot twist, and now we had to plan for that possibility, too.
But I had bigger issues to worry about it would seem.