Right About You #3
It was an expression that promised torturous death if he didn’t like her answer.
Not that I saw it ending any other way. But for some reason, it put me uncomfortably on edge.
Like nothing was too far and no rule wasn't worth breaking. He’d destroy the world just to take down whoever it was who got in his way, and he’d do it without a moment’s pause.
No action was too far, no single person worth saving—not when it meant his mission wouldn’t be successful.
It was the look of a natural born killer, and I’d never seen anything like it before in our Hunter ranks.
I watched the vampire shift and move uncomfortably under the silver before something else caught my eye. Gasping, I rushed to intervene, but it was too late. Only a second later, Anita was ashes under the net. Only her tiny black dress and the metal stake she’d stabbed herself with remained.
“Scheisse.”
Shit was right. Our vampire captive offed herself. What were the odds she’d decide eternal death was better than talking to a pair of Hunters?
“That’s…uncommon,” I remarked, still confused. “Usually they work harder to stay alive. Maybe try to lie a bit or bargain something special. Or seduce me with a flutter of eyelashes. That kind of thing,” I rambled, a little out of it. “This is new.”
Phillip harrumphed under his breath, not at all impressed. “Of all the vampires, Anita was the least likely to commit eternal suicide.”
“So that begs the question, why?”
“Why, indeed,” Phillip murmured, touching his chin with a tattooed hand. “Whoever is after you has a lot of power.”
“No kidding,” I grumbled unhappily, finally relaxing from the fight.
Then the hot burn of my injury finally registered. Jaw clenching, I eyed the wound on my arm.
That’s going to need stitches.
Blood saturated my sleeve, and as if finally noticing, Phillip was beside me inspecting the wound with experienced eyes. “That’s going to need stitches.”
“That’s what I just said!” I started before realizing I hadn’t said it out loud.
To my surprise, Phillip laughed out loud in response. “I can do it here if you’re brave enough.”
He gave me a look, and I rose to the challenge. “What, concerned I’m not going to make it home before I bleed out?”
Maybe the dude wasn’t all bad.
“What? No. It didn’t hit any major arteries. You’ll be fine. But it’ll mess up my car if we leave it until later.”
Never mind. The jerk was back.
Heat in my face, I internally cursed out the Austrian. “I see where I stand. Car first, me second.”
Phillip’s lips rose devilishly. “Not true.”
“Oh?”
“Sword first. Car second. You third.”
“That’s even worse!”
“They’re antiques. They’re irreplaceable.”
I gaped openly at the rude Hunter. “And I’m what, easily replaceable?”
“Something like that,” he joked happily, his expression no longer darkened by whatever it was afflicted with earlier.
“I hate you,” I grumbled, annoyed by how cute his smile was and the things it did to my heart.
“Well, that’s also not true…”
“I’m afraid to ask.”
“I think a few more things come before you now that I really take a minute to think about it,” he went on, and I punched his arm spitefully. Well, I tried to punch his arm, but he was quick to evade it. “I’m just trying to be honest here, V. No sense in lying to my new partner.”
“Every time you open your mouth, shit comes out,” I growled angrily, nose scrunching when he threaded a needle with some dissolvable string through the open flaps of my skin.
While I griped, he made quick work of my arm.
“You come here, stake claim on the position as my partner, don’t say anything about who you really are, and then talk out of your ass. ”
Phillip’s eyes rose to meet mine, his gentle smile catching me by surprise. “All done.”
“See. I didn’t even flinch.”
“Your nose twitched,” he countered.
My eyes narrowed. “It did not!”
“Right here.” Phillip bopped me on the tip of my nose, his smile broadening. “But you did good. All things considered, you proved I was right about you.”
Words fled when his affectionate smile hit me and took out all my sass. “I…”
“You should be proud of yourself.” Phillip cupped my cheek with his large hand, his body heat practically fire. “I wasn’t wrong about you. You and I are going to be unstoppable as a team.”
When he leaned forward, everything around me disappeared. All I saw was him and his piercing gaze. All I breathed was his scent. And for that moment, I was all his.
I didn’t know for what reason it was happening, only that I wouldn’t say no. Not when I’d fantasized about kissing the Austrian from the moment we met. Not when I couldn’t move my body with his heat on my face.
I shouldn’t want it, but I did.
And when Phillip’s soft lips touched mine, something inside of my body came to life.
Electricity swelled and moved across every surface, expanding and retracting, delivering sensation to every place it touched.
Like a piece falling into place, a key unlocking a door, a void of space filling, a mystery finally solved, his kiss was the exact thing I’d always needed and wanted.
His lips on mine were the answer to everything I’d ever questioned.
His hands carefully angled my neck, bringing our mouths closer, and I surrendered to it for a second before the taste of blood tore me out of a confused haze. I jerked away and wiped my mouth before staring down at blood coated fingers.
“I’ll explain everything when you wake up,” Phillip said, his voice coming into my ears, distorted and far-off sounding.
My vision swayed and blurred before I collapsed into his arms. Then everything went dark.