Page 99 of The Blood Witch

“My… my phone?” His hands went to his pockets, but he already knew they would be empty. Jasper struggled to remember when he’d last had it, when he’d?—

“Here,” he realized, suddenly. “I left it… I left it here, behind the bar.” That must have been after his confrontation with Alastair in his office, when he’d left in the middle of his shift. He hadn’t bothered to grab anything he’d brought in that night. Hadn’t picked up his phone after his next shift, either.

Alastair nodded, as though that was the answer he expected.

“If you’d had your phone,” he said through slightly clenched teeth, “you would know that Ferus called you. How many times did you call him, actually?” he asked, turning to look at the other Wolf.

“Five,” Ferus grunted, arms crossed over his chest.

“Ferus called you five fucking times, Jasper. Toinformyou that your request for a night off was approved.”

“I…” His brain skipped. “But I didn’t ask to take tonight off.”

“No, puppy.” Alastair smiled. “I did.”

He set his drink on the bar and stepped closer to him. Jasper was only vaguely aware that everyone was watching, every Wolf in the club giving up the pretense of not openly gaping at them, as Alastair reached out to cup the back of his neck.

“Fey wants you at our place tonight,” he said in a velvety voice. “For dinner. She tried calling you, but…”

“But I didn’t have my phone,” Jasper finished for him, awkwardly.

Goddess, he was an ass.

Alastair smiled. “But you didn’t have your phone,” he confirmed.

He shouldn’t be doing this, Jasper thought, as Alastair’s thumb stroked his jaw. Not in front of the other employees. He shouldn’t be touching him so openly, like they were… like they were…

“Will you join us tonight, puppy?” Alastair asked, eyes locked on his.

Jasper nodded.

“And this makes three,” Alastair said as he leaned down to kiss him again.

Chapter 44

ALASTAIR

For the first time in months, Alastair felt like his old self. Living on the verge of starvation, caught on the knife edge of falling to bloodlust, his mind had started to crumble.

And then Jasper, that infuriating fucking Wolf, had come along.

Feeding from him hadn’t been anything like feeding from the Vampires he’d conscripted since he’d met Fey. There had been no oily disgust filling his stomach, no intense need to keep physical distance.

Feeding from Jasper had feltright, in a way nothing else had in a long, long time. In the way being with Fey had felt right.

And he’d be fucked if he was going to let that go now.

By the time they left the club and made their way back across the city to his townhouse, Jasper was practically vibrating with excitement. The little pup had gotten himself all worked up into a frenzy, willing to shout at him. Hell, willing to shove him.

How fucking adorable it had been.

“She told me about your kiss this morning,” he told the Wolf as they reached their front door. “Tell me… what would you have done with her if your niece hadn’t interrupted?”

Jasper grinned.

“Anything she wanted,” he responded in a husky voice.

Right answer, Alastair thought. But to Jasper, he simply leaned down, close enough his lips touched against the shell of his ear as he whispered, “Naughty puppy.”

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