Page 38 of V for Vindictive

I crossed my arms, trying to hide how much the silly act affected me, but my face was already all kinds of red and my blood pumped loudly in my ears. “Fuck you. I’m over you treating me like a child, Phil. I deserve some goddamn respect.”

Luminous artic-blue eyes rose to meet mine from where Phillip was knelt, and the emotion swimming inside them made my heart lose its rhythm. “You’re right. I’m sorry, V.”

Phillip never apologized with feeling, so the sincere apology took me off guard. One might assume he was sorry for being a patronizing asshole, to which Hell would’ve frozen over, but I picked up on the depth of feeling in the other Hunter’s apology. He wasn’t saying sorry for treating me like a child; he was apologizing for rejecting me, then leaving me behind. Because it was Phillip we were talking about, the look had more impact and his apology nestled into the place where my heart was still dedicated to him.

My throat burned, so I only managed to nod my forgiveness. I wanted to stay angry, but the anguish in his expression melted my rage. When Phillip rose to his feet, I had to crane my neck a little. Maybe that was his plan all along because he quickly swooped down, grasping my jaw with firm but painfully gentle hands, and kissed me like he was so desperate to touch me that he couldn’t wait.

And maybe he couldn’t.

Hell, I couldn’t.

Far be it for me to deny him a little make-up kiss, and that was all it took for my initial hesitation to fade away and my arms to find their way around his neck. On my toes, I dragged the massive Hunter down so I could deepen our kiss. And like we hadn’t been fighting or he hadn’t left me over some misguided attempt to protect me, we fell back into a familiar rhythm.

Phil’s hands gripped the fabric of my thin t-shirt before he tore through it like it was a piece of paper.

“Hey—”

Growling low in his chest, Phillip nipped my lower lip, then sucked it into his mouth, effectively silencing me before I could berate him. “Just be a good girl and moan for me, lass.” He forced me backwards until I hit the mattress. “On your back,” the Austrian ordered in a tone I was painfully accustomed to hearing.

That’s Phil’s bedroom voice.

Swallowing, I laid out over the bed as instructed, because it was natural to follow Phillip’s lead in the bedroom. But I suddenly felt the weight of what we were about to do settle into my stomach when his powerful body loomed over mine, blocking out the light. Before I could argue it was a bad idea, Phillip’s gaze slid down to my heaving breasts. With one side of his mouth upturned, the other Hunter drove his knee between my legs, forcing them open.

My body immediately responded and I arched into him, a rush of pleasure hitting my hips. “Oh, fuck.”

The Austrian’s hungry mouth moved over mine, nipping and tugging my lips apart while his fingers danced across my stomach. Several excited moans left my mouth, but they were instantly smothered by his forceful kiss. The thigh pressed between my legs moved, creating delicious friction. All I could do was swivel my waist to feel it more, thrusting brazenly over the hard muscle pressed against the center of my pleasure.

Angling my head back with a grip on my red hair, the other Hunter swirled his tongue around mine, ate my lips, and traced my palate and teeth. Phillip’s thick fingers clenched inside my loose tresses and yanked hard enough to get me to move but not enough to hurt. My neck arched all the way back. His mouth fled mine down the curved length of my throat, nipping and biting my pale skin until it was likely red with the attention.

Drawing away from me, my previous partner grasped me around the throat with enough strength to get my attention. But the hold was never threatening. Not that the jerk could do anything to me now; we both knew which one of us was stronger. My lips lifted, and I couldn’t help but laugh a little to myself thinking about it.

Confusion deepened the lines of his face as Phillip regarded me. “Find this funny, do you?”

“And you don’t?” I cackled. “Two days ago, I told you I hated you. A month ago, I thought you were dead. And maybe two months ago, I said I had feelings for you and you told me it was a bad idea.” I huffed a little. “Just seems to fall perfectly in line with how fucked up my life is these days.”

Phillip kissed my mouth hard enough to punish me. “Only you could sit here discussing the weather with my hand cupping your breast,” he taunted.

I knew he did it to derail the conversation, but I still looked down in surprise, giggling. “Would you look at that…you are.”

“Ich verehre dich.” The Hunter’s tender smile was out of place, and my laughter faded.

“Excusie?”

I really need to learn German, like yesterday.

“I don’t know why I thought I could stay away,” the gorgeous man above me whispered softly. His eyes jerked towards mine in shock, clearly surprised by his own utterance.

Hilarious.

It was a rare sight, and one that joined a long list of out of place faces on the Austrian since he’d come back.

Don’t think I could have a weirder sex life if I tried.

“Did he touch you?”

For a second, I just stared at Phillip in open confusion, not exactly sure what he meant. Instead, I was trembling, all hot and bothered and fighting the urge to lunge at him despite our little comical interruption. “What? Who?”

Phillip sunk his fingers into his hair, angrily grunting. “No. Don’t answer that.”

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