Page 69 of V for Vindictive

I knew it was a risk to work with him the way I was now. The crafty Fae would latch onto my weakness, and unless V cooperated, it was easy for everything we planned to burn to the ground because of the wanker now walking beside us on our way to the coven’s location.

I slid my tattooed hand behind the fiery Hunter’s head and gripped the back of her neck, instantly getting V’s attention. Hazel eyes beamed in the dying light, full of barely concealed shame and guilt. She’d been off since I put the ring on her finger, but even more so since Cash stole her away into a window of time.

Fuck.

“One thing at a time, V. Trust me and trust your training…” I said cryptically to her and she nodded, understanding perfectly.

Clever lass.

“Hunters are all about talking in riddles. It’s exhausting,” Cash complained before he comically tripped over a branch, doing a weird movement with his arms and side scuttle with his feet to keep from falling straight onto his face.

The smile creeping onto the young Hunter’s face was enough to calm the rage crowding my chest. When she giggled, it was difficult to stay angry. V’s raspy laughter was a balm on my tortured soul, and I vowed to protect that smile no matter what it took.

I hadn’t been given the chance to make good on the promised punishment of her body from the night before, and I was craving her like water on a hot day. Everything V did, from the teasing touches to the half-smiles and taunts she offered me all morning, made my cock hard. I was desperate to ignore responsibility so I could have my wicked way with the tempting nymph.

I wanted to worship her skin with my mouth and hands; pay special tribute to the beauty I’d been a slave to from the very first moment our eyes connected in that classroom. I yearned to hear her breathless moans and raspy voice calling my name in the throes of ecstasy, and I despised Cashfor occupying my head when it was V who should live there, unrivaled by another, for the rest of my days.

Most distressing, whatever this backpfeifengesicht said to my liebling,it’d gotten into her head. But it was easy to see she feared my wrath more than what Cash had said to her, which was a drop of comfort in a sea of bullshit.

It didn’t take a genius to figure out the Dark Fae capitalized on my feelings for her being in question because of her blood, but there was more to it than her possible Siren abilities. If the kotzbrocken sniffed out the trap like I suspected he had, he’d use it as a bargaining chip to get V to do something she would otherwise refuse.

The chipper fucker had been much too happy since the private moment between them, and I’d bet Blood Slayer he was after the one thing he’d been trying to get back since coming to this realm.

My guess was Cassius’s plan included using V as bait, and then the muscle to take down the group while he made a swift escape. Although, if he was truly falling for her, there was a good chance he might option to help her finish the job, and then seduce her with promises of bringing down the Organization.

The way the bastard’s eyes always seemed to find V, following her every movement, and all the disgusting little smiles he sent her way were indications Cash was already smitten.

Since Nigel and Sloan, I’d become hyper-aware of every person who even looked at the spit-fire beauty. I used to think jealousy was for weak-minded men, but it didn’t stop me from playing right into that fate myself. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust V; I didn’t trust every other fucking person who came in contact with her. If that made me a small-minded bastard like Ionce accused that bloody dog of being, then I’d take it on the chin and be a hypocrite.

I’d be anything for V.

The young Hunter was kind-hearted and compassionate when life hadn’t given her a reason to be. Had she not been, our relationship would’ve never happened. I was painfully aware of that fact. Yet, it was the very thing that made her vulnerable to enemies, and V tended to see the good in every person she spent any amount of time with.

Even if she didn’t, Cassius was a silver-tongued sycophant. He’d find some way to woo or entrap her, and with his arsenal of enchanted items, it was uncomfortably likely he’d succeed at first.

Until I murdered the bastard once I found him.

It wasn’t clear what the amulet did or why Cash was so heart set on getting it, but my gut told me that I’d better tread carefully with this one. It was better if neither Cassius or V knew I was onto them, though I got the sense my little darling might tell me regardless of what Cassius threatened.

She was such a good girl.

“Dead weight stays here,” I said pointedly at Cash.

The Dark Fae put a hand over his chest, gasping ghoulishly. “I beg your pardon. I amnotdead weight. I can fight, same as you.”

V’s look at the Dark Fae nearly made me cackle out loud like a little boy. It was riddled with overt disbelief. “Isn’t it your M.O. to run at the first sign of danger, Fae?”

“It’s Cassius,” the cat-eyed man corrected, brushing back his silver hair with flamboyant flair. “I happen to be quite powerful. You brought me along, so I might as well helpwhile I’m here.”

My partner didn’t seem the least bit convinced, and it made me yearn desperately to kiss her.

Her wariness and feisty wit were among many reasons for why I had difficulty keeping my hands off her anywhere we went. I barely caught myself from reaching out and taking strong hold of that slender neck of hers—so close to fitting my fingers around that petal-soft flesh that yielded to my hand every time I grabbed it. My hands were a perfect fit every time I grabbed hold of that beautiful throat, and I was addicted to the way her gorgeous hazel eyes always fluttered shut, overcome by pleasurable bliss.

Like she was made for me and me alone.

I was beyond tempted to dominate the smirking woman beside me, and it took every ounce of my control to keep from showing Cash how little chance he stood against swaying her away from my side.

The only man worthy had tried and failed.

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