Page 40 of Frayed Trust

“Where are you going?” Shan asked.

“That would be absolutely none of your business.”

“I’m his superior and we’re on assignment. I need to know where he is.”

“You can know where he is when we get there. Until then, it’s a surprise.”

“Not acceptable.”

Sighing heavily, I pushed away from Cas. “It looks like Daddy is ruining your date,” I said, looking over at Shan. He didn’t look all too put out at being called Daddy. Interesting. “We’re going to a fun activity venue I’ve heard about.”

“And what’s this ‘activity venue’ called?”

“Have you never heard of a surprise? Come on Daddy, let him have some fun.”

Trying to get reactions out of Shan was becoming my new favourite challenge. This time I could see the irritation in his eyes and the arousal making his muscles tight. He wanted to give me a solid spanking for being a sassy brat, and I wanted to fight him. Fight him until he inevitably won out over me and made my ass red with hand prints.

I cursed those thoughts when the scent of my arousal filtered into the air, but it was a minor consolation that I could smell Shan’s as well. And Caspian’s. How many spankings had he gotten from Shan over the years?

“For fuck’s sake, fine. Tell me when you get there or I’ll use the tracker I have on your phone.”

With the terms of our date set, Shan spun on his heel and stormed across the club floor. He made his way to the VIP area up top, where he sat down at the edge of the balcony to brood.

“Listening to you two is like listening to a firefight,” Caspian said.

Shrugging, I grabbed his hand in mine. “He gets on my nerves.”

“You get on his, too. He’s desperate to give you a spanking. Becoming obsessed with it, really.”

I led the way out of the club, stopping our conversation until we were out on the front sidewalk where we could hear each other. “I do love when men are obsessed with me.”

“How many men do you have that are obsessed with you?”

A cab pulled up to the curb to drop a couple of club-goers off and I slid smoothly into the backseat. Cas got in beside me and I gave the cabbie an address. “Too many,” I said. “But only a couple I’m equally interested in.”

Caspian laughed, arm going up to wrap around my shoulders. Winter pine weighed down the surrounding air, a comforting blanket that tickled my nose. “You have a fair point. I think not being drawn to you is difficult. It’s been a long time since a woman has attracted me like this.”

“It’s been a while since anyone has attracted me like you two do.”

It was hard to admit aloud, even though I’d known from the moment I scented them. Not something I would ever admit to Shan.

The cab ride was brief and when Caspian saw where we’d pulled up, his eyes went wide with excitement. He didn’t let me pay for the cab or the entrance fee, and ten minutes later we were strolling among walls of arcade games and pinball machines. Witch Sticks Arcade and Lanes was a combination bowling alley and arcade that stayed open late and on the weekends served alcohol. When I’d first moved to the city, I’d heard the name and snorted milk at the hilarity of it, and I’d been obsessed with the place ever since.

Come on. Witch Sticks? A stupid word play of the witchy, magic theme and the joysticks of the arcade games? It was tacky enough to draw attention.

“I read about this place!” Caspian said, hand grasping mine.

His palm was cold and slightly sweaty. Was he nervous? He was an incubus; I had to assume he had gone on plenty of dates and was used to being hit on. How could I possibly be making him nervous?

“I come here all the time,” I admitted. “Until recently, every one of my days off.”

Ah, the good old days. When I hadn’t been killing a new Alpha every week and cleaning up the mess on my days off.

“You know how funny this is, right? That you come to a place called Witch Sticks and you’re… well.”

He lowered his voice, glancing furtively around. The arcade floor wasn’t spectacularly busy on a Wednesday night, but there were still Nulls around. I could scent an Alpha or two on the opposite side of the building, but most here didn’t know witches even existed among them.

“At first I had a good laugh, but this place is so tempting. I’ll show you my favourite game. I think you’ll find it funny too.”

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