Page 82 of Outlaw Witch

Fuck. What’s happening to me? My mouth is just blurting out any old shit like I’ve lost all control of my tongue.

“Oh, and fourth of all, I’m here alone.” I give a decisive nod, glad we’ve gotten all that out of the way.

“That was far more than four things. But thank you for clarifying. To respond to at least some of your barrage of questions: my staff need to eat, therefore my club’s kitchen is always fully stocked. It’s considered rude to ask a vampire about their dining habits. Tread carefully. You’ll find many are not as accommodating or polite as I am.”

I let out a snort of a laugh, like a little piggie. When I’m met with a raised eyebrow, I decide to keep my mouth clamped shut. I need him on my side here, and I’ve already pissed him off enough and made an ass of myself.

“Since your stomach has been rumbling incessantly for the entire time I’ve been standing here, we’ll head down to the kitchen together. It happens to be on your way out and I can ensure you haven’t snuck off to one of the private bedrooms, ready to pounce on my unsuspecting customers later.” He eyes me up and down, his mouth twitching. “Plus, it’ll be my good deed for the day. I’ll feel as though I’ve taken care of a stray.”

Rude. But pretty fair. Since I am really fucking hungry, I follow him without a word as he leads the way downstairs.

I’m not totally sure what’s happening here, or why Dante seems to be pandering to my impulsive needs. Maybe he sees me as a stray he’ll feed and then send on my way.

We take an entirely different route to the kitchen, which confuses my internal compass even more. Probably all part of his plan so that I struggle to find my way around this place.

“You might want to invest in better security during the day,” I comment airily. Seriously, this entire place is empty, and they left the door unlocked. People in this district have a confusingly lax view on safety and security.

He lets out a harsh exhalation, like I’m taxing him with my presence. “We don’t typically have people strolling in off the street,” he replies drily, heading to the oversized refrigerator and rifling through the contents.

“The door was wide open. You could have anyone in here getting up to mischief.”

He shoots me a withering glare and continues to unpack the fridge with food for a sandwich. And it isa lot. My mouth waters as he rolls up his sleeves and gets to work. Roast chicken, lettuce, tomatoes, mayonnaise, bacon bits, fresh basil, orange juice, an entire platter of fruit. He spins around and grabs a fresh baguette and a bread knife and begins slicing into it.

My eyes catch on his forearms and the sheer competency porn in front of me and squirm in my seat.

I really, really need to get laid.

“Can I ask you a question you’ll probably find at least semi-offensive?” I ask.

“I haven’t eaten proper food since I was turned over a century ago,” he replies smoothly. “Andyes,if you asked that to anyone else, you should expect to have your throat torn out. Vampires are notoriously sensitive about their dietary habits and mentioning them can trigger their blood lust.”

I hold my hands up before sneaking a tomato and biting into it like an apple. “All right. Hearing you loud and clear, buddy.”

I have a dozen other questions floating around in my mind right now, but I decide to hold off on asking them. I’d rather pick his brains about the curse right now than find out when the last time he made someone else a sandwich was. That’s why I’m here, after all.

I need to stay on track. No getting distracted by delicious food or equally delicious forearms.

He places his construction in front of me and I just about strain my jaw, taking a massive bite. It is goood.

Just about managing to withhold the pornstar moan threatening to bubble out of my throat, I focus all my attention on devouring the sandwich in silence for the next few minutes. It’s only once my plate is clean that I pull back and wipe my mouth on the napkin he left for me—because this vamp is fancy—and notice Dante staring at me.

His gaze is focused on my mouth. My neck. Then my mouth again.

It’s like he’s halfway torn between wanting to kiss me and sink his teeth into my neck. Which sends a weird tingle through me. One not entirely of revulsion.

Once he notices my attention, he clears his throat, and his eyes dart to the wall. “Now that I’ve fed you sufficiently, are you going to tell me why you broke into my office?” he asks.

Since I’m being good and focused right now, I don’t tease him for overtly eye-fucking me. “The curse—” I start.

Dante sighs deeply. “This again. Look, giving you access to that book is far more involvement than I ever should have allowed myself. I can’t baby you through the steps or—”

“It didn’t work,” I blurt out.

“I’m sorry?”

“New moon last night, so we tried it. We had the runes, the magic words, the potion, the act of sacrifice. Everything. It all seemed to be going well and then... I guess it just didn’t take.”

I don’t miss the way his attention snaps to me immediately. Which only adds another layer of dread to the pile in my stomach.

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