Page 21 of In the Monster's Wake
Braith stared.“Did you fuck him?”
“No!”
Braith shrugged.“It was an obvious question.I wouldn’t put it past you to do it.”
Dammit.Why did Braith know Archibald so well?“I didn’t fuck him.”Even though he’d been tempted and still was.It would be messy, but he didn’t care.Life was more fun when it was messy.
Braith grinned.“But you wanted to.”
“Fine, I wanted to, and I did kiss him, but that was mostly because he wouldn’t listen to me and kept attacking me.”
Braith dropped the bag onto his desk.“Oh, I need to hear this.”
“That’s all that happened.I thought he was cute and gave him my card, but I didn’t think he would use it.I couldn’t imagine he’d show up here.”
“Why did he?”
“I’m pretty sure he encountered Kester recently.He’s hunting him, and he suggested we should do so together.”
Braith’s smile widened.“You’re going to work with a human you want to fuck.”
It wasn’t a question, but Archibald huffed and nodded.“Yes, so?”
“You’re going to fuck him.”
“The last time I checked, both people involved needed to consent to that, and he hasn’t.”
“How did he react when you kissed him?Did he punch you and push you away?Or did he kiss you back?”
“Look, this is work.That’s all there is to it.”
“Keep telling yourself that, I guess.How are you going to make it work?Why would you want to work with him?”
“He used to be a hunter.”
That wiped the smile off Braith’s face.“You’re going to fuck a hunter?”
“I just told you that I wouldn’t fuck him, and he’s not a hunter anymore.He was raised as one, but he left them, and he’s a mechanic now.”
“He’s hunting a monster.”
“He wants to stop Kester.He interrupted an attack the other night and wants to see things through.”Archibald leaned forward.“Think about it.He has access to records we don’t.We could find out what hunters have on Kester through him, and we might even be able to find him faster than we would otherwise.It’s too good an opportunity to let go.”
“That, and you want to fuck him.”
Archibald threw his hands in the air.“Okay, maybe I do.It doesn’t mean I’m going to.”
“If he kissed you back, I bet you will.He’s cute.”
“And he was a hunter.”
Braith shrugged.“Was.You’re the one who just explained that he’s a mechanic now.I don’t see why him having been a hunter in the past should stop you.”
Sometimes, Braith was confusing, but Archibald was glad that his friend wasn’t judging or doubting him.Archibald had said that he wanted to work with Jasper and that Jasper was trustworthy, and Braith was going along with it.It was a relief, but Archibald couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if they found out that Jasperwasn’ttrustworthy.Archibald couldn’t see why Jasper would’ve come here if he was planning something, but he needed to be careful, no matter how cute Jasper was.
The two of them were supposed to work together, and that was it.Archibald found Jasper attractive, but that didn’t mean Jasper was into him, even though he’d kissed him back.Hell, he’d been a hunter.He was probably offended by the fact that Archibald had kissed him.
Yet he’d still come and had offered to use his contacts with the hunters to find Kester.It was going to be hard to resist him if he continued doing things like that.Hell, it was going to be hard to resist him just spending time with him.Archibald was in trouble.
