Page 55 of Outlaw Witch

I mean, I wouldn’t be entirely opposed to it. The man is sexy as hell. He has that kind of build that makes you want to climb him, and I justknowhe would be able to hold my weight as he was thrusting into me.

“No uniform necessary,” he rasps, his voice strained.

His words at least break my own spiral into increasingly dirty places. Which is a good thing. It doesn’t matter how attractive I find any of these guys, I’m here to do a job.

There’s no point making things even more complicated by getting naked and sweaty together.

... as tempting as that might be. And as painfully horny as I am.

“So, uh, your sister seems very talented,” Fabian says eventually, after the silence between us has stretched on so long, it became painful.

He hesitates for a moment before adding softly, “I have to admit, I’ve never thought all that much about the people living on the outskirts of the city. I’d guess all of you have a reason you’re—”

“Dregs? Outcasts? Misfits?” I snort at the discomfort that’s clear in his expression. He’s pretty sensitive for a guy that I’m sure is high up on the Nexus mage food chain. Thecriminalfood chain.

“We all have our reasons,” I tell him.

Ones I’m not going to get into. I know what he’s not saying. He wants to know why a powerful witch like Luna is sequestered away with the rest of us freaks, when she could be making bank selling her wares. Or if she wasn’t interested in money, she could work in one of the medical centers.

But I’m not going to tell him any of our secrets.

This guy might have surprisingly low walls, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to totally bare my soft underbelly to him. Or that of my family.

“So I met with a vamp last night,” I tell him, swiftly moving the conversation from dangerous ground. “Dante. Owns a club called the Second Circle.”

Fabian gives a curt nod. Any of the openness he was just displaying shuttering almost instantly.

Interesting. Seems like he does have some walls after all.

Which makes me curious what went down between Dante and these mages for them to have such a strong reaction to each other.

“What happened between you guys? Roscoe mentioned something about Dante being the person that cut off your supply for vamp blood. But he didn’t seem to be your biggest fan, either.”

Fabian just shakes his head, taking a sip of coffee. “It’s complicated. We had a business arrangement. He felt we’d taken advantage and then cut off my supply for Sebastian. Didn’t care that it wasn’t something I could do anything about, or that a kid’s life was being affected by his reaction.” He shakes his head, anger clouding his tone as he scoffs. “Fucking vamps have zero regard for other people. They’re all a bunch of selfish, self-righteous fucks.”

I don’t know what to say to that. Last night, Dante could easily have given us nothing, but he handed us a lead that might help, however reluctantly. Fabian seems lost inside his own head, so I let him stew silently as I sip my coffee.

It’s not long before we’re joined by Roscoe. He bounds in and my eyes bug out of my head when I see he’s wearing a white towel around his waist and nothing else. I can’t help staring at the ink covering his body in thick black lines. He also has a detailed tattoo of a jaguar on his chest, right above his heart, and I swear the thing is staring right at me. Zeph saunters in behind him, grunting when he sees where my attention is.

“He’s also got ‘pussy lover’ tattooed on his ass,” Zeph murmurs in my ear, loud enough for Roscoe to hear him.

“That can’t be true.” I roll my eyes at him, a little surprised to see a less intense version of Zeph coming out.

Maybe it’s because it’s morning and he’s not bothered to put on his asshole suit yet.

Roscoe snorts and winks at me, coming up on my other side and hooking his thumbs under the towel. “Wanna double check, honey?”

“No, thanks.”

“Suit yourself, sweetheart.” He grins at me.

We spend another hour around the kitchen island, with Roscoe cooking up pancakes for all of us. He’s dressed only in a towel the entire time and I have to fight to keep my eyes on his face or the back of his neck at all times.

Safe spots. I’m not going to let Zeph catch me out while I’m eyeballing the muscles in Roscoe’s back or the tattoos on his chest.

No siree.

We discuss our plans for the day as we pack away the delicious breakfast Roscoe whips up. While Fabian’s getting his check up, Roscoe and Zeph are going to look into finding a way for us to get inside the forbidden stacks of the library. They spread out across the kitchen and living room, both engrossed in trying to find a way inside the forbidden archives.

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