Addict (Hunter #2)(23)

“She’s incredibly likable, but don’t tell her I said that. I have to admit, I kind of like a hard-headed woman.” He seemed to remember he had something to do here. “Now, let’s talk about your job. I hear you’ve already started meeting with clients. I’m supposed to help you.”

“Great.” I knew exactly what strings Trent’s “help” would come with. “I get a bodyguard. Well, I get a jailer. How long is Donovan going to keep you on top of me?”

“It’s not like that,” Trent tried to explain. I didn’t care to listen. I was already walking out the door. He hurried behind me as I made my way to the elevator that would take me down to Ether. “Come on, Kelsey. Please give me a chance. This doesn’t have to be hard.”

“How about I make it easy by staying home like a good girl and not getting into any trouble.”

He smiled at the thought. “You couldn’t stay out of trouble if you tried. The boss wants you to have backup. That’s all. Now calm down. We’ll go downstairs, and I’ll buy you a burger. I saw the menu the vampire planned for you. It’s very…nutritionally balanced.”

I frowned at the thought. Sometimes Marcus got weird ideas about eating vegetables and shit. I could really use a burger.

“So I told them to chuck the kale salad and ordered us bacon cheeseburgers, fries, and some beer.” Trent dangled the proposition tantalizingly in front of me.

My stomach responded in the affirmative. I gave in. I needed that burger. I didn’t even know what kale was. “Fine. But this doesn’t make us friends.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Trent promised.





Chapter Five



I might not have liked Trent at that point, but I did like being around a wolf. I feel comfortable around werewolves. They’re kind of like my people even when they’re *s. So I tipped back my beer and settled in beside him as we watched the show currently playing in Ether.

“Donovan’s saying something about how much he respects Marcus and how happy he is to have him back.” Trent gestured to the two men pretty much everyone in the club was watching.

Marcus had apparently tracked the king down to the club level of Ether. Donovan had been talking to a couple of shifters when Marcus had approached him. It had quickly dissolved into some seriously angry dinner theater.

“Yeah, well, Marcus isn’t having it,” I pointed out as Marcus began speaking rapidly. His hand jabbed at the air. He had the general look of a man who wasn’t going to take it anymore.

For the most part, Marcus is a private man. It was only after I became his lover that he allowed me to see the range of his emotions. He tended to play things close to the vest. Every once in a while, though, his Italian temper flared, and the man could rage. At those times he didn’t care that he had an audience. This particular audience was out of luck since the entire argument was being conducted in rapid-fire Italian. Turns out the king has an ear for languages. So Trent and I were making a game out of figuring out what the men were saying.

“Obviously.” Trent laughed as the king put his hands up in submission. “That would be his ‘Sorry, I f*cked up’ face. I think he conceded that Marcus can stay your trainer.”

“Like he has a real choice in the matter.” I snorted. We’d already bonded. It wouldn’t work so well with anyone else.

“Well, Donovan might have conceded, but it doesn’t look like your guy is done. That dude is pissed.” Marcus leaned over the table that separated him and the king, his eyes narrowed. Trent took a long swig from his third beer. It was kind of nice to eat with someone who could keep up with me. It made me feel less like a freak. “I’m surprised His Highness is putting up with this. Anyone else and his ass would be on the ground unconscious.”

“Not just anyone else,” an amused voice said from behind us.

I turned and saw Dev Quinn watching the byplay between his partner and Marcus. He held three bottles of beer in his hands. He passed them out, keeping the last one for himself.

The fertility god hopped onto the barstool beside me like he owned the place, which he did. “I think you’ll find there are four people in the world who can get away with embarrassing the hell out of Dan. Zoey does it on a regular basis. I save it up for those times he’s truly pissed me off. Then there’s Marcus. Dan loves Marcus. Marcus saved him after his turn. He can get away with almost anything.”

“Who’s the fourth?” Trent asked curiously.

“Our father-in-law.” Quinn had a rueful smile on his face. “Of course, Harry would never yell at Daniel. Daniel is perfect.”

“I bet he yells at you.” From what I understood, the queen’s father was human. I wondered how he took his baby girl being claimed by a fertility god.

“Less and less as the years go by, but in the beginning, I was his whipping boy,” Quinn explained. He winced as he watched his partner. “Shit, what did Marcus say?”

The king had left placating mode and was now getting in his mentor’s face. Marcus didn’t look inclined to back down. It wasn’t hard to figure out which buttons Marcus would push. He’d already pushed them once.

“I think Marcus just pointed out that the king might let his wife play around with other men, but he doesn’t do that.” I hoped I wasn’t about to have to get between them.