Astrid’s bubble gum pink eyes narrowed as she leant over the counter. “Did it work?”
Wilder nodded. “Yes—”
“Wait. You’re the one who gave him that asshole’s contact card?” I cut in.
“I did. I know a lot of people, and I wanted to help my friend,” she said as tinkered with a few potion bottles on her counter before looking me dead in the eye. “Do you have a problem with that?”
“Only if your idea of ‘help’ constitutes as something dangerous.”
Wilder backhanded me in the chest. “Stop it, Byron. You’re being a dick.”
“Do you think that’s wise?” I chuckled with amusement. “Insulting an assassin?”
Wilder’s gaze flicked between Astrid and me.
“Don’t worry about Astrid, baby. We go way back.”
A cute little frown appeared between his brows before they flew up to his hairline.
Shit.
“Is this where you got the potion you drugged me with?” he whisper-hissed in my ear. We were the only ones in the shop—I’d checked when we walked in—so he didn’t really need to whisper.
“What?” Astrid said, completely taken aback.
Wilder whirled around to face Astrid. “Did you know?”
“No,” she gasped, looking shocked.
“Look what he did to me,” Wilder spat as he pointed to his neck.
A delicious little thrill of ownership curled around the base of my spine, and a satisfied hum left my lips at the sight of the bold letters inked onto his throat.
“Whoa,” Astrid said as she peered at the tattoo with a deep frown. “That’s a little extreme.”
“Extreme?!” Wilder said through gritted teeth. “It’s invasive and violating.”
I gripped Wilder’s chin and pulled his violet eyes to mine. “Hush now, baby. You don’treallyhate it.”
He swallowed against my grip, and I brushed my thumb along the four letters. His eyelids fluttered and his pupils widened under my touch. He let out a shaky exhale and his tongue darted out to wet his bottom lip.
“So responsive, baby,” I drawled, my thumb still trailing across his skin.
“Jesus Christ, you two are intense,” Astrid said, a hint of a rasp in her voice.
When I finally dragged my gaze away from Wilder and back to Astrid, there was a faint bloom across her cheeks.
‘Intense’ was definitely a word I would use to describe Wilder and me. We’d always been explosive, the fuel to each other’s fire, but now, we burned brightly together.
“We had an agreement,” Astrid said, her hands firmly on her hips.
Yes, we had an agreement that I would use the items for the good of others, and we’d reached the point in our business relationship where she trusted me enough to hand over the potions without asking me what I was using them for.
That was her mistake.
Still, I was probably going to suffer if I wanted something from her again. Would she even still supply me? I hoped so. The guy I’d used before had been unreliable, expensive and cagey as shit.
“I can’t believe you make this kind of potion,” Wilder snapped at Astrid.