He does look good on his knees.
Bird makes a choked sound.
I clench my jaw. “We have a mission. Phantom and you saved our lives, however, which makes us even.”
“Even…?” Joker repeats, softly. “Huh, looks like I’m not as good at reading people as I thought I was. Is this the magician’s vanishing act? I didn’t know that you’d be doing it the morning after.”
“We’ll come back for you,” I find myself saying.
I promised to save the Rogues. I swore revenge on the Adonis pack.
If Joker was here as a lone Beta, then I would take the risk of inviting him into my pack. He’s bonded to an unknown Alpha, however, who I know nothing about apart from that he was prepared tobuyhis friend as a Companion, no matter how nice he was afterward.
Any Alpha who has been a Guardian is an asshole.
I won’t endanger Bird by waiting around any longer for the return of an Alpha who drugged him and took him prisoner. The only reason that I don’t intend to put a bullet in Phantom’s head is because he was shot protecting Bird.
But that doesn’t mean I trust him.
Joker shoves himself to his feet, stalking toward me. He backs me against the wall, caging me against it.
We’re both breathing hard.
Joker’s lips graze against mine. “Don’t expect Phantom and me to stop chasing you.”
“Don’t you dare stop becauseIwon’t stop chasingyou.”
“Well then, get out of here. We won’t stop the game. Where would the fun be in that?”
Bird is staring at us with wide eyes. “You’re both crazy.”
“Probably,” Joker and I reply in tandem.
Unexpectedly, the door crashes open.
Joker and I drop into a fighting stance next to each other.
A smoky, spicy scent of dark rum with a hint of cloves and nutmeg floods the room.
Phantom ducks through the doorway; his giant bulk barely fits.
In the cabin’s bedroom, his true height and muscled bulk is more obvious, even more so when he stalks toward the much smaller Beta.
Joker appears tiny next to him.
“Cool it,” Joker rushes to say. “I know that the prisoners are untied…and I’m naked…and it looks like they escaped and I fucked up or fucked them but…”
Phantom is still dressed in the buckled and chained jeans, white shirt, and floor-length black leather jacket. The jacket is stained with blood, although he is wearing it loosely over his left arm, which is held now in a sling.
His ice-white hair is not as slicked back as it was when I first saw him but is falling forward over his masked face.
I gesture for Bird, who is frozen in fear on the bed, to remain where he is.
Phantom is fixated on Joker, who he drags away from me to his side. He instantly pats all over his Beta’s body, turning him from side to side, examining him.
I wince, when I notice just how many marks I left on Joker, during my rut. At the same time, I can’t help feeling pride at the scratches, hickies, and bites.
It was a wild heat.