Page 67 of Roguefinder

Warmth crawled into my cheeks and threatened to spread down my neck. I waved my fork toward the phone Jesse still held. “How did he know I was in the room?”

“Maybe he didn’t,” Jesse said. “Like Sterling, he drew you out.”

Son of a bitch. My irritation must have shown on my face because Jesse offered a patient smile.

“You’ll learn.”

“Or people could just stop being so cryptic all the time.”

“That would be nice,” Jesse said, sitting back and returning his attention to his phone. His thumbs flew as he typed.

“But unlikely.”

He said nothing, but his little smile told me I was right.

“What are Umbrals?” I asked.

“Fae leadership,” he said, eyes on his screen. “They’re all ancient, and most of them were gods before iron drove them from the world. No one knows exactly how many there are.”

Perfect. More thousand-year-old assholes in the world.

I ate a few more bites of pasta, then started on the cookies. Thin crust gave way to a chewy center. Almond and something bitter like cherries spread over my tongue. Then sweetness caught up to it, lodging in my molars. I licked powdered sugar from my lips and grabbed a second cookie from the plate.

Across the table, Jesse continued typing on his phone. At least one of us had contact with the outside world. My abandoned Pardon My Take episode languished in my memory.

“Checking out Italian Grindr?” I asked.

He smiled without looking up. “This is an encrypted phone. No apps. And I’ve never used Grindr.”

“Okay.”

This time, he looked up. The smile glimmered in his eyes, but so did something else. Subtle but real, it froze my ass to my chair and made me stop breathing.

Under the table, he covered my foot with his. Like a dial being turned slowly, his irises lightened from brown to dazzling gold. He might as well have had his foot on my dick. Which was the point, my brain realized a half-second after my aforementioned dick.

“I’ve never had a Grindr account,” he said softly. “And I never will. Why would I when I have the perfect slut waiting for me at home?”

Lust detonated in my chest. Kaboom, boys, pack up and go home. “Perfect slut” had never been on my vision board, but now that he’d mentioned it, my dick was ready to add it to my resume.

“Good point,” I managed.

Jesse kept his foot on mine. His eyes glowed, and his voice stayed low as he added, “If you need more attention, baby, you only have to ask. I haven’t forgotten about seeing your pretty cock in a cage.”

My heart revved like the Lamborghini’s engine. I hadn’t forgotten that damn cage, either. He’d threatened it the morning of my very first shift, when I’d complained about getting up before dawn. Jesse had responded with the same cool menace he radiated now, promising to cage my dick if I didn’t obey him.

I’d obeyed, but the threat of the cage occupied a permanent spot in my mind.

“Okay?” he prompted.

“Okay.”

“Say yes, sir.”

“Yes, sir,” I said, voice rasping like I’d just sucked down a carton of unfiltered Marlboros. I sounded ready to slide under the table and suck him off. So, yeah, “perfect slut” was pretty on the money.

He pulled his foot away and smiled. “Good. Finish your cookie.”

Goddamn dirty motherfucker. My dick pushed painfully against the front of my jeans. I shoved the rest of the cookie into my mouth.