Page 133 of Pleasure & Prey: Vol. 2

“Me?”

“You’re…” Perfect, I don’t say. That sounds cheesy and sappy and sort of pathetic. So I just take the bowl of candy from him and drag Cass into a kiss. It isn’t quick or chaste. It’s a damn good thing the door is closed, because I kiss him like I want to suck out his soul. He murmurs in pleasure and pulls me against him, not letting me pull away even if I wanted to.

I don’t want to.

We stand like that, as close as humanly possible, until I’m gasping against his lips. My fingers find the edge of his T-shirt and I push it upward, my palms flat against the warm planes of his stomach. Fuck the horror movie, I decide. Fuck not embarrassing myself in front of Sloane. I want⁠—

When the doorbell rings again, I jerk back while Cass just chuckles. I’m sure I look disheveled as hell, but so does he. His eyes are overly bright, his lips are kiss-swollen, and he’s panting almost as much as I am. “If you want to be left alone, we’ll have to turn off the light,” he purrs before snagging the bowl again.

I consider it. I really think about it, because I’d love nothing more than to climb him like⁠—

“Trick or treat!” The young voice is one I know well, and I step around Cass to see my nephew standing on our porch, beaming, his orange plastic pumpkin bucket held out to us. “Do you like my costume, Winnie?”

“You are the best Spider-Man I’ve seen all night,” I assure him, watching my sister walk up my porch stairs. Lou smiles at both of us, though she gives Cassian a slightly longer than polite look, like always.

Not that she’s ever said anything to me about having bad feelings about him. Part of me wonders if deep down she knows. If there’s something about him that stirs the primal fear instinct in her. But I’m never going to ask, and he can just keep being Cass Michael, my boyfriend, without her knowing that’s his nickname and his middle name instead of his full one.

She really doesn’t need to know the truth of it. Ever.

“What are you guys doing here?” I ask, smiling as Cassian kneels with Scott to look for M&M’s exclusively. I should probably object, since that feels like favoritism, but I decide to let the infraction slide this once. “This isn’t really anywhere near your neighborhood. Not that I’m not happy to see you⁠—”

Lou hugs me suddenly. It’s the most sisterly thing she could ever do for me, except maybe help me prank our mother until she loses her mind. But since she actually has a good relationship with our mom, I’ll take what I can get.

“I just missed you,” she admits. “I feel like we don’t see each other as much since—” She glances down at Scott, then back up at me.

“Since I moved in with Cass,” I supply helpfully, to which she nods.

“I thought I’d see if you wanted to go with us. Both of you.”

“It was my idea,” Scott puts in. “We’re going to my school. They have trunk-or-treating and a costume contest.”

Cass grins slyly up at me, unseen by my nephew or sister. He knows this is not how I wanted to spend my night.

But fuck it. I can, thank God, fuck my boyfriend almost any day of the week. But Halloween with them only happens once a year. When I raise a brow, Cass’s smile grows.

“I suppose I can spare her for the night,” he chuckles, getting to his feet. But immediately Scott grabs his hand, frowning.

“No, you have to go too,” he tells him. “You can’t stay home on Halloween alone like a weirdo.”

Cass’s grin falls in surprise before he pushes it back into place. He stares at Scott like this is the first time he’s really seeing him, then looks at me. “You’re right,” he agrees in his quiet voice. “That would make me a weirdo. Come on, Winnie. We have a costume contest to cheer at and trunk-or-treat to conquer.”