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Larkin frowned. “What?”
“One look at this brand in the mirror is enough to make my dick so hard it hurts. I can’t just leave it like that.”
Shaking her head, Larkin began unloading the cups and plates off the tray.
“They’re gone,” Piper announced, her eyes on the exit.
A relieved breath slid out of Larkin.
“What did he say to you?” asked Teague.
“To sum up”—Larkin sipped at her coffee, thankful the bitter brew was still hot despite Holt delaying her attempt to collect it—“now that he’s Prime, nothing stands in his way so we should form the bond. Oh, and he’ll respect that I wish to remain here and not switch lairs.”
Teague’s brows snapped together. “The only thing that ever stood in his way is his own selfishness.”
Piper gave a hard nod, cutting into her slice of apple pie. “Totally.”
“Him becoming Prime wasn’t the catalyst to his decision to pursue the anchor bond or he’d have showed up five years ago.” Larkin bit into her donut, and the vanilla cream filling burst on her tongue. “He saw me from afar while in Vegas last month and it stirred up his demon. He also discovered that I was the last unmated member of my group.”
“So he thought you’d be lonely and, as such, easy prey for him,” Teague surmised. “Motherfucker.”
“Absolutely.” Larkin took an angry bite of her donut.
“He’s irate about the brand.” Piper popped a chunk of pie into her mouth. “Jealous, too. He tried to hide it, but . . . ”
“Irate and jealous but not shocked,” Teague remembered, thinking it strange.
Licking some vanilla cream from her lip, his harpy gave him a questioning look. “Hmm?”
“He showed no surprise.” Teague twisted his mouth, feeling his eyes narrow. “I think he knew about it.”
Her gaze lost focus for a few moments. “You’re right, he didn’t look in the least bit taken aback.”
“I’d say that he’s had people watching you,” said Teague. “Probably studying your routines and seeing who you associate with. If he had one of his men staking out your building last night, they’ll have seen me leave it with a brand of a harpy’s wing on my neck.”
Chewing more pie, Piper hummed thoughtfully. “It would explain why he felt motivated to make a move this morning, Lark. He’ll feel threatened by Teague; Holt will want him out of the picture so he can more easily wangle himself into the picture.”
“And because he wants you as more than his anchor,” Teague told the harpy. “I know you doubt that, but I don’t. Not after the flash of jealousy I just saw in his eyes.” An emotion that his beast—not a fan of the male—had fed on.
Larkin’s nose wrinkled. “It doesn’t mean he wants me. Anchors are possessive of each other. Jealousy often comes into play.” She pinned Teague with a look. “If he confronts you at any point—”
“I will tell you,” the hellhorse assured her . . . though he wouldn’t until afterward. He wasn’t going to call her to his side if the asshole made an approach.
Larkin gave a satisfied nod and bit into her donut again before turning back to Piper. “We can cancel our shopping trip, if you want.”
“Hell, no.” Piper lowered her cutlery to her plate. “My shopping mood is in no way broken.” Lifting her latte, she took a quick sip and then set the cup back down. “And we both need new dresses for the party on Friday.”
“Party?” Teague echoed.
Picking up her knife and fork again, Piper tilted her head at Larkin. “You didn’t invite him?”
“I planned to; I only heard about it an hour ago.” Larkin cut her gaze to his. “Raini’s lair is throwing a party. As descendants, they don’t welcome outsiders, but they don’t mind extending invites to her family and friends. You’ll be my plus-one.”
“I’ll be there.” He used his thumb to scoop up a tiny blob of vanilla cream from the corner of her mouth. “What time shall I pick you up?” He sucked the cream from his thumb, watching as her eyes flared.
She cleared her throat. “Actually, we’re being teleported there by Ciaran as it’s a long-ass drive. Be at my place for seven pm. From there, he’s going to ’port us three plus Devon, Khloë, my Primes, and the other sentinels to the party all in one swoop.”
“Will the descendants have karaoke?” he asked.
Her brow puckering, Larkin tossed the last of her donut into her mouth. “I don’t know. Maybe.”
“I hope they do. It will be good practice for you, since you’ll soon be treating us all to a naked performance.”
“You’re not dropping that wager?” asked Piper with a chuckle, forking more pie.
“And miss the chance to see her sing while butt-naked? No way.”
Her demon rolled its eyes, amused. Larkin didn’t find the wager so damn funny, nor did she like that he assumed she’d be the loser in this scenario. “Look, if you want to believe you’ll win the wager, feel free to do so. It’ll make it all the more fun for me when you lose.”
