Page 85 of Rogue & Her Hunters
It’s my favorite part of any trick.
Slowly, Bird pulls out his hand, holding a new pack of cards in it. “T-t-this…wasn’t there. W-where did it come from? How the fuck did you…? When did you…?”
“A magician doesn’t reveal their tricks. But that, my merry outlaw, is the new pack of cards that I bought from the shop.” I hold out my hand. “You’d better give it back if you want me to show you a trick.”
Bird drops the pack onto my palm.
He gazes at me in awe. “You’re incredible, Ro.”
Why is my throat tight?
I hurriedly slip the cards out of the pack and shuffle them.
But Bird stills my hand. “I need to kiss you now.”
He leans over, kissing me gently.
I drop the cards onto the blanket.
“Think of a card,” I murmur against his lips, deepening the kiss.
He wants a magic trick. I’ll give him one.
His tongue twines with mine, and he moans.
Then he murmurs, “Queen of Hearts.”
I smile against his lips. “Look in the back pocket of your pants.”
He pulls back from me, scrabbling to reach into his pocket.
Then with a look of wonder, he pulls out the Queen of Hearts card, which I slipped there before he kissed me.
Bird kisses me again in reward. “My Alpha is magic.”
His vanilla cookie scent becomes even sweeter. His happiness is like sunbursts through the bond.
The Queen of Hearts is the second highest card that people guess.
It was an easy trick because with all our talk of love and romance, it was the most likely bet.
Magic is about assessing risks and odds, then whether your hand can be faster than someone else’s eye.
Mine is.
It’s not much different than my job as an assassin.
I snatch Bird by the shoulders and shove him back into the pillows of his blanket nest. His scent is driving me wild, combined with the joy lighting through the bond.
The stimulation is nothing like the shadows that I have lived in my entire life.
“And how will you serve your Queen of Hearts?” I demand.
“However she wishes.” Bird’s chest is rising and falling, but the smile on the edges of his lips is playful. “My soul is hers to command. Let me live or die on her mercy and serve her on my knees.”
I grab him by his long curls.
My eyes burn. “You’re not dying, Little Bird. How many times do I need to say that?”
