“AH!”
A shriek echoed through the shop and Jessie forgot everything he was doing. Every tech in the shop bolted out of their skin, looking back to the graveyard. Jessie charged out into the dusty, fenced off yard, walking past the locked trailer he was meant to inspect. He came around the wooden fence, hooves kicking up dirt, and found the source of the scream.
Katarina was half in the hood of some vehicle, feet kicking behind her. Jessie didn’t stop running till he was whisking her out by the hips. She spun in his hands, grabbing him by the shirt but he was inspecting her for wounds. “You alright?”
“What? Yeah, of course—Jessie? Jessie!”
He stopped patting her down with a sharp jerk as she grabbed him by the horn and forced him to look up. Jessie blinked once, mouth open in shock.
“I’m fine,” she giggled.
“You screamed?”
“Uh, duh! Of course I screamed, there’s a whole S class Reaper in your yard just collecting dust!” She pulled away from him to wave at the car like that explained anything to him. He glanced at the hunk of junk, then back at her.
“Sure is?” He straightened, putting his hands on his hips.
“Ohcome on!” She made an overexaggerated groan sound that went right where it shouldn’t have, and Jessie had to sharply inhale through his nose. Katarina circled the car, continuing on like she didn’t notice. The hull of a long ago forgotten muscle car sat in front of him, covered in dust and rust. A two-door vehicle that used to terrorize the streets of King’s Fall. He could remember when he helped his old man wheel the thing back into the yard. They took the engine, the hoses, the lights, everything. Poor thing had to be stripped down for parts to pay for its previous owner’s unfortunate bail. That was back before Jessiewas old enough to see over the dashboard of the tow truck. Katarina leaned over it, sighing. “It’s my dream car. They used to drag race these bad boys in the streets back when I was a kid. They purr like a kitten, too. You can’t buy them anymore; the council banned the production of them. Oh, poor thing’s been back here collecting dust. Plus, you know, the whole not having an engine is kind of a problem. But what I wouldn’tgiveto have one of these.”
Jessie could already hear his big brother cackling from the Sportsball pitch, the mockery of ‘look who’s down bad now?’ playing over in his head. Cause he licked his lips nervously, clearing his throat for good measure. Katarina glanced up at him, awe still glittering in her gemstone eyes.
“If you want, you can have it? I mean, can’t drive it out, we’d have to fix—”
“I can do it!” she blurted out.
“You…can?” Jessie cocked his head. Katarina narrowed her eyes on him and Jessie flashed her an apologetic smile. “Not to say you can’t, I just assumed with you being an accountant, that those pretty fingers didn’t get dirty.”
Katarina grinned, hip cocked out, eyebrow raised, and dripping with confidence he could slurp up with a spoon. “If I fix her up, I can keep her?”
“Yeah!” Jessie laughed, scratching the back of his head. “I mean, shop’s right there, you can borrow the backup tools. She’s yours if you want her.”
Katarina hummed, sauntering up to him. Her fingers walked up his stomach to his chest. A trail of tingles and desire were left in her wake as she left her forefinger against his collarbone. “And…what do I owe you?”
If there weren’t about four sets of eyes on them, Jessie might have suggested something. Might have taken payment for it right then and there. His knot certainly wanted it, and he wasn’t obtuse, Katarina was feeling herself. But there was the shipment and the crew and a whole slew of other things to consider. Jessielicked his lips again, “You’re a hungry girl, I imagine you’ll figure out a way to make it up to me.”
“Hungry?” She twirled the words around her cute little fangs.
“Yeah, Succubi gotta eat, don’t they?” He winked at her, walking backward toward the trailer. “I gotta check in this shipment and get started on it. But let’s talk more about it later, shall we?”
“I look forward to it.” Katarina was already pulling up her hair.
“Baby girl, you’re a troublemaker…you know that?” He called out over his shoulder, waggling a finger at her. The sound of her laughter echoing off the cars in the junkyard made his chest flutter as he disappeared beyond the fence.I’m gonna eat her like a four-course dinner, then stuff her for dessert.
Chapter Eleven:
~Nikolai~
“Fluffy!”
“Fuck!” The bugbear slammed the hood closed on his fingers by accident and glared at the mini fiend perching behind the steering wheel of Bubbles. “How did you get in there?”
“Uh-unno?” Isabella shrugged. Nikolai took a moment to rein in the fury that licked up his spine. After peeling his poor digits out from the mouth of Bubbles, he exhaled heavily. The tiny terror giggled, smiling up at him. That’s when he saw Barnibus buckled in beside her and he lost it. Nikolai barked out a laugh, shaking from head to toe from giggles.
“You buckled in the platypus!” He wheezed.
“Safety first!” Isabella cheered, bouncing in the creaking seat as Nikolai approached.
“Yeah, yeah, safety first.” He rounded the driver side door and extended a hand. “I’ll put you on my shoulders if you release the platypus and come with me inside. Bet your moms back, huh?”
