Page 62 of Our Tricks

When we got all pruney, he toweled me off, then rubbed in a soothing cream from head to toe that helped with all the marks left behind from our playing. The others were not going to be big fans of this, but I didn’t fucking care. I was blissed out beyond belief, and I wasn’t going to let them rain on my parade. All the stress I’d been holding from everything going on was wrung out of me until my body just tingled with pleasure.

Cam got me back in my dress, wrapped Picasso’s coat around me, and carried me out to the car.

Chapter 22

Picasso

The movie we were watching was absolute shit. Who the fuck would write some weird-ass movie about a tire that had telekinetic powers and blew people’s heads up in revenge? I glanced at the clock for the millionth time, and it was only midnight.

It wasn’t like this was the first time she’d gone off with one of us for some reason or another. Nothing was going to happen where they were going. Cam assured us it wasn’t a place you could find unless you knew where to look or were a member. They vetted their members almost as well as the FBI did if the way Cam explained it was right. While I was never one to yuck someone’s yum, I didn’t see the fun in all that BDSM stuff.

Having a rough fuck every so often was one thing, but tying someone up, spanking them, or making you lick their boots just didn’t seem like love to me. Cam tried to explain it, and I could see where he was coming from, but I’m not sure it would be something I was comfortable with. I’d never tell her because she clearly was a fan, but I didn’t like the guys choking her. That one night I thought Wes went way too far, but she told him it was what she wanted, so she didn’t stop him.

Hell, maybe it was my past and having gotten the shit beat out of me by someone who was supposed to love me. My uncle treated women like cattle, and I vowed when I found my person, I’d never make her feel that way. I could tell when Dax and I finally fucked that she wasn’t used to someone being that gentle. She’d figured it out and enjoyed it, but it clearly wasn’t her usual choice. I knew Cognac was more of a lovemaker like me, but he also has that wild streak in him that liked the excitement of exhibitionism.

“Seriously, Picasso, if you don’t fucking stop sighing, I’m going to dunk you in the hot tub,” Void said with a growl. “We get it… none of us like that she’s out there with only one of us when people have been trying to kill us left and right.”

“Fuck off,” I muttered. I didn’t even realize I was sighing.” They all turned to look at me with disbelief. “What?”

Sprocket just shook his head and got up, heading for the kitchen. “Who wants another beer?”

“Me,” Eagle called as did Cognac.

Wes got up from his spot on the floor and turned the television off. “Look, none of us are paying attention to that shit as it is. Why don’t we do something useful instead?”

“Oh, and what did you have in mind that we haven’t already been doing?” I snarked.

I knew I was being an asshole and taking out my worry on him, but it was kind of what Wes and I did. I came up with ridiculous nicknames for him that the others now used, and he called me every random painter he could think of that wasn’t Picasso. It was a strange love-hate relationship, but honestly, I think that’s the only way I know how to act with people who aren’t Eagle.

“I’m so glad you asked Frida,” Wes shot back with a shit-eating grin. “We know his base of operations is in Mexico, most likely near the Port of Lázaro Cárdenas. Did you have a plan of how we were going to get there undetected?”

I opened my mouth to give some retort, but I shut it when actually processing what he was saying. Getting into Mexico wasn’t like traveling to another state, where we could hop on the FBI jet and not get documented. We were crossing borders and not just a few of us but an army, if I had my way.

“Fine, you make a good point,” I admitted.

“Didn’t Dax also mention something about a tank that the triplets brought back for her?” Void interjected. “We can’t leave that behind.”

Rolling my eyes, I turned to our enforcer. “I swear your love for weapons rivals your love for our woman.”

“Isn’t it a wonderful thing they go hand in hand most of the time? Dax loves making a statement almost, if not more, than I do. Then there’s Ghost who I’m pretty sure shouldn’t ever be trusted if Harper isn’t with them,” Void reasoned.

That had us all laughing as Wes set things up on the dining room table. We’d taken the maps and stuff the triplets had brought to the Ruby Room since they had more copies.

“How is this going to work with Cam now switching to the CIA?” Eagle asked. “Couldn’t he get us in?”

“Possibly, but not everyone else we need,” Wes countered. “The thirteen of us aren’t going to be enough to do this. We need a fucking army, which is another matter we need to figure out as well.”

“The Phantom Saints will fight,” Cognac said. “They’ve seen what can happen if Marco is left in power. Plus, we know that Dax’s people are loyal to her. If she asks, they’ll fight to protect the Empire.”

“I forgot, did we decide we weren’t going to ask Tommaso for help or not?” I asked. “Each time we interact with him, I’m getting mixed signals if we still like him or not.”

That brought us all to a halt as we mulled over the answer to that question.

Sprocket was the first to speak up. “Dax has commented that she doesn’t feel like he’s ready to jump in the deep end of this battle. He needs to learn how to control his own people and empire, if you will, before taking on one of the biggest threats I think we’ve ever come across.”

“I agree,” Eagle added. “Tommaso has too much going on here, and dividing his attention won’t help us on either front.”

Cognac grabbed a pad of paper and started taking notes. It wasn’t often we saw the carefree man putting on his serious side, but this was important to all of us. Cognac wasn’t voted to be our treasurer just because he was like a brother to us, he had a mind for details and figures that hardly anyone but us got to witness.