Page 7 of Villainous Intent

I wore fitted jeans and a comfortable white silk blouse, my hair actually down and falling past my shoulders for once.

“I’m off today.” I flicked the guest badge around my neck to emphasize the point, though it should have been pretty fucking obvious since I wasn’t in uniform. “Is there a problem?”

I already knew the answer. And I knew whatever problem he had would inevitably become my problem.

“We’re short a trainer,” he said, wiping sweat from his forehead. “And we have a junior Keeper who can’t go solo yet on a clash of this size. Everyone else is assigned, and with your experience⁠—”

I wanted to say, Hell no. I’m exhausted. I deserve at least one fight where I can just watch without documenting every sneeze and muscle flex. I wanted to stand behind the reinforced safety field, drink a beer, and watch two Supers try to beat the shit out of each other.

“Absolutely, I can do that,” I said because I’m fucking incapable of setting boundaries with the Alliance.

Beside me, Havoc let out a low growl of irritation. The sound was accompanied by the faint, ozone scent of his power flaring. He didn’t bother arguing with the official or me. He just shot me a look and launched himself into the sky. The force of his pissed off takeoff rattled the nearby barricades as he flew up toward what should have been our vantage point, leaving me behind on the ground.

Great, I’d have that to deal with after the fight.

The official gave a shaky breath, clearly relieved to have the intimidating Hero gone, before gesturing to a terrified-looking woman hovering awkwardly behind him.

“Annie, this is Stephanie Novak.”

Stephanie looked like she’d rather be anywhere else in the universe. She was petite with mousy brown hair pulled back in a severe bun that screamed “please don’t notice me.” Her standard-issue Keeper uniform was too big for her, and she clutched her tablet like it might try to escape.

“Hi,” she squeaked.

“You’re assigned to the north observation point, Harrington Tower.”

“Perfect,” I said with my brightest professional smile while the official thrust a tablet and badge at me. “We’ll head there now.”

I kept the smile plastered to my face as I guided Stephanie toward the small Alliance transport platform hovering at the edge of the security perimeter.

“Have you been on one of these before?” I asked as we approached.

Stephanie shook her head, her already pale face losing what little color it had left.

“They’re perfectly safe,” I assured her, stepping onto the platform first and offering my hand. “Just think of it as an elevator without walls.”

She took my hand in a death grip as the operator nodded at us. Then we were rising into the air, the ground falling away beneath us.

Once we reached the Harrington Tower observation deck, I looked up to see who else would be sharing the observation point with us and froze.

Cipher.

He stood on the opposite side of the observation deck.

There was something about him that immediately triggered an alarm in the oldest, most lizard-brained parts of my anatomy. His black suit hugged every muscle, the subtle glowing accents tracing the broad expanse of his chest and his powerful thighs.

I knew I should look away. I needed to look away, but I was paralyzed, pinned in place by a gaze I couldn’t even see behind his mask as his head turned toward us. The rooftop felt like it had become a cage with a starving tiger, and the lock had just clicked shut behind me.

“Ms. Bishop? Are we supposed to go over there?” Stephanie’s thin voice yanked me back to the present, but the sensation of being hunted lingered, prickling hot and sharp across my skin.

“What?” I blinked, forcing my vocal cords to work. “Yes.”

Oh shit. I had to cross the rooftop. I had to stand near him.

This was exactly why masturbating to League members was a terrible life choice. I knew I would run into him eventually. Chroma Bay was a sprawling metropolis, but the upper echelons of the Super world were contained within a claustrophobically small circle.

The probability that he would fight Havoc some day was pretty high considering both men were the stars of their respective organizations. My stomach churned with a sickening blend of dread and desire. I would have to stand near him, dutifully logging property damage and power usage, all while remembering exactly how many times I’d come thinking about his hands wrapping around my throat.

The ache of emptiness throbbed between my legs, my own vagina mocking my professional mask.