“The, uh… sandwiches are ready,” Rome added.

From the hesitation in his voice, I suspected Tanner had done something to the food. It had better be something good, by God. The noises my stomach made were deafening. I trudged up the porch steps and past the front door. Cool air caressed my bare skin and cooled the damp flesh under my clothes.

The cozy scene that greeted me had me blinking in surprise. Both Rome and Tanner sat at the table, their elbows propped on the surface. A plate of sandwiches rested in front of them. Neither was eating. Like gentlemen, they were waiting for me.

Rome didn’t look at me. He radiated a supreme arousal he couldn’t quite manage to hide.

Tanner grinned wickedly when he spotted me. “I prepared a meal, just like you told me.”

Mouth watering, I plopped into the chair beside Rome and gazed at the food. My jaw dropped. Sure enough, Tanner had prepared dinner. Sandwiches, just like Rome had said. Except these sandwiches were cut into round globes and each was topped with an olive.

“They look damn good,” Rome said.

“Yes,” I said, “but they also look like-”

“I know.” Tanner’s grin widened. “I was inspired, what can I say? You asked for food, and I delivered.”

“You are such a punk,” I replied, but I, too, was grinning.

His black brows wiggled up and down, momentarily hiding under his hair. The silver piercings winked. “Now you can tell everyone you’ve sampled grade A boobies.”

Rome snorted, but he leaned toward me and whispered, “I already have.”

Grade A? Ha. More like A-cup. Still, I shivered at the intensity of his words. Instead of allowing myself to jump him as I always seemed to want, I reached for a sandwich. Rome and Tanner reached for one at the same time. The boys were lucky they didn’t pull back bloody stumps, I was that hungry. Apparently, the more I used my powers, the hungrier I became. With my first bite, I almost died and went to the pearly gates. Turkey and Swiss. Mmm. I ate three pairs of breasts.

“So, Rome,” Tanner said, after swallowing a gulp of milk. “How’d you get Belle into bed so soon?”

I choked on the olive currently in my mouth.

Rome fought a grin and slapped me on the back.

“I mean, you guys have only known each other, what? A few days? And you’re already going at it like rabbits. I wish you could have seen yourselves. She was moaning, you were groaning. Live porn for sure.”

The moment I could breathe, I shouted, “Are you calling me easy?”

“Close your pie hole, Viper. I’m not meaning no disrespect, okay? Rome obviously has some skills I need to know about, and since you haven’t exactly given me any tips that work… ”

I scowled at him. “They work when executed properly.”

“Oh, really?” He leaned back in his chair and folded his arms over his middle, the picture of disbelief. “I told Lexis she had pretty hair and you didn’t see her stripping and falling into bed with me, did you?”

“You’ve got to try it on someone your own age, moron.”

Rome slammed his palm against the table surface. The plates jostled and clanked. “You’re teaching him to con women into bed?”

What was this, dump on Belle hour? “Not con. Exactly.” I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. “Seduce.”

“There’s a difference?” He studied Tanner, letting me off the hook for a minute. “You shouldn’t sleep with a woman unless you care about her.”

“That’s easy for you to say,” Tanner grumbled. “You’re getting some.”

“Not really.” This time, Rome was the one grumbling. His eyes darkened with savage need.

My nerve endings reacted to that need, springing to instant attention. Again. Why couldn’t I have civilized men in my life? Instead I was stuck with a horny teen determined to nail some booty and a horny adult determined to nail my booty.

Never mind that I liked the latter.

And never mind that I planned to offer said booty freely and eagerly.

Just remember to guard your heart, my mind piped up.

“Well?” Tanner banged his empty glass on the table. “Are you going to share your expertise or not?”

“Not,” Rome said succinctly. “We have more important things to do than talk about your lack of a sex life.”

“Hey, now. There’s nothing more important than my sex life.” The kid straightened, adamant and offended. “All we’re doing is eating. Nothing wrong with a little erotic conversation during a meal. Especially when we’re eating booby sandwiches.”

No way to refute that.

Flustered, Rome pushed his plate away. “Fine. I’ll talk to you about sex and how I-how I got Belle to like me, but I’ll do it later. Right now I need to talk to you guys about tonight. Have either of you ever broken into someone’s home?”

“No.” Me.

“No.” Tanner. Although his admission came more reluctantly, as if he didn’t like revealing he wasn’t a criminal.

“I thought not.” Rome glanced to the heavens. For guidance? “Usually the best time to go in is during the day. People are at work and less likely to be home, and if you’re dressed right, the people who are home won’t notice you. But Belle was sick and I needed to see how much she could handle, so I postponed for-”

“Dressed right, how?” I interrupted. Had people broken into my house that way?

He popped a nipple (aka an olive) into his mouth and shrugged. “Repairman. Deliveryman. Doesn’t matter, though, because we’re going in at night. This night, to be exact, and it’s a whole different story. Dr. Roberts’s house is, I’m sure, being watched by Vincent’s men. And Belle is a wanted woman,” he continued, “so we don’t have the luxury of hiding in plain sight.”

A wanted woman. I liked that. Well, when it pertained to Rome. Not Vincent. “What exactly are we looking for?” The antidote, please say the antidote. “We know the good doctor isn’t home, and we’re risking a lot by going there.”

“Papers, books, anything that will give us information about where Dr. Roberts is hiding and whether he has an antidote.”

Excellent! “Wouldn’t Vincent have already found those things, though?”

“Not necessarily.”

Okay, what did Rome mean by that? I was about to ask him when Tanner said, “If the house is being watched, how the heezie are we going to get in? You mentioned breaking and entering, but we can’t do that if our every move is monitored.”

Confused, I shook my head. “Heezie?”

“You know. Hell. Don’t you ever listen to the Snoop Dogg?”

The Snoop Dogg? Dear Lord, another superhero? “If heezie means hell, then why the heezie don’t you just say hell? Jeez.”

“Doesn’t sound as cool,” he said with a pout.

Rome covered his mouth with his hand to keep from laughing. Or possibly to keep from strangling us. “You want to hear my plan or not?”

“Yes, please.” Me.

“Totally.” Tanner.

“All right. Here’s what we’re going to do.” Rome launched into a speech worthy of any army commander.

I listened, growing pale. God help us. The more he talked, the more it sounded like he wanted us to die.

Actually, I think that was Plan B.