“I always carry my clothes under my tongue when I shift. I’ve had them stolen more than once after leaving them on the ground by the entrance.”
“There are so many thieves running around Pembroke, aren’t there?”
I took my index finger between my teeth and bit down in frustration. Man, I will make that dragon pay for this.
It was bad enough I had to track down the dragon to get my codes back, but what was I going to wear back to my cell? Instead of putting on his clothes, Jamie walked over to me outstretching his clothes in my direction.
“Here Jessy, I want you to have them till you get back to your cell. I can go back in my boxers.”
I glanced over at him to see that his expression was sullen and a darkness pooled in his eyes, the likes I’d never seen in them before.
What was wrong? Was he sad Drake had stolen from me? No, there was something more going on here. He wouldn’t look this upset over some burned up clothes.
I grasped the clothes, holding them to my chest. I asked him what was wrong and after a moment he reluctantly said, “Jessy I have something that’s been weighing on my chest. I need to tell you the truth that I’ve been holding back.”
I knew something was up with him from day one. Why did people dart away from him in the halls? It made little sense. And why did everyone keep saying my sweet Jamie was somehow dangerous?
But, no matter how much my curiosity burned away at me from the inside, a part of me was terrified to hear that the Jamie I’d known was a distant memory.
His eyes fell to the ground, then back at me. They were heavy and sad; he looked so reluctant to speak and that made me worry all the more about what he might say.
“So, the truth is that- well…” he said, holding one elbow with his hand and throwing his head off to one side. “Whenever I sneeze, my body gets taken over by a deranged, mass murdering entity named Zero. He’s the reason I got locked up in here.”
There was a lengthy pause where neither of us spoke a word.
I was tempted to laugh, my first thought being that this was some silly joke of his. But the fear that emanated from his words, the ache in his voice was one of true suffering and that was no joke.
“Wait, so you mean like, split personality disorder? And when you sneeze your evil half comes out?” He nodded his head, his eyes burning with shame. His fists were clenched uncomfortably at his side.
“It was a curse inflicted on me by an evil witch when I was twenty-one. She did it because my father owed her money. This is a burden I've had to bear for almost two centuries, Jessy. But that’s just it. Zero is my problem and I don’t want you mixed up in this. I’d hoped that things could be like they were before. But with zero involved, I just don’t know if it’s safe. I just don’t…”
I narrowed the space between us and pressed two fingers to his trembling lips. They were ice cold. I tilted my head back, looking up at him with what I hoped was a look of care and reassurance.
“You listen to me, Jamie Watkins. It’s going to take a hell of a lot more than an asshole body stealer to get rid of me. I’m here for you and I always will be. I’m not going anywhere. So just get used to that, and if Zero comes knocking, I’ll just have to send him packing with this,” I raised my fist in the air while holding his clothes with my other arm.
He smiled then, the cheerful shimmer returning to his eyes.
“Same old Jessy. Unstoppable as always,” he murmured.
Breaking our conversation, a hiss sounded from above us. It seemed to come from the dome intercom. A voice rang out over the intercom breaking the silent serenity around us.
“Greenhouse time is over. Come back inside or prepare for soul eater enforcement. I repeat come back inside or prepare for soul eater intervention.” Blackwater stated, and then the hissing sound disappeared.
“Okay well, we better mosey back before the soul eaters come for us.” I said to Jamie, and he nodded. I then unraveled his folded pants and attempted to slip them on.
Jamie had just slipped his boxers on when I realized there was something seriously wrong here.
“Why won’t your pants past my ankles?” I said trying with all my might to pull on Jamie’s pants. But they wouldn’t budge. It was like an invisible force kept them from passing my feet.
“Christ, I forgot!” Jamie said, slapping his hand over his forehead. “It’s prison security. Our clothes are magically linked with our power signature, and we aren’t allowed to wear clothes that aren’t marked as our own. They do it so we don’t attempt stealing a guard’s uniform to escape.”
Beautiful. Looks like it’s time for option number two.
I balled up Jamie’s clothes, planted them back into his arms and told him to redress. He just stood looking at me blankly. His eyes trailed my naked body as he blinked in confusion. It was as if he were trying to figure out how a butt naked Fae would walk out of the Greenhouse, through a prison full of inmates, and back to her cell.
“Um, Jessy,” he said, raising a finger.
“Last warning to leave the Greenhouse, I repeat, last warning to leave the Greenhouse. You have been warned.” Blackwell’s voice reverberated in the dome.
“We have no time, Jamie. Don’t worry. Just get dressed. I know what I’m doing.”
Trusting me, he pulled his clothes on, but the look on his face as he did was wrought with uncertainty.
“Let’s go,” I said, spinning on my heels and beginning to walk through the trees in the exit’s direction. I was naked as the day I was born and still I kept a steady pace as I made my way through the trees, batting every leaf and branch from my path.
“Um Jessy…” Jamie remarked his voice now sounding more urgent. We would soon be through the trees and near the Greenhouse gates. The same gates that would be crawling with magical beings. It was only natural that Jamie would worry like hell.
Okay so maybe it wasn’t ideal for me to walk through the prison naked, especially with hundreds of inmates out to kill me. But nobody would break me, least of all one bully of a dragon.
I brushed another branch from in front of my face as I said, “Listen Jamie, I don’t plan to stick around here and get my soul sucked out. So, if that means I’ve got to strut my naked ass all the way to my cell, I’ll do it in style. And if anyone doesn’t like it, they can take it up with my butt crack.”
He went silent then, trying to match my pace. He must have realized there was no other option. But in the very least, he could be at my side to help me.
Jamie clung close as we both made our way out of the trees and back to the entrance.
Up ahead groupings of magical beings came into view. The instant we emerged from the trees, eyes bulged open and honed in on me like a bullseye. Jaws dropped to the grass as I shamelessly paraded through the crowd. There were hoots and catcalls, you name it and I got called it, all from men. I refused to let it slow me down or make me stagger for an instant.
I was the Alpha of the Gilchrest pack and I would keep my head held high no matter what.
I continued my walk, and Jamie kept stride at my side as the catcalls continued. From thirsty trolls, to shifters, and wizards, all eyes were on me, glued to my breasts, ass, and even my pussy. It didn’t matter that most of them were laughing and heckling me. I was an Alpha Fae; I was strong enough to handle this and more. I just needed to keep telling myself that and it’d be over soon enough.
The guard check out station came into view and Dummy One gaped at me as if they’d seen a ghost.
I neared the turnstyle and his jaw dropped. He even dropped the number scanner he held in his hand.
“Nu- number Sixty-Six, you unruly woman! Where did you leave your clothes?” He demanded.
“At your mother’s house,” I snarked with a tone of defiance and his face went fire red. Laughter abounded from the others who stood at the exit waiting to leave.
“Just cover yourself and get inside!” Dummy One barked. He reached behind a counter, pulled a sky-blue blanket
free and threw it at me. I caught it and wrapped it around myself.
Jamie gave a sigh of relief and I shot the guard a salute and pushed my way through the turnstile with my head held high and waltzed my way back into the prison.
Checkmate, Dragon Boy. You can’t get one over on me that easily. You should have just stopped at burning my clothes. Stealing my contact codes crossed the line big time. I need contact with the outside world if I’m going to get out of here and I sure as hell won’t let you impede that.
My plans would need a good tweaking after today. I could never leave Jamie in here, not after all he’s suffered and not with the feelings I had for him. I would get the three of us out of this shithole come hell or high water.
This means terrible news for you, Dragon Boy. I’m getting my codes back, even if I had to break every one of your bones to get them.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Drake
Steam pooled in the air of Cell Block Five’s male shower room. Water splashed at the white tile walls and floors as about two dozen naked men scrubbed themselves from head to toe in the communal section of the shower room.
At the other end of the room were a few cubicles, used for private showering. They had their own doors and even had locks on the inside. Everyone preferred to use the private showers, but they worked on a first come, first serve basis and they were almost always full.
I tugged my clothes off and tossed them into my backpack, and placed the bag on a bench nearest to the private showers. There was a nineteen-man line stretching from the private showers. They all waited patiently for their turn but the looks on their faces instantly soured the moment they laid eyes on me.
The door to the private shower on the farthest right swung open and a lion shifter emerged, towel in hand, working the water from his hair.
The lion shifter left the room and the first man in line looked toward the shower, then swung his eyes to me. Not daring to enter he stayed glued to where he stood before giving me a nervous smile. “After you, Drake,” he said.
I accepted his offer and stepped into the private shower closing the door behind me. The annoyed moans of groans from people in the line filled the shower room as they showed their dissatisfaction with me cutting the line.
Sure, they’d been waiting for the shower, but this was my block. I didn’t wait to bathe. Not ever. Many things had changed around here, but that was one thing that damn well wouldn’t be changing anytime soon.
I jabbed the pipe open and cold water splashed its way down my face and chest. It was refreshing, and I gave out a deep exhale as I let the water pelt over my head.
Less than a week she’d been in here and that mischievous little Fae had already turned the entire damn prison upside down. All of Alexandros’s vampires and Broderick’s demons were now part of her protection squad. She really was cunning, I’d underestimated her.
Hundreds of inmates may still be after her head, but with that level of protection, not a single one could even hope to touch her without losing a leg, an arm and possibly every drop of blood in their bodies.
At first it didn’t seem so bad that she’d mustered up so much help. With the inmates holding their assassination attempts to a minimum, I thought there’d be less blood shed as nobody with half a brain would try to touch her. This would have made things so much easier. As Cell Block Five’s order keeper, anything that stopped the blood shed spelled good fucking news for me.
But I was wrong. Dead wrong. Her protection squad had only made things worse. Word on the street was that now Hades was after her. The father of all evil, and king of the underworld itself, wanted out. And he saw his path to the front doors in tearing her neck off and claiming Blackwater’s prize.
I’d put my ear to the ground and put out a few feelers. Turns out word had been getting around pretty fast. The sick fuck, Hades wasn’t happy enough doing his own dirty work. So, he had been threatening and antagonizing up a little army of his own. Many of the prisoners too weak to challenge him were ripe for the picking and all too easy to pull into his ranks.
There was no doubt he would soon have an army large enough to send her protectors running home to their mothers.
And I wondered who’d have to clean up the dead bodies then? Who’d get blamed for not keeping order? Me, that’s who. To make matters worse, the little Fae fighter dared to steal my phone?
Then she had the gall to just leave it lying around while she played around in the water with that wolf of hers. She’s lucky I didn’t pull her out of the lake by her hair, bend her over my knee and spank her wet little ass. Teach her a good lesson, one she wouldn’t forget.
I mean what part of ‘I’m the Alpha in here’ didn’t she get? And just what the hell was she up to in the first place? Contact codes with no names attached filled that parchment of hers. Just who the hell did she have to call so badly that she was willing to steal for it?
From the moment I set eyes on her I knew she was more than a pretty little Fae, with a nice body and murderous glare. She was trouble, pure and simple. That trouble’s quickly becoming a problem for me and I’d be damned if I would let her keep the wool over my eyes for another moment.
I would figure out what she’s up to and put a stop to it.
After soaping up and rinsing off I turned the water off, slid out of the shower and wrapped my towel about my waist as water dripped from my body and onto the tile.
I must have been in there for much longer than I’d realized because as I stepped out of the shower and I glanced around the room, I saw nothing but empty white floors.
“Hey, ass wipe. You’ve got something that’s mine and I’m here to get it back.” A feminine voice demanded from behind and I turned my body to the side to see none other than the little fire starter herself, standing by the entrance to the showers.
“My, my, that was quick. Done getting off in the lake with your wolf so soon?” I said while she glared at me, looking half ready to kill me for the remark.
“Jealousy really isn’t becoming of you,” she retorted sarcastically and my brows furrowed.
Jealous? She thought I was jealous of that earth crawling wolf? Me? King of the skies? No, it didn’t bring me pleasure, watching them laugh and play together. And did I enjoy watching her smile at that wolf as if he were some god while all she ever did was bare her teeth at me? Hell no. But that didn’t mean I was jealous. The idea was laughable.
I mean she was a veritable feast for the eyes, every inch of her a token a pure feminine seduction. And maybe I wanted to get my hands on her, bend her over and fuck her until she cried my name. But this Fae was trouble wrapped up in a pretty pink package. She was a poison more potent than the one they had spewing out of the vents. A good dose of her and I’d be dead.
Fastening the towel at my waist, I stalked my way closer to her stopping short a few feet away from her.
“Dare to dream, Little Fae. I eat women like you for breakfast. Hell, at least a dozen flutter into my cell on the daily, then they leave pleasured and pleased. Why would I be jealous of your little wolf?”
She sashayed her hips as she narrowed the distance between us. A smug little expression crept up her face. She looked me in the eyes with a challenge burning within them and said, “I can see it in your eyes, Dragon Boy. I always know when a man wants to fuck me, and you’ve been craving me since we first locked eyes. Your problem is you don’t know how to be nice. That’s why you’ll never have me.”
She leaned back but before she could step away; I snatched her jaw with my palm at lightning speed. I then steered her face up close to mine.
“Nice guys finish last and the only place I finish last is between the sheets. Now cut the crap. Why did you steal my phone? What are you planning?”
My grip tightened around her jaw, but she just kept looking at me with that smug grin of hers.
“Now what’s the rush. Is this how you do foreplay? No candles, whip cream or chocolate?” She said with a flirtatious roll of her tongue.<
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“You’ve been causing trouble, Little Fae. I warned you that things would get very painful for you very fast if you disobeyed my orders. Didn’t I tell you to keep your head down? You’ve been strutting about in plain sight at every moment of every day. What’s wrong with just staying in your cell?”
“I’m not the following orders type. I do what I want when I want, and maybe I like to strut. Is that a crime?”
“Listen, you….” But before I could finish my reprimand she twisted out of my grip and shot past me. I turned to see where she was going only to watch her speed over to my bag on the bench at the other end of the room.
Her hand landed on the flap of the bag but before she could jerk the black fabric open, I grabbed her hands. Using my other hand I grabbed her by the back of the neck and slammed the front of her body against the wall, pinning her there with my chest pressed against her back.
“Now who’s moving too fast? Need your precious parchment that badly? Why not just tell me what you’re up to and maybe I’ll give it to you?” I whispered in her ear as she seethed.
She struggled against me, pushing back with all her might but I wouldn’t budge. I was like a brick wall. All playfulness left her to be replaced by a savage anger.
“Let go of me!” She yelled, all the while trying to jerk her hand free to reach for the bag. Again, it didn’t work. The bag was just out of her reach and there was no way I was letting her go, not when I’d had her right where I wanted her.
In my long years of life, I’d met many Fae. Each coming in and out of my life, none leaving any impression great enough to warrant me learning their name. I’ve known sirens and angels whose beauty rivaled hers and even they failed to intrigue me, their faces lost to the sands of time.
So why did this Fae, who cursed like a sailor, demanding that I let her go, weigh on my mind night and day? What was it about this fire starter that I just couldn’t forget? And why did the feeling of her body pressed up against my naked chest make my dragon war within me for release, demanding I take her right where she stood?
Escape of the Fae: A Fae Fantasy Romance: (Poison Penitentiary Book 1) Page 15