Jessie stood in the doorway, letting her words sink in, a feeling of happiness and warmth spreading through him when he realized that she’d called the cabin home. He watched her dish up their lunch and take it to the table, knowing that he could spend the rest of his life with Sophie and never be alone again.
She was standing by the table grinning at him expectantly, so he walked over and sat down. “I assume it’s good news,” he said, looking up at her.
After giving him a huge smile and a kiss on the cheek, she sat down across from him and said, “It’s really good news. I talked to Molly this morning, and she's going to help us if she can.”
Jessie had just picked up his fork, but he set it down again. “What? How?”
Sophie shook her head, “I’m not sure, I took the journal out there with me and just started talking to her. When she first appeared, it seemed like she couldn’t see me or hear me, but then something happened, and suddenly she could see me,” she said, then shivered. “I could feel her pain, Jessie, I could feel her sadness and the guilt; it was terrible, it made me cry.”
Then her eyes got big, and she said, “I bet it was the tears; they fell right on her grave, and they were tears for her. I read something about it in one of your books.”
Jessie nodded. “Your tears were like a sacrifice, an offering to her spirit.”
“She’s going to try and help us, Jessie, but I promised her that I’d get her journal to the right people. I promised that the world would know her story.”
“I think we can make that happen. I’ve held onto it all these years hoping that someday I could set her free; now it looks like that might actually happen,” he said, then got up from the table and pulled her into his arms. “You’re an amazing woman, Sophie, and I still can’t believe you’re mine.”
“And I always will be, Jessie. We’re going to be okay, I can feel it deep inside me,” she said, “Now let’s have some lunch; we still have work to do.”
Chapter 18
***Sophie***
They spent the rest of the afternoon putting the final stages of Jessie’s plan into action. They strung traps from the trees and put the spikes Sophie had made in the bottom of pits Jessie had dug, then covered everything up with branches and leaves.
When they got back to the cabin late that evening, the sun had already begun to set. Jessie had been quiet on the way, and Sophie understood why. Their meager defenses wouldn’t be very effective if there were more than a few shifters. It would have been easier to prepare if they’d known exactly what they were facing, and he voiced his thoughts as they sat down to a dinner of leftovers.
“I wish we’d hear something from Danny; Gus and Mac have been out of jail all afternoon. I wonder if I should keep guard overnight,” Jessie said, picking at his food.
“Do you think they’ll show up at night? Won’t they be afraid of the ghosts?” Sophie asked.
Jessie sat up straighter in his seat. “Why didn’t I think of that,” he said, jumping to his feet and going over to a closet. “Ghosts are exactly what we need: ghosts with early warning systems.”
Sophie had no idea what he was talking about until he pulled a stack of white sheets out of the closet. “Now I get it,” she said, getting up and taking them from him. “We’ll dye them gray, tear them up and hang them from the trees.”
“Exactly, and inside we’ll put something that will make a lot of noise if someone messes with them,” Jessie said, grinning at her. “Molly won’t be the only ghost out there; it won’t stop them, but it’ll slow them down.”
It was almost midnight before they came out of the cabin, arms full of torn and dyed sheets. Sophie followed Jessie silently through the dark of night into the forest where they quietly created a little army of ghosts.
They were just putting up the last and scariest one of the ghosts they’d made when Sophie looked up and saw Molly standing not far from them. She looked at the ghosts then smiled at Sophie, who gasped in shock at first then smiled back.
Jessie smiled at Sophie when they saw her and whispered, “Looks like you’ve made a friend.” Sophie waved to Molly, feeling a little silly, but Molly waved back and then disappeared as silently as she’d appeared.
Molly was on Sophie’s mind on the way back to the cabin. “Why do you think Molly can suddenly see and hear us? I mean, she’s been trapped for so long.”
Jessie was silent for a second, then he said, “I think it’s because she trusts you, she knows that you care, that you understand the injustice that happened to her and her family.”
Sophie nodded. “I just wish I could have done something for her when she was alive,” she said, hoping that her and Jessie’s love wasn’t going to end in tragedy as Molly’s had.
She shivered a little bit, and Jessie put his arm around her. “Are you cold?” he asked, pulling her close.
“No, just a little scared,” she said.
“We’re going to make it through this, Sophie; you said it yourself,” he said, and kissed her. “Life’s just begun for us, Sophie. Have faith in that if nothing else.”
She looked up at him, love flowing through her. “I do, Jessie, I believe in us, in what we’ve begun to build. I just hope…” she trailed off.
Jessie scooped her up in his arms. “For the rest of the night, we’re not going to think about all this, we’re going to shut the door and pretend that none of it is happening.”
Sophie felt a thrill of desire rush through her, leaned her head against his chest, and as she listened to his heart beating, she felt her fear evaporate. “You always have a way of making me feel better, Jessie, thank you,” she said.
He laughed. “This is just the beginning. I’m planning on making you feel more than just better,” he said.
***Jessie***
As soon as they got through the door, Jessie set Sophie on her feet, then embraced her in his arms and kissed her. His body instantly on fire for her, he began to pull off her clothes, desperate to feel her naked skin against his. He had her shirt off but nothing else when she broke the kiss and pulled back from him.
Afraid something was wrong, he opened his mouth to ask, but she put one finger over his lips and said, “Slow down, Jessie; we have all night.”
He smiled at her. “I just want to feel your skin on mine,” he said, then reached behind her, unhooked her bra and let it fall to the floor.
When he cupped her breasts in his hands, her eyes got soft, and she sucked in a breath. Her nipples hardened at his touch, making his groin tighten with pleasure, and she gasped when he flicked first one and then the other with his thumb.
“Is that better?” he said, a wicked grin on his face.
Sophie took a shuddering breath and nodded, then began unbuttoning his shirt. When it fell to the floor, she ran her hands up and down his chest, then slid them lower and unbuttoned his pants. But just as her fingers began to fumble with the button, he leaned down and sucked one of her hard nipples into his mouth.
Her moan of pleasure shot through him, and an answering wave of pleasure filled him, making blood rush to his groin where it pulsed and throbbed. He felt his need growing, wanted to sink himself into Sophie’s velvety softness, but then her fingers managed to open the button on his pants, and she sank to her knees in front of him.
Anticipation thundering through him, almost unable to believe that Sophie was about to do what she was going to do, he held his breath. When her warm mouth closed around him, he let it out in a whoosh and moaned deep in his throat. Pleasure raced through him as her tongue lapped at him, her mouth, warm and wet, sliding over him.
As good as it felt, he knew he could only take a few minutes of Sophie’s mouth on him. When he couldn’t take any more, he pulled her to her feet with a growl, slammed his mouth down on hers and kissed her until she was breathless.
Then he knelt in front of her and slowly took her jeans off, planting kisses on her bare skin just as she’d done. When her jeans were in a heap on the floor, he stripped off
her panties, then stood and picked her up.
She squealed in surprise, slightly breathless, her face the shade of pink he loved so much. “We need the bed for what I plan to do to you,” he said, crossing the room and setting her down.
***Sophie***
Sophie’s heart was hammering in her chest, her body on fire for Jessie. She wanted him to touch her, to feel his fingers on her, his weight filling her up. But he was standing at the end of the bed looking at her, letting his eyes roam from the top of her head to the tips of her toes.
Then to her surprise, he picked up her foot and slipped her big toe into his mouth, making her giggle, then gasp when a sharp wave of pleasure tore through her. Then he kissed the bottom of her foot and up her ankle, feather-light kisses that made goosebumps rise on her skin.
Pleasure so sharp it was almost painful filled her, tearing through her like bolts of lightning. Jessie’s lips were soft as he kissed his way up the inside of her leg, then paused before tracing the same path down her other leg. When he sucked her other big toe into his mouth, she gasped again.
When he let her toe slide out of his mouth, he looked up at her. “You taste sweet, like you’ve been dipped in sugar,” he said.
Sophie was desperate for his touch, desperate for something more, her body throbbing with need. Unable to stop herself, she spread her legs and raised her hips to him, an invitation he couldn’t refuse.
Dipping his head, he ran his tongue over her swollen nib, then said, “You taste like the strawberries we had for lunch.”
Sophie’s breath caught in her throat; his tongue was hot and wet, his words so intimate she had to fight for breath as pleasure tore through her again. But this time, the pleasure continued to build, a different and wonderful kind of pleasure that finally burst inside her.
It rushed through her, a storm of sensation that left her body demanding something more, and she knew what it was. “I need you, Jessie, I need you inside me,” she whispered, a bit shocked at herself.
Jessie lifted his head and met her eyes, “Anything you want sweetheart,” he said, then slid up her body and with one thrust was deep inside her.
She gasped and threw her head back, the feeling of him filling her so completely and making her body respond by clenching around his. He groaned and began to thrust his hips, and Sophie knew that he was beyond the point of stopping, knew that soon she’d feel his satisfaction deep inside her.
As a tight knot of pleasure began to build inside her, she wrapped her legs around him, drawing him deeper inside and making him groan. When he slid her legs up to his shoulders, she cried out with pleasure as he filled her deeper than ever before and sent her over the edge again.
Then with one last thrust, she felt him throbbing inside her as he climaxed. Whispering her name over and over, his body trembling, he collapsed on top of her. Sophie was fighting for breath, her body still trembling, the pleasure still radiating from deep inside her, but she welcomed his weight.
When he finally rolled off her, she scooted up into his arms and rested her head on his chest, her heart still hammering. He looked down at her, his chest still rising and falling faster than normal, and kissed her on the forehead.
They lay in silence, both overwhelmed with their feelings but not sure how to express them. Sophie knew that it was time to tell Jessie how she felt, that if she didn’t do it right that minute, she’d lose her nerve. She opened her mouth to tell him, but before she could say anything, he leaned up on one elbow and looked down at her.
“I know this is going to sound crazy, and it’s probably too soon to say it, but I love you, Sophie,” he said, making her gasp. “I think I’ve loved you from the moment you lied for me all those years ago.”
She felt tears coming to her eyes as relief and happiness flooded her. “I love you too, Jessie; I think I’ve been waiting for you all these years, waiting to find you again. Something happened between us that day. I’ve never forgotten you or what my grandmother told me about you,” she said.
“Your grandmother was one of the only people who still had anything to do with me. She visited me at least once a week at first, and she helped me learn how to survive on my own,” he said, a fond smile on his face.
“That day after I saw you, I asked her about black werewolves, and she explained it to me, sort of, but what I remember most is that she wasn’t afraid of you like everyone else. The only reason she hustled us out of there that day was to cover for you.”
“You’ve never been afraid of me, Sophie, why?” he asked.
“My grandmother said that you weren’t dangerous, that the boy you were was still there inside you even when you were a werewolf. She said that someday you’d turn into a wise and caring man. I think I fell in love with you that day; it seemed so romantic to me back then. I understood what you were feeling, Jessie. My family had thrown me out that summer because I’m a wolf-shifter. Don’t you see that you and I have walked the same path?” she said.
He smiled at her, “And now those paths have come together.”
Chapter 19
***Jessie***
Jessie opened his eyes and saw that the sun was just coming up but snuggled down deeper in the bed and cuddled Sophie closer to him. She sighed in her sleep but didn’t wake so he watched her sleeping, thinking that he was the luckiest man alive.
He smiled, knowing that only a few weeks ago he would have laughed at that thought. But now Sophie was a part of his life, and he wanted to spend every moment with her until the day he died. What he really wanted to do was marry her: take her down the mountain and into the city and have a real ceremony.
The smile left his face when he remembered what they still had to face before that was possible, and he knew that he’d have to get up, had to burn off some of the energy that had just flooded his bloodstream when he remembered.
But when he looked over at Sophie, her eyes were open. “Good morning,” she said, smiling at him.
Then he saw the look on her face change as she too remembered what was coming. “Did you sleep well?” he asked, pulling her into his arms.
She nodded her head, then yawned. “Better than I have in a long time.”
“Good, then you’re well rested,” he said, then pulled the covers over his head and clamped his mouth onto one of her breasts.
Sophie squealed, then moaned, and for the next few hours, neither of them thought about what they had to face. But eventually Jessie couldn’t distract them any longer, and they got up to start a long day of waiting.
They’d been expecting Danny, so it was no shock when he began pounding on the door just as Sophie put breakfast on the table. “He always seems to show up when we’re eating,” Jessie said going to the door.
When he opened the door, Danny was leaning up against the cabin wall, his hands on his knees, panting. Jessie pulled him into the cabin and shoved him into a chair. “Did you run all the way up here?” he asked, getting Danny a glass of water.
Danny nodded, took a big drink of the water and sat back in the chair. “I don’t have much time; I’ve got to get back to the store,” he said, putting his hand on his chest and taking deep breaths.
“Okay, but take a minute to catch your breath,” Jessie said, going to the stove and putting two more eggs into the skillet. “You look like you could use something to eat.”
“Have you been up all night?” Sophie asked.
Danny nodded again, then took a breath and let it out. “Yesterday afternoon, a big fancy black car pulled up in front of the jail. There were two huge guys in the front, and when the back door opened, another guy stepped out. He was dressed in this suit, well, I haven’t ever seen anything like it; it was all shiny and expensive looking,” Danny said, pausing for a breath.
Jessie began to pace the room, “Who is he? Did you find out?”
“Oh, I knew his name as soon as he stepped out of the car; he’s the one that runs all the moonshine around here. His name is Arthur Billings, claims he’s a descendant of
folks that lived around here, but no one remembers his family.”
Jessie was getting impatient. “Okay, what else did they do? Did they leave?”
Danny shook his head, “After he got Mac and Gus out, they went over to the diner and started talking to anyone who would listen. He tried to convince people that you’re standing in the way of business in the valley, that if they got rid of you, there’d be money pouring into the valley.”
Jessie whipped his head around. “You’re kidding me? How would that make any difference?”
“That’s what most people said, so then he got ugly and started making threats,” Danny said, “He’s giving us twenty-four hours to deliver you and Sophie to him, or he’s going to destroy the town and come up and get you himself.”
“Oh my god, Jessie, we didn’t plan on this. We can’t let innocent people get hurt for us,” Sophie said, thinking about all the dangerous things they’d put out in the forest.
Jessie came over and took her hand. “What are people saying, Danny? Are they planning to come up here and get us?”
“I spent most of the night running from place to place trying to figure out what everyone is planning to do, and no one seems to be able to decide. They’ve called a meeting for later tonight, but if you want to know what I think, I think they’re going to decide to come after you two. I think they feel bad, but they’re more concerned with their own safety, and the sheriff doesn’t seem to want to help. He just stands in the back of the room with his arms crossed over his chest,” Danny finished with a rush, then sat back in the chair clearly exhausted.
Sophie and Jessie were silent for a long time, then she asked, “What are we going to do?”
Third Time a Charm: Wolves of Gypsum Creek Page 11