Jackson

by Hazel Hunter

  “Warlock.”

  Jackson turned to see a sword bury its tip in the ground before his feet, and raised his head to see the Templar wielding another just a few feet away.

  “Where is she?”

  “It doesn’t matter. You won’t live to find her.” He nodded at the sword. “Pick it up.”

  Only an immortal could kill another immortal, and Jackson had no doubt the Templar’s sword could do just that to him. When he touched the hilt of the weapon in the ground, he was surprised to feel a killing spell clinging to the cold steel.

  “I have some honor left,” the Templar told him.

  “No, you don’t, Henri Marquette.” Jackson knew exactly who his opponent was. “I can duel you from now until the end of time, but I couldn’t kill you even if I dropped a nuclear bomb on your head.”

  The Templar inclined his head. “Obviously I can’t allow you to leave her alive, Warlock. The least I can do is give you the illusion of a sporting chance.”

  “Where is Audrey?”

  “She’s right here.” Hannah Gardener emerged from behind a wall, and held Audrey like a body shield in front of her. “It was very rude of you to leave me tied up like that. Luckily the ropes were partially burned, or I would never have gotten out of there.”

  “Aunt Hannah,” Audrey said, her voice strained. “Please don’t do this. Let Jackson and me help you.”

  “Shut up,” her godmother snarled. To Jackson she said, “I’ll kill the Templar for you, Captain, if you agree to give me complete immunity. The Magus Corps must guarantee that I will not be persecuted for any of the murders I’ve committed.”

  Jackson eyed Marquette before he said to Audrey, “Are you all right?” When she nodded his gaze shifted to Hannah. “The Magus Corps does not offer immunity, Ms. Gardener, and we don’t use killers as weapons against our enemies.”

  “He knows who I am, Hannah, and that no one, not even you, can kill me,” Marquette chided. “Give up the girl and admit defeat. I’ll slay him, keep Audrey, and you can tell the other pagan scum any story you wish. You can even blame me for the murders, if you like.”

  “As if I would ever trust you again after the horrible way you’ve treated me. Captain, I will make one more offer.” Hannah showed Jackson a small bundle of fur in her left hand. “Take this in your hand, and I’ll release her.”

  “Jackson, no,” Audrey said, struggling now. “It’s what she’s been using to steal the life from humans. She used the same charm to murder Norm and Mariah.”

  “If you don’t take it,” Hannah warned, “I will use it on Audrey.”

  “No.” Marquette took an involuntary step forward. “You cannot kill her. She is my only hope.”

  “Decide, Captain,” Hannah said flatly. “Her life, or yours.”

  Jackson met Audrey’s eyes and smiled as he opened his heart and released all the love he felt for her in a cascade of brilliant amber power. Tears spilled down her face as her cool, silvery glow met his and melded with it, and he saw in her eyes the same determination he felt. If he did not grab the charm now, Audrey would.

  Their powers blended into a lush, beautiful green that expanded in the air between them and spread to envelop them and their enemies.

  Hannah made a choking sound as her hands fell away from Audrey and she totted past her like a robot. At the same time Marquette did the same, moving past Jackson toward Hannah, and the sound of bells and brass horns began to fill the air. The bundle of fur flew from Hannah’s fingers to float in the air between her and Marquette, drawing them to it like a magnet.

  Jackson saw their eyes change to glowing white and burning gold, and ran to Audrey, scooping her up in his arms and taking her behind the wall.

  “What’s happening?” Audrey had to shriek to be heard above the din.

  “The Lord and The Lady,” Jackson shouted back as he wrapped his arms around her. “They have decided this.”

  An enormous blast of power punched a hole through the concrete blocks beside them, and when Jackson looked through he saw Hannah and Marquette hovering in the air, their bodies turning around the charm as it began to drain them. Power and flesh infused with the white and gold light flew into the charm as it absorbed them both, their forms dwindling away to nothing. When they had vanished, the charm kept contracting as if feeding on itself, until it also winked out of existence.

  The silence when it was over was almost deafening, and Jackson held onto Audrey as he offered up a silent prayer of thanksgiving to their ancestors.

  After a long time she lifted her head and looked.

  “They’re gone.” She swallowed a sob. “Oh, Jackson I was so scared. If you’d touched that thing–”

  He cradled her face between his shaking hands. “I would have died for you, my heart. Just as you intended to die for me. That is why they came to save us. Only the purest hearts and noblest sacrifices invoke the will of The Lord and The Lady.”

  “Remind me never to piss them off.” Audrey rested her cheek against his chest. “Does this mean love conquers all?”

  “I don’t know.” He kissed the top of her head before he tucked it under his chin. “But today, it prevailed over hate.”

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  A FEW DAYS later Audrey finished the last of the arrangements she’d made to liquidate Hannah Gardener’s estate and distribute the money among the families of her victims. It was the first decision she’d made after discovering that she was Hannah’s heir, and while it would never make up for what her godmother had done, she hoped it would help those left behind to find peace and closure.

  She had gone against Jackson’s wishes to inform Norm’s wife that he had been killed during the battle at the compound, but when she arrived at their house she found it vacant with a realtor’s sign in the front yard. A call to the realtor confirmed that Norm’s family had moved overnight to parts unknown and would not be returning to Seattle.

  Audrey also quit her job with the county, which hurt more than she expected, but she had also come into another inheritance: her mother’s. That Hannah had never told her about it made sense; her godmother had needed to keep her dependent on her in order to keep using her to enchant Marquette’s healing potions. For the same reason she also suspected Hannah had a hand in her college boyfriend’s suicide, although she would never be able to prove it.

  With the insurance money her mother had left her Audrey would never have to work again, although she suspected in time she would work alongside Jackson. For now, she wanted to focus on learning more about her Wiccan heritage and the skills she needed to control and develop her healing power.

  Audrey never went back to the estate after collecting her things, but moved in with Jackson. The night after she did, she asked him to initiate her.

  “I would love nothing more,” he said as they stood in his bedroom. “But are you certain this is what you want, my heart?”

  “I want to be with you,” she said as she went to the window, and looked up at the moon. “Forever is a long time, though, and if you’d rather not–”

  “Shut up.” Jackson turned her to face him, his big body as tense as hers as he stepped back and began unbuttoning his shirt. “Take off your clothes for me.”

  Audrey’s hands shook as she reached behind her and unzipped, letting her skirt fall around her ankles before she stepped out of it. Removing her blouse was more difficult; she had to manage all the buttons and then the tiny clasps of her bra. Finally she stood naked before him, the high, hard mounds of her breasts quivering with her breaths.

  Bare-chested now, Jackson spanned her narrow waist with his strong hands before he slowly turned her so that the candlelight illuminated her torso.

  “Don’t be afraid.” He trailed his fingertips over the curve of one swollen mound. “It will feel like the first time again, only better.”

  “Better?”

  His gaze shifted to her face. “No more secrets between us.”

  Suddenly feeling a little shy, she ducked h
er head and tried to keep her breathing regular, but the scent of his skin filled her head and made her dizzy.

  “How does this work, anyway? I’m not going to go Medusa again, am I?”

  “No.” His hand glided down over her belly to slip between her legs. “This time it’s just you and me.”

  “Oh, okay.” Feeling his long fingers between her thighs made her knees wobble, and she clutched his arm to brace herself as he stroked her slick folds. “I should tell you, though, I’m starting to feel some fireworks.”

  “There will be more.” He parted her with a fingertip and rimmed her opening, making the sensitive nerves there flare to life before he penetrated her with one long finger. As she flinched in reaction he pulled her close. “And you’re ready for me.”

  When he lifted her and carried her to the bed Audrey sighed.

  “I want to remember every single moment of this.”

  “You will.” Jackson placed her on her back and came up over her.

  As she glanced down she saw him wrap his fist around his heavy shaft, and press the head of his cock––his bare, completely unprotected cock––between her legs.

  If she was going to change her mind, it had to be now.

  I don’t want to stop. I want him.

  “I know I should touch you more and kiss you and ease you into this, but I don’t think I can wait any longer,” he told her as he rubbed the broad, satiny bulb against her folds. “We can play later, Audrey, but I have to fuck you now.”

  “Yes.” Audrey spread her legs wider. “Please.”

  Jackson pressed into her, grunting as he worked his cockhead inside her. As she enveloped the broad, straining bulb he sighed. “Oh, you feel so good, my heart. Just as I always imagine this would be.”

  She felt startled. “You’ve never done this with anyone else?”

  He shook his head. “I wanted the first time I fucked a woman bare to be with my mate.”

  Jackson covered her breasts with his hands and began squeezing them in time with the short, hard thrusts he used to penetrate her. More and more of his heavy shaft pumped in with every stroke, stretching and filling her pussy again and again. She could hear the wet sounds of her fluids coating his penis and feel the bruising hardness of his erection driving into her core. Her clit swelled and pulsed as his thrusts grew longer and harder, each jolt sending little shocks of sensation to blaze out deep inside her pelvis.

  At last Jackson buried himself to his root and stopped, not moving as he held her skewered by his full thick length. “Look at me.” When she did, he said, “I love you, Audrey.”

  “Good.” Audrey was breathless and trembling, and so aroused she was already teetering on the edge of orgasm. “Because I love you, too, more than I can ever say. Also, if you stop again, I’m going to hurt you.”

  He laughed, and then used his thumbs to rub soothing circles around her aching nipples as he began to draw back. “I knew it would be amazing, but I never thought it would feel like this. Your pussy is clasping my rod like it never wants to let go.”

  Audrey felt her breasts bounce as he gave her his full length again, the deep thrust driving the breath from her lungs. The smell of sex filled her head, and her thighs trembled as she struggled to remain still and open to him, surrendering to the deliciously rude incursion of his penis as he drove it in and out, stroking her delicate tissues mercilessly as he made her take every thick inch. With each penetration she could feel the need to come swelling inside her as well, and soon she was shaking with the effort it took to hold off the pleasure––but she wanted to wait for him, so they could bring her into immortality together.

  As he pounded into her Jackson’s eyes never left her face. “I can feel how close you are,” he told her, and uttered a deep guttural sound as he forged deeper. “Your pussy fluttering around me, Audrey. Do you need to come?”

  “Please, with you,” she begged, writhing under him helplessly. “Only with you.”

  “So we shall.” He drew her legs up over his shoulders as he dragged her to the edge of the bed, his penis still buried inside her, and then bent over her until her knees nearly touched her shoulders. “Look at me.” When she did, he slid out and pushed in until their body hair tangled and his cockhead prodded the edge of her cervix. “Now come to me, Audrey. Come and share eternity with me.”

  Her back arched as she let go and exploded into the climax, her sheath gripping him hard as she rode wave after wave of scalding pleasure. Jackson held her down and kept his penis planted firmly inside her, his rigid shaft swelling even larger and then he was pumping his silky seed into her.

  “Now you are mine,” he told her, his voice little more than a growl as he groaned and shook, his girth still pulsing with his jetting cream. He pressed deep inside her for the final burst, and when she felt him finish she felt something even more glorious than an orgasm spreading through her.

  “Oh, Jackson.” She wrapped her arms around his neck as she felt the power surging into her. “I love you, I love you.” She laughed with delight.

  “And I you, my sweet lady.” Jackson braced himself over her, his big chest heaving as he bent his head and touched his lips to hers before he smiled down at her. “Welcome to forever.”

  EXCERPT FROM TRENT: Her Warlock Protector Book 7

  Trent laughed again. “I thought that too. You can live twenty years or fifty or three hundred and it’s always confusing.”

  Elaine blinked, not understanding what he’d said, not exactly. Sure there was hyperbole, but no one lived forever.

  “Huh?”

  It was Trent’s turn to hesitate, as the tiniest hints of fear crept into those haunting amber eyes.

  “I just meant we all have issues.”

  She frowned and a small voice started then, calling to her and reminding her that she didn’t know him much either.

  “No that’s not what you said.”

  “It was something my mom said, just that you could be a thousand and still be allowed to make mistakes. It’s human, right?”

  Elaine calmed a bit and nodded. “Sure.”

  Except I’m afraid I’m something else.

  “And now I managed to kill the mood,” he added. Then he leaned closer. “But I think I can fix that.”

  His mouth hovered over hers, his sweet, warm breath filling her nostrils and pouring into her own mouth. Then he kissed her. Their tongues met in what first felt like a fierce battle of need and desire, that dance for dominance where she wanted to embrace every inch of him. Her hands gripped strong shoulders and she reveled in his touch as he cupped the curves of her ass. Trent took the lead in their intimacy, calming the frenzied rhythm of her own tongue, instead leaving their kisses long and languorous. He teased her, as one hand reached up toward her breasts and the other kneaded her ass.

  Elaine moaned and then ground against him, feeling his hardness already pressing into the apex of her thighs. Through the thin lace of her bra and the soft silk of her black dress, she felt his fingers. Her nipples pebbled under his ministration and wetness began to pool at her core. Still Trent continued, and she leaned back into the grass, overwhelmed by heavenly sensations, glad no one was within a mile of them.

  “That’s amazing!” she breathed.

  He grinned and leaned over her, tawny eyes glinting with mischief. “You’ve seen nothing yet, country girl, let me show you things that idiot never did.”

  She nodded and bucked her hips up unbidden. “Please, Goddess, please.”

  If he thought her prayer was odd, Trent didn’t comment.

  Leaning down over her he paused just long enough to run his hands over the wolf’s tooth around her neck.

  “You’re an interesting woman, Elaine. I bet you have that she-wolf side in you.”

  You have no idea how much.

  His left hand pushed the straps of her dress down and he grinned at the lacy black bra she’d chosen. It was her one concession to Victoria’s Secret and from the appreciative bulge in his slacks, she�
��d made the right choice.

  “You’re so beautiful.”

  Leaning down, he began to trace the pattern of the lace with both palms, then reached to slip the hooks off. Elaine shivered at first with her nipples exposed to the air, standing erect for his pleasure and hers. Trent smirked––a look that should be illegal in all fifty states––and started to suck on her nipple. She moaned and bucked against him, feeling the odd instinct to growl at him too. Elaine pushed it aside, that feral need. It was already weird enough that she could smell his arousal and see him as clearly as if it were daylight outside. She refused to go crazy before him.

  His skillful tongue laved over her nipples, tracing each bump with fervent devotion. Her pussy was thoroughly wet, and all she wanted was to feel him with her there, to feel his tongue on her clit.

  “Please,” she breathed, and if it sounded lower than normal, more like an animalistic rumble that had to be her imagination. “I need you.”

  “Where, Elaine, just tell me.”

  “My clit, please just lower.”

  NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

  Dear Wonderful Reader,

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  Hazel

  COPYRIGHT © 2015 Hazel Hunter