Butterfly Assassin
Page 27
With a start, Aaron realised he was lying on him with his full weight. “Shit, sorry.” Pulling out carefully, he disposed of the condom and lay next to Michael, propped up on one elbow. Michael’d got come on both of them by the looks of it, and Aaron reached out to run his finger through the mess on Michael’s stomach.
Michael arched an eyebrow but made no move to stop him. “I thought that was a myth, that shifters liked to do that.”
Grinning at him, Aaron continued to swirl his finger in circles, rubbing it in. “No. It’s not a myth. I mean, usually it’d be mine I’d be rubbing into you, but…” He shrugged. “I like this too.”
Michael regarded him for a second, then touched his hand to Aaron’s tattoo. “Can I ask about this now?”
“If I can ask how things turned out with the case?”
“You don’t know?”
“I know some, mainly what they’ve reported in the news.” He knew Sam had spoken to Frank, but the SCTF had declined to give out much information on an ongoing case.
“Well, I can’t tell you everything, but I can probably tell you a bit more than the news.” He stroked a finger down Aaron’s chest, tracing the outline of the butterfly. Aaron shuddered. “You first?”
Sighing, Aaron settled onto his back. “When I was fifteen, I was diagnosed with cancer. I won’t bore you with all the details, but it was terminal.” He glanced up to find Michael watching him intently. “That’s where I met Harry—in hospital.”
“I know.”
Aaron wasn’t all that surprised. “You read my file?” By law, all bites were documented. The information wouldn’t have been hard to find.
“Had too.”
“Well,” Aaron continued, “as you’re aware, the legal age for requesting the bite is sixteen, and at the time packs were eager to fill out their numbers, so that’s what me and Harry both did.” He pointed at his tattoo. “I didn’t have the best time of it growing up—lanky, short, and incredibly shy.”
“Struggling to see you as anything but a cute teen.”
Aaron laughed and shook his head. “I was not cute.” Far from it. “Anyway, I was living with my nan at the time, and she used to tell me that I was beautiful inside and that my teen years wouldn’t last forever. She said I’d grow up into a beautiful butterfly… I just had to wait.”
Michael smiled. “She was right.”
“Thank you.” He hadn’t thought about his nan in a while, and the reminder of her was bittersweet. He missed her. “She died a month before I was due to be bitten, so I got this”—he pointed to his chest—“to remember her, while my body would let it take.” He’d had to Sam to authorise it since he was under age.
“It’s amazing.” Michael traced all of it until Aaron took his hand and intertwined their fingers.
“Now it’s your turn,” Aaron said.
Michael went to sit up and winced. “Ow.”
Aaron narrowed his eyes, panic spiking. “Did I hurt you?”
“No.” Michael put a hand up. “You didn’t. I’m just a bit sore. It’s nothing. I maybe exaggerated a little on what the doctor said.”
Aaron growled, but Michael waved him away. “I’ll be fine with some rest.” He allowed Aaron to shove a couple of pillows behind his head, propping him up. “You know about Blake?”
“I know he’s in Krillick Hall.” The alpha council had told them that much. “Alpha Wallace has banned him from ever becoming a member of a shifter pack. If he ever gets out of there, he’ll have alpha council supervision but won’t ever be part of a pack.” It sounded like the worst punishment ever. Aaron would never survive without his pack.
“I spoke to Frank and the DCI. We’re going to charge Blake with four counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder.”
“You found proof?”
“Yep. They found traces of blood on those metal claw things.” Michael yawned. “Sorry. Guess I’m still not a hundred per cent.”
Aaron smiled and gave his hand a gentle squeeze. “We can have a nap if you want?”
“I’m not an old man, I don’t need a nap.” He yawned again, and Aaron sniggered.
“No?”
Giving Aaron a playful shove, Michael sighed. “Let me just tell you the rest of it and then we can put all this behind us.”
Aaron liked the sound of that. “Okay, go on then.”
“Basically, Wilson was able to fill in some more details about the killings, enough to prove that both White and Blake were involved as well as a couple of the other bodyguards. And we found Blake’s DNA inside the metal claws.”
“Ahh.” Made sense now. Aaron knew about the replica claws they’d found at Blake’s cottage. “Why did he have them, though? If he wanted those people dead, why not just shoot them? It seems a lot of trouble to go through to kill someone. And why did they want them dead?”
“Blake’s not talking. He denied everything he told you at the cottage, so we can only assume they wanted us to look at a shifter for the killings. With the SCTF involved, the focus would be on the packs, not humans. As for the why… Crossford was likely killed because he tried to throw a fight in his own favour and cost White a lot of money. The other two, we can only speculate as to why. Maybe they overheard something they shouldn’t? Unless Blake starts talking, we’ll probably never know for sure.”
“Except it didn’t work out that way, did it?” They’d still focused on Smith.
“No, it didn’t.”
Aaron grinned and edged closer until he pressed up against Michael’s side. “Your gut instinct was right, then?”
“Yeah. Looks that way.”
Leaning down, Aaron stopped when their lips were centimetres apart. “So was mine.”
“Oh?” Michael looked up at him, a smile curving the corners of his mouth. “What did yours tell you?”
“After that night in the bathroom, I knew there was something special between us. Knew it was more than the heat of the moment. We had a connection, something I should fight to keep, no matter what.”
Michael swallowed, gaze locked on Aaron’s. “And you still believe that?”
He let his fangs slide out enough for Michael to see them and pressed his growing erection against his thigh. Pitching his voice in that low growl he’d learnt Michael liked, he whispered, “What do you think?”
Slipping a hand into Aaron’s hair, Michael drew him the rest of the way, lips brushing. “I think we should always trust our instincts.”
“Me too,” Aaron mumbled as Michael kissed him. They were just starting out, and the future would be challenging for them, but Aaron knew in his heart that his instincts about Michael were right.
He was the one.
Letting himself be drawn into another kiss, Aaron sighed into it. “Me too.”
About the Author
Annabelle Jacobs lives in the South West of England with her three rowdy children, a dog, and two cats.
An avid reader of fantasy herself for many years, Annabelle now spends her days writing her own stories. They're usually either fantasy or paranormal fiction, because she loves building worlds filled with magical creatures, and creating stories full of action and adventure. Her characters may have a tough time of it—fighting enemies and adversity—but they always find love in the end.
https://annabellejacobs.com/
Twitter: @Ajacobs_fiction
Facebook: Annabelle Jacobs Fiction
Email: ajacobsfiction@gmail.com
Also by Annabelle Jacobs
The Choosing
Torsere Series:
Capture
Union
Alliance
The Lycanaeris Series:
The Altered
The Altered 2
The Altered 3
Toy With Me
Will & Patrick Series:
A Casual Thing
A Serious Thing
Magic & Mistletoe
Chasing Shadows
Always Another Side
The Regen
t's Park Pack Series
Bitten By Mistake
Bitten By Design
Bitten By Desire
Bitten By The Alpha
All Hallows’ Eve
A Christmas Kiss
Maybe This Time
Table of Contents
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN