Claiming Jade

by Teresa Gabelman

  “Wait, where are we going?” She stumbled, but his hand on her elbow kept her from falling on her face. He had noticed how clumsy she was and found it endearing. Endearing? Seriously, what the fuck was wrong with him? He had never said that word in his life, let alone thought it.

  “You need to eat.” He wasn’t going to take no for an answer. She was under his watch, and he took that shit seriously. Well, maybe she was the first he’d ever worried about eating, but still.

  “I’ve got food here.” She pulled away, and he followed her to the kitchen. “I’m not really hungry.”

  “I know you haven’t eaten since this afternoon, Jade.” His eyes narrowed, letting her know that he wasn’t backing down. “Either find something here, or I’m taking you out.”

  She tossed her hair back. When in the kitchen, she opened the fridge with a dramatic sigh. “I’m not even hungry,” she mumbled again under her breath, but he heard every word.

  Peering over her shoulder, he saw her bare refrigerator and frowned. “Did the pixies raid your fridge?”

  “No,” she replied, grabbing a carton of eggs and butter. She checked the date then shrugged. “I just haven’t had time to go to the store.”

  Drake moved and watched as she bent down and pulled out a skillet from the stove drawer. Turning on the burner, she dropped some butter in and watched it melt while he studied her. She was definitely reserved and didn’t say much; he wasn’t used to that. Almost all women he’d known talked, a lot, and usually about themselves. Seriously, to the point he zoned them out. Not that he was being rude; well, maybe he was, but he always nodded and acted as if he were listening to every single word. As he watched her crack an egg and began scrambling, he realized he wanted Jade to talk, wanted to hear her voice. He also knew that he would hang on to every single word coming out of that beautiful mouth.

  Looking away from her, he shook his head, trying to regain his senses. What the actual fuck?

  “You want one?”

  “Huh?” He glanced back at her to see her staring at him.

  “An egg.” She cocked her eyebrow at him. “You want one?”

  “Ah, no.” He frowned down at what wouldn’t fill a bird.

  Grabbing a plate, she dumped the tiny amount of scrambled egg on it, then proceeded to practically empty the salt shaker with only a dash of pepper.

  “You think you got enough salt on that?” He snorted, watching her take a bite.

  “I’m a salt freak. What can I say?” She took another bite, almost emptying the plate already. “I salt everything, crackers, tater chips—”

  “Tater chips?” He couldn’t help but chuckle.

  She took the last bite, then turned, putting her plate in the sink. “Yeah, tater chips.”

  “You know, that much salt isn’t good for you.” Drake’s eyes had gone straight to her ass when she turned. Even though he tried to think of her health, he also noticed the salt wasn’t hurting her figure at all.

  “Thanks, Doc.” Jade smirked at him from over her shoulder. “I’ll keep that in mind when I’m salting my—”

  A knock on the door shut her up and had Drake jumping into protector mode. “You expecting someone?”

  “No, not at ten o’clock at night,” she replied, with a shake of her head.

  “Boyfriend?” He actually growled, feeling intense anger at the thought that he didn’t even know if she had a boyfriend. And what if she did? He had no claim on her… yet. He’d have to kill the bastard, easy as that.

  “No.” Her eyes widened, probably at his growl, but that couldn’t be helped. She would learn soon he wasn’t keen on sharing and what was his was his. Period.

  “Stay there.” He pointed at her, then headed toward her front door. Her house was very small. It only took him five steps to get to her door. The knock came again, and Drake realized that pixies would definitely not be knocking.

  Glancing behind him, he made sure Jade followed his order. She did. But she was peeking around the corner, her eyes wide.

  “Be careful,” she whispered, and his heart fucking melted. It had been a long time since anyone cared about his welfare. Well, his comrades cared to a point when doing a dangerous mission, but none of those fuckers looked like Jade. And they usually only cared because they’d get their asses chewed out by Jack.

  Turning, he reached out, unlocked the door and swung it open fast, readying himself for whatever was beyond the door.

  Tarron stood on the other side with a big grin on his face. “Am I interrupting something?” Tarron asked with a wiggle of his eyebrows. “Took you long enough to answer the door.”

  “What the fuck, man?” Drake moved out of the way so Tarron could come in. “Ever heard of texting to warn someone?”

  Tarron walked in looking around. “Holy shit. What happened here?”

  “Pixies.” Drake shut the door, then stepped toward the kitchen where Jade stood.

  “Pricks.” Tarron frowned, then spotted Jade. “Brought your car back.”

  “Oh, thank…” Jade started to smile but frowned. “I’ve got the keys. How did you—”

  “Multi-talented.” Tarron stopped her. “I can hotwire anything that drives. So, the pixies left your place in a mess.”

  She nodded. “Have you learned anything about where my brother may be?” Jade asked, the hope in her eyes and voice tugging at Drake’s heart. It also made him angry that her brother had unknowingly put his sister in danger. When they did find him, he may need to smack him around a little bit, so he understood that shit wouldn’t fly anymore.

  Jade watched as Drake and Tarron shared a look. Then Tarron shook his head. “Not yet, but we will.”

  As the two men continued to talk, Jade began to pick up the pieces of her home. She listened to their conversation until her own thoughts took over. Now that everything had settled down, her day done, she realized this stranger was going to stay in her home with her. Ray’s words came back to her, and the dipshit was right. She had no idea who Drake was, didn’t even know his last name and… she peeked a sideways glance at him… what exactly was he?

  She didn’t know much about the paras, but she knew there were pixies… obviously. She snorted as she continued to pick up the havoc they made of her home. She also knew of werewolves, fairies, vampires…. holy shit, was he a vampire? Her hand went to her neck, then she rolled her eyes at herself. What else, she thought. Oh, elves. She had heard there were elves, but had never seen any little men with pointy ears and shoes. She was sure there were more, but that was about as far as her knowledge of them went. It was actually Butch, her boss, who told her to go to the Elite Crime Unit, Elite meaning they dealt with anything paranormal, about her brother; she didn’t even know about the place.

  She straightened up, her arms full of things that had been broken to be thrown away. “What kind of para are you, exactly?” she blurted out her thoughts, and as both men became quiet to stare at her, she realized how rude she actually sounded. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked that.” She grabbed a trash bag tossing everything in then straightened up.

  “Don’t be sorry, and excuse us for not saying.” Tarron smiled at her. “We’re elves.”

  “No, really…?” Jade liked Tarron. He was very friendly, and she had an odd sense of wanting to tell him everything she had ever wanted in life. Seriously, it was very strange. “What kind are you? I won’t judge or anything. Are you werewolves?”

  Drake snorted. “Hell no, I’m not a werewolf.”

  “Sorry.” Jade felt the heat of embarrassment ride up her neck, landing on her cheeks. “I didn’t mean to offend.”

  Tarron laughed, the tone warm. “You didn’t offend, Jade.” He slid Drake a stern look. “But we are elves. I’m a different elf than Drake.”

  “In what way?” Jade wondered if all of this was really a big, long continuous hell of a crazy-ass dream she was having.

  “Let’s just put it this way… I’m the nice elf.” His smile grew wider, and she swore she saw a t
winkle in his eyes. Holy shit, she needed to go on medication.

  “But you’re both… taller than I would have thought.” She bit her lip after saying those words aloud, her eyes automatically going down to their feet. Seeing their black boots, she was relieved they weren’t pointed. That thought made her giggle. She covered her mouth as her eyes flew to theirs.

  “We get that a lot.” Drake rolled his eyes. Then he looked down at his boots before refocusing on her with a cocked eyebrow.

  Jade shrugged, trying to keep from grinning. Seriously, just thinking of these two big strong men turning into little elves with pointy shoes made her want to laugh. “You’re not wearing pointy shoes.”

  Drake did look offended this time. “Fuck no, I don’t have pointy boots. What in the hell do you think an elf looks like?”

  “Well, definitely not like you two,” she replied honestly. If all the Christmas shows she ever watched had elves like them, it would be Christmas year-round at her house.

  “At five-years-old, you asked Santa for a Raggedy Ann doll.” Tarron’s eyes did that twinkle thing again. “It was the only thing you asked for yourself. You also asked to get your brother a fire truck, your mom a scarf the color of blue cotton candy, and your father a pair of gloves to keep his hands warm when he went to work.”

  “How did you know that?” Jade gasped, her eyes widened in surprise.

  “Don’t be too impressed. Elves can pull memories.” Drake’s eyebrows rose as he looked at Tarron, but Tarron just stared at Jade with a knowing look.

  “I know everything you ever asked for Christmas and never once was it just for yourself.” Tarron gave her an approving nod. “That, my dear, is the true spirit of Christmas.”

  “Santa?” Jade’s voice was awed as she stared up at Tarron in fascination.

  “Hell no!” Tarron snorted, then laughed. “But I worked with the big guy, but now I’m an Elite Crime Unit badass.”

  “You got fired, let’s get the story straight.” Drake rolled his eyes with s snort.

  “I retired.” Tarron shot back then grinned. “With full benefits.”

  “I’m a dark elf,” Drake threw in, ignoring Tarron, but Jade was still struck dumb by what Tarron had just exposed about her past, her five-year-old past.

  “Holy shi… wow.” Jade cleared her throat. No way could she curse in front of an elf that knew Santa freaking Claus. This was most definitely a dream. “Is Rudolph real?” Okay, seriously, who wouldn’t ask that question?

  “And yes, Drake here.” Tarron clapped him on the back. “Is a dark elf, which is why he has silver eyes.”

  “So you make the toys?” she asked, Drake. Jade was still awed and couldn’t help the questions flowing from her mouth. She let the fact that he hadn’t answered about Rudolph slide, but in truth was disappointed.

  “Fuck no, I didn’t make toys.” Drake’s shoulders slumped before he glared at Tarron. “This is why I hate working with you and why I hate those damn Christmas shows. Every damn time the truth comes out, I’m the fucking toy maker.”

  Tarron headed toward the door but stopped, turning back to her. “And yes, Rudolph is real, but probably not in the sense you know him by.” Tarron gave her a wink, then laughed loudly before leaving them alone.

  Chapter 6

  After Tarron left, Drake stomped around, picking up as much as he could to help Jade clean up, his mood dark. Every fucking time he was with Tarron, this shit happened when others found out they were elves. Oh, it didn’t matter that he was a dark elf, an underworld ass-kicking badass motherfucker. Nope. Once they found out that Tarron worked with the man in the red suit, it was all oohs and ahhs. Well fuck! Compared to him, Tarron was a pussy. Yeah!

  Dark elves were nothing at all like other elves. They were best known for their aggression, deceit, and stealth. Drake only used those qualities against the bad guys. He broke away from the mold of the dark elves a long time ago. He was sick of that life, never being able to trust another one of his own kind. Even with the stigma placed on his race, he didn’t hide who he was. He was a man, not a race.

  Glancing up, he noticed Jade was eyeing him as she carried a garbage bag around while grabbing things to throw away. It was then he realized it had never really bothered him this much before, and it had everything to do with the beautiful green-eyed woman dodging his gaze. He wanted her to ooh and fucking ahh over him.

  In truth, he liked Tarron, and admittedly, Tarron had saved his ass more than once. There was that. They had some good times together, and he was a great… friend. Shit, how in the hell could he be pissed at a guy who brought smiles and hope to millions? “’Cause I’m an asshole.”

  “Huh?” Jade popped up from behind the couch, her eyes wide.

  “Nothing,” Drake replied, then cringed realizing his tone matched his mood. He heard her sigh as she dropped back behind the couch out of sight.

  Mouthing “Fuck,” he tossed his own garbage in the bag next to him before walking toward the couch, and then wished he hadn’t. Jade was on her hands and knees with her ass sticking straight up in the air, perfectly aimed at him.

  “Fuck.” This time the word was not silent. When she glanced at him over her shoulder, her gaze searching his, he about fell to his knees. “Jesus.”

  “What’s wrong?” she asked, then started to get up.

  He wanted to order her to stay where she was, so he could either just stare or demand she only stand to undress, then get back to that gorgeous position completely naked and ready for him.

  “Nothing,” he replied, voice gravelly, then called himself a loser as well as a pussy for not demanding what he really wanted.

  “Oh, okay.” Jade started to go back to what she was doing, and he got excited as hell until she stopped and angled back toward him. “I’m sure a… ah…”

  “Dark elf,” he replied absently knowing she already forgotten what kind of elf he was. He was also a little disappointed she didn’t instead tell him she was going to get naked and get back on all fours.

  “Dark elf,” she repeated, then gave him a crooked smile as she stood. Then she leaned toward him with a whisper. “And I’m sure a dark elf can kick any other elf’s ass.”

  A warmth he hadn’t felt in a very long time worked its way through his body, making him feel… Jesus, what was he feeling exactly? He was wrong. He’d never felt this way with a woman before. Definitely warm and hot in the pants, but his whole body flamed like a warm summer night. What in the fuck was happening here… to him, and why in the hell was he referring to a warm summer fucking night?

  Before he could utter a word, she stepped toward what looked like the back door. He was next to her before she could open it. “Where are you going?” He put his hand against the door stopping it from opening.

  “To put this bag in the garbage.” She glanced up at him in surprise.

  “I’ll do that.” He took the bag from her then reached for the door, their hands touching. The tingling feeling that shocked his hand surprised him, and by the look on her face, she felt it too. They stared at each other for a long moment, his eyes going to her lips as he inched toward them, and then she was gone.

  He wanted to open the door and bang himself in the head a few hundred times as hard as he could to knock some sense into himself. She was a target. She was his responsibility, his client, and unfuckable, at least to him. With that thought, he opened the door hard, almost pulling it off the hinges as another thought clouded his mind. She was also unfuckable to anyone else; he’d make damn sure of that.

  He closed the door behind him, more gently than he had opened it and strode out into her fenced-in backyard. Spotting the two garbage cans, he headed that way, taking deep, even breaths of the fresh air. Slamming the trash bag in the can, he closed the lid and turned back toward the house. She watched him through the kitchen window, and he saw the desire in the depths of her eyes. She was the first to look away, but he continued to stare at her perfection.

  After this job, she was hi
s. He was claiming Jade Wilder, and nothing or no one would stand in his way.

  Jade lay wide awake staring at the ceiling. She had tossed, turned, cursed, slapped her pillow around, and sighed more tonight than any other night in her life. Just knowing Drake was in the room next to her, which was her brother’s room, was too much. Way too much. Forcing her eyes closed, she lay as still as she could, but silver eyes, dark hair, and a body that could envelop her, keeping her safe, flashed through her mind. Her eyes popped wide open.

  Slamming her hands against her eyes to try to rub his image away, she then reached over, grabbed a pillow, and put it over her face. Almost completely smothering herself, she screamed into it. Once she was finished with her little fit, she tossed the pillow aside and sat up.

  Drake had seemed a little upset that she’d made a big deal out of Tarron. But Tarron wasn’t who was keeping her awake. No, it was the man in the next room, who turned her blood sizzling hot. She shivered as she remembered watching him out the kitchen window, but cringed as the memory turned into embarrassment at being caught gawking at him. Slapping her hands against her red-hot cheeks, she kicked the covers off and climbed out of bed. Grabbing a pair of shorts, she slipped them on, then tip-toed to her door. Sleep wasn’t going to happen, and the egg she had hours ago was long gone. Maybe if she ate like a pig, she would slip off into a deep sleep.

  She slowly opened the door, and when it got to a certain point, the ear-piercing creaking stopped her cold. “Shit!’ she whispered, then managed to squeeze herself through the door. Her boobs got caught, so she had to open the creaky thing just a little more. Once in the hallway, she tip-toed to the kitchen, stepping on something they had missed when cleaning up; it was sharp as hell.

  Lifting her foot up, she grabbed it and squeezed, hoping that would take the pain away as she bit her lip to keep from screaming in agonizing pain. Damn, that hurt. She stood that way with a few hops until the pain eased, then set it down and continued to creep, watching for sharp, wayward objects. There was enough moonlight coming through the window for her to see, plus she knew where everything was, other than sharp things on the floor, obviously.