by Lynn Red
Chapter 15
Now that they were alone, Chloe couldn't distract herself from him. There was a tightness in the pit of her stomach that she knew only he could satisfy. Fragments from the dream kept popping into her head. The way he tasted. The heat of his skin. It made it hard to concentrate with him sitting within arms' reach.
"So, you're a werewolf. How long have you known?" the words sounded even stupider than they did in her head as soon as they were out. She blushed slightly, hoping to get him talking to distract her from the memory of the dream.
"Not long. I had my first, what did Quent call it? My first change last year in Afghanistan. It wasn't exactly a pleasant experience." Jackson tightened slightly, keeping his eyes on the papers scattered across the floor.
"Oh. I'm sorry." Chloe suddenly felt incredibly foolish. She knew she should have started the conversation with something safer, like religion or national politics.
"Actually, until today, I didn't know there were any others like me out there." Jackson reached for the suspicious letter, holding it up to the weak yellow glow of the overhead light. He turned and smiled at her. "Quent was my first werewolf, too."
Chloe giggled. "I have to admit, I am never going to see him as a boring professor ever again. It is going to make lectures that much more interesting."
Jackson set the piece of paper back down on the floor and sighed. "I'm not making any discoveries. You down to take a break?"
Chloe stretched her head from side to side, trying to loosen the muscles in her neck. She was frustrated with the process. She knew everything was there, but she just couldn't see it. Maybe a little breather was what she needed.
"Sure," she said, flashing him a grin. "What'd you have in mind?"
Jackson rummaged around in his jacket pocket and pulled out a worn deck of cards. "You play poker?"
"My brother tried to teach me once. He got frustrated when I told him aces should always win. Do you know how to play gin rummy?"
Jackson nodded and together they stood and went to the small table in the corner of the room. It was a small, round wooden table with just the two threadbare chairs. The way it was positioned in the corner, they had to sit next to one another, or move the table. Chloe was glad when Jackson made no move to pull the table out.
"Do you always carry a pack of cards around with you? Chloe asked as the two sat down. Under the small table, their knees touched gently. Neither one of them shifted. Chloe felt a surge of electricity flooding into her at the small point of contact. She could only imagine how wonderful it would feel to have more than just their knees touching. Get it together, she told herself as Jackson began to dole out the cards.
"Yeah. It's a habit I picked up on my first deployment. You never know when you'll have some downtime," Jackson picked up his cards and began sorting them in his hand.
Chloe reached for her cards and froze. In the middle of the table was a spider. It stared up at her with six eyes, each one daring her to go for the cards. She could swear the evil creature was grinning at her, fangs dripping with poison.
"What's wrong?" Jackson asked, his eyes searching her face and starting to shine with gold.
"Sp..sp..spider," she whispered. Chloe hated spiders. Her brother had thought it was funny to put fake ones in her bed at night when she was a kid and she would wake up screaming. As much as she hated to appear like a weak girly-girl to Jackson, she hated spiders more.
Jackson chuckled, the glow disappearing from his eyes as soon as he recognized the threat. "I've got it."
"Don't kill it," Chloe whispered, her eyes glued to the spider in case it decided to lunge for her throat.
Jackson gave her a strange look and then smiled. "Useful creatures for the ecosystem, right?"
Chloe nodded. Just because she didn't want that thing in the motel room with her didn't mean she didn't appreciate their worth. "Spiders kill other bugs that I hate more. I just don't want to wake up with it curled up next to me on my pillow."
With gentle hands, Jackson scooped the tiny creature up. "Unlock the door for me?"
Chloe moved quickly, checking the window for anyone outside before unlocking and opening the door. Jackson stepped outside to where a small tree was waiting for spring and set the little arachnid down. It scuttled off into the evening.
"I can't believe you touched that thing with your bare hands," Chloe said as Jackson came back in and locked the door. He grinned at her as he sat down beside her at the table.
"That little guy? You should have seen the camel spiders we had in Iraq. You could put a leash on them and walk them like a dog they were so big."
Chloe made a disgusted face. "My brother told me about those. He said they'll chase you."
"My last deployment, there was this guy named Gunther. He was a big dude, worked out like crazy and too macho for his own good. We were outside one day and he saw a giant camel spider and kicked sand at it. That spider got up on its hind legs," Jackson held his arms up in the air like he was going to attack and made a scary face that made Chloe giggle. "Then it chased him. Guy took off like a rocket and that spider just chased after him like he was going to eat him. He ran around the garage twice before he realized the spider had stopped chasing him." Jackson stopped and got a devilish grin. "It didn't help that we kept yelling at him, 'It's right behind you!'"
Chloe giggled. Jackson leaned back in his chair and smiled at her. Chloe's heart sped up when he looked at her like that. Those brown eyes held her captive. She could feel a blush starting to flirt across her cheeks and she looked away, trying not to breathe hard. A heat was growing deep in her core, a craving to have him all to herself.
The overhead light flickered and then went dark. "Wow, some room, huh?" Chloe commented, tilting her head toward the light.
Jackson chuckled. "I'll fix it. It's probably just loose."
He set his cards face down on the table and picked up his chair. Chloe was sad to feel his knee leave hers.
"Hey, no cheating and looking at my cards," he joked as he positioned the chair under the light. "Come here and hold the chair steady for me?"
She made her way carefully through the dark room, holding her hands out in front of her until she touched his chest. He was solid muscle and heat. Chloe was glad for the dark so he wouldn't see her blush or the look of desperate desire she knew flashed across her face. "Sorry, I can't see in here," she mumbled, moving her hands to the back of the chair. "How'd you get over here so easily?"
"I'm part wolf, remember? I see pretty well in the dark."
Chloe closed her eyes and held onto the chair. He definitely saw her blush then. She could hear the sound of glass and metal tightening and the room was full of yellow light once more.
"There we go," Jackson said, smiling down at her. The chair gave an ominous creak and Jackson's face fell just before the chair gave way.
"Oh, my gosh! Are you okay?" Chloe cried, reaching toward him. He glanced around, his butt on the floor amidst the pile of broken wood and what was left of the chair cushion, looking surprised. Chloe tossed the remnants of the chair back toward the door, going to her knees. Her hands went to his shoulders, her eyes full of concern.
His shoulders were warm and powerful beneath her fingers. A current of electricity went through her, sizzling straight into the core of her stomach and making her ache for release. She never wanted to let go. Her mouth went dry and then wet, desire flooding through her like their touch had broken the dam.
Jackson looked up at her, his eyes searching her face and she knew he felt it, too. Like they were meant for one another. Like they were supposed to always be touching. She bitter her lower lip, trying to decide what to do next. If she let go of him she was afraid it would break the spell, but they couldn't just sit on the floor in the rubble of the chair either.
"Chloe..." Her name was like music when he said it. The gruffness in his voice, the barely contained hunger made her insides tighten in the most delicious way. His eyes flashed golden with desire as hi
s hand went behind her neck and he pulled her to him, pausing for the briefest moment before putting his lips to hers.
Fireworks exploded in her mind. Color and light as she kissed him with reckless abandon. Never had she wanted a kiss so badly, and never had one tasted so good. The world stopped spinning. She gave herself over to the kiss, letting her body overrule her mind and losing herself to him.
With a groan he pulled away, staggering to upright and away from her. "I'm sorry, I have to go," he whispered. His eyes still flashed golden and he was breathing heavy as he reached for his coat. She wondered for a moment if she had done something wrong; if she didn't make his blood sing for more like he did for hers.
Chloe shook her head, still lost in the golden wonder of his kiss. "Why?"
Jackson looked down at her as if is heart was breaking, his jaw hardening as he angrily slid his arms into his light jacket. "I need to go to the base."
Chloe blinked back tears she didn't understand, rising slowly to her feet. "You're going to leave me here alone? What if those men come back?"
Jackson reached to his side and pulled out a small, black handgun from a concealed holster. He carefully handed her the handle of the gun.
"You know how to use one of these?" His eyes were dark again and his brows pulled tight. She nodded, unwilling to trust her voice. "Good. Don't unlock that door for anyone but me. I'll be back in a couple of hours."
He moved his hand as though he were going to touch her cheek, stopping as though he thought better of the motion. With a click of the door he hurried out into the night, leaving Chloe staring after him with the gun limp in her hand.
Chapter 16
Jackson hurried back to Fort Baskerville, flashing his ID at the gate guard and then again at the newly placed guard on his building. He barely felt the cold January night settling around him like a heavy winter blanket. Little snow flurries danced in fits across the sky, but there wasn't enough snow to do more than frost the trees and make them sparkle. The poor private had flinched when Jackson growled at him, but held firm to needing to see ID.
He slammed the door to his small office and flung himself into the desk chair, half hoping it would dump him on the ground and give him something to break. The chair creaked, but it held. Jackson ran his fingers through his hair, wishing he had something stashed in the desk to take the edge of his emotions.
He couldn't believe what he had just done. He whined softly into his hands at the mess he had just created. Not only was the beautiful Chloe in danger, he had gone and kissed her. Throwing his uncontrollable emotions into her life was the absolute last thing she needed. If he lost his temper with her, even just once... he was afraid he would kill her. She needed him in her life like she needed a rabid dog.
Yet, he couldn't stop thinking about that kiss. The taste of her lips. The surge of his heart and the joy and hope that filled him. The tingle her skin sent into the very core of his being, lighting a fire that made him hot under the collar. She was smart and kind and had even made him smile and even laugh; something he was sure was never going to happen after Afghanistan.
Jackson lifted his head to look at the picture of Wolf Squad still perched safely up on a stack of boxes. The dead men's eyes looked down on him, their frozen smiles unchanging. He had gotten those men killed.
***
The fear in the sheikh's eyes told him they had just walked into a trap.
"(They made me! They made me!)" the man shouted in Pashto. He pushed his wife against the wall, as if he were trying to keep her away from the windows.
"It's a trap! Get back to the vehicles, quick!" Jackson yelled, motioning his teammates to the door.
That's when Hell started.
Gunfire, explosions, and screams filled the air. There was no escape. The smoke was bitter in Jackson's nostrils and it stung his eyes. He had to get his men out of there. He had known this was a bad idea and now he had to make sure he got them out of there.
"To the back," he commanded and his team worked they way to the rear of the house. Jackson took point, Dearden behind him.
Someone popped out of a house, a big rocket launcher propped on his shoulder. The image was seared into Jackson's mind as the rocket came hurtling toward him. Someone screamed and the world flashed and went dark.
***
He squeezed his eyes shut, the memories of the men screaming searing across his eyes as if he were still standing in that godforsaken hut. He couldn't put her through that. The beast inside of him was just too much of an animal to let it out near her. If he hurt her, he would never forgive himself. He already blamed himself for the death of his squad, but to add her to his death toll was more than he could even bear thinking of.
He needed to find a solution that would get him away from her. A way to keep her safe. He had already stretched his influence to get this position, so transferring wasn't an option. He sighed. Maybe if he could find something on her brother to make her stop looking, those goons with the guns would leave her alone? It didn't solve the problem of how to get himself away from her, but at least it got one of the two dangerous entities in her life away from her. Maybe with a little luck, she would just forget about him once she could focus on her brother.
Jackson pulled the old laptop out of his locked desk drawer. He had changed the lock himself from the standard one it had come with. The computer booted quickly and he sat down logged onto the Department of Defense mainframe to try and find some answers.
He was surprised to find a file on his very first search query. Things weren't usually that easy, but he clicked on it anyway. It was a series of orders for a Blake Madison to be on top secret orders to Afghanistan. As a linguist, it wasn't that strange of an order. But then Jackson looked at the location. The Kandahar district. There was no reason for a low-level Dari linguist to be in a Pashto majority-speaking area. Add on the ease of which he had just found this 'top secret' document, and he smelled something fishy.
He paused, his fingers poised over the keys to type in another search, but he paused. Maybe if Chloe thought that her brother was in Afghanistan, she would give up her search into the Lycan gene. Perhaps, he could even convince her that he was going to go look for her brother. It wouldn't be that difficult to convince the Army shrink that he was 'cured' and ready to go on another mission. He knew a colonel stationed in Kandahar that would be more than happy to have him on his team.
The idea of lying to her made Jackson's stomach twist. He would have to tell her that he didn't think the orders were real, but he hoped that maybe she would believe them anyway. He just wanted her to be safe. More than anything, he wanted her to be safe from the people looking for her and the animal within him.
He typed in a quick search to find more on the men who had attacked them. He couldn't find anything, but that didn't mean much. The only thing he found on the tattoo was a unit named "Phoenix" that had been under the command of Colonel Bronn at one point. They were a rough group, but it probably just meant that a superior officer has tasked the men with getting the girl by any means possible. He'd seen some violent things in the name of state security.
He closed the laptop slowly and put it back in its drawer. For a moment, he considered going back to the motel. His pulse quickened at the prospect of seeing Chloe's face brighten as she opened the door for him. Maybe she would even kiss him, her lips warm against his after the cold of the night air...
He snarled and slammed his hand on the desk. A small dent appeared in the shiny metal surface. Jackson groaned. At least it wasn't hand shaped, but his brand new desk wasn't new anymore.
He couldn't go back to the motel. He shouldn't be with Chloe. She deserved so much better than a broken soldier with nightmares and the strength to break desks. He was dangerous and she already had too much danger in her life. He had to figure out a way to get away before he hurt her.
Jackson glanced at a stack of paperwork waiting to be filed. He didn't feel like looking at the intelligence reports right now. He felt like h
owling at the moon with frustration. He couldn't do that right now either. So instead, he unfolded the ancient cot in the corner of the room and moved a few boxes to create a little bed. Pulling his uniform jacket up over his shoulders, he closed his eyes and prayed he didn't dream of fire.
Chapter 17
Chloe found herself back in the red velvet room. Her lover wasn't there yet, so she sat and waited on the bed, playing with the buttons on her shirt. It was only a matter of moments before Jackson strode through the door. He wore a tan t-shirt and his military camouflage pants that accentuated his perfect ass. Elation went through her as she flew into his arms, savoring the feeling of his muscles wrapping her up.
He kissed her as though he hadn't seen her in months. It started slow and sensual with deliberated softness. His tongue searched deliberately for hers, finding her mouth and filling it with exquisite sweetness.
His hands were warm on her skin as he pulled her into him, deepening the kiss. Her body pressed into his, feeling his strength. He was hot to the touch and she knew it was because he wanted her. He needed her. She pushed her hips against his, feeling him harden against her. She wanted him so badly it was making her shake.
With a delicate hand, she slid her fingers down his chest, down to where the bulge in his pants was growing. He sucked in a breath, raw hunger filling his face. She could see the muscles in his jaw tighten and his brown eyes darken with pure want. Chloe knew her face reflected the same desire.
Jackson leaned forward, sliding his lips along her jawbone, down the arch of her neck. Soft nibbles and gentle flicks of his tongue sent shivers of delight down her spine as he worked his way down to her collarbone, his hands going to her breasts.
Her clothes faded. So did his. She had a hard time not staring at the perfect male specimen before her, his hands cupping her breasts like they were treasures. A low growl of want escaped his throat and Jackson went back to kissing her shoulder, his thumbs strumming her nipples into sensitive nubs.