by Zoe Forward
He liked his solitude, but liked it even better with her here.
She returned with the pillow and comforter off his bed. She patted the pillow. “Lie down.”
No argument from him, not with his brain hazing in and out. He lay back and stared at the ceiling. The room still spun. With his eyelids shut, he focused on deep breaths.
Her shampoo teased him as she leaned in and placed the comforter over him. “It’s cold in here. Do you keep it set at sixty-five or something?”
“Need it cold to sleep.”
“Naturally hot-blooded. Got it.” Her fingers touched his forehead. “You’re burning up.” She pulled up his shirt. “The skin looks better, though. The black-and-purple parts are gone.” He thought he detected a bit of awe in her tone, but was too tired to open his eyes and interpret her expression to figure out the nuance behind her words. Also too whacked to see how good the stab wound looked, although he was curious.
Her fingers drifted over the area he’d been knifed. He expected pain but felt only the softness of her touch.
Her voice came out as a whisper when she asked, “Who stabbed you?”
“Poisoned blade…warlock.”
“Lucky I found you, then. Do you need anything right now? Water or something else to drink?”
“Orange juice.” It came out slurred and sounded more like orig ju.
She disappeared again. Questions over what she’d done to him needed asking, but they blurred together. He’d been on his way to meet Uncle Hades two days early. Maybe she wasn’t the source of his incredible recovery. Maybe his body had done some sort of miracle healing. Maybe Hades had denied him entry into hell. Gut instinct said it’d been her. On the upside, he might be weak as shit now, but he still breathed. A bit of sleep and he’d be recovered soon.
She returned with a tall glass of juice and sat next to him on the sofa, her hip pressing into his side. “Should I call someone for you? Danny or Chad? I can run you to the hospital or something if you want.”
“No. No need to concern them or anyone else. I’ll get through this.” He pushed up to a sit, ignoring the mental whirlybird, and rubbed a hand over his eyes in a futile attempt to dull the burgeoning headache.
Her face pinched with worry.
“I’m okay. Really.” He managed a smile he was sure looked pathetic. He took the juice and drank. His stomach might not be ready for it, but he needed the hydration and the sugar.
“If you say so.” She chewed on her lip. “I’ve got to go home, at least for a bit. I haven’t chitchatted with my father yet. But maybe I should stay. I don’t think you should be alone right now.”
“I’ll be fine.” He put the empty glass on the end table and laced his fingers through hers. With a gentle pull he brought her close. The smell of those golden strands was pure, clean heaven. “Thank you.”
She leaned away and met his gaze.
“Go home. Don’t want the old man getting bent out of shape with you gone. Don’t worry. I’m just going to sleep this off.” He tried to infuse flippancy in his tone like this happened all the time. An injury this severe was a first.
“Okay.” The worry didn’t leave her eyes. “I’ll come back when you’re feeling better.”
She leaned in and planted a light kiss on his lips. While her mouth lingered there, her hand touched his jaw. “Take care, Jason. You sure you don’t need anything?”
He nodded, forcing out a strained smile. “Thanks. Please, turn out the light in here as you go.”
Her footsteps echoed in the hall toward the front door. A part of him wanted to call her back. Her presence soothed him, but her leaving was a good thing. He couldn’t watch over her like she needed while weak as shit.
The last thing he heard before he gave in to the darkness pressing on his brain was the open and shut of the front door.
Chapter Fourteen
Shannon hadn’t left. She should’ve, but he didn’t have anyone she could call. No one should be alone when like this.
Facing her father needed to happen. She was a coward when it came to her dad. She didn’t want to hurt him or see him disappointed in her.
Her phone buzzed against her hip. She slid it out of her skirt pocket. Dad had texted twice. Eli once. Jen three times. All messages were versions of Where are you? That was a whole lot of it-can-wait. She slipped the phone back in her pocket and tiptoed back to Merck. For a long time she stood outside the entry of the den, listening for noise to determine if he was sleeping.
She didn’t want to intrude, especially if he wanted to be alone. A triangle of moonlight spilled across him in the dark room. Merck was lying on his side, breathing deep. He hadn’t moved much from when she’d left several minutes or more ago. A small snore came out every third breath.
Seeing Merck like this—vulnerable and passed out—was much harder, even stranger, than she could’ve imagined. She hadn’t known his hardened, grownup persona long, but he still seemed the strong and confident guy she remembered. She moved toward him, drawn as if an invisible magnet drew them together. The comforter had gotten tangled in his legs to the point it’d pulled off his upper body. Untangling wasn’t worth the risk of waking him up. The cushy chair across from him encouraged a lazy curl while she watched him.
Her phone buzzed again. Another text, this time from Jen: Your father called. Didn’t tell him anything. He’s P.O.’d.
New text from her father: Let me know you’re ok.
The one from Dad meant he’d entered resignation she wasn’t coming home tonight. The guilt piled on that she’d made all of them worry. She texted both, but not as a group message: I’m fine. Back soon.
She scanned through Facebook and news feeds. Nothing interesting had been missed in the world. She clicked off the dopamine-addictive screen and dozed. Something woke her up. A click of her phone said it’d been roughly three hours. She glanced around, wondering what had disturbed her.
Merck wasn’t on the sofa anymore. Where’d he gone? The hall light clicked on. He padded back into the den, his shoes now gone.
“You okay?” he asked. All wobbliness seemed resolved. He looked good. Better than good, to the point of energetic. His T-shirt showed off the tattoos she hadn’t taken time before to really notice. They went all the way up to the short sleeves and didn’t end. Gosh, that was sexy.
She nodded. “You?”
“I’m good.” He ran a hand over his hair. “Embarrassed.”
“No need. It’s okay.”
He shook his head. “Shouldn’t have happened to begin with. Why’re you here? Didn’t you have to talk with your father?”
“I didn’t want to leave you alone.”
He shifted on his feet. “Well, thanks I guess.”
Okay, now she felt awkward. She stood and grabbed her cell phone off the armrest of the chair. “I guess I can go now since you’re looking better.”
He caught her in his arms as she passed him, pulled her against him, and lowered his lips to hers. Tangling his fingers in her hair, he locked her to him and cupped the back of her head. He tasted so good. Her body melted into him, and her arms twined around his neck. She loved the inherent strength in his arms, his shoulders, and even his stance. Everything radiated power.
He grumbled, “I don’t want to stop this time.”
“Then don’t.”
***
He wouldn’t. Old vows be damned. No more excuses. Years of fantasy what-ifs involving her and his current wants collided. Boom.
“Know what I’m thinking?” His voice came out hoarse.
She shook her head. “Does it involve a bed?”
“A shower.” No way was he taking this anywhere while covered in blood with the stench of Reevo’s poison still swirling in his nostrils.
“Okay,” she whispered. Her phone buzzed. And buzzed again. She pulled it from a pocket at the side of her sexy sundress, typed a quick reply and clicked it off. “My people are worried and persistent.”
He took her hand and l
ed her through the master bedroom to the adjoining bathroom. The sunken tub beckoned, but he didn’t have the patience to wait for it to fill. Maybe later.
He flipped on the shower and stripped off his shirt. A glance down found a lot of crusted blood on his lower abdomen. The knife’s entry point, now closed and healed, didn’t have residual bruising. None of the expected blackened skin from poison. Not even a scar. He was okay with whatever she’d done, but that didn’t eliminate his need to get questions answered. When there was magic involved, he needed to know exactly what transpired.
His gaze met hers.
She blushed and chewed on her lower lip. Her wide eyes reflected worry.
“Thanks for whatever you did.” He waved at his side.
She glanced away. “You looked pretty bad when I found you. I wasn’t sure you’d make it.” Back to lip chewing. Whatever happened had shaken her and she wasn’t ready to hand out details.
Questions could wait. He stepped to her, trailing a finger down her quivering body. “You planning to take this off?”
“I might shower in it.” She didn’t break eye contact. Her lips twitched into a small smile.
He hooked the hem of her dress. “Probably not a good idea. It looks like a fabric that might not be forgiving of water. Your phone wouldn’t like it either.” He set her phone on the counter. Slowly he raised the dress’s hem higher and higher. She sucked in a breath when his fingers tickled her belly. “You sure you want to do this?”
“Yes.”
A thought flickered through his mind, not a reason to say no, but it might cause him to change his approach. “You’re not…this isn’t your first time, is it?”
She shook her head. “I’ve imagined this for a long time.”
“You imagined us before our kiss in the woods?”
“Way before then. A lot more after.” She leaned in and touched her lips to his, at first gentle and then aggressive, pressing her tongue between his parted lips to tangle with his. She pulled back. “I’m ready to experience reality.”
“Me too,” he breathed out. “I never understood this with you. There’s always been something here.”
She touched his face. “I think I fell for you a bit the first time we met.”
“At the bus stop?”
She nodded.
Same for him. When he first saw her sauntering up the road, it’d been a gut punch. There’d been sexual appreciation for a pretty girl, but also fascination and a hell of a lot of can’t-go-there. The highlight of each miserable day in high school had been those ten minutes with her before the bus arrived in the morning. He got there twenty minutes before the bus came just in case she showed up early.
He pulled the dress over her arms. She kicked off the sexy, heeled sandals. Now only her panties and a lacy bra remained. His gaze skimmed over the mysterious scar on her body. Dread filled her eyes.
“If I could figure out how to get rid of it, I would. I can cover it up with a bandage or something.”
He touched her cheek, letting his hand slide to the back of her neck. “We’re going to figure it out before time’s up. I promise. I don’t find you any less beautiful.”
She stepped to him and rested her palm on his stomach. “You sure you’re okay? You’re recovered enough and not in pain?”
He was hurting. Big time. But not from getting stabbed. This was the good kind of hurt. The kind that wrapped anticipation, hope, and a huge amount of ready to go in one painful package. He managed to give her an I’m okay nod.
She reached for the fastening of his pants and flipped the fly’s buttons with a smile.
“Uhh…I’m not wearing anything under there.” It was one thing to borrow Brian Randolph’s clothes in another dimension, but quite another to borrow underwear. He also never gave much of a damn for underclothes.
Her eyes drooped to half-mast. “That’s all right with me.”
He kicked his head back and groaned when her fingers surrounded his erection. His fingers tightened around her waist.
She released him to skim his waistband. He brushed her hand out of the way and shoved the jeans down.
Her laugh drew his gaze. “Guess we’ve both been waiting too long for this.”
He unhooked her bra, pulled down her panties, and crowded her into the shower.
She jumped when the spray hit her. “Hot.”
He switched places, taking most of the spray to shield her. Its heat barely registered to him. He smiled.
“What?” she asked.
“I wanted to kill every single bastard you dated in high school.”
“I didn’t go on many dates, so your list of potential victims must’ve been short. I didn’t even make out with any of them. Okay, that’s a lie. There was the tennis team captain. I kissed him.”
“I’ll punch him the next time I meet him. He works over at Home Depot in the plumbing department.”
“The guy kissed like a drooly dog. It wasn’t a very good first-kiss experience.” She gazed up and touched his cheek to trace the scars. “My second kiss experience was a lot better.” She touched his lips with her index finger. “I hated every girl who bragged about sleeping with you.”
“I got around back then. Not denying it. You were too young for someone like me. I knew better than to fantasize about you. I knew better than to give in to fantasy and kiss you.” He leaned down, gently kissed her lips, and then moved down to kiss one nipple. “Didn’t stop me from doing either anyway. You used to wear a tight green sweater that showed off your nipples. I dreamed of yanking up the sweater and burying my head between your breasts.” He nuzzled his nose into the space between her breasts.
She giggled.
“You think I was dirty minded?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“You like it.”
“Every girl wants to be the star of a fantasy at least once.”
“You starred in far more than one. But I swore years ago I wouldn’t touch you. I don’t break swears on a whim.”
“Why when you seemed to make it into every other girl’s bed?”
“You’re different, and not just because of what you are.” She crossed her arms.
“Different as in weird? As in not someone you wanted to take to bed?”
He traced the line of her neck to her collarbone. “There’s no girl I wanted naked in bed more than you.”
“Then, why not?”
He uncrossed her arms gently and kissed down her neck. “Your brothers would’ve killed me.”
“So this is about the coast being clear now that they’re not here to defend my honor?”
“They never scared me.”
“You didn’t want me enough to go up against them?”
He crowded her against the wall of the shower so she’d have no doubt how much he wanted her right now. “I always wanted you. Always. In high school the mere thought of you in that green sweater would get me so hard it hurt. I could’ve made a call and had a girl ease it off, but I never did. I’d jack off to the thought of you because all I wanted was Shannon Randolph. I couldn’t make it reality, though. My life had become about being the Enforcer. I didn’t want you exposed to that. I wasn’t what you needed. I still don’t think I am.”
He wasn’t convinced she truly understood that him taking this step with her wasn’t casual for him. “When I ran into you on my side of the creek...What the hell made you cross?”
“I wanted to run into you. I hadn’t seen you in months.”
“Got a bit more than you bargained for back then, didn’t you?”
Her eyelids dropped to half-mast. “Not nearly enough.”
“You weren’t ready for what I wanted to do to you. Hell, I wasn’t ready for it. But it made me want to try. That was the only time I considered dating.”
“Dad scared you off.”
“It wasn’t him. I let him intimidate me because you scared the hell out of me.”
“Me?” Her pink tongued darted out and licked water off her l
ips.
“You make me lose control.” He kissed her again. “I’m going to do it all to you. Shower first, though.” He squeezed body wash into his hands and soaped her upper body, his hands lingering on her breasts.
She grabbed the bottle from him and returned the favor, needing to scrub in order to get off all the blood. She took her time tracing the contours of his hard stomach and chest. Her touch made him itch to punch the gas on this.
As she caressed the area where there’d been blood on his stomach, she asked, “Does this happen to you often? You get hurt to the point you almost die?” She touched the scar on his face again.
“Sometimes. Usually, I can make it to the ocean in time. The warlock today was a top-tier nasty. He was good, but not good enough.”
“Was. As in he’s dead? Was he here for the Trident?”
“Probably.” He didn’t want to think about Reevo right now, not when he finally had Shannon naked in his shower. His fingers tangled in her soft, wet hair. He leaned forward and kissed his way down her neck and chest to a nipple, drawing the pebbled peak in to gently suck on it. She grabbed his arms to steady herself.
“What do they think I can do to get the Trident when I don’t even know where it is or what I can do to find it?”
“You’re so beautiful,” he murmured. “More than I ever imagined.”
“Stop trying to deflect from the question. You probably know more about it than anyone else on the planet other than your father.”
“Is the distraction working?” His fingers skimmed down her body, measuring each curve and contour.
Her head fell back against the shower’s glass wall on a moan. “Mmm. Yeah, it’s working.”
“We’ll figure it out. Later.” He left her nipple to move down, pausing at her belly button just south of the scar, and continued to trek lower. He needed to taste her so badly. He dropped to his knees, never halting the kissing. His fingers teased over the soft folds between her legs, exploring. So wet for him. She spread her legs, giving him more access. Gently, he eased a finger inside her. So tight. Her internal muscles quivered. She jerked when he touched his tongue to her. Every time she clenched around his finger, he moaned, needing to be there and feel her squeeze around him.