Jackson's Rise

by Tielle St Clare

  But all she could think of was turning the aggression of the two males and directing it toward her. In bed. Naked. Oh yeah.

  Jackson shifted right and Reign followed, they started to circle each other.

  Oh no. This wasn’t good. She had to get control.

  “Stop it.” She stepped forward, physically placing herself in the space between them. They looked ready to ignore her. She took a deep breath and both sets of male eyes dipped down to her breasts. They stopped and stared at her nipples pressing against the thin material of her shirt.

  Men, she thought with a mental sigh. But it worked. Jackson’s gaze snapped back up and he had the courtesy to look a little embarrassed. Reign’s stare lingered before he finally looked away.

  “Now, can we discuss this—” whatever the hell this was “like rational adults?”

  Both men nodded but neither spoke.

  “Reign, this is Jackson, Max’s twin brother. Jackson, this is Reign. He’s a friend of Max’s…” She paused. “And mine.” Neither moved. “Shake hands,” she ordered.

  She almost moaned when they both stayed locked in position. Suddenly the reasonable, practical Jackson wasn’t so reasonable or practical. He’d turned into a macho asshole like Max. And Reign. Hopefully, Jackson’s residency in that world was temporary. After long seconds that wore on Dani’s nerves, Jackson sighed and offered his right hand.

  Reign nodded and met Jackson’s hand with his own. The muscles along Reign’s jaw twitched like he was going to speak but he seemed to change his mind. The two men shook and then released each other. The tension between them still hummed and Dani felt compelled to insert herself into it.

  “Reign is a cop and he’s kind of been working on a case.” She shrugged. “And I guess I’m working with him. And Max.” Despite Jackson’s assurances that it didn’t make a difference to him that she’d been with his brother, she still felt uncomfortable bringing up his name.

  Jackson just nodded, the macho strain on his muscles hadn’t diminished. He stared at Reign like he was assessing a threat.

  Reign returned the glare.

  Great. Warring animals in her living room.

  “Reign.” He didn’t acknowledge her. She tugged on his arm. “Reign? You’re here to talk to me, right?”

  He nodded, letting his gaze linger on Jackson before turning his attention to her.

  “There’s a party tonight. Full of his—” He paused “Target market. If we’re going to get him, it’s going to be tonight.”

  Dani’s stomach dropped and she could feel the blood drain from her face. She’d agreed to do this. She had to do this. This asshole drug dealer had killed someone, shot someone right in front of her.

  And Reign was hoping she could help lock up the bad guy.

  The hollowness in her stomach sank into her legs and her knees started to wobble. She reached for the back of the couch to steady herself but Jackson was there, the arrogant masculine posture disappearing as he wrapped his arm around her back and he pulled her to his front. His attention had shifted, leaving Reign behind and focusing on her. Warmth and strength poured from his body and covered her, comforting her. She turned into him, her body craving the closeness.

  “It’s okay, baby. I won’t let anything happen to you,” Jackson vowed, whispering the words into her hair.

  The instinct to stay protected in Jackson’s arms was strong, but she knew she had to face whatever was out there. She swallowed, trying to clear the tightness in her throat, and looked at Reign. “What do you need me to do?”

  Reign stared at the slim, frightened woman wrapped in the wolf’s arms. Even though she was almost six feet tall, she looked tiny. The wolf was big. An exact copy of his brother, except for their eyes. Max’s were blue. Jackson’s green.

  The Cat inside Reign rebelled at being so close to one of the dogs but he had enough control, had lived a human life for long enough, that he was able to control the urge to slash his claws at the beast’s face.

  From a purely male standpoint, Reign wanted to grab her away from the wolf and comfort her. Let her use his body. But damn, somehow he’d missed again. He’d always had the thought that once Dani and Max had broken up, he could slip in. Despite the fact that they were engaged, he hadn’t expected it to last. The two of them had been hot together but it hadn’t been stable. Not the kind of forever relationship a wolf was looking for.

  But somehow she’d transitioned from one brother to the other. Jackson stood with her, providing support. After maybe ninety seconds in their presence, Reign could tell there was something solid between these two.

  Fuck, he’d missed his chance to have Dani.

  There was no doubt in Reign’s mind they’d had sex. The scent was all around them and there was a sensual glow about Dani that he’d never seen before. Bet that pisses Max off. Seems his brother is a better fuck than he is.

  Reign held back a smile and tucked that information into his brain. He might need it later. Something to torment Max with.

  “What do we have to do?” Dani asked bravely.

  “Should be fairly simple,” he said putting a shiny polish on an ugly situation. Besides, without Max here, he was going with Plan B. Just get Dani in. She’d identify Winston and he’d take it from there. “We’ll go to the party and you just have to—”

  Dani nodded. “Point him out to you.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Wait.”

  Reign felt his eyeballs begin to ache. He should have expected this. The werewolf was throwing himself into this.

  “Catch me up.”

  Reign almost told him to stay out of it but Dani looked a little fragile and she was taking some of her strength from the wolf.

  She flicked her hair back and took a breath. Reign could see the painful memories work into her muscles. The sadness made his heart ache.

  It was strange. He was a Cat. By nature, he didn’t form relationships—at least not lasting ones. But something about Dani drew him closer, made him wish he could be the kind of guy who stuck around. Someone who could marry and have kids. The whole white picket fence thing.

  “A few months ago I was at a party with some friends. I was tired and decided to go home. I got turned around and ended up going out the wrong door of the club. Ended up in this back room but it had cell service so I decided to call a cab from there. These guys came in and I hid out—because I wasn’t supposed to be there. I saw this guy, this Winston, shoot someone.”

  “Oh, baby.” He put his hand on her cheek and eased her head onto his shoulder. Over her head, he glared at Reign.

  Reign suppressed the growl that scraped the inside of his throat. Part of his irritation was the interference of the wolf—who was going to complicate things—and the other part was the desire to comfort Dani himself. To be the one who protected her.

  “If this guy is in town, pick him up.”

  “We can’t.”

  “Why not?”

  “We don’t know what he looks like.”

  “What?!” Jackson’s shout jolted Dani from her comfortable position snuggled up against his chest. “I’m sorry, baby.” He patted her shoulder but she forced herself to straighten up. “What do you mean you don’t know what he looks like?”

  Reign’s lips tightened and for a moment Dani thought he might not explain but finally he said, “We know his name. We know his product but we have no pictures of him. He’s a full-on ghost.”

  “But Dani can give you a description, can’t you?”

  She shook her head. “No.” Guilt and regret made her step back, putting distance between them. “I know what he looks like, I can see him in my mind but I couldn’t work with the police artist. I can’t figure out how to describe him.” She shrugged. The officer that worked with her said it was rare but admitted that sometimes a person just couldn’t provide the detail for a sketch.

  “I need her to point him out.”

  Energy blasted from Jackson’s body as he straightened, pulling himself to
his full height. “And you want her to walk into a party alone and just point to a murderer?”

  “Of course not. She won’t be alone. I’ll be there.” He turned to Dani. “The party is very ritzy, lots of security.”

  “Sounds like fun,” she said weakly.

  Jackson nodded. “Yeah, sounds like something I might like to attend.” The sarcasm wasn’t lost on Dani or Reign.

  “Not happening, wolf-boy. These aren’t your kind of people.”

  Jackson stepped forward, planting himself in front of Reign. “She’s not walking into some Clowder unprotected.”

  “I’ll be there.”

  “She’s not going.”

  “That’s not your call.”

  “It became—”

  Dani stared at the two men, their bodies aggressive, challenging. Damn, they were going to start punching. Again.

  Reign she could almost understand. He’d always had that aggressive tendency, even around Max. But Jackson had seemed so civilized last night. Well, until he fucked you against the wall. She had to admit the veneer of civilization had tarnished just a bit. Still, she never would have expected this kind of physical aggression.

  And damn if all that energy wasn’t surging through her body—only as sex. It would be so delicious to step between them, pull them both to her, one cock rubbing her clit, the other against her ass. Her pussy creamed and she had to open her mouth to get in enough air.

  “Arrrgh!” She wasn’t sure if the noise she made was from frustration over the men’s behavior or her own unsatisfied desire but it worked. Both men jerked and looked at her. She flipped her hair away from her face. “Now that I have your attention…” She drilled Jackson with a stare. “I appreciate you wanting to protect me but Reign’s right. This isn’t your call.” Jackson opened his mouth to reply but she held up her hand, stopping the protest. Smart man that he was, he backed down. “And Reign, I want to help but I’m also scared so if there’s a way to have Jackson there, I’d feel more comfortable.”

  The two men looked at her, then she saw surreptitious glances toward each other.

  Neither nodded. Neither agreed.

  “How about this? How about we sit down, have some breakfast—because I’m thinking you’ll both be a little more reasonable once you’ve eaten—and talk about this.” Again neither man responded. “Okay, that wasn’t really a suggestion. It’s what we’re going to do.”

  The corner of Jackson’s mouth bent up into a small smile and eased some of her tension.

  “Works for me,” he conceded then flashed a challenging stare toward Reign.

  “Fine.”

  “Great. I also have no intention of cooking for both of you and don’t have any food in the house anyway, so, Reign, you know where the Cozy Corner Café is?” Reign nodded. “We’ll meet you there. I need to change and we’ll head there.” And it would give her a few minutes to lay down the law with Jackson. Not that she didn’t appreciate his attempts to protect her but she was a big girl and she had agreed to help Reign catch this guy. The memories of the sounds—the shot, the man’s groan and the thud of his body hitting the ground—still crept into her dreams.

  Reign hesitated. He tossed a final glare at Jackson then walked away. Dani sighed with relief when the door closed behind him. That left only one pompous male she had to deal with.

  “You’re not going anywhere with him alone.”

  Jackson’s bald statement made the hair on her neck stand up.

  “Excuse me?” She stepped out of Jackson’s reach, not wanting to risk the temptation of his touch. Her body hummed from the brief fantasy of being trapped between their bodies but thankfully her mind still functioned. “You don’t get to decide that.”

  “Dani, how well do you know him? Or his friends?”

  “I know him well enough. And I trust him.”

  The edges of Jackson’s eyes squinted down. “Are you lovers?”

  “I told you ‘no’ last night. Just because I fell into bed with you, you assume I do it with every guy I meet?” It was a kind of bitchy response but Dani was having a tough time focusing. Between the steady desire to have sex, which wasn’t going away even though she was out of Jackson’s range, and the fact that she really had fallen into bed with a guy she didn’t know, who happened to be the brother of her ex-fiancé, yeah, she was feeling a little tense.

  Jackson shook his head. “You didn’t exactly fall into bed with me. The first time was up against the wall if I remember correctly.” Dani gasped and knew her mouth fell open. In her shock, she wasn’t ready for Jackson to move. He took two fast steps and was in front of her, his arm around her back, holding her plastered against his body. Pissed but unable to resist the need of her body, she straddled the thigh he shoved between her legs and moaned as he clamped down on her ass, forcing her clit against the strong hard muscles in his thigh. She groaned and moved her hips, rubbing a fast hard circle with pussy. “That’s it.” She heard his encouragement and knew she should be mortified. This was exactly the behavior that was going to get her into trouble. But she couldn’t stop. He held her hips, following her movements, guiding her a little faster, harder, his mouth on her neck, kissing and licking and whispering those hot sexy words.

  The climax hit her hard and fast and she cried out, clinging to Jackson. Using his strength as he worked her through the sweet after-tremors.

  Unable to look him in the eye, she dropped her head forward, landing on his shoulder.

  “You okay, baby?” She nodded but didn’t look up. “Look at me, Dani.” The command in his voice made it impossible to resist and she forced her eyes upward, expecting laughter, humor, even a little mockery. After all, she’d just tried to claim she wasn’t a slut and then humped his leg like a bitch in heat.

  All that stared back at her was lust and heat. And maybe a hint of affection. After a moment that made her body ache to have him inside her, the lust in his eyes eased. It didn’t disappear but the logical controlled man she’d had dinner with returned.

  “I don’t think you’re a slut. At all.” She took a breath, ready to point out the obvious that she had fallen into bed with him after way too short an acquaintance. But he shook his head, stopping her words. “The reason I wanted to know if you and Reign were lovers is sheer jealousy on my part.” She felt her cheeks turn red at the heat in his voice.

  She shrugged. “I told you there was some attraction between us,” she reminded him, her confidence returning.

  “I expected a little heat. I almost got burned just standing next to you.”

  The wry tone of his voice made her smile. “It was particularly strong today.” She looked to where Reign had been standing and shook her head. “I mean, I think he’s attractive but today, wow.”

  “Felt like you wanted to jump him in the living room.”

  She gasped but nodded. Confusion crinkled the edges of his eyes.

  “We okay?” she asked, tapping her finger against the button of his shirt.

  “We’re definitely okay.”

  “We should go. I need to change and then we’ll find out what Reign has in mind for this party.”

  “I can hardly wait.”

  “Ooh, sarcasm. Be nice.”

  The edge of Jackson’s mouth kicked up. “Baby, this is me being nice.”

  She laughed and felt the tension between them disappear. “I’ll just go up and change.”

  Jackson nodded but she noticed that he followed her. Secretly, she smiled. The quick orgasm from downstairs seemed like an appetizer, a taste that made her want more. She shook her head. She enjoyed sex, sometimes even craved it, but never anything like this. Her cheeks felt warm and flushed. Her nipples remained tight and sensitive. And when she got upstairs she was going to have to change her underwear.

  She strolled into her bedroom. Jackson came right behind her. Her heart started to pound, distinctly aware that Jackson didn’t have a reason to be here. He didn’t have clothes to change into. He wore the suit from last nigh
t, without the jacket, which was draped over the couch downstairs.

  Maybe he’s going to finish what they started downstairs. Oh yeah. She glanced at her rumpled bed. Jackson hadn’t come downstairs and that hardly seemed fair.

  Reign. Damn. His name popped into her head, her conscience still alert even while the rest of her focused on sex.

  Reign is waiting. Waiting to talk to you about identifying a killer.

  There. That little reminder distracted her.

  She undid the button at the waistband of her skirt but didn’t pull it off, leaving it hang low on her hips. She flipped through hanger after hanger looking for what she wanted. Something cool and light. She needed the possibility of a breeze against her legs to keep her body temperature down.

  She came out of the deep walk-in closet—the best feature to her condo—and found Jackson waiting, a serious, thoughtful expression on his face.

  “What?” she asked, clutching the floral printed fabric in her hand. He stared at the skirt, his gaze intent, possessive.

  “What are you wearing?”

  She waved the skirt, trying to laugh off the question. She was all for a little dominance in bed—that was sexy—but no way was a man, any man, no matter the size of his cock or how well he used it, going to tell her what she could wear. “This.”

  “Let me see it.”

  With a sigh, preparing for the battle ahead, she handed him the skirt. It was conservative compared to what she normally wore. It actually reached to the midpoint of her thighs. Every other skirt stopped just short of her ass. She had a good body. It took work and denying herself dessert and pasta but she kept herself in good shape. And she had no problem showing off her body. If she did, she’d picked the wrong profession.

  Jackson held up the skirt and nodded.

  “I have your approval?” She said it with enough sarcasm that there was no way he could miss it. He was a smart guy after all.

  “Skirt’s fine, but I want you to wear these.” He stretched out his hand. Pale blue cotton was crunched in his fist.