by Jill Sanders
When he chuckled, she drew back.
“I swear to you, that’s my gun.” He laughed up at her.
She chuckled for just a moment, and then her mind cleared and she froze in place. What was she doing? My god! She was on Jacob St. Clair’s lap! The man she had always wanted, but knew… She’d lost complete control. She shook her head and started to move away, but his hands went to her hips, holding her still.
“Hey.” He frowned up at her. “Are you going to tell me why you do that?”
“What?” she asked, trying to clear her mind.
“Pull away.”
“Maybe…” She scanned her mind for an excuse. Any excuse.
He chuckled again. “Can’t think of a good enough reason?”
Damn him. She felt her body stiffen even more. “You don’t know me as well as you think, Jacob St. Clair.” She crossed her arms over her chest since it was obvious he wasn’t going to let her off his lap anytime soon.
Her movement only caused his smile to grow.
“Oh yeah?” His hands kept drawing small circles on her hips. “Prove me wrong.”
She sighed. “How am I supposed to do that?”
“Tell me why you are trying to pull away from me,” he said as his hands stopped their movement. “From this.” She immediately wished he had kept them moving. She could feel his heat and desire through his hands, and it was doing something to her own body.
“I was thinking about how this could end up a complete disaster,” she blurted out.
“Why? Do you think that if we sleep together, we won’t be able to be friends after?”
“No, yes.” She shook her head. There was so much more to it. Closing her eyes, she silently wished for a way to tell him that them being together was just another piece to a very long and dangerous puzzle. One that ended in her own death and the destruction of everything.
“Hey.” His voice was so close. When she opened her eyes, he had shifted until they were almost nose to nose. “Tell me,” he whispered before laying his lips on hers gently.
“We can’t do this,” she said, feeling her heart break. “You don’t know what it’s going to cost.”
“I won’t hurt you,” he promised and, looking into his eyes, she knew he was telling the truth.
“I know. It’s not that.”
“Then what?” he asked after a moment of silence.
“Do you remember when you said that knowing how you liked your coffee was my power?” She bit her bottom lip, waiting for him to get it.
“Sure.” He shifted under her, but kept his hands on her hips, telling her that he wanted her to stay where she was. “You said you could see things like Xtina, only things that haven’t happened yet.”
“Well…” She sighed and almost backed down, but his fingers started moving again and she saw so much trust in his eyes. “The things I see can happen a few different ways.” All but one. But she wasn’t going to tell him about that instance.
“Okay,” he said slowly. She could tell that he wasn’t understanding her.
“I mean, sometimes I can do things to change the outcome,” she tried to explain.
“And?”
She bit her lip, deciding it wasn’t time to tell him everything. “I saw tonight, shortly before my parents left town.”
He was quiet. Too quiet. Even his hands had stopped moving.
“You knew we were going to see the ghost? Even back then?” he asked.
“And much more.”
“Like?”
“Like…” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Why not tell him? She’d believed her entire life it had only been a dream her mind had conjured up. Now, she was sure it wasn’t just a dream. Not when everything she’d seen was coming true. “I know that we don’t sleep together tonight.”
He chuckled. “Is this your way of telling me to get lost?”
“No.” She held him still by placing her hands on his shoulders. “No.” She shook her head.
“You said yourself that you can change the outcome.” His hands started moving, but she stopped him by placing her hands on his elbows and holding him still.
“No, nothing can change tonight. But I know that... you get a call, the night we are finally together.”
“What kind of call?” he asked.
“One where you’ll be put in danger.”
“Jess.” He almost growled it out. “What happens?”
She looked into his eyes and realized that he wasn’t looking at her like she was crazy. Instead, he was hanging on every word she said. Like he believed her.
“It’s a different kind of call. When it happens, you’ll know that you’re needed.”
“Where?” He looked concerned.
“The McDonald field,” she finally said. “That’s all I can tell you.”
“Why? Don’t you know the rest?”
She nodded, slightly. “Any more information and things go bad.” She felt her heart kick at the sights she’d seen if she said anything more. “Trust me, you’ll know what to do when you get there.” She smiled as she ran a finger over his uniform.
“Now, I have a double shift tomorrow.” She got up and noticed that his hands stayed away. “You have a long day too.” She stood back as he got up.
He surprised her by leaning in and placing a hot kiss on her lips, one that had her toes curling before he finally pulled away.
“Will I see you tomorrow?” he asked.
She smiled and put her hand up to her forehead and rolled her eyes. “I see… a hot cup of coffee and a very large sticky bun in our future.”
He smiled and chuckled as she walked him out of her apartment. He kissed her again briefly on the back steps, then shook his head. “You should really replace that light.”
She crawled into bed after a hot shower and prayed that she would have a dreamless night. But instead, images of death and destruction filled her mind. As usual.
The next morning, when Jacob walked into the Coffee Corner, she was back to her usual self. Completely and wholly in denial about the doomed future.
The only thing good about the following day was the ten minutes he got to enjoy eating breakfast with Jess.
From there, everything went to hell in a handbasket. Call after call, he was feeling more frustrated. He hadn’t taken lead on the Schmitt case, but since the murder, the entire station had been flooded with calls. It seemed that everyone in the small town all of a sudden thought that they lived in a large city.
He’d gone on several calls from people who believed someone was trying to murder them. Several more calls from people who said they had information on the murders, but in reality, they wanted to hound him for gossip about the case.
He’d gotten another call from the school, and while he was out there, decided to talk to the art teacher. She was a pretty redhead that had been a grade under him, but he couldn’t remember her name.
She went by Miss Ragsdale, which was no help. Still, she gave some good insights into who could have been the artist behind the statue artwork, which had cost the school two hundred dollars to power wash away.
The school was just letting out and he found the kid, Damion, spray-painting what appeared to be a large blue dick on the side of the bleachers.
He hauled the kid down to the station, only to find Xtina, Mike, Jess, and, to his shock, his real parents waiting for him.
Suddenly, his minor headache turned into a full-blown migraine. He dealt with the situations the best he could while avoiding them as he assured Xtina that the article in the local paper about her having something to do with her parents’ deaths was nothing but garbage. Then he filled them in on the Schmitt case, since the paper had also hinted at her involvement. So far, the police weren’t listing her as a suspect in either case.
Then, to his horror, somehow, he was left alone in the room with the couple. They were younger than the St. Clairs, who were in their late sixties. He knew by just looking at the man staring back at him that he
was his biological father. Jacob was almost a spitting image of the guy.
“Son,” Rusty Kincaid began.
“I’m not your son. My father is Ronny St. Clair.” He saw the hurt in Susan Kincaid’s eyes. “They’re the only parents I’ve ever known. I understand…”
“No.” Susan stepped forward. “I don’t think you do.” Rusty reached forward and took her hand. “We were young, too young, but that didn’t stop us from wanting you.” Her eyes moved to her husband’s.
“We’re so happy you found a good family. Ours…” He shook his head. “Our parents used to have a lot of power over us. They gave us no choice, actually.”
Jacob could hear the hurt in his voice. Deciding the day couldn’t get any worse, he played nice, hoping to end the conversation quickly.
“I’m happy to meet you,” he said. “I don’t know what you expect from this…” He motioned between them and included Mike, who was standing in the corner, quietly.
“We don’t know either.” Susan chuckled and wiped a tear from her eyes.
“Well, maybe we can just take it slowly?” Rusty said. He reached out a hand for his.
Jacob took it and was impressed at the power of his old man’s handshake.
After everyone finally left, he spent the next hour doing paperwork until his eyes refused to focus anymore. Then he shut his computer down and drove home.
Not even pulling into the place he’d called home for almost four years could lift his spirits. He’d put a lot of work into it the first year he’d lived there and now everything was exactly as he wanted it. The four-bedroom, three-bath ranch had a large wraparound porch and a three-car detached garage that held an impressive workshop that he fiddled in on his off hours.
He’d replaced most of the hardwood flooring and carpets, so when he walked inside, he removed his muddy boots and put them on the shoe rack. Tossing his keys on the counter, he walked over and put his gun into his safe behind a hidden panel he’d installed in the wall. There was another one in his bedroom that held his private guns.
He pulled off his uniform, climbed into a shower, and tried to relax from the hard day. Still, as he stood under the hot spray, Jess’s words played over and over in his mind.
“It’s a different kind of call. When it happens, you’ll know that you’re needed.”
What the hell did that mean? He shut the water off and didn’t even bother pulling on shorts. Instead, he climbed into bed and was out less than five minutes later.
He woke in the middle of the night to an image so sharp that his entire body was wracked with pain.
Red door, seven people, Xtina screaming for her life.
He shot out of bed, heading for his gun safe, then he stopped. His room was masked in complete darkness and after a few deep breaths, he knew where he had to go.
Chapter 5
Jess rushed to the hospital and found Xtina just waking up in her own room. She’d avoided coming earlier and going to the silo to help out. Every instance she’d seen where she had rushed there had ended badly.
The worst-case scenario had been when she’d warned everyone what had been about to happen. She shivered remembering the destruction.
The nurse had filled her in on Mike’s condition and told her that he was in surgery to remove a bullet from his thigh. She was thankful; it could have been much worse.
“There you are.” She smiled down at her friend. “You scared the shit out of me.” It wasn’t a lie. She had scared her. Knowing several possibilities didn’t mean you didn’t worry about which one was going to come to pass.
She’d been impressed that Xtina had shot a message of help out to everyone, opening yet another part of the puzzle.
She thought quickly about telling Xtina about her and Jacob, but before she could, someone knocked on the door.
She was hugging Xtina and feeling confident that her friend was going to be okay when Mike’s mother stepped into the room.
Jess had found out the night before that Mike was Jacob’s brother. When he’d told her that he had a brother, she hadn’t put two and two together. Maybe she’d been blind to what had been right in front of her all along.
After all, it made sense. It was the reason she’d been instantly attracted to Mike. Also, the reason she’d imagined Jacob as she’d been with Mike.
She studied Susan and Rusty Kincaid, Mike’s parents, as they comforted Xtina in the hospital room. They were still here. In no possible path she’d seen had they remained in town for this event. Why hadn’t she seen that coming?
What else was coming that she didn’t know? Things were changing. And that meant the path was changing.
Did that mean that the image she’d seen all her life could change too?
She left the room when the nurse kicked her out. Mike had come out of surgery and was resting. He was expected to make a full recovery.
She walked into the lobby, expecting to wait there, but saw Jacob standing there, covered in blood and dirt. She knew what happened next.
All her nerves disappeared as she walked over, took his hand, and led him from the brightly lit waiting room.
They rode in silence back to his place. Only when he opened his back door did he finally speak.
“I need a shower.” He sighed.
“Are you okay?” she asked. He kicked off his shoes and placed his gun into a hidden safe.
She could tell that it was a move he did automatically, since his eyes were half closed.
She followed him down a wide hallway, past an impressive kitchen, dining room, and living room. He flipped on his bedroom light and started peeling off his dirty clothes.
She noted that he was very tidy. As he did his striptease, he tossed his clothes into a hamper, instead of all over the floor. She sat down on the edge of his bed as he removed his clothes as if she wasn’t there.
When he stepped into the adjoining bathroom, butt naked, she watched his impressive backside disappear and knew she was screwed.
She waited five minutes until her heart settled in her chest before neatly folding her own clothes and setting them down on a small love seat that sat under a very large window. Then she walked into the bathroom and glanced around.
The shower was huge. At least double the size of her own. She pulled the glass door open and stepped in. His eyes heated as they ran over her.
“Jess,” he said, his hands going to her hips.
“Shh.” She smiled. “We’ll talk tomorrow,” she promised. “For now, let’s celebrate life.” She reached up on her toes and placed a soft kiss on his lips.
If all she had left in her short life was a few nights with Jacob, then she would make each one the best night of her life.
Before she could put more behind the kiss, her back was up against the cold tile wall. His hands were on her, making her knees weak. Then they were in her hair, holding her closer as his kiss spread warmth throughout every ounce of her being.
Her nails scraped his shoulders, down his back, as she ran her fingers down to grip his tight ass. He moved back slightly and in the next moment, his fingers plunged into her heat, causing her to scream out his name. Her head rolled back and he took that moment to run his mouth down her neck.
“God, I can’t go slow,” he warned. “God help me.” He gripped her thigh and held it up, opening her legs for him to step between. When he plunged into her, she cried out again.
She held onto him, wishing the night could last forever. But she felt something building deep from her core and knew she was on the edge.
Jacob covered her cries of pleasure with his mouth and soon after she reached her peak, she felt him tense and groan. “Jess,” he said next to her ear.
She melted against him as he carried her to his bed and laid her down gently. They lay under the cool sheets, completely naked and so close together that her skin tingled.
As she drifted off to sleep in his arms, she realized that she was in love and in deep trouble.
Jacob woke just before
the sun streamed in his window. His bedroom faced east and he loved waking up with the sun.
He could smell that his coffee maker had already kicked on, filling the house with the glorious scent of caffeine. He shifted and realized that his arm was completely numb.
Then he felt the most perfect, soft ass next to his groin and something else of his woke up quickly as he remembered the night before. Every detail. He stiffened when he realized that they had moved so quickly, he hadn’t been able to grab a rubber from his nightstand.
He hadn’t expected her to follow him into the shower. Nor had he expected the quick punch of desire, so strong, when he’d seen how beautiful she was.
He moved against her, slowly, and reached for a condom. This time, he was sure to keep in control.
As he slid it on, Jess moved slightly, pushing herself closer to him. He quickly shielded himself and rolled back around, wrapping his still-asleep arm around her again.
She moaned with delight as he ran his hands slowly over her, waking her up. When he knew she was on the verge of opening her eyes, he slid into her. She gasped and reached for him behind her, arching her back to take him in deeper, which he found beyond sexy. He filled his hands with those perfect breasts as he moved with her in a slow dance.
“Jacob,” she sighed.
“Jess,” he countered as he gripped her thigh and pulled her leg up, exposing her to him even more. “My god,” he groaned into her hair, “you’re so damn soft.” He felt her soft body surrounding his. When her hips swayed in tiny circles, his movement speed up, causing more sexy sounds to escape her lips.
“Jacob.” This time it was a plea.
“Tell me,” he said, almost growling. “What?”
“More,” she groaned back. “Faster.”
He pulled away and chuckled when she gave a quick disapproving sound. Then he flipped her until her shoulders were on the mattress and she was looking up at him with those gray eyes. Her hair was fanned out on his pillow as she smiled up at him.
Gripping both of her thighs, he pulled her legs wide and ran his eyes over her. All of her. She was soft, pink, and his.