by Mandy Rosko
"I can tell you're not," she said, nudging him, but then got serious. "Everything all set?"
The smile instantly melted off his face, and that worried her. "Are you going to be able to come with me?" she asked, and she didn't even want to think about having to go a full term, or more, to school without him there.
They'd decided they would get a place together instead of living on campus.
"I am. I'm set to go, my dad knows I’m leaving, and some of my stuff's already packed."
Cindy smiled at his words, especially since it was only the end of May, and they didn't have to be at school until the beginning of September. "So what's bothering you, then?" she asked, feeling a bit more confident about the whole situation.
"Something serious, and I think you should know about it before we go any further with this."
"Whatever it is, it's all right," Cindy said. "You understood when I admitted to being a pyro, I can't exactly hold anything against you after something like that."
"Being a pyro's not your fault," Jack said, shrugging off her words before something seemed to occur to him. "Can't hold anything against me, right?"
"Within reason," Cindy said.
"Which means I never have to do this dishes or take out the trash when we're living together?"
She smacked his shoulder. "Within reason, I said."
He laughed a little. "Yes dear." Then he got serious again. "You told me about the fact that you were a pyro. You trusted me with that, and now I've got something to tell you. I'm going to trust you with it, and I want you to know that it doesn't change how I feel about you at all."
Cindy propped herself up onto her elbow. "Is this why you were gone those few days?"
Jack's chest rose and fell as he heaved a heavy sigh. "Yeah. I've had to think about this a lot. To be perfectly honest, I'm even a little scared of you right now, and how you'll react to this."
Cindy wasn't sure how to take that, but she tried to lighten the mood just a bit. "Well, come on, it can't be that bad. Have you slept with another girl?"
Jack's eyes widened. "What? No," he said, shaking his head. "I wouldn't...fuck, no that's not it."
Cindy nodded, but it wasn't like she'd thought he had anyway. "Okay, there's that. Do you have any kids I don't know about?"
Jack shook his head again, and this time he sat up on the bed. Now neither of them were lying down, and even though Cindy was used to being naked around him, force of habit caused her to pull up the blanket to cover her breasts.
He really looked like he was having trouble getting this out. Then he just looked at her and said it, and Cindy's stomach twisted into one of those crazy knots only a boy scout could make. "I'm a registered hunter, Cindy. My entire family makes their living off of catching paranormals and selling them."
Chapter Nine
Cindy had mistakenly believed it would take more than that before Jack took the bait, but he had, and she was glad, even as he yanked her by the chain all the way to another room in the small house.
The place wasn't a mess or anything, but it had that identifiable look of a single male’s home. Cindy certainly didn't see any bras hanging on the bed post, or makeup on the dressers.
Cindy smiled at that. Jack didn't have a girlfriend. Why this information pleased her she didn't know. In fact, it bothered her that she was resorting to looking around just to acknowledge the lack of evidence of a possible love interest.
Why did she care if Jack was with someone else or not? It wasn't like this was going to go beyond this one time, or however many times it took before she could get out of here.
Jack grabbed her by the wrists. His hands were rough on her skin, and he yanked her out of her possessive thoughts as he slammed her into the back of his bedroom door. He thrust her hands high above her head and pressed his body firmly against hers. She could feel the heat of him, every line of muscle even through his clothes, and his cock was erect and pressing against her thigh.
Cindy's heart jumped.
"You don't get to smile about this," Jack said, and there was a real snarl on his face, the kind that showed off his teeth.
Cindy swallowed. She hadn't thought she was making Jack angry when she had been teasing him like that. Was this all a big mistake?
She pushed that thought away. Cindy spent her entire life lying about who she was. She'd become a master at it, considering her parents had kicked her out of the house when she'd nearly burned it down.
Accidentally, of course.
She considered herself to be a decent actress because of it, and she was going to act like Jack's anger meant absolutely nothing to her.
For her to do that, the only thing to do was keep smiling at him. "Why not?"
"You think this is funny?"
Cindy had to bank on the fact, or the hope, that Jack wouldn't hit her again, even if she might deserve it.
"I don't think it's funny," Cindy said, lifting her knee up just enough to gently run it over the hard length of Jack's cock. "I think it's exciting."
He was trying not to react, but Cindy could see the way the muscle in his throat jumped, and how the spot of his pulse pumped incredibly fast as his lips tightened into a fine line.
He let out a hard breath, and then adjusted himself so that both of her wrists were being held in one large hand so his other hand could move down to cup and massage her breast. He didn't do it outside of the dress she was wearing, no, he slid his hand beneath the material and pushed her bra out of the way so they were skin to skin. Her nipple immediately tightened into a hard nub under the attention, and he knew just how to flick it, pinch it, and tease it to make her entire body tremble.
Cindy shivered and sucked in a breath. She'd forgotten how good it felt when it wasn't her own hand that touched there.
"You want to play that game, do you?" he asked, and now Jack was the one wearing a cocky sexy-as-all-hell smile.
The fact that it felt so damned good when his fingers pinched and played with her nipple, sending electric jolts down between her legs that made her sex swell and flood with warmth, was both incredibly annoying, and an eye opener.
It was an eye opener because it said something about the effect Jack's touch had on her. She was the one who was supposed to be doing the seducing here, not him. Cindy glared at him.
"What's the matter?" he asked, and his fingers moved over to her other breast, massaging and teasing it like the first. The only difference was that his palm gripped her tighter. "You gonna back out?"
Did that mean he would let her if she did?
"No!" Cindy snapped, harsher than she meant. Maybe because she was having such a hard time catching her breath.
For whatever reason, Jack frowned at that, and he removed his hands from her and stepped back until they weren't touching anymore.
Cindy watched him, telling herself the harsh beating of her heart was only because she didn't know what he was up to.
Jack sat down on the bed. He rested his elbows on his knees like they were about to have a friendly conversation or something.
"All right, then," he said. "Prove it. Strip."
"What?" Cindy asked.
He lifted a brow at her. "Why not? Did you think I'd want to fuck you with your clothes on?"
"And I'm supposed to get completely naked with this on my arm," Cindy said, lifting the shackle with the chain that attached the both of them together.
"I can cut the strap on your dress, and your bra doesn't have any of those anyway. It won't be a problem."
He was totally right. The straps of her dress were little better than strings. She wouldn't have to worry about some if her clothes hanging off her arm if she were to try and remove them.
"You want to rip my clothes off, now, do you?" Cindy asked. She kept that same confident tone in her voice, even if it was fake and forced.
Did she want him to rip her clothes away? Would she be able to handle it if he forcibly yanked her out of her clothes like in some bodice ripper romance novel, just
so he could have better access to her body?
The idea of him being that rough, of destroying her clothing with the urge to lay her down and put his cock inside of her, lick her naked skin and just own her, made her shiver.
She still hooked her thumb under the strap of her dress. "All right then, go ahead."
Jack crooked his finger at her, summoning her forward, and God help her, she went. The chain between them clinked, and then Cindy was standing between Jack's spread knees, and she leaned forward enough so that he would be able to see down her cleavage if he looked.
He didn't look. He stared her right in the face as he reached for the strap, and with both hands and what felt like no effort at all, he snapped it.
"There, now you're free," Jack said.
"Not really," she replied.
He shrugged. "You know what I meant. You were going to give me a show?"
There was something about Jack when he was being a cocky ass, as opposed to the one who was too much of a gentleman, that was kind of a turn on. Her heart had never beat so fast, and her blood never pumped so hot when they were last together.
It wasn't a good thing for her to dwell on.
Either way, she was going to give him a show he wouldn't ever forget. That way, if she didn't escape and he did give her to the collectors, he could think about this for the rest of his life. She would haunt him with the memory as one final fuck you.
If she got away from him before that, then this was still something he could fantasize about. She only enjoyed that idea because sometimes she could be a bit of a bitch.
Cindy slowly let the strap that wasn't broken slide down her shoulder. She kept the sexy, I know you want this, smirk on her face that she'd seen girls do in the movies when they wanted to be seductive.
Jack hardly blinked, or did anything. He had perfected the face of the man who was completely unimpressed, the jerk.
Cindy was going to have to play rough. She turned around, sticking out her backside just enough to make it more noticeable as she slid the little black dress down her body, revealing the back of her matching lace bra and thong. "You like it?" she asked.
He shrugged. "I haven't even moved. How can you tell if I'm liking anything you're showing me?"
Bastard.
"I'm a pyro, Jack. Heat is sort of my thing, and I can tell you're getting hot."
"Yeah, how silly of me to forget that a pyro works with fire."
It would've been hard to miss the emphasis on that particular word. It really hurt, like he'd stabbed her through the ribs with a thin knife.
A thin and rusty knife.
Cindy swallowed it down. She wasn't letting him get to her. Not a fucking chance. She was the one who was going to get to him.
She kept her ass pushed out just enough to hopefully give him all sorts of ideas, and she reached up for the clip of her bra, unhooking it and letting it fall away from her breasts.
Cindy didn't allow it to drop to the floor, however. She kept it pinched between her fingers and held it away from her body. She smiled as she looked over her shoulder.
She could see the reaction he was having to her plainly between his legs. Even a sturdy pair of jeans couldn't hide that.
"Are you going to touch yourself?" she asked.
"Are you ever going to turn around?"
His voice was so damned cold, and despite the reaction of his body, and the heat she could sense, the doubts started to pop up.
She kept the forced smile on her face. "I guess it's not like you've never seen them before," she said, and then swiveled around so he could have a proper look.
Spine straight, stomach tight and shoulders back. Good posture was the key to making herself look taller, and her breasts seem more perky. She remembered that lesson from one of her old roommates, not Stacy or Stephanie, but rather a girl who'd been obsessed with her self image.
She'd claimed it had saved her on more than one occasion when she had to get flirty with a hunter who had caught her, even if she never told Cindy anything about her powers.
Cindy really wished she hadn't thought of that woman right now, considering what she was trying to do.
She was really starting to see some results, however, and she no longer had to fake her smile as she took in the way Jack stared at her. How his eyes had widened just enough for her to see the whites around his blue spheres.
Had he expected her to back out of it? Was this a test to see if she'd chicken out? If so, then he was the one who'd failed.
Bravery and boldness filled her up as she hooked her fingers into the black lace of her panties. "I guess these are next," she said.
Jack leaned back on the bed, propping himself up on his hands at a slight angle. "I guess so."
"You should take your pants off, then I'll take these off," Cindy said.
"I'm happier staying dressed," Jack replied.
There was no way she was letting him get away with that. "You're going to have to get them off if you want me to get on my knees for you."
His blue eyes got just a little wider, but only for the tiniest fraction of a second before Jack started to work his fumbling fingers over his belt and fly. It was cute how he was trying to be all cool and in control about it.
She was getting to him. This was actually working.
"Good boy," Cindy said.
"Watch it," Jack warned with a growl.
"Or what? You'll spank me? That sounds kind of fun."
"I won't spank you. I'll just punish you," Jack said in a threatening tone as he got his jeans down his hips, just enough for his erection to pop free. Cindy was having a hard time taking her eyes off his erect cock, even as she pushed down her panties and stepped out of them.
He was already completely hard, the head of his cock was dark in color, and Cindy really wanted to know if she still had the skills to make him moan the way he used to with just her mouth.
That was it. She convinced herself it had nothing to do with wanting to get on her knees for him because she weirdly found this power he had over her to be a turn on. This was just about getting him to soften up so he would hopefully, maybe, consider the fact that she wasn't guilty, and then let her go before the Collectors came.
"Punish me how?" Cindy asked. Her throat was surprisingly dry. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the space between her legs was flooding with moisture.
Jesus. She was a sex kitten. All it had taken was for her ex boyfriend to kidnap her and put her in chains before she realized it. Thinking about that made her smile a little.
Jack raised a brow at her. He must've caught how strange her voice sounded just then, and her stupid little smirk was probably cause for confusion.
Cindy kind of expected him to bark something at her, to make threats, or tell her that this wasn't remotely worth smiling about.
Jack didn't say any of those things. He pulled on the chain, yanking her forward instead, and God help her, she liked it. "Come over here and I'll show you how I punish bad paranormals."
That sounded more like a sexy promise than a threat for real pain, and her sex swelled and throbbed even more. She wanted to be touched more than she ever had in her entire life. Even more than when she was a horny teenager and just learned how to get herself off.
Cindy went willingly. He didn't have to yank on her chains, but she enjoyed it, so she slowed down just a little so he would do it again. Then she sank down to her knees between his legs before he could tell her to do it. It was funny because, when she was there, she realized she wasn't as angry anymore. She could hardly believe it had taken her so long to realize through the haze of thick lust that the anger was almost gone. Her blood ran hot and her clit throbbed at the position she hadn't found herself in, in years. Cindy wet her lips just to try and get some moisture there as she readied herself to do this. She had plans to rock his world.
Cindy relished in the sounds Jack made as he watched her wet her lips with her tongue. His moans grew deeper when she pressed her wet mouth around the
head of his cock, then slid down the swollen length of his shaft.
She could feel every throb, every pulsing vein, and even she couldn't help but moan a little as he thrust the rest of the way inside.
Yeah, the sound of his soft moans and sighs while his hand went into her hair, was exactly as she remembered. Now she was going to make sure she was better than he remembered.
Chapter Ten
For the first two minutes of dead silence after Jack told Cindy the truth, he thought he'd made the biggest, worst, and stupidest mistake of his life.
Cindy took several deep breaths, her amethyst eyes incredibly wide, and Jack worried that she was about to have a panic attack.
He would too, if she took it badly. He didn't think she would hurt him, but the idea of losing her, of never seeing her again, seemed so much worse than any pain she could inflict on him.
"Cindy? Baby, it's not how you're thinking it is."
She inhaled deeply through her nose, and then released her breath through her mouth. "Oh yeah? How do you know what I'm thinking?"
"I didn't tell my father about you, or my brothers, none of them know."
That seemed to get her attention, and she stopped hyperventilating.
He took her hand and held it tightly to his chest. "I love you. I'm never going to hurt you. That's why I want to go away with you. I don't want this life. If I was on the fence about it before, then I'm not now. I know you. You're a pyro, sure, but you're nothing like how the collectors or the agency describe you to be. Even before I met you, I knew I didn't want to spend my life chasing down paranormals. But after meeting you, and after you trusted me with your secret, things became so different. It wasn't just about being uncomfortable living in that line of work anymore. I could never do something like that again knowing that these people are like you."
Cindy allowed a soft laugh to escape from her mouth, and she wiped moisture from her shining eyes. "Really?" she asked.
Jack curled his arm around Cindy's waist and held her close. Relieved was not the proper word to describe how he felt when she leaned into him and put her arms around him as well.