Jessica was unaffected by his show of male dominance. She was used to it. “Sure,” she smiled knowingly. She tossed her hair over her shoulder and told Frankie she would see her later and grinned at Jacque on her way out. She even shut the door.
Jacque tried not to be hurt by the ‘please don’t leave me alone with him’ look plastered on Frankie’s face. “We need to talk,” he told her.
“There is nothing to talk about,” she replied, trying to zip her bag.
He walked to her in three strides and grabbed her by the arm. She spun around and gave him a look of death, but he ignored it. “There is and you know it.”
“What Jacque?” she resigned. Oh how he loved the way she said his name. She said it in the true French form, making the J soft, unlike most people who just called him Jack.
“I can deal with a lot of shit,” he started, “but I won’t accept you thinking that you are not good enough.”
Frankie sighed. “I’m not good enough,” she said. “I’m not strong enough to do the magic that you need. I’m not strong enough or brave enough for a lot of things. It’s ok though. I can accept that. I just wish I hadn’t gotten your hopes up just to let you down.”
“You could never let me down, Ma Cheer,” he said softly.
“But I already did,” she countered. “Tonight.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“Jacque,” she pleaded. He was getting closer and closer to her. Not only could she smell him but he was all she could see. He was so close that if she took a deep breath, her chest would touch his stomach.
“Why did you leave me,” he demanded.
“I left because I had a life to go back to,” she lied.
“You ran from me,” he said.
“Look,” she explained, “One day you are gonna find your mate and then where will I be? I’m not your mate. I’m not strong enough…”
“Not another word about not being good enough or strong enough. Why did you really leave me? I thought you wanted me.”
“I do,” she said, then quickly corrected, “Did.” She swallowed the lump that formed in her throat. She could feel his breath on her face. She kept staring at the ring in his lower lip and remembered what it was like to kiss him. She wanted to run her tongue over that ring again.
“And you do not want me now?” he asked.
“No,” she said. Lie.
“You are lying,” he said gently. “Never lie to me. I can smell your want already and I haven’t even touched you.”
“We don’t always get what we want now do we,” she said, but her statement lacked the backbone she wished she had with him.
“Besides,” she continued, “I refuse to be a stand in until your true mate finds you. I can’t do it. I won’t survive it.”
“I never planned on letting you be a stand in,” he told her, getting closer.
Frankie didn’t know how much more she could take. He was so close. It took every ounce of strength she had not to reach up and touch his face. His eyes glimmered with… desire? She refused to be a notch on his bedpost. She wouldn’t do it. “Jacque, please,” she begged. She didn’t really know what she was begging for. A part of her wanted him to just kiss her and take the decision out of her hands. Another part wanted him to back off and leave her alone. She would be devastated, but at least she would survive.
“Oh, you’ll be saying a lot more than please,” he whispered as he closed the distance between them. He slanted his mouth over hers and took her in an almost violent kiss. At first, she stayed perfectly still while he ravaged her mouth. His teeth banged on hers and his tongue snaked into her mouth. She could feel the tongue piercing as he explored her mouth.
Jacque was finally doing what he should have done all along. He should have kissed her stupid as soon as she arrived. Hell, before she left to begin with. Maybe if he had, she wouldn’t have left at all. But there was no turning back now. He knew she wanted him, now he had to make her believe he wanted her too.
She didn’t protest his kiss, but she wasn’t participating either. That wouldn’t do at all, so he slipped one hand under her hair and held the back of her neck and used the other one to grab her hand and put it on his chest so that she could feel the way his heart was pounding out of his chest.
Frankie couldn’t hold back anymore. He was all around her, filling her senses with his touch and his smell, his tongue was doing wonderful things in her mouth and she was touching his body. Her hand started out on his chest and she meant to push him away but the second she felt his silky smooth skin stretched tight over taught muscle, it was over. So what if she didn’t survive? She could die of a broken heart later. She honestly didn’t know how she ever survived without knowing his touch in the first place.
Frankie wrapped her free arm around his neck and pulled him closer. He growled into her mouth and kept on kissing her. He was eating at her like a starved man and he knew it. He tried to back off, to gentle his touch, but he couldn’t. He had been waiting for what seemed like a lifetime to taste her and there was no stopping himself now.
She tasted like the sweetest candy to him. He only broke the kiss when she forced her head back for air, but he still did not lift his lips from her skin. He kissed his way across her face and then down her jawline. He nibbled at her neck and then when she moaned, he bit with a little pressure on the cord at the base of her neck.
“Jacque,” she sighed, as if she had been waiting forever as well.
“Mine,” he growled against her skin. He wanted to mark her right then and there. He wanted to sink his teeth into that soft skin and leave behind his bonding mark so that everyone in the world would know that she belonged to him. The only thing that stopped him, well, was Angel. He mated himself to Brea without her knowledge and he damned near lost her. Jacque didn’t want that. He wanted Frankie to want to be with him forever, not because she felt like she had to.
So instead, he sealed his lips around her skin and sucked for all he was worth without actually breaking it. She groaned and sank her nails into his back. He knew it should hurt, but it only pushed him harder.
“Jacque,” she said again. He loved his name on her lips. “Jacque,” she said again, louder.
He finally broke the seal on her neck and looked at her. Her eyes were at half-mast and she looked ready to be fucked. And oh was he ready. His cock was straining against his jeans with anticipation, needing only to be let out. “What is it, Ma Chere,” he said.
“You were hurting me,” she said timidly. He immediately took a step back from her. There was the mother of all hickies on her neck. He had sucked so hard that he began to wonder if he broke the delicate blood vessels under her skin.
“I’m so sorry,” he said, genuinely horrified. He only wanted to mark her, not hurt her. “Zut alors,” he cursed.
“I have a secret,” she said sheepishly. “I love it when you curse in French.”
He met her eyes and realized that she was playing with him. She was smiling and even though he had been rough with her, she wasn’t angry with him. His mouth split in a wide ass grin that exposed his fangs and obscenities began to sprout out.
Frankie regretted telling him that it hurt before the words finished leaving her mouth. He moved away from her and her body cried out from the loss of contact. But he was sucking on her neck like a brand new hoover and she was beginning to worry.
But as soon as she saw him smile, she knew it was going to be ok. He lunged at her, knocking her onto the bed. The breath left her lungs in a woosh, but she didn’t care. If she was gonna go down in flames, she was going to do it right.
She threaded her fingers through the short spikes of hair on top of his head. It was softer than she expected. Actually, she expected it to be crunchy from all the gel he would have to put in it to make it stand up the way it did. But in reality, it was soft and silky. She grabbed a handful and pulled him down to her lips. This time the kiss was softer, gentler. He let her run her tongue over his lips and toy with his pierc
ings before taking over the kiss and shoving his tongue into her mouth.
She let out a gasp and moved her hips underneath him. She wiggled just right so that her leg came between his and put delicious pressure on his aching groin.
Frankie was lost. Jacque was lying on top of her, kissing her senseless, and rubbing that thick rope in his pants on her leg. She could feel the heat coming off him and she loved it. She moved again and his leg slipped between hers. She couldn’t help herself; she arched up and rubbed herself against his powerful thigh.
He moved his mouth from hers again and went for her throat. But Frankie was paying attention and stopped him with her hand on his chin. She turned his head and lifted her own from the bed. Her lips touched the sensitive skin of his neck and he growled deep in his chest. “Oui, Ma Chere, more,” he said.
Frankie ran her tongue along his neck and sucked on his Adams apple. Jacque moved so that he could support his weight on his elbows and give her greater access. And she took it. She kissed and licked every part she could reach. Then she found the side of his neck where his jugular artery pulsed hard. She didn’t know why she wanted to, but she had the urge to bite.
So she did. A fast, gentle nip.
Jacque growled so loudly that Frankie knew the rest of the house heard it. He moved his arms and forced her leg up and his hips between hers. She was cradling him between her legs and the pressure was almost too much. His hard cock was rubbing hard against her clit.
“Again,” he commanded. “Bite me again.”
Frankie set her teeth to his neck again and his hips went crazy. “Harder,” he demanded. Frankie pulled his head back forcefully by the hair and bit down hard on him.
Jacque had been bitten before, but it never felt like this. It was pain mixed with the most incredible pleasure. He couldn’t stop himself from rubbing against her like a teenager in heat experimenting with a dry hump. Her nails scored his back and her hot mouth kept working his neck. He knew he was about to lose control. He reached with one hand and somehow managed to find his way under her shirt. He tunneled to her breast and shoved the bra out of the way. When his fingers found her nipple, it was hard as a diamond and begging for attention. He pinched gently and she went wild underneath him.
“You like that don’t you?” he asked, but he already knew.
Frankie was going to die. She knew it. She wasn’t even going to make it through the night. Just feeling Jacque’s reaction to her ministrations was enough to drive her insane. She felt the pressure building inside her and knew that if he moved just a little to the right, she was going to explode.
“Again,” he told her. Frankie bit his neck again and this time she sucked hard. His body went rigid and he let out a roar. She knew he was coming; she could feel it in the way his cock kicked against her. And that was the push she needed. Her body erupted in violent shivers as the orgasm overtook her.
They both lay there, panting, for a long minute. “That,” he said, “was beautiful.”
Frankie smiled at him. He was lying on top of her, still with his head cradled in her neck. “Thanks I think.”
“You think?” he picked his head up and looked into her soulful eyes. “That is only the beginning mon amour,” he continued. “I am going to make you scream so loud tonight the others will have to leave just to have some peace.”
Frankie couldn’t help it, she laughed.
“You will not be laughing while you are screaming.” He didn’t waste any time getting to it either. He moved to her side and let his fingers do the walking. They stopped at her zipper and began working her pants off.
And then someone had the fucking balls to knock on the door.
“What?” Jacque snarled at the door.
“Um, I’m sorry,” Macy said from the other side. “They said to come get you.”
“Of all the fucking shit bag things to do,” Jacque started, a litany of curses coming out of his mouth. But then he heard another voice. This one was in his head. I’m sorry, mon ami, but it is imperative that you both come downstairs.
That voice he knew as well as his own. It belonged to Angel. And if Angel was willing to interrupt Jacque with his mate, it must be important. He looked at Frankie, who had that wonderful, just been fucked look, even though he never sealed the deal and sat up. “We have to go,” he said.
She didn’t say anything but got up and began straightening her clothes. “We are not finished here,” he told her before kissing her hard and leading her downstairs.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Macy couldn’t stop staring at the beautiful creature that had come over to visit. Her hair was long and the most lovely shade of auburn. Her eyes twinkled like the stars and were the most difficult to describe shade of blue. But it was her skin that was the most captivating. Her skin was sun kissed and seemed to shimmer yet didn’t at the same time. When the woman moved it was ethereal. She seemed to float instead of walk, even though her petite feet were, in fact, on the floor.
Serena, she said her name was. Macy thought it was fitting. After all, such a beautiful creature should have a beautiful name. She would have been embarrassed by the way she stared except she wasn’t the only one. Brea and Jessica couldn’t seem to take their eyes off of her either. The married men in the house were making an obvious effort not to look at her. And Gage! He was talking to her quietly but he was watching her like a tiger watches it prey; like he could pounce on her at any second and eat her alive.
Jacque and Frankie finally came downstairs to join the group and that’s when Angel called everyone’s attention. Well, everyone except Gage. He turned his head in Angel’s direction, but his eyes remained trained on Serena.
“Most of you have met Serena,” Angel started, “But Frankie and Macy have not.” He turned to Serena, “This is Frankie, a good friend of Jessica, and this,” he motioned toward Macy with his hand, “Is Macy.” He explained to her about how Frankie was an Earth witch and Macy was a necromancer. She cringed as he used the word. It just sounded bad. But no one else even batted an eyelash at the word. “And ladies, this is Serena,” he told Macy and Frankie.
Macy felt a little better when Frankie got a good look at the woman and her mouth hung open. At least she wasn’t alone in her gawking. “Serena is fae,” Angel continued. “She has come to us to offer her aid. I think her magic is powerful enough to give us the edge we will need.” He explained to the women how Serena had helped Rebel and Leigh by casting fae spells and healing Leigh.
“I am pleased to meet you both,” Serena said, and wouldn’t you know it, her voice matched her beauty. It was like a chorus of angels singing in the sunrise over the ocean. Macy shook herself and tried to pay attention. “I don’t know how much help I can be,” Serena continued as if no one was staring at her. She was probably used to it, “But with the witch, the dragon, and a necromancer, I think we can be a force to be reckoned with!”
“How did you convince your mother to let you come?” Gage asked.
Serena looked at the floor. “I didn’t ask her,” she said sheepishly.
“Wait,” Angel said, “Where, exactly, does your mother think you are right now?”
“At home, in bed,” she said.
“Oh, hell no,” Rebel said. “No fucking way we are pissing off the queen of the fae. Nope. Not happening. Take your ass home and tell her the truth.”
“I can’t!” she whined. Actually. Whined. Like a school girl. “She forbade me from ever seeing you again!”
“Oh no no, we cannot have that. Serena,” Angel told her, “You have to be honest with her. We cannot afford to fight with the fae. I don’t know why your mother has forbidden us, but surely I can talk to her.”
“She mostly just forbade me from seeing Gage. Maybe if he went and hid in his room or something, then I’m not seeing him and I am not lying to her.”
“Why would she pick out Gage specifically?” Rebel asked, but Leigh shoved an elbow into his side. “Oomph,” he grunted. “What was that for?”
/> Leigh motioned for him to come down to her level. She whispered in his ear like the whole room couldn’t hear her. “Look at the way he watches her. Look at how she moves around him.” Then she thumped him in the chest with her fist. “Duh.”
Understanding finally lit his face. “Well, we still can’t do this without the queen’s permission.”
“I agree. I will call her now.” Angel began walking toward the phone.
“NO!” Serena yelled, lunging for Angel.
“I’m sorry,” he said, shaking her off, “But it is the only way. We need you here, but not at the cost of your mother’s wrath. Either I call her and ask permission, or you go back home and we all pretend to never have seen you.”
She looked at Gage, silently pleading him to take her side, but he shook his head. She looked at the faces of his family and all of them wore the same, pleading expression. How could she turn her back on them? How would she ever face her mother if she helped them? But perhaps if Angel called she would be more amicable. He was, after all, the Clan Leader. All the vampires in the Los Angeles area answered to him. His position alone at least required her respect.
“Ok,” she resigned. “Call her.”
Angel tapped the number as Serena told it to him. He immediately apologized for calling at two in the morning when someone answered. When the queen got on the line, Serena felt her heart kick into high gear.
“Yes Ma’am,” Angel said into the phone. Everyone could hear the woman yelling at him, but to his credit, he never lost his temper and he never raised his voice. Not even when she called him a slithering worm for condoning her daughter’s behavior. When her rant slowed down, Angel proceeded to tell her why they needed Serena’s help. Anora was skeptical at first, but finally gave in when Angel personally guaranteed her safety and that she would return unharmed and with her virtue intact.
He hung up the phone wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. “You, my dear, are in trouble when you get home,” he told Serena. “And Gage, keep your hands to yourself.”
Forbidden Love Series Book 4: From The Ashes Page 7