“Face it. You and me. We’re BBFs and we have to stick together. So, let’s make a deal. You don’t ever abandon me, and I won’t abandon you. Neither of us have any family and, whether you want to admit it or not, having someone in your corner, no matter what kind of shit goes down, is a pretty great feeling.”
She rolled her eyes, clearly irritated I’d gone mushy on her, but I didn’t care. She needed to hear it, and I knew she felt the same way even if she didn’t say it out loud.
“First, what the hell is BBF? Second, I can handle my own shit. Fuck you very much. Just because I’m staying doesn’t mean that I can’t.” She jutted her chin out defiantly, making me grin even wider.
“Badass Bitches Forever, and of course, I know you can ‘handle your own shit’, but something I’ve learned since being sent to prison is that sometimes it’s nice not to have to do everything alone, you know?”
She huffed and settled onto the dashboard. “Whatever you say. I think those guys have made you soft, but who am I to judge? Oh, wait. That’s the whole point of me staying…so I can judge and be entertained.”
“Say whatever you want to make you feel better about having a heart. I can take it. Now, let’s get back before your ‘entertainment’ tears the whole prison down in a toddler fit.”
Hopefully, Jaxon hadn’t come back and beat the shit out of the guys for letting us get away. It wasn’t their fault. It was all of their faults for being overbearing. Their egos were too big to have made the trip go smoothly. Sure, we had some hiccups along the way, but we’d survived and accomplished our task. That was all they needed to know.
Then again, we still hadn’t heard from them at all, so maybe they didn’t care as much as I was beginning to believe.
Nixie placed her hands on the dash and the truck began to vibrate. Then, she snapped her little fingers three times and a portal appeared, showcasing a snowstorm just on the other side. Sigh. Australia beaches were sounding a lot more attractive at that moment, but we had to see this through. So, I drove the truck forward and to the back side of the prison.
“Mason is going to be super pissed you can show him up in portal abilities. You might wound his fragile ego,” I teased.
“The snarky fae will get over it. At least he won’t have to get out of the vehicle anymore. Maybe he’ll be grateful, and then I’ll have to refuse to help.”
“How mad do you think they’re going to be?” I asked, tensing already for the yelling and scolding. Even though they hadn’t reached out, I assumed there would still be reprimanding.
“Who knows? It could go a lot of different ways. Maybe they’re not even here. Maybe the warden sent them on a mission, and they went about their business as usual.”
My heart hurt a little, knowing she was thinking the same possibilities as me. Gods, caring about other people really sucked.
We entered the prison, and it was filled with admin workers this time since it was late afternoon. An older lady with a tight grey bun and wrinkles around her eyes sneered at me. “Are you the one who made a mess of my keys?”
“Uh, possibly? But I brought them back. We were in a bit of a hurry.” I handed her all of the keys and she huffed.
“Don’t touch my drawer again, or it will be a week in solitary for you.”
“Got it—” I paused, looking for a name on her badge, “Mrs. Vin.” The old hag had probably worked there for a few too many decades. Her surly attitude was something I hoped to avoid in the future.
Nixie had disappeared the moment we walked into the prison, but once we made it away from the admin section and back to the cell area, she reappeared.
“Well, at least the walls are still intact. We probably should have left a note or something saying sorry ahead of time,” she said, but I ignored it. It was too late to change anything.
Taking a deep breath, I readied myself for a verbal assault of epic proportions and opened the door to the lair. When we walked in, Nixie zipped around the room, showing off her skills, which probably wasn’t the best time to do that, but it distracted the four guys from my presence. For a second, anyway.
Jaxon glanced up from a book but didn’t say a word. Not even a glare. Mason smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes like normal. Then, Blake shook his head at me before going to his room.
Lastly, Spencer stood from his spot and faced me. “One of these days, we won’t be here when you get back.” He brushed past me and stomped out of the lair.
Holy shit, where was the yelling? The belittling? The anything but this disappointment that was smacking me in the face and breaking my heart. I didn’t know how to respond to this version of my guys, and it scared the hell out of me.
“I’m sorry. Nixie needed my help, and we knew—”
Mason stood, moving a few paces toward me. “Knew what? Knew we’d want to go with you and make sure you were safe, because we care? Or did you think we’d tell you no and lock you away like our own little prisoner? For just a second, I had thought we were building some trust, Cara, but apparently, I was wrong.”
Tears pricked at my eyes when he called me Cara. I didn’t think he’d ever called me by my real name. I’d hurt them by not fully trusting them, and this was the worst punishment ever.
Mason stormed out of the room as well, and Nixie stopped near my shoulder before following him. “I’ll go explain to them.”
Suddenly, it was just me and Jaxon in the room. He was still ignoring me, and tears were trailing down my face. I wasn’t sure what to do or say. I’d never had anyone care enough about me to be disappointed in this way. Growing up, it was always the “you’re useless to me if you can’t use your magic” disappointment. That, I was used to.
I moved toward the bathroom, deciding to clean up and then leave the lair to give them some space. I wasn’t sure how to fix what I’d done, but I’d think of something. I had to.
Before the door could click closed, Jaxon’s hand pressed against it, and I backed out of the way as he barreled his way through, slamming the door shut behind him. His eyes were blazing red, and his shoulders shook with the fury I originally expected.
This I could handle. This is what I wanted.
“You left,” he snarled.
“You left first.”
“Only to keep you safe from me. You did so because you didn’t trust us.” His words cut straight to my heart.
“It’s not that at all.” It kind of was, but not completely. They were just so pushy, and Nixie wanted to do it her way. I just didn’t know how to explain it to him without sounding like a fool.
“Then what is it, Flower? Because the demon inside me really wants to punish you right now for leaving us, and it’s taking every ounce of strength that I have to keep him in check.”
My body responded with a shudder, but not because I was afraid.
Taking a chance, I reached for him and placed my hand on his chest. “I’m sorry. I never meant to hurt you, and I won’t leave without saying anything again. I trust you with my life.”
His body stopped shaking, but his eyes still blazed with a fire that called to my soul as he closed the distance between us. “You won’t ever leave me again. Not for any reason. You are mine. I’ve told you this once before and you’d do best to remember it.” His voice was deep and husky, making me question whether it was actually Jaxon speaking or his demon half.
Though, I didn’t care enough to question it. His rage and words were turning me into a bucket of hormones, and I needed him more than ever before. We’d both waited long enough, and I was pretty sure he’d learned his lesson. Even if he hadn’t, I wasn’t sure I cared one damn bit in the sexually charged moment.
Magic pulsed around us as his hands moved up my arms before stopping at my neck. The pads of his thumbs circled my cheeks, causing a soft sigh to escape my lips as I closed my eyes and gave in to his touch. I’d been fighting my attraction to him for weeks, but seeing how much I had pained him punched the final blow needed to bring down my wall. If I could hurt
him like that, then I knew he really cared.
Sure, it hadn’t been my intention to make him suffer in order to know his true feelings, but it happened, and if he still wanted me, then he could have me, because I was done resisting what my heart and body wanted.
I needed Jaxon. All of him.
One hand left my neck, and his face replaced it before he took a deep inhale. “You want me. I can smell your arousal, but a part of me wants to walk away and leave you like you did to me.”
“And the other part?” I breathed.
“Wants to take you right here on the bathroom counter.” Fingers gripped my chin, forcing my eyes to meet his when I opened them. He was rough, but not hurting me, and I wanted more of it.
“I’m done fighting you, Jaxon. As long as you remember I’m capable of doing things on my own—not because I don’t trust you, but because I’m my own person. I need to be self-reliant.”
He nodded, but the time for words was over as his lips crashed hard on mine in a bruising kiss that took my breath away. His tongue swept across my lips, and I gladly gave him access to whatever he wanted.
A moan escaped me as he pushed me further into the counter and gripped my hair until my head was angled right where he wanted it. His lips moved from mine to my neck, but his hold on my hair remained, and with his hips pressed against mine, I was trapped.
Trapped in a way that turned me on like never before, and I had not been expecting that his roughness would be what I needed. Jaxon was every fantasy I’d had on steroids, and the tension we’d built up over the weeks was finally erupting.
“I need more,” I moaned, and he responded with a tighter tug on my strands and his fingers trailing down my chest.
“More of what? Tell me what you want, Flower,” he whispered gruffly in my ear before placing hot kisses down the path his fingers had just taken.
“You. I want all of you. Now.”
While his lips paid homage to my chest, his hand kept moving south, and my hips bucked involuntarily. Oh, gods. He needed to hurry up and touch me before I imploded.
Slowly, he undid the button to my leather pants before his hand slipped inside. “You sure, Flower?”
“Ask me that one more time and I’m going to murder you in your sleep,” I panted as his fingers grazed over my center, just beyond where I really wanted them.
“There’s the fire I was looking for.” He grinned before slamming his lips onto mine at the exact second two of his fingers entered me. The combined sensation had my body riding his hand before I even knew what was happening.
My heart rate increased, and I was on the cusp of release within a minute. “Don’t stop,” I growled before biting his lip, causing him to press harder, just how I wanted.
As much as I wished to prolong the euphoria he was providing, I knew it was just the beginning, and I gladly let myself succumb to the climax I was craving. My hands gripped his shoulders as I rode the wave, and he slowed down, pulling his hand free.
Once awareness came back to me, I reached for him, expecting this to go much further and not be one-sided, but he gently pushed me back.
“No. You still need to be punished. I won’t reward you anymore for leaving me. Plus, the first time I fuck you won’t be in a small bathroom. I need more space for what I have planned for you.”
Holy shit.
I was ruined.
Chapter 10
Jaxon left me wanting in the bathroom with a smirk on his face. The bastard was quite pleased with himself, even though he had a visible hard-on that I didn’t imagine felt all that great being left unattended.
When I followed him out to give him a piece of my mind, Blake was sitting on the couch, and my face turned beet red.
“About damn time.” He snickered.
Oh, my gods. I had forgotten he hadn’t left with the others and was in his room.
“There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. This is so much better than the sexual tension the two of you were putting off before. At least there’s a layer of happiness to it instead of the frustration that gave me migraines. And don’t worry, I’ll be sure to fill the others in when they’re back.”
“You’re an asshole,” I said, then headed to my corner to grab clothes before going back to the bathroom to clean up like I had intended on doing before I was pleasurably interrupted.
Jaxon and Blake continued to chat while I disappeared and took the world’s quickest shower. I didn’t need those fuckers talking about me behind my back.
Changing into my jumpsuit, I left my hair down and dried it with magic within a couple of seconds. There were some serious perks to having full access to my basic powers. Once I had control over the stronger aspects of things, I was going to be one badass bitch.
When I entered the living room, I was met with furious faces. Not at all what I had expected. “What happened? I was gone for like two minutes.”
“Did you tell Gillian you were going to see Greggor in order to get information about Zeke?” Jaxon asked through gritted teeth.
“Uh, yeah, I might have done that, but I did get information, so we have something to tell him. I also learned some stuff about me. It was an eventful trip, nobody got hurt, and we’re back safe, so there’s no need to go all alpha male on me.”
Blake leaned forward. “Greggor doesn’t work for free. What did you offer him to get all of this so-called information?”
I hesitated. I knew they were going to be upset, though I hadn’t expected just how mad and immediately wished I’d lied.
“Nixie and I both had to give him a little blood. No big deal.” I shrugged.
Jaxon lunged off the couch, his hands gripping both my shoulders tight enough to leave bruises. “No big deal? It’s a huge fucking deal. Greggor can do a lot of damage, and if he learns something we don’t already know, he can put you and the rest of us in a lot of danger.”
“Easy there. We already thought of that. Nixie wrote in a clause to the contract. I have it in my pants right here. It says he can’t do a thing with whatever he learns. He’ll probably just use it to feed his psycho dogs or something equally creepy.” At least, that was what I hoped.
Jaxon ripped the leather pants from my hands and gently pulled the paper out before handing it to Blake. The empath read it over—likely twice, because it felt like an eternity passed—before he glanced back up. “She’s right. Greggor can’t do anything with the information he learns without welcoming death to his doorstep.”
“See?” I said defensively.
“Doesn’t matter. You still shouldn’t have told the warden what you were up to. You should have trusted us to listen to you and figure it out together,” Jaxon said.
Damn it. I had been so certain Jaxon and I had taken a huge step forward in whatever we had going on between us, but his tone made me think we were right back to square one.
Blake handed the contract back to me as Jaxon let go of my shoulders, but only moved to my side instead of back to his spot on the couch.
“I really am sorry about leaving without talking to you guys. But you have to admit, none of us have the best track records with listening or obeying rules. I promise, from now on, I will let you know if I have any plans of leaving the prison grounds again,” I said.
Blake smiled. “I know you’re sorry, and I forgive you as long as you don’t do that again. If it wasn’t for the GPS in your phone telling us where you were, we would have torn the prison, and anything else in our way, down just to make sure you were okay. You’re one of us now. Don’t forget that.”
Blushing, I glanced up at Jaxon who wasn’t even paying attention to me. Yeah, he made that same point just ten minutes ago. Bastard had complete control of my hormones.
“Wait, you can track me with the phone you gave me?” I sneered.
“Calm down, Siren. You can track us, too. It’s not there because we don’t trust you, it’s there in case we’re on an assignment and get separated. See, we’re not so bad. We knew where you were and trust
ed you to come home. How pissed off we were all going to be, depended on how long it took you to do so,” Blake answered, and it eased my irritation.
I hadn’t been giving them enough credit. Mason could have easily transported them to Greggor’s house where they could have caused a huge scene. But they didn’t. The four of them really did trust me, and I had hurt them by not seeing it sooner.
Blake headed for the door. “With that being said, I’m going to go get the others, so we can fill Warden Gillian in. You two need to figure out what you’re going to say.”
As soon as we were alone, I gripped the sides of Jaxon’s jumpsuit, pulling him down to my level before pressing my lips to his. Realizing how much he respected me had sent a surge of desire straight through me. He responded by tangling his fist in my hair and yanking hard. “Don’t ever put yourself in danger like that again. If Nixie hadn’t been there to know better…”
The words were gruff and made me press closer. “I won’t. Now, let’s finish what you started in the bathroom.” I was nowhere near satisfied, and we had the lair all to ourselves.
“No, they won’t be long, and I won’t be rushed. What did you learn about Zeke?” He backed away, and just as I was about to pout, he yanked me into his lap on the couch. Apparently, we weren’t back to square one and I was more than okay with that. Fighting him took so much more energy than succumbing to my feelings.
“He said Zeke wasn’t taken by the Luccovinos. He’s worked for them for a decade, but not as one of their top people. Though, he’s high enough that they gave him the last name Covin, a shortened version of theirs. Apparently, Zeke lost an important shipment for the leader, and now he’s supposedly paying the price. So, I wouldn’t say Zeke is a good guy needing to be saved. I’m not sure how to spin that to the warden.”
Jaxon’s fingers circled around on my thigh while he thought about what I had said, which didn’t seem good to me if he didn’t have an immediate response.
“Did you ask where Zeke was?”
Capture (Elite Supernatural Trackers Book 2) Page 7