Charlie poked her head out to study the jetties. “I don’t know what lies beyond those rocks,” she said, pointing to the left. “But those,” she pointed to the right, “the side tunnels are back that way. However, about fifty feet past them there is no beach; it’s just a cliff and ocean. We could try swimming around them”—she did not want to do that, but she would if it became necessary to return to her son—“to the beach and one of the side tunnels, but the current is powerful, and there’s no guarantee those tunnels weren’t blocked off by the cave-in.”
Jack rubbed his chin as he contemplated their options, which weren’t exactly the best. “You won’t be fully healed for a while; we’ll discuss it then. But it sounds like we’ll be discovering what’s to the left. Until then, I suggest resting so you can heal faster.”
* * *
When Charlie’s chin hit her chest, she started awake and blinked in confusion at her surroundings. Then her gaze settled on Jack. He sat across from her with his arm draped over his drawn-up knee and his eyes focused on the entrance of the cave. She stretched to the side and then the other way, but no pain flared through her; her back had healed while she slept.
Settling against the rocks, she found herself riveted by Jack’s handsome profile and the pensive expression on his face. Her fingers itched to touch the stubble lining his jaw before brushing across his lips. Gulping, Charlie tried to look away, but her attention remained riveted on him.
His head turned toward her, and his eyebrows drew together as he studied her over the bridge of his nose. They sat so close their knees almost touched.
“How did you know that Savage was in the tunnel earlier?” he asked.
Charlie shifted uncomfortably; the only ones she’d ever told about her strange ability were her parents. It had been a bad decision, and she paid for it. Since then, she’d never revealed her strange gift to another. “I don’t know. I must have heard a noise or something.”
Jack didn’t believe her for a second. There was no way she could have heard that vamp in the tunnels. Super vampire hearing or not, they’d been too far away for anyone to have heard or smelled the Savage. She’d also stiffened when he asked the question, and she had yet to relax; if she heard the vamp, she wouldn’t be so guarded.
“I don’t believe you,” he stated.
“I don’t care what you believe.”
Jack grinned at her. “Yeah, you do.”
He knew he was poking the bear, but he was tired of her evasive answers and hesitance to reveal anything about herself.
Charlie glared at him before lifting her chin and turning to gaze at the ocean. Though the sound of it was soothing, she’d never been a fan of the sea. The large waves were daunting, and she hated the idea of being unable to see the things that could eat her.
She flexed her toes in her boots as she watched the sun sinking toward the horizon. They’d been in this cave for far longer than she would have liked. “My back feels better. We should see about climbing over those jetties.”
“It’s better if we wait until night,” he replied. “We can stay against the cliff if we scale it, but we’ll be out in the open if we go over the jetties.”
“A vampire could see us either way, and I doubt they could climb down those cliffs in time to kill us before we can hide or get away from them.”
“They won’t make it down in time, but their bullets will,” Jack said, hefting the gun as a reminder.
Charlie resisted folding her arms over her chest and stomping her feet like a two-year-old refused a cookie. He was right; she knew he was right, which only made it worse. Her fingernails bit into her palms as she fisted her hands.
“Getting yourself killed won’t get you back to Dylan,” Jack said.
“I know that!” she snapped before taking a deep breath. “Sorry.”
“Did you just apologize?”
“Yeah, so what?” she inquired defensively.
“You strike me as the type who doesn’t like to admit they’re wrong.”
“Who does?”
“You have me there.”
Charlie managed to relax her hands as she inhaled a deep breath.
“So, where are you from?” Jack asked.
“Where are you from?” Charlie retorted and then inwardly kicked herself for being so bitchy; he’d saved her life, and she was acting like a cat tossed into a bath. Yes, she was impatient to get back to Dylan, but she didn’t have to be an asshole because of it.
“I’m originally from a small town in New York,” she said. “It was about an hour outside the city in the Catskills. However, Dylan and I moved to a town in the Adirondacks for my teaching job. Where are you from?”
“Massachusetts originally; I’m living in Maine now.”
“Hmm,” Charlie said, looking longingly at the entrance of the cave. Had the sun stopped moving?
“Have you seen Dylan’s dad since he left?” Jack asked.
Charlie’s eyes shot away from the end of the cave. “Why?”
“I’m trying to pass the time by learning more about you.”
“Not speaking passes the time too.”
“Not as fast. Besides, I figure it’s either talking or kissing you again to keep you distracted from trying to escape here. So have you seen him again since?”
Her heart leapt when he mentioned kissing her again, her lips tingled, and her nipples hardened as her body moved beyond the control of her mind. When her gaze fell on his lips, her gut clenched before she tore her gaze away. She fisted her hands in her pants to keep herself from rubbing her hand over her breasts to ease the heavy ache from them.
Jack didn’t miss the increased beat of her heart or the heightened scent of lavender in the cave as her chest rose and fell a little faster. His gaze dropped to her nipples pressing against the fabric of her shirt. He shifted to cover his erection as the cave walls began to feel like they were closing in on him.
“I saw him a few times afterward,” Charlie murmured. Thoughts of Chad usually quenched any lust she might feel, but it wasn’t working. “We never acknowledged each other.”
“Did he ever see Dylan?”
“No.”
Charlie’s fingers brushed the strap of her shoulder bag when she shoved herself to her feet, but she didn’t bother to pick it up before she walked away. Jack watched the rigid set of her shoulders as she stalked to the end of the cave before turning and coming back toward him.
“What about you, Jack? Any children or exes floating around out there?” Charlie had no idea why she asked it; she dreaded the answer, but she felt like they were standing on uneven ground with him knowing more about her past.
Jack smiled at her as he leaned back against the wall. The movement caused the shirt to pull taut across his shoulders. Charlie gritted her teeth as she determined not to notice how enticing he looked.
“No children. I had one ex I guess you could call significant.”
“Why did you break up?”
“We were high school sweethearts; she found someone better for her in college.”
“Oh. I’m sorry.”
“I’m not. I mean, at the time it sucked, but our lives took completely different paths, and it worked out for the best.”
Charlie turned away and paced to the end of the cave again. Was it her or were the walls closing in on them? Why did she have to be trapped here with him? Why couldn’t it be with someone who didn’t smile at her like that?
She couldn’t wait until they were out of this cave, though she was sure the sun had stopped moving.
A noise behind her caused her to spin around. Jack had risen to stand with one hand against the wall while he surveyed her. Charlie gulped as she scanned his lean build. His black shirt was loose on him, but his jeans hugged his thighs and ass in a way that made her mouth water.
Stop it! She tore her gaze away from him and dragged a hand through her hair. He was dangerous, and not just because he looked good, but also because he made her feel things for a man th
at she’d never felt before. The patience he’d shown while sitting with Dylan, and the fact he’d risked himself to save her from the cave-in, made her tempted to lower her guard around him.
Charlie couldn’t do this; she had to get out of here and away from him before doing something she regretted. She couldn’t take being hurt by someone again, and instinctively she knew that, if she let Jack in, he would have the power to devastate her.
However, she so badly wanted to let him in. She barely knew him, but he made her feel alive and safe in a way she never had before.
When Charlie turned away from him again, he felt an unexpected sense of loss tug at his heart. He didn’t know what happened in her past to make her so defensive, but he suspected it was more than Dylan’s father abandoning her when she needed him most.
She paced the entrance of the cave with her shoulders set as if she were braced for a blow. He despised the posture and wished he could ease her. When he moved toward her, she turned, and her eyes darted away from him. She looked like a cornered animal as she took a startled step away from him.
He’d far prefer to quench the needs of her body. Jack knew touching her right now would send her over the edge, but he had to do something to calm her. “We’ll be out of here soon,” he assured her.
She didn’t look at all appeased by his words as she took another step away from him. The rapid beat of her heart thundered in his ears.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Fine,” she muttered.
A strand of loose hair dangled against her cheek, and he brushed it back to tuck it behind her ear. Her eyes widened when his fingers lingered on her cheek. She reminded him of a deer trapped in the headlights as she didn’t move.
Chapter Twenty
His gaze fell to her mouth, and his thumb dipped down to rub over her bottom lip. He pulled it down a little while he memorized the plumpness of it against his skin. The look in her eyes became wilder, but she didn’t run from him.
She should run. She should bolt out of this cave, scale the cliff, and screw the possible consequences of it. Instead, she was frozen. Unable to move as she became lost in the warmth of his hazel eyes. Go!
She didn’t move as his mouth lowered toward hers once more. She tensed as the distance closed between them and his lips found hers again. His touch sent her heart rate skyrocketing, but something was calming and right about his mouth moving against hers.
She didn’t know how something could make her feel electrified while also making her feel as if she’d found her place in the world, but Jack’s kiss could do it. Her knees went weak, and her legs shook as their tongues entwined.
Jack slid his arm around her waist and pulled her closer. The enticement of her breasts rubbing against his chest had him struggling to control his growing erection. He tried to get himself under control; rushing this would scare her, but she made him feel more out of control than he had as a teen about to have sex for the first time.
He was far from a teen now, but his heart hammered as nervousness skittered through his veins like mice running through walls. The sweetness of her mouth reminded him of the peppermint candies he stopped eating years ago, but there was a time when he always kept one in his pocket.
Kissing her reminded him of being human and the excitement that came with new experiences. He hadn’t felt that excitement in years as there was rarely anything new in the life of a vampire, or at least not in his life. But then, he didn’t exactly go looking for excitement anymore.
A part of him stopped living when his mortal heart’s existence ended. He never would have chosen this life for himself. He’d never been entirely comfortable in the skin of a predator, until now.
If he hadn’t become a vampire, he wouldn’t have met Charlie, and she was worth all the unhappiness he’d experienced since having the change forced on him. He embraced the predator part of him as it would help him destroy anyone who tried to harm her.
Charlie kept telling herself to move away, but she clutched Jack’s shirt and drew him closer. She’d traversed this path with a man before, and it ended in heartbreak, but she wasn’t some silly, naïve, teen girl desperate to be loved anymore. She was a woman who was aware of the dangers lurking within the world and a better judge of character.
Jack wasn’t professing his undying love to her. This was about sex only, and she craved experiencing it with Jack. They were trapped here with nothing else to do, so why not give in? She might come to regret doing this, but she would regret it if she didn’t.
Releasing his shirt, her fingers curled into his shoulders as she flattened herself against him. The evidence of his arousal pressed enticingly against her belly, and her head spun as she became dizzy with need. She’d never been so turned on by someone that she was ready to shred the clothes from them.
Her hands slid down his chest, and she undid the buttons. When she tugged it open, her fingers skimmed the contours of his chiseled stomach. Trying not to drool, she traced the enticing V formation his hips created and played with the trail of hair leading from his belly button to his jeans. It wasn’t fair that he was a walking temptation, but he was a temptation she couldn’t refuse.
It had been years since she touched a man or had one touch her, and her deprived body soaked it up now. Breaking the kiss, she pushed the shirt off his shoulders; it fell to the ground in a whisper of fabric.
Tilting her head back, she froze when she saw the possessiveness in his gaze. She’d never had a man look at her like that before, and while it flared her desire, it also caused uncertainty to flicker through her.
There would be no turning back from this. She had no idea why she was so certain of that, but she was. Perfect strangers hooked up every day and walked away from each other; why couldn’t it be the same for them? She’d never had a one-time fling, but if there was ever a man to have it with, it was Jack.
She was still trying to figure out what to do when Jack clasped her cheeks in his palms and kissed her again. Doubts continued to swirl through her mind, but she found herself not caring when his tongue traced her lips before slipping into her mouth to leisurely kiss her.
She undid the button of his jeans and tugged down his zipper. When her hand slid inside his jeans and boxers, she bit back a groan as she caressed the long, thick length of him.
Jack growled when her hand enclosed on his cock. Pricklier than a porcupine most of the time, she’d become warm and enthusiastic in his arms. But more than that, having her in his arms was right.
Seeming to have been created for him, her body molded to his in all the right places. He released her face to run his hands down her lithe body and gently rounded hips.
Then she gave his dick another stroke, and he had to grit his teeth against coming in her hand. Jack gripped the edge of her shirt, and lifting it, he broke the kiss to pull it over her head and toss it aside.
His mouth watered at the sight of her bared breasts. Her pert, strawberry-colored nipples stood out from breasts that weren’t quite a handful. Her ivory skin had no blemishes on it, and when he skimmed his fingers down her belly, he discovered she was as smooth as silk.
Charlie couldn’t breathe as those ravenous eyes raked over her and his hands caressed her with a reverence she’d never experienced before. She shivered when his hands brushed the undersides of her breasts before his thumbs stroked her nipples. Biting her lip, she suppressed a gasp when he rolled her nipples between his thumbs and forefingers before giving them a little tug.
When he bent his head to run his tongue over her nipple, she almost collapsed, but Jack’s arm snaking around her waist kept her upright. He sucked her nipple into his mouth and tugged at it. The scrape of his fangs against her breasts caused her to cry out as her back bowed and her fingers threaded through his hair to draw him closer.
Jack removed her hand from his dick and walked with her until her back was against the wall. He braced his thigh between her legs as he ran his hands over her until they settled on the waistband of he
r pants.
He undid the belt with her knives and stakes holstered to it, slid the button free, and pulled the zipper down before tugging open her pants. His mouth watered when he discovered she wasn’t wearing any underwear. When he slid his hand between her thighs, he found her chestnut curls already wet for him.
Charlie thrust her hips toward his hand and moaned her displeasure when he pulled it away. She ached in a way she never had before and was contemplating easing herself if he didn’t do it for her. Her fingers twitched at the thought, but she knew they wouldn’t be enough to satisfy her; only he could ease her.
Then he was tugging her pants down her thighs and bending to untie her boots. He pulled them off and tossed them aside before removing the last of her clothes. He kicked off his sneakers before looking up at her.
Charlie’s breath caught when she saw the red shimmering in the clear depths of his hazel eyes. Doubt flickered through her again, but then he was rising to stand before her, and when she gazed up at him, she knew she wouldn’t stop this. It may be a bad decision, she may come to regret it, but she didn’t think so.
Jack saw the confusion in her eyes, and he was sure it mirrored the turbulent emotions rolling through him. He had no idea what was happening between them, but he didn’t want it to stop. Resting his hands on her hips, he enjoyed watching her eyes darken before turning her around.
Charlie found herself staring at the rocks in front of her. Jack’s firm, warm body pressed against her back, and she sighed at the delicious sensation of his bare flesh.
Tracing his fingers down her arms, Jack smiled when the heightened scent of her desire filled the air. He restrained himself from plunging into her and easing the growing pressure in his shaft, but he was determined to learn every inch of her and discover what she enjoyed before taking her.
He gripped her firm ass and pushed her hips back against him. He squeezed her harder before releasing her and moving his hands lower. Bending, he traced her muscled thighs and shapely calves until he knelt behind her. He ran his hands between her thighs and parted her legs. Slipping his hand between her thighs again, he stroked her wetness before teasing her heated entrance with his finger.
Unforeseen: The Vampire Awakenings, Book 9 Page 12