Page 39 of Raze
“Show me. I want to see all of you, Jack. Not just the mask you wear for the world. Give me your demons.”
His body shudders at the request. I can tell he’s unsure, but I wasn’t asking. And there’s no way he’ll deny my request, even if I can see the shred of doubt in his gaze. “You won’t hurt me,” I promise him, an echo of the one he once said to me.
Something knocks my feet out. I gasp when I fall, but a cushion of air catches me before I hit the roofing tile. I drop onto it from an inch above, and then he’s on top of me and kissing me with single-minded intensity. His hips press into me, rubbing against my clit, and I groan and wrap my legs around him. We grind into each other until I’m soaked and quivering in his arms.
Jack rips his hoodie and shirt over his head in a single motion, and I hurry to follow suit with my own clothes. I’m desperate to feel his skin on mine.
He moves me onto my hands and knees and then shoves my shoulders down so my ass is up and presented just for him. The cool night air sweeps over my heated skin, and I shiver. His dick glides through my folds, coating himself in my natural lube while also running across my clit. He inserts two fingers without warning and curls them inside of me.
I moan and push back against them, opening myself deeper to him, and he takes it all without hesitation. They drive in and out ruthlessly, pushing me higher and higher at a rate too fast to keep up with until my head is spinning. My body shakes uncontrollably when my orgasm creeps up on me too suddenly, my muscles tightening almost painfully as I’m forced to take the pleasure he’s feeding me.
Then a third finger joins the other two, and his other hand strokes and flicks my clit, and I shatter.
A scream tears from my throat at the intensity of the orgasm. It hits me hard and fast, rushing through me like a tsunami and then pulling back all my strength as it leaves me just as quickly.
There’s a second where I feel the head of his cock pressing at my entrance. But his voice, rough and drenched in shadows, curses. “I don’t have a condom.” His fingers are brutally gripping my hips as he holds himself back, just barely. I’m sure there’ll be bruises there in the morning, but I couldn’t care less.
I’m shocked that he’s able to stop himself. That he cares. Kellan’sfucked me four times now and never once thought to wear a condom.
“It’s fine. I’m on birth control.” I’d rather not get into the how’s or why’s about it since that leads back to an ex and the skeletons in my closet.
Jackson pauses only for a beat and then impales me on his long, hard dick.
All the air in my lungs is expelled by that move that feels like I’ve been skewered. There’s no room left except for him.
My body rocks forward with each violent thrust, my forearms scratching against the roofing tile to protect my face as I’m driven into them. Everything about this is wild, hard, and rough. There’s nothing sweet or loving about it. This is fulfilling a base need, which just so happens to be me, while exposing the truth of Jackson’s current emotional state.
He’s furious at something, though I have no idea what could get my calm and confident shadow this worked up. All I know is that I’mlovingevery second of it as I see the real Jackson when his gloves are off.
He’s violent. Arrogant. Obsessive. Angry.
Jackson shifts behind me, and his cock scours over a spot that has me seeing stars. I fall apart within a few strokes, and he pounds faster, pushing through my orgasm to chase his own until he comes, his fingers digging into me to hold me still until he empties himself completely.
I re-gather air in my lungs once I’ve come down from my high, blinking up above us and noticing that the clouds have all gone andrevealed the stars. It’s beautiful up here, in the woods, without any light pollution to corrupt their glow. When I glance back over my shoulder to tell Jack, he’s watching me in the same way I’d just been looking at the night sky.
The violence I’d felt humming beneath his skin has softened.
But it’s not gone.
He’s not done yet.
He scoops me up in his arms to cradle me against his chest. Then he walks right off the edge and we drift down to his window. He helps me in first, using his gift to keep me from falling, and sets me down on the full bed. Then he hops inside, and our clothes follow him before he shuts the window.
It’s the first time I’ve seen him without the layers of black that keep so much of him hidden. The light in his room shows me everything, including tattoos all in black and shades of gray. There isn’t a single one with color.
I don’t get the chance to see what they are before he drops to his knees in front of me, then grabs my face and kisses me. It almost feels like he’s bowing down to me. Like I’m his queen, and he, my loyal servant.
But he’s more than that. Doesn’t he realize?
I see something out of the corner of my eye and break the kiss to turn and get a better look at it. There’s a tattoo on the inside of his right wrist in the shape of a butterfly. It’s just the outline, though, because inside of it is a skull with eyes staring back at me. Beneath the butterfly in thick, bold letters, are two words.Memento mori.
“Remember that you will die,” he answers my unspoken question.
He’s watching me with laser focus while I try to muddle through my sex-addled brain to understand why he would have that as a tattoo. Is it a reminder for himself? Or for his enemies? But, of course, he knows exactly what’s going on in my head and elaborates, “It’s for me and anyone I meet. None of us are exempt from death. I’m prepared to meet my end, if that’s what it takes to win.”
I grip his wrist and bring it back to my face, where he automatically cups it in his palm. “Don’t say that. You’re not allowed to die on me, Jack. No sacrificial shit. You’ve found me. Now keep me.”
His lips curve in his typical, enigmatic smile that tells me nothing of what he’s thinking. He drops his head to my neck, kissing and tasting me all at once. His tongue trails a line down my sternum until he’s crouched between my thighs. I realize then that the lights are still on, and he can see every bit of me.
