Page 68 of Raze
It takes more time than usual to call on my gift, even without distractions, but I can feel that my body is pushing through the sleeping pills. My head is clearer, if foggy, and my body is responding to me faster than before. I’m through the worst of it, though I’m sureI’ll still sleep like the dead after this is all over until it’s completely out of my system.
I flinch at the pain of my gift when it finally comes out. Hopefully, Jack doesn’t notice, but I don’t dare look at him in case he did. I focus on Ken instead, on thrusting my gift into him and watching him scream as it eats away at his insides. I keep both hands on his shoulders, pouring more and more of my gift into him and focusing only on the burn in my hands rather than the aftermath of Ken.
When his voice stops suddenly, I look up at Jackson. He’s smirking at Ken, then lifts his gaze to mine. “He’s dead,” he confirms. There’s blood on his face. I don’t remember if it’s from what he did before or what just happened, but the combination of blood spatter and the malicious intent in his darker blue eyes while he stares at me sends goosebumps racing down my neck and arms.
A moment of silence stretches between us, and then Jackson’s kissing me in a frenzy. I’m still not one hundred percent, but I give him everything I can and let him take the rest. I fall into his kiss, letting him consume me as he tells me with his mouth and his hands how much he missed me. How we’re not meant to be apart for so long.
My hands grab and claw at the back of his neck, as if I can somehow press myself closer to him if I have him in my hands just right.
He rips his mouth from mine, and the same frenzy is in his eyes when he looks at me. “Run, little one. Don’t let me catch you.”
My mind trips over his words.
What?
“Now.” He licks his lips and steps back. His body is vibrating withthe need to move. Tocatch me.
I feel a thrill of excitement rush through me, leaving me breathless, while a still-sane part of my brain tries to tell me this is crazy. Alarm bells are ringing in my head, but the hunger in his stare sends my heart catapulting out of my chest.
I’m doing this. It’s insane. Sick. Twisted. We just killed someone. He has that man’s blood on him still. There’s every chance he might want a piece of me too, and I’m just setting myself up like a pig on a platter for him, apple in my mouth and all, but I’m convinced he won’t hurt me. Just like I told him to stop torturing what’s-his-face, he would stop right now if I asked him to.
I could.
But I won’t.
I turn and run from him, my heart in my throat and a buzz of adrenaline electrifying my body as I run through room after room. This apartment is giant. I find a spiral staircase in a hallway and take it two steps at a time. I’m straining to hear if he’s started hunting me yet, but the pounding of my heart and my harsh pants are making it impossible to hear anything else.
I run into what looks like a second smaller kitchen, then scramble to open the cabinets to find one that will fit me. I try to quietly shove some pots aside and then crawl underneath, closing the cabinet in front of me when I’m in.
The rapid beat of my heart makes me feel lightheaded, but it’s like a new sort of high that I revel in as I wait anxiously for any sign of him. I think I hear a door creak open, and I cover my mouth to make sure my breathing doesn’t give me away. The cabinet door swingsopen, and a hand wraps around my ankle and pulls me out.
I kick at him and flip over onto my hands and knees to try to get to my feet, but he deflects the kick and drags me back under him. Jackson flips me over on my back. All the while, I’m still playing the game of trying to get away. He told me not to let him catch me, and it clicks in my brain that I didn’t know exactly what my punishment would be if he did catch me.
I fight harder, but his hips pin my legs down, and my wrists are captured over my head, stretching me out for him. Jackson kisses me, and my thighs clench with the desperate need for him to claim me. His hand unbuttons my pants and slips inside to feel just how much I need him. He drives two fingers into me, and my body welcomes him with easy, slick passage.
I groan into his mouth, my fight completely melting away under his touch. I whimper when his hand leaves me. In seconds, he’s removed our shoes and pants, and lines his dick with my entrance.
I cry out when he slams into me, my back arching sharply. It’s rough, but I love it. I feel alive and wild. Each thrust and grind of his hips has me moaning his name for more. His pace slows when he dips down to kiss me again, and it feels like he’s claiming me in every way. He’s tasting his name on my lips and drinking in my pleasure for his own.
Then he draws my wetness up through my folds and teases around my clit, and my body stutters against his. He doesn’t let up, running his thumb in maddening circles as his pace intensifies until I explode around him. I scream out as my orgasm takes me. Jackson rides through it and then hilts himself with a shudder.
He drops over me, his forearms on either side of me, and kisses me like I’m a glass of water he’s parched for. My hands tug and grip his dark hair, loving the feel of it, of him, against me again.
Jack presses his forehead against mine as we catch our breath.
“I missed you,” I tell him softly.
His eyes widen a fraction, then drop back down as he smiles. Admitting that to him is embarrassing and vulnerable. Two things I actively avoid. But I’d also regret not telling him if he disappears again for another month. Or…who knows how long next time? The only reason I’m seeing him now is because he came to save me. Again.
He strokes his thumb across my cheekbone. “I’ve missed you too, little one.”
He’s calmer now, almost peaceful, and I know that it’s because of me. He needs me just as much as I need him. I calm the monster beneath his skin, just like he calms the demons in my head.
Jackson takes me back to Old Red and sneaks us into my room through the window. I wasn’t sure if I’d planned on coming back here before, but now all I can think about is sleep. I’ll figure out what I’m doing next after that.
“Is this how you’ve been visiting me? Sneaking through my window?” I smile up at him. We’re both lying on our sides on my bed facing each other, his one arm wrapped under the pillow and me andthe other tracing circles along my hip.
He smiles at me, bringing his dimple out for me to see up close. “You knew.”
