Crux

Chapter 22

She must have dozed off. She remembered staring at the wall and fighting the urge to check the clock a dozen times, but at some point she fell asleep, because she jerked awake when she heard the quiet knock at the door.

Marcus woke a second later, but she’d already tumbled off the bed, her attention focused on the door, on the familiar scent outside it and the soft sound of Nick’s voice as she mumbled something.

“Mackenzie—”

She ignored Marcus’s warning and bolted to the door, her hands shaking as she tore at the chain lock. “It’s them, I can hear them, I can smell them—” Oh God, and that might be the most disturbing thing ever.

But it didn’t matter. She clawed at the lock and yanked open the door. Jackson stood there, looking bone-weary but relieved to see her. She ignored everyone else and flung herself at him, winding her arms around him as she nuzzled her face against his neck.

“Kenzie.” His arms locked around her, and he lifted her off her feet. “Are you okay?” He spoke quietly but urgently. “Are you really okay?”

“I am now.” She whispered the words against his jaw and dragged her head back so she could stare at him. “Are you?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I think so.” He looked past her and his face hardened. “Marcus Foster, I guess.”

“That’s him,” Nick confirmed. “We met several years ago.”

Marcus straightened his shirt and took a deep breath. “I remember. Hello.”

“Jackson.” She tightened her fingers in his hair and forced his gaze back to her. “Don’t. He had no idea what was going on. When he found out, he risked his life to get me out.”

Nick stepped past them both and favored Marcus with a small smile and an outstretched hand. “Call me Nick. Want to go downstairs for a drink with me and Alec?”

Marcus cleared his throat. “Mackenzie?”

She turned her head and met his eyes, recognizing the nervousness and indecision, and underneath the slightest bit of protective concern. “Nick will take care of you.” Her cheeks heated, but it didn’t stop her. “Did you guys get a room? Jackson and I need to talk, I think.”

Nick coughed. “We will be on an entirely different floor. Trust me on that.”

Oh, yeah. She was blushing now. A different heat curled through her, spurred on by the proximity of Jackson’s body and sheer, giddy relief at having him safe in her arms. “Okay. Yeah, you can go with them, Marcus. I’ll be okay.” I’ll be wonderful. I’ll be perfect.

Marcus nodded and grabbed his shoes. “I’ll be at the bar or—or wherever.” He hurried to follow Nick and slammed the door behind him.

Mackenzie drew in a breath and turned back to meet Jackson’s eyes again. “I think they think I’m going to—”

“Yeah.” He rubbed his forehead and sighed. “We need to talk about what’s happened, I guess.”

“God, Jackson.” She stepped forward and curled her arms around him, soothed instinctively by the warmth of his body and the steady beat of his heart. Holding him felt different now, probably because of the senses she couldn’t control yet. The jumble of scents was hard to sort through, but the sharp, metallic smell of blood was unmistakable, and it made her tense. “Promise me you’re okay, first.”

“What? Oh. It’s not my blood.” His fingers wove into her hair, and his eyes darkened. “I can’t talk about it right now. If I start thinking about it…”

“Shh.” She kissed the pulse beating too fast in his neck. “We’re here. We’re safe. We can talk later. We have a later now—”

His mouth cut off the rest of her words, and he lifted her again. When he lowered her this time, she felt the softness of the bed against her back. His lips stayed on hers, coaxing and caressing. His tongue traced the corner of her mouth and dove inside to stroke over her teeth and tongue.

He kissed her with an expertise that set her heart to racing and shot heat through her. There was nothing slow or tentative about his kiss, nothing of the shy, cautious gentleman who’d taken such pains not to cross any lines before. His tongue teased at hers until she moaned in pleasure, and he responded by easing one thigh between hers and rocking against her.

Finally, he raised his head. “I’ve been wanting to do that for days.”

Mackenzie panted for breath as she slid her hands into his hair. “Only days?”

Jackson kissed the inside of her wrist and chuckled. “Since the last time I saw you. I’m pretty sure I had already told you how much I wanted to kiss you before that.”

“The last time you saw me, I was half naked and getting the hell kissed out of me.” She rocked her hips, rubbing against his thigh with a soft moan. “God damn it, Jackson, if you tell me you’re not going to violate me in about ten different ways, I’m going to use my newly discovered superstrength to kick your ass.”

“You were mostly naked,” he corrected. His hand eased under her shirt, and a crooked smile curved his lips. “I remember it pretty damn clearly.”

She shivered as his fingers traced a slow path up her side, but when he inched the shirt higher she remembered why she wasn’t wearing a bra—and why she was in sweats and an oversized shirt. “Shit. The clothes. They’re warded or something. So Talbot couldn’t find us. Will they still work if I take them off?”

He arched an eyebrow. “Hell if I know, baby. We can keep the shirt, though, just to be safe.”

Mackenzie hissed her frustration, yanked at his shirt and froze when the sound of tearing fabric filled the room. Heat flooded her cheeks and she squeezed her eyes shut. “I didn’t mean to do that.”

His shoulders shook, and it took her a minute to realize he was laughing. “Do I need to worry about particularly cherished body parts, Kenzie?” Affection and desire colored his voice, made it husky and low.

“Maybe,” she retorted, tugging on his shirt more gently this time. She worked her hands under it and slid them across the warm skin of his back, thrilled by the play of strong muscles under skin. “Turns out you’re going to be the first man I have sex with now that I’ve got all my super powers. Maybe you should restrain me so I don’t injure you by mistake.”

He leaned up and tugged the shirt over his head. “Left my handcuffs at home. I’ll just have to take my chances.” When he moved again, he stretched out on the bed beside her and toyed with the waistband of her sweats.

Mackenzie turned over and gave in to the temptation to press her mouth to his bare chest. Her fingers found his waist and she curled her hand around it as she kissed her way to his collarbone and down. “Foreplay,” she whispered before circling her tongue teasingly around his nipple. “I want a lot of it.”

Jackson hissed in a breath and tangled his fingers in her hair. “I thought I did an okay job last time.”

“Yeah. You did an okay job.” She scored his nipple with her teeth before swiping her tongue over it again. “Actually you did a pretty damn amazing job. But I didn’t get much of a chance.”

He moaned softly and held her mouth to his skin. “If it’s that important to you, I promise to let you make it up to me now.”

She kissed her way across his chest and paid the same attention to his other nipple, unbelievably turned on by the way she could hear his heart pounding in his chest. He wanted her with the same fervor that she wanted him. About that, at least, there could be no doubt.

So she took her time. She teased across his chest with her tongue and nipped at his skin, enjoying every low moan and the way his fingers tightened in her hair when she found a particularly sensitive spot. She worked her way back to his shoulders and she slid over him, straddling his hips and rocking. “You feel so damn good.”

His hands framed her hips and drew her down against him, harder and slower. “I am really hating that shirt right now,” he rasped.

She sucked in a breath and fought the urge to tear the shirt off. “Maybe it’ll be fine on the bed next to us. Or under us.” She curled her fingers around his hand and coaxed it under the shirt. “Or we can just be creative.”

Jackson rolled her onto her back and pushed the dark fabric past her breasts. “Like I said, I’ll work around it.” He bent his head, barely brushing his lips over one of her nipples.

The teasing touch wasn’t nearly enough. She shoved her fingers back into his hair and arched her back in silent plea. He answered it by opening his mouth and curling his tongue around the taut peak.

She slid her leg over his hip and ground against him, the hard length of his erection making her weak with need. “You need less clothing.”

He raised his head and flashed her another slow grin. “Do I?” Without waiting for her to answer, he rose from the bed and stared at her. “I guess I can get rid of my clothes. They’re not magic, or anything.”

Mackenzie sat and wiggled to the edge of the bed. She dropped her feet to the floor and grinned at him. “Plenty of magic between the two of us. Though I wouldn’t mind seeing any interesting tricks you have. Ones that don’t involve you being invisible.”

His smile turned to laughter. “I usually keep those out of the bedroom, but I do have some more mundane ones up my sleeve.”

She brushed her fingers over his. “I don’t doubt that for a second.”

Jackson’s laughter died as he slipped his fingers into her hair and tilted her face up. “I think we’ve talked enough, baby.”

She let her gaze drift down and back up again, drinking in the sight of his lean, hard body. When her eyes met his she let her fingers follow, sliding them over warm skin and tracing the lines of his muscles. “I hope you’re not done talking.” She smoothed her hands back down his stomach to the buckle of his belt. “Your voice is the sexiest damn thing I’ve ever heard.”

When he spoke, that voice was decidedly huskier. “I’ll keep that in mind.” His hands covered hers, strong and gentle. Together, they loosened his buckle and freed the leather. The sound of his heart, beating hard and fast in his chest, filled her ears, tangled up with the sound of her own shallow breathing.

The button on his jeans popped free and she nearly moaned as she shifted her hand down. Her fingers found his rigid cock through the rough denim, and she glanced back at him, watching his face as she traced her fingers along his erection in a teasing caress.

He squeezed his eyes shut and swayed as a tortured groan ripped free of his throat. “We won’t be taking our time if you keep that up, darlin’.”

She curled her fingers around the zipper and tugged, and the rasping sound of it filled the room as she dragged the zipper carefully over the hard bulge. He groaned again, the sound filling her ears, and Mackenzie struggled to breathe as he filled her newly enhanced senses. It was overwhelming, hearing his excitement and smelling his raw, masculine scent mixed with her own arousal.

Instinctive desires rose in her, odd and unfamiliar but powerful. She pressed her face to his stomach without thought, rubbing her cheek against his skin as she breathed in the scent that was uniquely his. “This is different. I want things—”

Jackson ran his hands down her arms and urged her to her feet. “What kinds of things?” he asked gently, his lips following the line of her jaw. “Tell me.”

Her head fell back, and she felt a rush of pleasure when his mouth brushed over her throat. “I don’t have words for it…”

“The instinctive things? I know about some of them. No actual experience, though.” His voice was low and vibrated against her neck. His teeth scraped her skin, closing lightly, and her knees gave out as primal satisfaction thundered through her. Only the firm pressure of his hands under her elbows kept her upright.

She whimpered and rubbed her body against his, desperate to feel him against her, to have his scent on her skin. The presence of her shirt, bespelled or not, was so aggravating she snarled as she tangled her fingers in it and jerked. “Next time we’re doing this naked.”

Jackson caught her hands and pulled them away from the shirt. “Stop doubting my creativity.”

His hands crept under the fabric, smoothing over her skin, and she moaned her satisfaction when his fingers teased over her painfully tight nipples. “I think I’m losing it,” she whispered as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “I just want.”

“Shh.” He pushed her pants down, kneeling as he guided the heavy fleece down her legs. “You don’t have to explain it. Just show me what you need.” He drew his tongue slowly over the swell of her hip. “Show me.”

Her knees were too wobbly to hold her upright. She sank back onto the bed and threaded her fingers through his hair. “Touch me.”

He grinned and slid his hand up her body to cover her breast again, squeezing the nipple lightly between his fingers. “Like that?”

“Yes.” She sucked in a breath and parted her knees, tugging at him until his body was wedged between her legs. Her body hummed with pleasure, pleasure that pooled low in her abdomen in a growing ache. “More. God, more.”

He dropped his mouth to her thigh and kissed a path over her skin. “Show me.”

Mackenzie whimpered and flopped back against the bed. Half-formed visions filled her head, visions of Jackson above her, watching her as he thrust slowly into her body. Sweet, tender, gentle lovemaking.

The image disappeared, replaced with one of her on her hands and knees, arching her back in barely contained pleasure as his fingers curled around her hips and he slid into her. A little rough, passionate, primal as he claimed her—

She groaned and tightened her fingers. “The cat wants to go fast and hard. She needs it.”

He pressed his cheek against her belly as his fingers slid between her thighs, his thumb caressing her in slow circles. “Does that mean now?”

Yes. She pressed her hips against his hand with a throaty little moan as his touch made her body weak. “I need it,” she said again, her voice a hoarse whisper. “But I don’t want it to be over.”

He pulled his hand away. “We’ll do it again.” Even as he spoke, he dragged his wallet out of his back pocket and dug through it. “And maybe again, just because.”

“Yes.” She sat up, so fast she almost crashed her head into his chest. Her hands fumbled at his pants and she tugged them open as he rifled through his wallet. “We’ll try everything. Just so I know what I really want.”

Jackson managed to tear open the condom wrapper right around the time she pushed his jeans and underwear down his hips. “Good idea. Experimentation.”

Heat pulsed through her at the sight of his cock. She curled her fingers around it and stroked once from the base to the head, satisfaction flooding her when he groaned. She did it again and lifted her gaze to his. “What are we doing first?”

He handed her the condom, and guided her hands and the latex over his erection. Instead of answering, he moved back and pulled her off the bed to turn her over it. “Making the cat happy.” His hips rubbed against her ass, his chest to her back.

It felt right, and not just to the animal inside her. Mackenzie shivered, loving the heat she could feel from his body in spite of the damned shirt, and loving even more the feeling of being surrounded by him. She twisted her head to the side and pressed her cheek to his chin as she rocked back. “Yes…please, baby…please.”

He nudged her legs farther apart. His cock bumped against her and slid inside, a long, hot draw of sensation magnified by his low curse and the bite of his teeth on the back of her neck.

Her fingernails scratched against the bedspread and she choked on a cry of pleasure as something primal and instinctive roared through her. The sound of tearing fabric filled the air, and she lifted her head and stared at the torn bedspread. “F-fuck.” A tiny thread of fear uncurled inside her, making the pleasure and anticipation that much sharper. “Don’t let me hurt you.”

His hands trailed down her arms to her wrists, and he pinned them to the bed as he drew back and thrust into her again. She could have easily shaken him off, but the cat wasn’t interested in fighting. Not with Jackson.

She’d never been this aroused in her life, with the exception of the terrifying car trip to Boca Raton. But this was a different sort of need, one that spiraled dizzily higher when he pulled away and tightened around her when he pushed back in. “More.” The word spilled from her as she rocked her hips into his next thrust. “More.”

Jackson’s lips pressed to her ear, his breath hot against her skin. Instead of speaking, he bit her again, drawing the delicate lobe between his teeth. He let go of her wrists and wrapped his fingers around her hips, pulling her into his slow, forceful thrusts.

Release started somewhere deep inside her, a frantic urgency for something just out of reach. Her moans turned to gasping whimpers as she curled her hands in the bedspread again and writhed beneath him. His fingers dug into her hips harder, lifting her a tiny bit. His next thrust gave her what she needed, scraped every hungry nerve inside her and she threw her head back against his shoulder with a low cry.

Hot, heavy pleasure burst through her, spiraling out in waves that grew stronger as he slammed into her. She cried out again, her voice loud and ragged as she felt her body tighten around him, spasming with the force of her climax.

His own cry was hoarse and strained, loud but still lost in the blood pounding in her ears. His hips snapped against her ass once more, and he shuddered, his cock swelling and throbbing inside her.

Fabric gave way under her clutching hands, and she slumped against the bed and panted for breath as the shuddering pleasure cascading through her slowly began to fade.

Jackson leaned over her, his chest to her back, his arms curled under her shoulders. “I’ll move in a minute,” he panted. “I just…need a minute.”

A laugh bubbled out of her, low and warm. “Baby, you can stay there as long as you want.”

He snorted. “People are going to make themselves scarce tonight, but they’ll come busting in here tomorrow morning.”

“Mmm…” She was sure she was supposed to care about that. She arched and rubbed her back against his chest. “You mean they won’t be expecting to find us like this?”

He bit her again, this time on the back of the shoulder. “Nick might. Alec? He wouldn’t dare come in.”

Mackenzie turned her head and kissed the side of his jaw. “So we separate eventually,” she murmured. “Sometime before dawn.”

He stood, trailing a hand down her side. “Crawl under the covers, and I’ll be right back.”

Mackenzie listened to him moving about in the bathroom as she crawled under the bedspread. Her knees felt weak, but the instincts that had been screaming so loudly ten minutes ago were silent.

The bedding had seen better days, though. She snuggled down and tried to ignore the fact that she’d torn a foot-long hole in it. Just be glad you weren’t clutching at anything breakable—or irreplaceable.

When Jackson came padding out of the bathroom, completely at ease with his nakedness, he eyed the ripped fabric in bemusement. “We did a number on this thing, didn’t we?”

“We?” She raised an eyebrow and tugged down the other side of the bedspread in invitation. “We might need to watch what I’m holding on to during sex in the near future. At least until I get used to the fact that I can break headboards with my bare hands.”

“I’m sure there’s advice to be found out there.” He climbed up beside her. “Mostly for new werewolves, but that’s not much different from your situation now.”

Mackenzie traced idle patterns over his chest as she listened to his heart rate slowly return to normal. “That guy I met at the bar. Derek? You said he was changed, right?”

“Yeah, a couple of years ago. Alec helped him out a lot. He could probably get you two talking.” His eyes drifted shut, and he laughed. “Or you could be sneaky and get Nick to do it.”

“Yeah, that’d be smooth.” She settled her head on his shoulder. “‘Hey, Nick…I was hoping I could talk to your hot crush about sex and how not to break one’s partner by mistake.’ That should go over well.”

Another laugh rumbled through his chest. “Might get things moving with those two.” His expression turned serious. “I could ask Alec. His wife was human.”

That brought Mackenzie up short. She propped her head up and frowned at Jackson. “Alec had a wife? A human wife?”

“Yeah.” He ran a hand through her hair. “She was murdered.”

That explained a lot about Alec’s demeanor. “Jesus. What happened?”

It took Jackson a minute to answer. When he did, he spoke quietly. “Someone shot her. Alec went to Mahalia for help finding out who did it, and she sent him to me. We tracked down the killer, and we’ve been working together ever since.”

Which sounded simple and pat and well rehearsed…and like a bunch of bullshit. “Jackson.” She didn’t say anything else, just his name, but she watched his face and waited for the truth.

Jackson opened his eyes and met her stare. “The shooter was one of his cousins, Kenzie. Is that the part you wanted to know?”

“Why?”

He rubbed his face. “I told you why. You’ve seen why. It’s the reason Nick’s never done anything but stare at Gabriel when she thinks he’s not looking. The reason Charles fucking Talbot killed people to get to you. Why he’ll keep doing it unless we find him and stop him.” He eased out from under her and sat. “They have to keep the lines pure. For some, all they want are shifter babies. But in Nick’s case—and Alec’s—it means old blood.”

Mackenzie stared at his back and fought a shiver. “People would kill you for being with me.”

“Maybe,” he admitted. “There aren’t a lot of cougars left. Even if we stop Talbot, I can’t tell you another cougar won’t show up, trying to convince you to have a couple of babies with him.” He turned and fixed her with a serious look. “It’s about survival, and that’s one hell of a motivator.”

The thought made her queasy. She closed her eyes and tried to breathe normally. Tried not to panic. “Is that what the rest of my life is going to be? People who only care about how many babies they can get out of me? People who would kill for it?”

Jackson leaned over her, laying his hand on her cheek. “What happened to Alec and his wife isn’t commonplace. The rest of his family may not have approved of her, but they were horrified by what his cousin did.” He rubbed his thumb over her lips. “But I’d be lying if I said it couldn’t happen.”

She studied his face. The strong jaw, the lips that smiled so readily, the impossibly blue eyes that made her heart beat too fast. She swallowed and turned her face to his hand to kiss his palm. “I don’t think I could handle it if someone tried to hurt you just because you’re with me.”

“Don’t I get to decide if I can handle the risk?”

“Can you? I don’t mean—I’m not asking if you’re willing to. I mean, can you handle it if someone comes after you? Can you keep yourself safe? You’re not human, but…” She thought of the torn bedspread and how easily the fabric had ripped under her hands. What could she do to a human if she tried? What couldn’t she do?

“You don’t have to worry about me, baby.” The corner of his mouth curled up. “I can hold my own. My interesting tricks, remember?”

“Is it worth it?” Hesitation uncurled inside her. “Is that a risk you want to handle?”

His smile widened, and her heart stuttered when he tilted up her chin and kissed her softly. “Not much could make me happier right now.”

It felt wrong to be so happy with the world falling apart around her, but she slid her hands into Jackson’s hair and kissed him, hard. She traced her tongue along his lips and pushed inside, moaning softly as she urged him to reciprocate, as she begged him to show her that it was enough, she was enough—that they were enough, together.

Jackson groaned deep in his chest and curled his tongue around hers. His hand, solid and warm, drifted down her body, coming to rest on her hip. Otherwise, he did nothing but touch his mouth to hers, exploring with excruciating slowness.

With the cat sated, Mackenzie was free to melt into the pleasure of being so skillfully kissed. Arousal unfurled inside her again, slow and patient as the heat between them built. She made another noise as his tongue caressed hers, something that sounded more like a whimper than a moan.

He bit her chin and raised his head. “Are you exhausted?”

She didn’t think it would be possible to feel exhausted, not with him staring at her with such obvious, sensual intent. Her breath caught and she stroked her hand down the back of his neck and along his shoulder. “No, but I haven’t been driving all day. Are you exhausted?”

“Not yet.” The words were heavy with promise. “Ask me in an hour.”

Her breathing hitched again and she froze. “Wait. I don’t want to hurt you, and I have no idea how to control it.”

He raised an eyebrow. “I don’t really think we have to worry too much about it. I’m pretty sturdy.”

The bedspread looked pretty sturdy too. But she smiled and lifted her fingers to his lips. “Okay. If I start to think I’m going to lose it, I’ll just clutch the headboard and hope Marcus brought enough to cover the damage we’re going to do to this place.”

Jackson pulled her hands away and urged them toward the plain wooden headboard. “I did.” He tugged her shirt aside and traced his tongue over her collarbone as his fingers unbuttoned the top three buttons on her shirt.

She sighed in pleasure and curled her fingers around the wood. “This’ll do for now, but I really want to learn how to deal with this so I can explore.”

“Unless you want to go drink daiquiris and chat in the hotel bar, we’re on our own tonight, darlin’.”

As if they were leaving the room. “I was thinking more about later. You know, in a couple of weeks, when I can let you out of my sight again.”

One more button and the shirt gaped open just enough to bare her breasts. He smiled and barely skated his tongue around each of her nipples before speaking again. “You’re not even going to let me work?”

The wood under her fingers creaked, and she sucked in a sharp breath and tried not to arch into him. “Not if we could be doing this.”

He hummed in answer as he captured her nipple in his mouth and laved it with his tongue. He edged her knees apart and reached down to stroke the inside of her thigh.

She did arch up this time, struggling against the urge to drop her hand to the back of his head. “Christ!” He just moved his hand higher, until his fingers slicked against her, seeking.

“Jackson.” She tore one hand from the headboard and reached for the back of his head. “Come here, I want to…I need—”

He raised his head, grinning, but the heat in his gaze seared her. “I thought you were going to crush the headboard and not my neck.”

She whimpered and rocked her hips into his slow caress, her other hand falling to the bed sheets. “Do you have a plan of action, or are you just seeing how crazy you can make me?”

“I thought that was a valid plan of action.”

His fingers brushed a gentle, teasing circle, and she moaned. “Jackson!”

One of his fingers slipped inside her. “Mackenzie.”

The headboard creaked again, more alarmingly this time. “If I can’t touch you, at least let me kiss you.”

He bent until his lips hovered a mere inch over hers. “You want a kiss? Take it.”

Mackenzie groaned and chased after his lips, seizing them in a blistering kiss. She poured everything into it, her desperate need to touch him, her arousal and passion, even the tiny fluttering warmth inside her that whispered insane things about love.

Jackson coaxed her mouth open wider, made her lips and tongue tingle, and his hand moved against her. When he thrust a second finger in, her arousal spiked. She tore her mouth from his, kissed his jaw and nuzzled his neck. “Mine.” It was almost a question, a testing to see how he’d respond.

He raised his free hand and twisted it into her hair, holding her mouth closer to his skin. “Yes.”

Satisfaction thrilled through her, more powerful than the pleasure from his maddening touch. She licked the pulse pounding in his throat and closed her teeth gently over it.

He answered her claim with a soft groan. “You have no idea how messed up I was while you were gone, Kenzie.”

“I’m here.” She dropped her head back to the bed as he brought his thumb up to rub dizzying circles in counterpoint to the thrusts of his fingers. Her entire body tightened, barreling toward release so fast it stole her breath. “God, God, I’m going to—”

“Yes.” His mouth found her neck, and he echoed her action by sinking his teeth into her skin as she arched her hips into his touch. It wasn’t gentle—it almost hurt—but it twisted something inside her, something primal. Something needy.

It burst the dam, sending pleasure sliding through her in a scalding wave that curled her toes and tightened her fingers around the headboard until she swore it would bear the imprint of her fingers. She choked on a scream and scrambled to clutch at the bedspread as he coaxed the wave to crest again with nothing but his skillful fingers and his mouth on her throat.

He crushed his mouth to hers as he moved over her but froze between her legs. “Dammit. My wallet…”

Mackenzie fought a brief inner battle even as her hips pushed against him. The woman won out, and she groaned and squeezed her eyes shut. “I haven’t exactly been picking up my birth control prescription on the run.”

“So I figured.” He panted and rolled away to reach over the edge of the bed. Finally, he made a triumphant noise and sat up, condom in hand. “Got one.”

“Then get back here.” She plucked the condom from his fingers, tearing it open with hands that shook. “You’re making me a little crazy, Jackson Holt.”

He stretched out on the sheets and watched her, one hand on her thigh. “So my evil plan to tease and torment has worked.”

The shaking in her hands only increased as she smoothed the condom on, teasing her fingers down his erection until he thrust against her hands. She sucked in a breath and pulled back. “Sit up. Against the headboard.”

He obeyed and gripped her hips as she climbed over him. “We seem to be doing okay without the shapeshifter-sex crash course,” he noted. “Maybe you should try holding on to me.”

“Maybe.” The thought of hurting him made it hard to concentrate. She curled her fingers around the headboard on either side of his shoulders and brushed her lips over his as she lifted her hips. “But this is nice too.”

He framed her face with his hands and smiled gently. “Yeah. This is nice too.”

She wanted to go fast, to slam her hips against his and drive them both over the edge. Instead she savored the feeling as he slid inside her, digging her teeth into her lower lip as she lowered herself. She fought the urge to close her eyes and focused on his face instead, on the way he watched her, like there was no one outside their room. No one else in the world.

His head thumped against the headboard, and he ran his hands around to splay across her back. “Jesus Christ.”

“Yeah.” She sank down the last few inches and clutched at the headboard as the feelings intensified. She lowered her mouth to his throat, and licked across his pulse and up to his ear. “This is perfect.”

“Mmm.” His big hands urged her closer, until her mostly bare breasts pressed tightly to the wall of his chest. “I can already tell… Slow sex is going to be a tough one for us.”

Slow was impossible at the moment. Mackenzie rocked her hips and moaned. “Maybe later, when we’ve had lots of practice.”

Jackson’s breath came in short, labored pants, and she could tell he was struggling for control. “You have some of the best damn ideas, darlin’.”

She rubbed her cheek against his. “Tell me what you want.”

“I want all of you,” he whispered. “I want to make you come.”

“Again?” She closed her eyes and savored the friction of their bodies rubbing together as she moved against him. “Greedy.”

“Lust and avarice,” he agreed. His hands dropped to her hips and dragged her down more sharply. “My only vices.”

She gasped and let her head fall back. Her fingers tightened on the headboard and she quickened her pace. “Help me. Come with me.”

A short, harsh curse was his only answer. He guided her hips, thrusting up harder when she lowered her body to his. Passion and pleasure mounted, and a light sheen of sweat dampened Jackson’s skin. “Shit,” he hissed. “Baby—”

She barely heard him. Blood pounded in her ears and she ground down, chasing the release that trembled just out of reach. He thrust into her one last time and the world flew apart. She cried out as everything faded but his body inside hers and the sounds and scents of pleasure and release.

Jackson’s fingers clenched on her hips, holding her as he stiffened and shuddered. His rasping, desperate groan tickled her ears and shivered up her spine. Then he relaxed, dropping his forehead to her shoulder.

Her heart pounded in her chest as she mirrored him, nuzzling her face into his neck. “Jackson. God.”

His chest heaved at first and settled into a steady rhythm as he slowly caught his breath. “Yeah.”

She inhaled deeply. “Maybe I need to put the magical pants back on.”

“Would that involve getting out of this bed?”

Mackenzie couldn’t remember where the pants had ended up, or how many pieces they’d been in at the time. “Maybe it’s not that important.”

He raised his head and sighed regretfully. “I think it probably is.”

“Okay, except I don’t know if I can move. My knees aren’t feeling all that solid.”

Jackson lifted her off his body with a grin and laid her gently on the bed beside him. He paused by the bed and found her pants. “Here. Now you don’t have to move.” He brushed a kiss over her forehead and headed for the bathroom.

There was so much to talk about. So much to say, not just about what she’d gone through, but what had happened at the mansion. Mackenzie wiggled into the warded pants and rebuttoned the oversized shirt before curling up again with her head on the plush pillows. Too much to say…and all she wanted to do was snuggle into Jackson’s arms and sleep. Even knowing intellectually that the danger was far from past…

He padded quietly out of the bathroom and warmth flooded her. She felt safe with him. She felt peaceful now that he was here with her, now that he was safe. After the past week of terror, she was so giddy with the sudden relief that she felt light-headed.

He stopped and frowned at her as he reached for his underwear. “Are you feeling okay? You look a little spun.”

“I feel like we should be getting dressed and going to find everyone else. Like we need to be making plans or something.” She inched over as he slid into the bed next to her. “But I’m so tired, and I feel safe now.”

“We can go downstairs,” he offered. “Or we can sleep. Trust me when I say Nick and Alec aren’t expecting to see us until breakfast.”

“But everything that happened…” Her protest sounded weak, even to her own ears. She didn’t want to go anywhere. “I guess we can wait to talk to them. I couldn’t process much right now anyway.”

“We can talk about it later. Everything, Mackenzie. Just…later.”

Later. She closed her eyes and rested her head on his shoulder. His body felt warm, strong. Perfect. We’ll talk about it later.

As reprieves went it wasn’t much, but it was something. Enough. Whatever comes tomorrow, I won’t have to face it alone.