4: Jack - In The Pack (18 page)

Half into crinos, she said, “They killed my father without reason. My mother, Hood, and I were made to watch.”

Okay. At this point, I couldn’t lie to myself any more. The image in the window glass was pretty horrific. She stood up on the bed, crouching over, flexing her...talons. I don’t know what else to call those claws she has at full crinos. And her teeth, holy shit has she got some fangs.

I couldn’t bear to turn and look her in the eye. Not again. Not in my vulnerable human form. I shrugged, pretended to be watching the lights in the distance. “It happened a long time ago, Fera.”

She roared. “Not to me!”

Calmly, I said, “Keep your voice down.”

Fera leaped off the bed, got up in my face again, but I didn’t turn to look. I could see her expression just fine in the mirror image. She growled, “I relive it every day.”

You know what? I was tired. Too dumb fucking tired to give another shit for my own life. I turned my head, looked her in the eye, and said, “So, what? Now you can shift, you’re gonna go get revenge? Is that what you’re thinking?”

I was mad. Suddenly, I wasn’t thinking about my life any more. I was thinking about hers, and how it looked like she was going to waste it in chasing bad guys she couldn’t possibly win against. I was yelling, too, now, making her back up as I pulled myself up, while saying, “Go ahead, Fera. You’re a big girl now. You can fight any fight you want--once.”

People in the next room beat on the wall. We didn’t care.

I asked, “Do you honestly think that one lone wolf, a bitch fresh out of the nursery, is gonna be able to go against the people who killed your father?”

Picture us, eye to eye, both angry and frustrated.

What I saw there was a little girl--because I was just looking in her eyes at that point. Not at the beast. I saw
my
girl. And that changed my tone, softened it. Sadly, I said, “Fera, if you do that, where will that leave me?
Us
?”

I wanted to cry, just at the thought. Mostly in frustration. I mean, I spent my whole life running, climbing mountains, doing a lot of death-defying stunts--because I had no one to live for. And here I’d found someone and she was gonna go and do something crazy like...go after murderers.

Yes. At that moment, I hated Hood all over again. And that piece of shit lawyer, and
her
--for thinking about leaving me--without thinking about me at all.

I know we’d only been together for twenty-four hours or so, but you can’t tell me what I was feeling wasn’t right. I was in love with her, consumed with her. And I couldn’t imagine life without her.

That’s when we heard the knock on the door.

“Hotel security. Everything all right in there?”

Putting a hand to the back of my neck, I rubbed. Fuck if that wasn’t irritating. Just what we needed. Buttheads at the door. “Yeah. We’re fine.”

Okay, so we weren’t fine.

“Open up, please. I’d like to see for myself.”

Now, that was funny. I looked at Fera and said, “Better make yourself presentable, sweetheart.”

“Don’t let him in,” she growled, but I could see a little fear there.

I told her, “Shift, honey, he’s got a key.”

“What?” she squealed and bounded into the bathroom, shutting the door. I heard the lock click a second later.

“I’m gonna have to open up.”

I jumped to the door and started undoing the interior locks, pulling it open for him. I smiled as inanely as I could. “What’s the problem?”

Maybe a little too innocent and chipper, considering the yelling about killing we’d done. I wondered if the actual words had carried, or just the tone.

“We got more than one call about a fight here.”

I shook my head, still playing stupid. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Fera made a few groaning noises in the bathroom. The security guard looked interested in that, asked loudly, “You okay in there?”

Posturing in front of the door, I said, “My girlfriend’s dinner isn’t sitting well.”

“Just the same, I think I’ll wait and ask her, myself, if she’s okay.”

I wanted to punch him in the head. Instead, I popped a fist against the bathroom door and said, “Hear that, Fera?”

He jumped.

Fera had such great ears, and I knew she had at least one pinned to the inside of that door. Probably made her jump, too.

“You need to pull yourself together. This asshole’s not leaving until you show your pretty face.”

I showed him my teeth. “Fucking rent-a-cop. I’m gonna complain to management about you.”

“Just doing my job.” He backed up a little, because, truth be told, I’m a big guy. He was a pot-bellied pig with a gloss top. That’s when he recognized me. “Hey. Aren’t you that Olympic guy--weren’t you killed in--”

“Do I look dead?”

“You’re a ringer for that sucker.”

That was funny to me. I laughed. “Yeah, I know. A dead ringer.”

“I need to do a walk-through.”

Now, remember, she’d shredded her clothes. Luckily, they were in a pile, and the guy didn’t pick them up when he checked out the room. I let him. I figured, what the hell. Hood could pay for the damn lamp. Lots of people broke lamps.

“What happened here?”

“We got a little...jiggy.” I smiled.

Fera opened the door and peeked out. She squeaked, “He’s still here?”

I laughed. “Of course he is. He’s earning his ten bucks an hour.”

She batted her big eyes at him through the crack in the door.

He said, “Can you come out, let me see that you’re okay?”

“Can’t I just tell you?”

Peering at her, he said, “I gotta see for myself.”

She crooked her finger toward me. I went over to her, and she whispered, “Naked?”

I kissed her quick. She was so cute. Then I shook my head and said, “Not on your life. Can you wrap a towel?”

“I tried. It’s not working.”

I glanced over my shoulder at him. Said, “Gimme a second. She can’t get the towel to stay.” I slipped in, wrapped a towel and tucked it in. It barely went around her, and her thigh stuck out. I said, “Don’t move too much or you’ll lose it.”

We opened the door and she stepped out so he could see. Both her hands were clutching the towel like it was armor that could disappear any minute.

“You okay, ma’am?”

She looked up at me. “Do I look...not okay?”

I smiled. “You look beautiful.” I didn’t care that Rent-a-jerk was standing there, I reached out, put a hand through her hair, pulled her close and kissed her. Not any cheap shit, either. Full blown, mother fucking, tongue down her throat possession.

And she melted into me, forgot her towel, started clinging.

The idiot left, pulled the door behind him.

The towel slipped to the floor, and I walked her backward to the bed. She was pushing and pulling at my clothes, stripping me as we moved. We are best together when we don’t talk.

We can block out the rest of the world, and just enjoy what’s between us.

At that moment, it was my hard cock and her wet pussy. She fell back onto the bed and I climbed right on up, slid right on in. We rocked with the rhythm of our hearts, fast, but steady.

The closer we got to climax, the more she moaned, the hotter I got, the faster I pumped.

And the neighbors beat on the wall again.

That made me smile down at her, and say, “Go ahead, honey, moan all you want. Let it out.”

She did, too. Nice and loud.

And so I got into it with a few grunts of my own, asking, “Ya like that?”

Fera moaned some more.

The thumping got louder.

And when I hit the exact spot for her, she yelled, “Yes! Right there!”

So, our neighbor kept hitting the same spot on the wall, beating out a tacky tattoo for me to finish up with. It didn’t take long.

Airily, Fera said on a sigh, “I thought about this on the airplane.”

“You did?” I could hardly move.

She forced me to, though. Roll off of her so she could prop herself up on my chest and look at my face. “Yes. Most of the trip.”

“When you get thinking like that, you should tell me about it.”

I felt her fingers twirling circles in my chest hair. It tickled. “You’d like that?”

“Yeah.”

“You were thinking too hard.”

“There’s a lot of things to worry about, I guess.” I leaned up and kissed her, thinking
more than I ever could have dreamed of
.

She bit her lip, and I could tell she wanted to tell me something.

“What?” I asked. Figured, that might make it easier.