Dark Desire (13 page)

“Get the fuck out, she’s of no use to you.”

His father smirks, “Maybe in your opinion.”

“LEAVE!”

His father swipes his bloody face once more, smirks, then turns and walks out of the cafe. Jagger spins around and tears past the gate blocking off the counter. He grips my arm and hurls me out of the café before my boss can even mutter a word. He pulls me down the street angrily; Ace and Angel follow behind not saying a word. When we reach the complex, he pulls me into the apartment and slams the door.

When he spins on me, I can see pure rage in his eyes and I try desperately to pull my arm from his
. He’s panting, but it’s then I realize it isn’t at me. I’ve seen Jagger angry at me, and this isn’t it. He’s angry, but it’s obviously over his father. I reach out and take his hand gently.

“Did he do anything to you?”

I shake my head. “No.”

“
God Willow, he’s after you and I don’t like that…”

“I don’t know what he wants me for.” I whisper.

Jagger shakes his head, and runs his fingers through his hair. His knuckles are swelling, God the poor thing. “I need to go out, something is going down, he’s not here to make things right.”

“I don’t think so either,” I whisper, hugging myself.

“Baby, are you ok here?”

I nod, weakly.

“Lock the doors; I’ll call before I come home. Don’t open it for anyone else.”

He kisses me quickly, and then grips his phone and keys.

“Jagger?”

He turns to look at me, his eyes scan my face.

“I’m sorry I keep putting you in the middle of all this.”

He walks over and takes my face in his hands. “You’re doing nothing, this isn’t on you baby, this is him doing what he would have done with or without you.”

I nod and he kisses me again, then he’s gone and I’m left alone. I just can’t wrap my mind around what just happened back there. Jagger is a lethal fighter and his father knows it. Why didn’t I know this about him? I feel like I’ve been missing a huge chunk in Jagger’s history. With a deep breath, I stand and walk into the kitchen. I need something to calm my nerves.

My phone rings when I’m shooting back a shot of whiskey. I glance down at the screen, it’s Joey. I close my eyes a moment, and then I
answer it, “Hey Joey.”

“Hey girl, you don’t sound so good. Are you ok?”

“I’m fine, just having one of those days. What’s up?”

“Not much, I just wanted to tell you I’m going away for a few months. I got offered an amazing modeling job.”

“Aw Joey, I only just met you!” I frown.

He laughs. “I know girl, but don’t worry, I’ll be back. I swear it.”

“I’m happy for you, truly. Tell me about it.”

He tells me about a contract he picked up and how it’s based in
New York. I’m proud of him, Joey has talent and it doesn’t surprise me that he would get picked up and offered amazing jobs.

“I’m so happy for you,” I smile.

“Thanks girl, how are things with you anyway?”

“Oh…you know…the usual over protective boyfriend.”

He laughs, “Least he makes up for it in hotness.”

I giggle. “True.”

“Look, I have to go. I’m going to call you every week ok?”

I sigh. “Ok Joey, good luck. I’m going to miss you!”

“Me too, I’ll call.”

“Bye Joey.”

“Bye girl.”

When he hangs up, I close my eyes and frown. I’ll miss Joey, I only just got to know him and already he’s being whisked away. I throw my phone down onto the bench and take another shot of whiskey. That’s when the
doorbell rings. Jagger said he would call so I know it’s not him. I hesitate. I don’t want to open it after what happened back there.

“Hello? Johnny?”

Well fuck. It’s Aunt Haggard. I walk over and open it, only to face a shocked Mary. Why doesn’t someone just shoot me? It’d be kinder.

“Mary.
” I say in a voice full of steel.

She frowns. She’s clutching a large bag under her left arm and another bag full of groceries in her other hand.

“I’m looking for Johnny,”

“Jagger isn’t here.”

I make a point of calling him Jagger, because I know she hates it. She scrunches her face up and glowers at me. I smile sweetly.

“Well, I’ll wait for him.”

“I’d rather you didn’t.”

Her eyes widen. “Does he know you’re so rude when he’s not around?”

“Right back at ya,
AUNT
Mary,”

She squints her eyes and gives me a truly horrible look.

“Well, I have some things for him that I know he’ll appreciate.”

She brushes past me and into the kitchen.

“Sure, come in, make yourself at home.” I mutter sarcastically.

She drops the bags onto the counter and begins pulling out the contents. She lays photos out on the bench and
my heart seizes when I see that those photos are of Jagger and Sharleen. My heart clenches and I stare in horror as she smiles down at them as though they are photos of her long lost child. Fuckin’ skitzo.

“They were so in love, until you came along and made him think he wanted something different. If you weren’t around, he would have been with her when she returned.”

I can see the photos clearly now, and the pain digging into my heart is extremely unpleasant. Jagger and Sharleen looking into each other’s eyes on a beach, she’s in a beautiful white dress and he’s wearing a black shirt and jeans. He’s smiling at her, and I can see pure love in his expression. My jaw grinds as I move onto the next photo in Aunt Satan’s collection.

It’s a photo of Jagger, with his arms wrapped around Sharleen from behind. His face is buried in her shoulder, like he’s breathing in her hair, and I can see his smile. She’s giggling, her head is thrown back and the wind blows her pretty yellow dress. My heart cracks in half – it just dies a little more.

“They were so in love, you have no idea.”

“I’d appreciate,” I whisper,
“If you would leave now.”

She turns and stares at me, the look on her face is priceless. That bitch is making out like she’s done nothing wrong. Her eyes are wide and
she’s shrugging gently.

“Have I offended you somehow?”

“Offended me?” I hiss. “Yeah, you’ve offended me alright. Who do you think you are? If you don’t like me, FINE, but how dare you come in here and make me feel like this. You’re a cruel, awful woman and all you’re doing is pushing him further and further away from you. If you love Sharleen so much, how about you go and fucking marry her.”

Her mouth drops open, and the front door opens
at the same time. Jagger steps through and stops when he sees her. Then his eyes fall on the pictures and widen.

“What’s this?” H
e whispers.

“I thought you might like them, I was doing a good thing and your little girlfriend decided to abuse me.”

I gape. “How dare you?”

She crosses her arms and tears actually stumble down her cheeks. Oh for fucks sake, now she’s pretending to cry. Jagger walks over and stares down at the pictures for long moments, then looks up at me. I brace myself,
sure he’ll be mad at me, but when his icy voice breaks the silence, it’s not directed at me.

“I was a different person back
then; I was a pitiful man who had no future. I had a woman I cared about, and I married her but that woman lied to me. She broke my heart and lied. How dare you come into my home and bring photos like these to shove under my girlfriend’s nose? If you can’t accept that Sharleen and I are over, then you are no longer welcome in my home. If you can accept it, then you need to get over your hate towards Willow, because if you EVER treat her like that again, I swear on my soul and everything in it, that you’ll see the wrong side to me and you won’t like it.”

Mary stares in horror at Jagger, he didn’t raise his voice once but the words were spat out ice coated and deadly. She puts a hand over her heart.

“I raised you, I gave you everything and this is how you speak to me?”

“I love you Aunt Mary, and I want you in my life but you have no right to come in here and behave this way. I will not tolerate it a moment longer. This woman is my life and you can either accept it or you can’t, but I won’t put up with this mind game bullshit.”

“I’m so hurt Johnny, how could you say these things?”

“I don’t want to have to say them, but you know as well as I do what you’re doing. I need you to leave, because I’m in a hell of a mood right now and I don’t have the patience for this.”

She grips her bag and raises her chin high, acting as though his words haven’t hit her hard, but we both know they have.

“I’ll call later, I am too angry to speak with you right now.” She says, and then walks out the door.

Jagger spins and grips the pictures off the bench and begins tearing into them. I stare at him, and then at the pictures that are now in tiny pieces.

“It doesn’t matter that you’ve torn them, I saw them.”

He stops tearing and looks up at me. He’s wild; I can see it in his eyes. I’m fairly sure I’ve never seen him so mad. Something must have happened while he was gone.

“I don’t give a fuck if you’ve seen them, I don’t want them.”

He continues tearing and I stare, hurt.

“You looked happy.”

He looks up again and barks, “I was happy, I fuckin’ married her. What do you think it was Willow? I’m not going to stand back and lie to you, and pretend like I was forced to get married and I hated my wife. Weak men lie to their new wives about their old wives. I married her because I loved her, because she was my world once. I wish to fuck you would just get over it and move on, because I have!”

I look down and I feel my lip tremble. A single, hot tear slides down my cheek and I he
ar Jagger snarl a curse. Then his hand is on my jaw, tilting my head up.

“You’re my life
now; you’re what I wake up for. I have feelings for you I’ve never experienced with any woman, I never lied about that but I’m also not going to pretend that once, she wasn’t important. The past is exactly that Willow, the past.”

I nod, too exhausted to bother speaking. Jagger’s gaze searches my face, and before I can say anything else his lips are on mine. His kiss isn’t gentle, nor is it coaxing. It’s a demand, a demand that I feel what he feels, a demand that I know the desperation in his heart. His free hand tangles in my hair and his body presses up against mine. I can’t help but respond
, I want nothing more than to feel every part of the man who captured my soul.

He begins backing me up until my back is against the wall. He breaks the scorching kiss and stares into my eyes. I don’t know if he’s looking for confirmation to keep going, or if he just wants to see my face when he undresses me. I grip his jaw, and pull his mouth back to mine. With a growl, his hand reaches down and slides up my thigh. When he reaches the hem of my work dress, he slides it up. Then he grips my leg and wraps it around his waist.

I know this isn’t going to be love making, I know there will be no foreplay or tender kisses. This is going to be hard, fast, raw and primal. That’s perfectly ok with me, because having Jagger inside me, desperately fucking me until we can’t breathe, is the only thing I want right now. Not only is it what I want, it’s what I need. His free hand trails down and finds my panties; with one hard flick of his wrist they’re gone.

He grips his jeans and jerks them down so hard the button goes flying off. When his cock springs free, he grips it in his hand and then lowers himself just a touch. In a split second, he’s inside me, filling me to the hilt. I groan and grip his shoulders, pressing my chest against his. I shiver when his lips find my neck and he begins nipping and sucking the flesh there.

He drives his hips upwards, sinking into me and pulling back out with such intensity I’m dizzy with desire. His fingers pinch into my bottom as he uses it to drive his thrusts. They’re angry, lust filled and so fucking incredible my head spins. I feel my head slam against the wall behind me as an orgasm tears through me so fast I’m momentarily stunned.

Jagger’s growls and grunts fill my ears as he buries his head into my shoulder and rides me with such heat, it burns. He’s muttering my name and hissing curses as his thrusts become harder and faster. Then, he throws his head back and roars my name as he finds his release. I can feel him pulsing inside me, and I know I’ll be left with
bruises on my ass once he’s finished squeezing it with each pulse of his cock. He slowly lets me down, but doesn’t move his head from my shoulder.

“Jagger?”
I whisper.

“Fuckin’ love you Willow, but you’re killin’ me.”

I put my hands on his chest and I can feel his heart beating rapidly. I slide them up until my fingers are tangling in his messy hair.

“It’ll get better,”

“It doesn’t matter if it does or it doesn’t, you’re my life now and there’s no fuckin’ way I’m letting you go.”