Wicked Surrender (19 page)

Jackson rolled with the hit
,
dropping Vera’s present to the ground, and went
tumbling
to the ground with a roll. Ariss’ guardian hissed and Jackson could have smiled. He’d
wanted
to get back at this motherfucker for weeks.

The guardian was fast, but Jackson was trained to fight
—
to kill.

He
didn’t stop
rolling
until
the guardian
was beneath him. He pulled back his head and snapped it
forward
, bumping their heads tog
ether with a resounding crack.

The guardian bared his fangs and struggled to get a grip
on him
. Jacks
was faster, he grabbed an arm and held it tight as he pulled it out of socket with a hard, nasty snap. The guardian roared and launched his hips
off the ground, throwing Jacks
off.

“You guys never quit do you?” he said and casted a quick glance over at Vera’s
cabin
.
Ariss had to be there. I h
ave to get to her. Jacks
blocked a flurry of kicks and punches that came his way. The guardian moved so
quickly
, if he’d still been a human he wouldn’t have made out any of the moves, but now his eyes tracked each one. The guardian didn’t have use of his arm, it hung dangled at his side.

But then
Jacks made a mistake. He didn’t see the guardian pull a blade out. The guardian faked left then thrust in with the blade glinting in the moonlight. His knife slid hot and quick into Jackson’s stomach.

He hissed in pain and grabbed the guardian’s wrist, snapping it back until it too popped. The guardian screamed in agony a
nd dropped to his knees. Jacks
squeezed tight to his wrist then
slammed
a kick to his chest. His other arm popped out of socket and he
went
limp against the ground writhing and crying out in pain.

Jacks
grabbed the fallen blade off the ground
just as
Vera’s growl sounded from the cabin. Panic set in, adrenaline floored through him. He dropped down quick and stabbed the vampire in the heart, then slit his throat for good measure. He watched the vampire’s struggles stop as his last breath left him.

Then he sprinted for the cabin.

The door was open and dread filled him. He crashed into the house, his quick sight taking in everything at once. Vera sat on top of
Ariss with
a hard, burning anger in her eyes.

She grabbed Ariss by the head
and slammed it with a resounding crack into the ground. The vampire’s head lolled to the side like a puppet.

“Vera.”

Her eyes shot up and a second
later,
she was in his arms, her legs wrapped tight around
him
. He didn’
t
even
feel the burning cut in his stomach.

She was shaking so hard, felt so unbelievably good in his
arms;
he held her tight whispering soft words in her ear.

She pulled back jerkily, her eyes shooting outside then to Ariss on the floor. “It’s not safe. We need to get out of here now. Her guardian is here.”

“Baby, I know. He’s dead.” She seemed to have trouble digesting that bit of information. She looked back at him, her eyes getting wider and wider.

“Are you okay? Did he hurt you?” She ran her hands over his back and he had to sigh at how good it felt. Then her hands ran over his front and he winced. “Oh my God! You are hurt. Come here.”

She dropped down and dragged him into the bathroom. She pushed him onto the toilet seat and started rummaging through the medicine cabinet. Things were dropping out and spilling left and right. Her hands were shaking so bad he could see it. Finally he grabbed her hands and just pulled her close.

A sob broke out of from her, breaking his heart, and then she curled up against him. She didn’t make a single sound but he felt the warm liquid covering his shoulder.

“It’s okay baby. They’re not going to hurt you anymore.” She pulled back from him with a lykaen growl. Then she slap
ped him across the cheek. Jacks
had only a second to be surprised because then she did it again.

Growling, his fangs threatening to lower at being so close to her he said, “What are you doing?”

Her hands bunched into his shoulders and when she looked at him
,
he saw anger and pain there—a lot of it.

“You were hurt.” She slapped his shoulder. “You hurt me.” She slapped his other shoulder. “Why are you here, becaus
e I swear if it
isn’t to beg me for forgiveness
then I’m go
ing to kill you
myself?
”

Jacks
waited a second and when she didn’t slap him
again
, he grabbed her face in his hands and kissed her to shut her the hell up.

God, he’d almost forgotten what she tasted like. Delicious, sexy woman
—
his woman.
Vera.

The kiss was anything but gentle. Teeth clanged against each other and lips
bit
and sucked on tongues. They each fought for possession, their breaths mingling roughly with each other.

Jacks
broke away first and pressed his forehead to hers. “This wasn’t how I envisioned seeing you again.” She choked on a laugh. He smiled at the sound, his heart feeling lighter than it had in weeks.

“I need to call Vane and Brayden about this, okay? And then you and I have a lot to talk about.”

She glared at him and damn if it didn’t feel good. “I’m sorry, I said that wrong. I meant I have a lot of begging to do because I was a son of a bitch
, and I’ve never been sorrier for anything
.” She tugged her lip between her teeth looking so unsure he hated himself for putting that look there.

When she finally relaxed and gave him a tumultuous smile, he felt the vice
that had been around
his heart let go
.

Chapter Thirteen

The Justicars arrived within the
hour. They took her and Jack
s
’
statements and wrapped up Conner’s body. Ariss was still alive and Vera didn’t feel sorry for her as they locked her up and stuffed her in the back of a black van. She would get her day in court right next to her Master Claude whom the Justicars
said they
captured earlier that day.

As the last of the cars drove away, Vane hugged her tight. He’d looked so scared when he came running up and Vera hated that look. It was the same panicked look he had when they found out their parents had died. She sent him and a wide-eyed Sarina back home with hugs and smiles
—
this time genuine ones.

Quiet crept back over her cabin.
The chirp of crickets ascended
now that the danger was gone
. Vera kept her head down as she walked back to the cabin, passin
g Jacks
. Now that it was over, she couldn’t stop the feeling of unease that settled in her.

The floorboards creaked as he walked away from the cabin, she almost cried out for him to stop as panic clutched her. He went over towards the trees and picked something up
—
a red box. He came back, his eyes not meeting hers, his steps silent on the gravel.

“Here,” he said gruffly, thrusting the box at her.

Vera gulped hard at the knot in her throat. She took the box, holding it like the most precious thing in the world. A hot liquid pressed against her eyes.

“Why don’t you open it inside,” he suggested when she just stood there.

She nodded faintly and went inside to plop down on the couch. She fingered the paper for a moment, then carefully tore at the sides on the left then on the right. Gently, she tore the paper across the bottom then slid the paper off. It was an ugly cardboard box underneath the paper, she smirked at it. He would wrap a present in a cardboard box.

She felt the couch dip next to her as he took a seat.
She used her fingernail to tear open the tape and
,
like she was receiving
her very first present
, she opened one side of the cardboard box, then the other.

White tissue paper stared back at her, crinkled under her fingers as she spread it wide. Her eyebrow puckered as she looked at what lay beneath
—
a white dress. Vera fingered the soft material and lifted it out of the box. It was long,
sleeveless,
and utterly beautiful.
It had elaborate beading on the front and an elegant, big bow at the back.

“You...bought me a dress?” She looked over at him but he was staring hard at the wood floor,
as if
he was trying to decipher what kind of wood it was.

“Yeah,” he said gruffly. “There’s more underneath it.” Vera closed her mouth and gently laid the dress over her lap. The material of the dress
, judging by the look of it—
was expensive. It
fel
t like satin at her fingertips, and she was pretty damn sure it was a wedding gown.

Even though he’d said there was more in the box, it was still a surprise to find a pair of matching opal colored high heels. She read the label and bit her lip from
giggling like a, well,
girl.
They were her favorite brand. Strappy, pretty, and with a little point at the end.

“I know you like your shoes.” She stared at him like she’d never seen him before.

“How do you know that?”

“Vera you don’t have to tell me everything for me to figure it out. You’re always wearing nice expensive-looking shoes, and damn near a different pair for each day.” The man truly was after her heart. “Do you like it?”

“I...I love it.” And you.

“See the reason why I wanted to give that to you is because,” he slid to the ground in front of her on both knees and reached into his pocket, pulling out a small black box. He held the box up like an offering and Vera quickly shoved the cardboard box away.

“I, um, I wanted to know if you’d marry...me.” He flipped the box open with his thumb and a sparkling diamond ring with a gold band winked up at her. The warm liquid that had been swimming in her eyes was trying to get out, but no way was she going to blur this image with tears.

When she could only stare, a smile pulled at the corner of his mouth. He took the ring out and gently picked up her hand. His touch warmed her, felt so perfect. He settled the thin band around her fingernail and held it there.

“I know you lykaens have a different tradition, and I may be an undead, half-dead, whatever you want to call it vampire thing, but I’m still a human at heart. And in the world where I grew up in, when there’s a brilliant woman you love more than
anything
, you marry her. So Vera Kategan, will you marry me? Before you answer,” he said quickly when she opened her mouth, “know that I am not a perfect son of a bitch, but I promise to love you and no other until the end of my days
.
And I promise to never, ever lay a hand on you in anger. I am not my father.
I won’t have a single drop of alcohol, ever.
I vow it.
”

A frown tugged at Vera’s lips as she struggled not to cry.

“Ah baby, don’t cry. You don’t have to marry me if you don’t want to, but that doesn’t mean I’ll leave you alone, because I can’t. I can’t live without you, baby. The past four weeks were harder on me than the years I spent in the military, drinking away my father’s memory, m
y fucking problems
. I was mad for
a while
, that you made me feel
worse
than that. But I went and saw my mom. Yeah, I did. She made me realize how stupid I was.

Go figure she could do that.
She wants to meet you, said she’ll make you your favorite pie.” He swallowed hard. “Just say yes, say you still love me and we can work through anything. I’m prepared to fight for you for as long as it takes because I love you so damned much.”

Vera slid to her knees in front of him, her finger catching on the ring
. It slid perfectly up her finger.

She wrapped her arms around him, slanted her mouth across his, and showed him without words her answer.

Groans filled the air as bodies strained to get
closer;
lips tasted and learned each other. Vera pulled his tongue into her mouth and sucked on it. With a growl, he pulled back, breathing hard.

“Tell me that was one helluva yes, baby.”

Vera laughed and hugged him hard. “That’s a yes,
lumara
.” He laughed with her, the sound rich
, music
to
add to her
symphony
.