Chapter 29_Jackson
Chapter 29
Jackson
“What was that?” Her eyes widened, concern flashing in her gaze. “Are you hurt?”
The only way I could explain was to show her. With nimble fingers, I unbuttoned my shirt, deliberately keeping my movements slow because I’d never been so nervous. As certain as I was in my actions, I had no way of knowing how she’d react to the news.
My impromptu striptease also had the unintended side effect of distracting Asher. Her eyes were drawn from my face to my chest as my shirt peeled away. Heat sparked in her expression. Hunger too. My body responded in kind. There was no universe in which I wouldn’t want her, especially not when she looked at me like that.
“Right here? Now?” Then, instead of lodging the protest I’d expected to follow, she asked, “What if we get caught?” The excitement in her voice had me tucking that little display of kink away for later use. She wanted to be watched. I could make that happen for her. But now wasn’t the time for sex.
“No, Flower. I’m showing you why I was gone.”
The lust heating her gaze fled as curiosity returned. “By getting naked?”
My shirt fluttered to the ground, and before I could direct her gaze to my mark, she gasped.
“A tattoo?”
I shook my head. “A brand.”
She moved closer, her hand hovering just above the mark seared into my skin. It had taken days for my uncle Lucas to etch the silver into my flesh. And twice as many more for it to heal enough for me to wear anything over it.
“Does it hurt?” she whispered, glancing from the angry red skin and back up to my face.
“Yes. But it’s supposed to. It’s the mark of a traitor.”
“What? Why would you have that?”
“Because, my little wolf,” I said, lifting my hand to cup her cheek. “I chose you.”
Her brows drew together. “I don’t understand.”
“You’re my mate. I feel it in my bones. After what happened the other day, when the barriers between our minds fell away, I know it beyond all doubt. And in my world, it’s still a crime for royals to mate outside our own kind. My father murdered my grandfather to save the human he loved, to take her as his mate. His traitor mark is even bigger than mine because the Council views his crime as more egregious. But I’d rather be a traitor than give you up.”
“But your father is king. How did that happen?”
I took a deep breath, not wanting to rehash the past. “It was a long time ago before I was born and a story for another night. But the end result is I am not going to live a life without my mate because the Council thinks they can dictate my life. I refuse to deny myself the only thing I’ve ever truly wanted.”
She bit down on her lip, looking both hopeful and wary. “Okay . . . but I still don’t understand how I can be both yours and Devon’s mate. How is it even possible?”
“Asher,” I said with a sigh, “what you don’t realize is it doesn’t matter. I chose you. That’s it for me. You might have other mates, but I am yours. Wherever you go from here, I’ll follow. I’m not going to run from it.”
She smiled weakly. “I . . . I don’t know what to say.”
“Say I can be yours.”
“I . . .”
I leaned down, my lips nearly touching hers. “It’s true whether you say it or not . . . if it makes it easier for you to give in.”
“Jackson ,” she breathed, closing the distance between our lips and claiming mine in a spine-tingling kiss. She backed away just a fraction, her eyes staring into mine. “You’re mine.”
Her palm skated down my torso until she found my belt. My breath caught as she slipped her fingers over the obvious bulge at my crotch. I was aching for her. I always was, but now that she’d claimed me, I was desperate.
“So does this mean we need to go make things official in your bed?” she asked.
“I have a better idea.”
****
^Asher^
Jackson ’s fingers tightened in mine as we approached the doors of SIN, the bass thumping through the walls. It was nearing the witching hour, the prime time for creatures of the night to come out and play. “SIN? Really? I thought we were going to need something more . . . private.”
“This is as private as it gets. Trust me.” His smooth voice with that posh accent brushed over me like velvet, and I leaned against him in response. “You’ve only seen the surface level of this place. It’s a whole new world downstairs.”
“If you’ve brought me to some sort of sex dungeon for our first time together, I might like it too much, and then what are you going to do? What if this is the only thing that does it for me?”
“I’ll give you whatever it is you need, Flower. Wherever you need it.”
Heat unfurled within me, the words and his dark voice weaving the same seductive spell as his lips or hands on my body. I wanted everything he promised and more. Right the hell now.
“Do you trust me?”
“I’ve been told to never trust a vampire.”
“I’m not asking you to trust any vampire. I’m asking if you trust me.”
Taking a deep breath, I stared into molten amber eyes and knew he was telling the truth. I did trust him. “Lead the way.”