Then realizes what she’s doing and I absolutelydo not mind, but she stills her movements.
“What are we doing, Jack?” she finally asks, a little breathless and a lot needy.
I pepper kisses along her jawline. “I’m kissing you.” I don’t stop. “Last night, you said we were friends. I’m being friendly.”
“Oh.” She seems a little disappointed in my answer. “Do you kiss all your friends?”
I smile against the base of her throat before placing a wet, open-mouthed kiss there and squeezing her wrists just a little tighter to get my point across. “No. Just my best friend.”
“Oh,” she says again.
I’m coming on too strong. I need to calm the fuck down. I pull back from her, unthread my fingers from her hair, and move my hand to cup her jaw. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to overwhelm you again. I just?—”
She brings a hand up to cover her mouth and leans back from me. It’s almost comical. “I’m not overwhelmed. I was just hoping that when—if—this happened, I would be an active participant and not just sitting here like a knot on a log.”
I smile because she’s adorable and most definitely was not just sitting there, but I also understand what she’s saying, so I put a few more inches in between us and help her hop down to her feet again.
I turn away from her and readjust myself in my pants. I’m sure she knows what I’m doing, but she doesn’t necessarily need or want an up-close view of Jack’s erection adjustment just because she was fine with me kissing her.
I turn to face her again and clear my throat. “We can reconvene at a later date. Let me feed you.”
Or, I could run out to the store again real quick. Grab a toothbrush. Lube. Several Condoms. Come back and fuck you on every surface of my home. Do that thing I’ve been wanting to do with my knife.
I plate our food that’s now closer to cold than it is warm, so I heat each plate for a few seconds in the microwave before jerking my head in the direction of the breakfast nook next to the bay window.
I’m not certain I can shift back to normal after that, but I’m willing to try and it ends up being easier than I anticipated.
We fall into a conversation about a History of Psychology assignment she’s working on this week. Thankfully nothing about our meal together feels strained or tinged with the fact that she just basically dry-humped me while I restrained her and made out with her neck in the middle of the kitchen.
That’s okay.
I’ll remind her soon enough.
An hour passes and our plates sit empty in front of us, the only thing pulling us from the bubble we’ve created around ourselves is Sienna’s high-pitched shriek reverberating down the stairs.
“I’ll grab her.” I stand at the same time my phone buzzes from across the kitchen.
I snatch it from the island as I make my way to the stairs, but stand frozen at the bottom with my hand on the rail when I see the text that’s just come through.
The police have made another arrest.
While I should feel relieved by this small piece of news, it's the name attached to the article that triggers a downward spiral of worry.
Adrian.
I can't help but think about the danger Quinn may have been in just a few days ago before I showed up, and the danger she could still be facing now from other students who were potentially involved.
There’s not a chance in fucking hell I’ll let her out of my sight now. Not until I know for certain she’s safe from the same people who killed her dad.
My phone vibrates again, and the text that’s come through from an unknown number is the juiciest cherry on top of this shit sundae.
It’s a screen grab from the camera system inside my house a little over an hour ago; a still of Quinn’s body wrapped around mine, me sucking at her pulse point.
19
I WILL FORFEIT ALL MY MORTAL POSSESSIONS
JACK
