Chapter 22
TWENTY-TWO
Jack
Don’t you?
The words reverberated through my brain like a gunshot.
She thought I was dangerous.
She was afraid of me.
It made sense.
She’d seen me kill without a second thought, let alone remorse.
But…
I stumbled, then looked around at the land I’d come to know every inch of.
The place I was sure was just a fucking fantasy.
The place—the woman—I’d forsaken my brother for.
And all for nothing.
Because she was afraid of me.
Because she didn’t know that every fucking thing I’d done since the lights went out in that elevator was for her.
Every life I’d taken.
Every breath I’d breathed.
All for her.
You never told me that, Jackson.
I heard her voice in my head now.
And worse, she was right.
That was what it had come to.
Fucking disgusting.
And no, I hadn’t told her.
But I had shown her.
Every moment of every day.
And it hadn’t been enough.
I clenched my fists, walking toward the fence.
It was a project I wasn’t sure would ever be done, but one I threw myself into.
I tried to do that now, but with each twist of the pliers, the pressure built.
Don’t you?
I dropped the pliers in the grass and stomped toward the house.
The part of me that never turned off was aware of the sounds of the farm, the people going about the tasks we pretended kept us safe, oblivious to the storm inside of me.
But that was background noise.
Static on the dead radio we didn’t even bother to turn on anymore.
It was less than nothing because I was completely focused on her.
Always on her.
I stopped in front of her bedroom door.
Our bedroom door…what a fucking joke.
Barely contained rage had me throwing the door open.
Asia didn’t flinch when the door hit the wall.
She was a vision.
Calm personified.
My own personal fucking torment.
Her eyes widened ever so slightly when I pushed the door closed.
But she didn’t back down.
She never did.
Her eyes were locked with mine as I approached. She didn’t blink, but her nostrils flared with her hard breath. Her tongue peeked out and swiped her lips.
I followed that same path, swiping her lips with my tongue, my breath constricted in my chest, my hands trembling with the need to touch her.
She parted her lips, shaping them to speak.
I didn’t give her a chance.
Kissed her hard, rough, a clash of lips and teeth.
I grabbed her wrist and turned her.
I smiled at her little grunt when I pushed her down on the bed.
Didn’t give her another chance to react then, either.
I slapped her ass, then curved my palm to grip the soft yet firm flesh.
My mouth was open, my breath harsh as I squeezed. I felt like I was coming out of my skin, desire—pain—the all-encompassing need for this woman leaving me in a twisted state.
I could protect her.
Would kill anything that would make her frown, let alone threaten to harm her.
And she was scared of me.
Had every right to be.
She flinched, and I realized I was squeezing harder now.
I loosened my hold and stared down at her, unable to deny the truth of it.
I’d lost her.
Had never had her.
Not really.
And now I never would.
“On your knees. Ass up,” I grated, my voice barely sounding like my own.
Asia twisted, trying to look back at me.
I pushed her shirt up the smooth skin of her back and put my hand at the base of her neck. “Don’t fucking look at me.”
I waited, satisfaction surging through me when she complied.
At least I had this.
Knew there was no one else who could make her feel this.
It would have to be enough.
I looked down at her beautiful back, the curve of her ass, so loving encased in plain white cotton.
I breathed in deep, sure I smelled her scent and desperation for me.
Pressed my nose between her thighs, breathing deeper, and then pushed the panties aside.
“Umph.” She let out an indelicate huff when I pushed her down on the bed, and then turned to look back at me.
I couldn’t meet her eyes, but looked in her direction long enough to bark, “I said ass up.”
I let a split second pass before I smacked her ass, then squeezed.
Couldn’t stop the smile when she complied, pulling herself to her knees, then looking back at me.
She was pushing me, daring me.
She might hate me. I squeezed tighter, knowing I would leave a bruise but not giving a fuck.
She might be afraid of me.
But she loved this.
Slap.
The sound of my hand against her ass was obscene in her sweet, quiet bedroom.
So was I.
I pulled her panties, ripping them off, pushed my cock inside her and fucked her relentlessly, like I could fuck her hard enough, fast enough, to get ahead of what was coming.
I couldn’t.
Knew that.
But I fucked her harder anyway.
“Jack—”
“Shut up.”
She arched under me when I twisted her clit and flew apart when I sank my teeth into her shoulder.
Her pussy pulsed around me, milking my cock, and at the last second, I pulled out.
Spilled milky white cum on her ass.
Seeing my seed on her skin unlocked something feral.
I pushed back inside her, locking my arm around her waist and held her tight as my cock pulsed in her slippery, soaking walls.
I came until I had nothing left.
Grabbed her ass cheeks and looked between our bodies as my cock slipped out of her.
Growled when she shifted and some of my cum slipped out.
I curved two fingers and scooped the cum off her ass, gathering what had slipped out and pushed my fingers in her pussy.
She took me easily, so I added another, the darkness inside me, the thing that she feared, refusing to allow even a drop to escape.
I felt her gaze on me, and looked up to meet her eyes.
But I couldn’t hold it.
Didn’t deserve to.
So I pulled away, and redressed.
Asia lingered for a moment, and then did the same.
I let my gaze sweep the room. Then settled on her.
“I’m leaving.”
She trembled. Or maybe I just thought she did.
I wasn’t sure because she fumbled with the buttons on her flannel shirt and said, “When?”
“Now.”
She flinched.
I was sure I’d seen it.
But she recovered.
Gave me a sharp nod.
Met my eyes.
“I’ll help you pack.”