Chapter Twenty-six – Jack
Chapter Twenty-six
Jack
I carried Paco across the threshold into my apartment, set him into the coffin on my bed, and kissed his bloodstained lips.
We’d never talked about me changing him before, because it seemed impossible. I never would’ve put him in danger—in more danger—with Rosalie.
So I didn’t know exactly how he’d wake up. I could only hope that he’d be happy that he was still with me.
I showered, fed Sugar, and sat down on my couch, letting mindless TV wash over me, trying not to think.
And then around three there was a gentle knock outside my door. I answered it and found Zach outside in his uniform. “The key was missing,” he said, looking hopeful. “I figured you came home.”
“I did indeed.” I raked a hand through my loose hair. “Thanks for cat sitting. I appreciate it.”
Zach’s warm smile cranked a few sunbeams brighter. “You’re welcome. Did you have fun? Wherever it was that you were?”
“It was a long few days,” I said, honestly.
“Well…I’ve got half-an-hour,” he said, still grinning.
I knew what he was hinting at, shook my head, and closed my eyes. “Sorry, Zach. Not tonight.”
His full lips fell into a small pout, but then he shook his shoulder once, like he was twitching off a fly. “Sure. You’re probably tired and all.”
“Actually, I am.” I went to grab the door behind him. “I’ll see you around though, all right?”
“Yeah,” he said, stepping back with a sigh.
I moved to close the door, but made the mistake of looking out after him as he walked down the hall in the ill-lit dark.
One of the lights our landlord needed to replace stuttered, making Zach cast crazy shadows on the wall, like there was a monster chasing him.
Was there? I wondered, as I licked a line across my upper teeth.
I wanted him, because I was a creature of want. Of need. Of hunger and desires.
But...I'd come back from whatever I'd been when I'd been buried in Angela, cock and fang. I hadn't taken too much, and I hadn't gone over.
And I'd come back from whatever I'd been when I thought Paco had died—my murderous rage had ended the second I'd brought Paco ‘back.’
Which meant it was still me standing here.
And what was more, with Rosalie gone…I was finally free.
I knew the darkness that Bella had warned me about would always be a part of me…but for right now, for the space of tonight, I'd survived it.
That seemed worth celebrating.
It was worth a hand-job, at the very least.
I grinned and put my fingers to my lips to whistle loudly. Zach’s head whipped back, looking over his shoulder. “Get your ass back here,” I growled low, so it would echo toward him.
“Yeah?” he asked, his voice going high with hope.
“Don’t make me ask twice,” I teased, stepping back from the door.
He raced to follow me inside. “You got any sick time?” I asked as I closed the door behind him.
He nodded quickly. “Use it, if you don’t mind,” I said, before answering the unspoken question in his eyes.
“Because I’m going to need you for longer than thirty minutes. ”
His eyebrows went up and he fished his phone out, instantly feigning getting sick to a manager. I went for my phone as well and waited for him to finish. “Do you mind women?”
“Uh—generally, no? But I don’t really know what to do with one, if that’s what you’re asking. They’re not my thing.”
“Do you object to one’s presence?” I asked. I knew the last number that’d called me had to be Nikki’s.
“No.”
“Good.” I texted Nikki my address, then gave Zach the kind of look that made his blood flow south—I knew because I could see it.
Mine was, too, just thinking about the things I would do to the both of them.
“Why do you ask?” he asked, the very voice of intentional innocence. I leaned in and pressed him against the door, kissing him hard until I felt his hips try to thrust, his body begging me for more. I pulled my head back, leaving him aching, I knew.
“Because,” I said, rocking into him with promise, so that he knew exactly what he was getting into. “After the night I’ve had—I need to get a lot of people off.”
I gave him a dangerous smile and went for the buttons at his throat.
Read on to find out what happens when Paco wakes up in
Blood at Dawn: Dark Ink Tattoo Book Five