Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Quincy
It had never dawned on me that non-heat sex with an alpha I was falling head over heels in love with could be so good.
It had never occurred to me that sex outside of heat was even a possibility, which sounds stupid, I know.
But up until that moment, I’d always associated sex with heat and the agony of having a severed bond.
“This changes everything,” I told Jack cuddling against his naked body as we lazed around, recovering from our impulsive lovemaking.
“Hmm?” Jack asked with all the relaxed satisfaction of a man who knew he’d rocked my world.
I laughed and wriggled closer to him, kissing his chest a few times before sliding over him entirely to straddle his hips.
“This changes everything,” I repeated with more feeling, spreading my hands across his hairy chest. “We fucked, and I didn’t want to die.”
Jack blinked at me, then laughed out loud. “Thank you for that vote of approval,” he said.
I realized how my words sounded and laughed with him. Then I bent down and kissed him long and lingeringly while squeezing handfuls of his pecs.
“No, I mean that I’ve only ever had sex while in heat, whether naturally or with a Heat Lightning pill, since Chester.
” I winced as I said that, because even mentioning Chester made me aware of the sever in a visceral way.
“And yeah, I did feel all those aching, hollow things in the place where the bond once was, but that…void didn’t cut into what we share.
It…it was almost like that part of me was healing. ”
Jack’s eyes grew wider as I gave my explanation, and by the time I got to the end, he looked downright stunned. He muscled himself up until he was balanced on his elbows behind him, then said, “Are you saying your broken bond is healing?”
Wouldn’t that be amazing.
“No, I don’t think so,” I said, lowering my head as my insides throbbed with regret. “Everything they told me said that once a bond is severed, it can’t be healed.”
I shrugged to show him that didn’t bother me so much, but Jack knew it was a lie as much as I did. He sat up all the way, pulling me into an embrace.
“It’s okay,” he said, like he was comforting me right after the procedure had taken place. “You’re still my wonderful, exciting, adorable omega.”
I threw my arms around him and tried not to cry as I buried my face against his shoulder.
I don’t know what I did to deserve someone as kind and generous as Jack.
Part of me was still convinced that he would wake up one day and see the mistake he had made by falling for me.
But if our time together was just a blip in both of our lives, I was determined to do whatever I could to make his life better, whether he lived the rest of it with or without me.
“I haven’t told you why I wanted to come over,” I said, my forehead still pressed against his shoulder. I wasn’t ready to break the bubble of affection surrounding us by bringing assholes into it.
“What? You didn’t want to come over so I could give you an amazing non-heat dicking?” Jack teased.
I laughed and sat straighter, cupping his stubbly face in my hands. “Jack Salisbury! Where did you learn language like that? I thought you were a good, respectable alpha from a high society family.”
Jack’s amusement faded quickly. “I’m ashamed of myself,” he said.
That wasn’t even close to what I was expecting him to say. “Why do you think that? You have nothing to be ashamed of. Trust me, I know about shame.”
Jack smiled warily at me and rested his hands over mine before drawing them away from his face. He held our hands together between us and stared at them, or maybe at the tattoos on my belly and side, for a moment while gathering his thoughts.
“I’m only a few months away from thirty,” he said, glancing up at me again.
His eyes held so much regret and even more affection.
It made it hard for me to breathe as he went on.
“I’m ashamed of myself for letting myself skate by, doing whatever my parents told me to do.
It was all I ever knew, really. I let them nip my dreams in the bud and dictate who I was going to be and how I should live.
“But then I met you,” he said, resting one hand on the side of my face. He brushed his thumb across my lip ring, which had my cock taking notice. “You woke me out of the stupor that that life lulled me into.”
“And caused your dad to cut you off financially,” I reminded him. A huge part of me didn’t want him to give me too much credit or say I was too wonderful. I was only going to disappoint him in the end, after all.
Jack huffed a laugh. “I’m smarter and more resilient than that,” he said.
“Look around. This apartment is full of things that I could sell for a quick buck to make a nest egg. And my dad can’t take my law degree from me.
He can’t retaliate against every law firm in the country, or probably even just Barrington.
I can and I will break away from him and start a new life. ”
His declaration was just what I needed to get to the point of why I was there.
“I think I have an idea that might help with everything,” I said, resting my palms on his chest again. I might not have the ability to bond with Jack, but I could feel his heartbeat while I shared things with him, and that was as much an indicator of what he was feeling as a bond was.
“I’m all ears,” Jack said, sliding his hands across my sides to hold my ass.
I loved that. I had to lean forward and kiss him as a way of showing him.
I couldn’t let that go on for long, though. Not when I had a plan to hatch.
“Okay,” I said, sitting back and forcing myself to concentrate. My insides, especially my omega, were jumping all over the place and trying to take me out of my head and into my cock. “Here’s my plan.”
I took a deep breath and met Jack’s eyes. He was already listening more intently than any alpha had ever listened to me, especially Chester.
“So you know how Chester was waiting for me when I got back to the office after lunch the other day?” I started.
Jack’s hands tightened almost painfully on my asscheeks, and I kind of loved it. “I’ll murder him,” Jack growled.
“No, you won’t have to, I think,” I said. “And besides, I really don’t want you to go to jail.”
“He caused you to…react,” Jack went on, still fuming.
“And he reacted, too, yeah,” I glossed over what I’d explained to him the day it happened. “The whole thing was…weird.”
Jack’s anger softened into curiosity. “Weird?”
“Yeah. He was there and he wanted to apologize.”
“Apologize?” Jack snorted angrily, the same as he had the first time I told him.
“And to check to make sure I was alright.”
“I still think it’s all highly suspicious.”
“Oh, it was shady as fuck,” I said, feeling strangely secure and confident discussing the confrontation that had left me feeling so shredded.
It was Jack who made me feel safe. Chester, on the other hand…
. “He talked about everything he’s doing with this new app of his,” I went on, sharing the new information that had taken a backseat when I’d explained the bond reaction.
“Frankly, I think the whole thing is intrusive and illegal.”
“What does the app do?” Jack asked, frowning like he already had some concerns of his own.
“It’s ostensibly a marketing app, something to make sure the right ads are served to the right people,” I explained. “But it also tracks the user’s location through their phone.”
Jack’s brow shot up. “That isn’t legal.”
“What if someone consented to it in the terms and conditions of the app when they download it?” I asked.
Jack just pressed his lips together and breathed out through his nose.
“Anyhow,” I went on, “he’s very clearly in cahoots with your dad about this whole thing.”
“I know,” Jack said.
It was my turn to look surprised. “You do?”
Jack shrugged one shoulder stiffly and kneaded my ass.
“I know that Chester and my dad are working together on Dad’s campaign,” he said.
“I haven’t dug into the details or anything, but I’m almost certain Chester is contributing way more than the legal allowance to my dad’s gubernatorial campaign, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Dad has promised something like tax breaks or public funding for whatever Chester is doing. ”
It was exactly what I wanted to hear, and it dovetailed perfectly with the plot that had been forming in my mind.
“This will totally work, then,” I said, brightening into a smile.
Jack smiled with me, but I could see the confusion behind that smile. “What will work?”
“Blackmail,” I said triumphantly.
“Blackmail?” I couldn’t tell if Jack liked the idea or not.
“It’s the perfect way for you to get out from under your family’s thumb so you can start a new life doing what you want to do,” I said.
“I don’t understand,” Jack said, his hands still on my ass.
I shifted a little before launching into my explanation. “Right now, your dad won’t let you go. He has complete control over you, and he’s showing you that by cutting you off from any money.”
“Yes,” Jack said with a slow, puzzled look.
“He won’t let you go unless you beat him at his own game,” I went on.
“So what you need to do is break this story about him colluding with Chester on an app that would violate people’s privacy and give him, a gubernatorial candidate, unprecedented access to people’s very personal information.
Because that could totally be used for voter intimidation or to tweak election results, I’m sure. ”
Jack’s eyes went wide. “He wouldn’t do that,” he said, though I could tell that underneath it all, Jack believed he could.
“He’s also probably taking more money from Chester and scratching more backs than he should,” I went on. “Since you’re on the inside, you have the ability to find all that information, document it, and take it to the press.”