Chapter 28 Jo
twenty-eight
Jo
“But you’re feelin’ okay?” I ask Mabel, the burner phone tucked between my ear and shoulder as I sit on the edge of the cliff that overlooks the ocean.
Sam doesn’t want us to be out here during the day, so when the sun finally went down, I grabbed the burner to call Mabel.
It’s not that I have anything to hide from the guys, I just wanted to be able to talk to my sister without being distracted.
“I’m fine, Jo, I promise.” Mabel lets out a little laugh.
“I swear, you’re fussier than a mother hen sometimes.
” I haven’t brought up the fact that her file at Thornfield had her labelled as “feral”, even though I want to.
Not to make her feel bad or to judge her, but to figure out exactly what’s happened to her over the last few years.
“I think I have a right to be at this point, Mabel-cakes,” I huff. “But they’re treatin’ you well? You’re not gettin’ any weird vibes from them?”
Mabel laughs again. “I thought you trusted them, Jojo.”
“I do…” I sigh, running a hand through my hair. “I just know they can get…carried away sometimes. Especially Rory.”
“The one who brought me a chocolate cream pie?” she asks, and I groan.
“Don’t tell me he tried to feed it to you.”
Another giggle. “No, nothin’ like that. It was left in front of my bedroom door with a note.”
Huh. That seems oddly…tame for Rory. Especially since he was apparently talking about kidnapping her. I want to ask her how it makes her feel, having him leave food for her. If she wants to run the other direction or embrace it. Instead, I dumbly ask, “Was it good?”
“The pie?”
“No, the note.” I roll my eyes. “Yes, the pie.”
“I don’t know, I didn’t eat it. I gave it to the other omegas.” Ah. So run the other direction.
“Hey Jo?” Mabel’s tone, which was lighthearted and sweet a moment ago, is now somber.
“What is it, Mabel?”
“Do you think…” She lets out a shuddering sigh. “I can’t…I can’t stand havin’ these marks on me.”
My throat goes dry. This is the first time Mabel’s said anything about her bond marks or her life before I found her. “Mabel…”
Despite the fact most of her omega nature is gone, an unmistakable omega whine leaves her. “I need to get them off, and I can’t. Why? It’s not fair, Jo. I killed ‘em, they’re dead, so why do they still get this part of me?”
“They have nothin’, Mabel Harding.” My voice comes out harsher than I want, but she needs to understand that these dead alphas have no power over her.
“You gave them nothin’, you hear me? They tried to take from you, and they failed.
Those marks? They’re nothin’ more than battle scars. They do not define who you are.”
She sniffs, and is quiet for a moment before she finally speaks. “They’re so ugly though.”
A shocked laugh leaves me. “You vain thing. We’ll figure somethin’ out, okay? Stick with long sleeves for now so you don’t have to look at ‘em, and we’ll…well, we’ll find a way to where you don’t hafta look at ‘em anymore, I promise.”
The sound of footsteps has me turning, and I look to see West walking across the grass.
“Okay, Jo. I love you.”
“I love you too. We’ll talk later, okay?”
“Bye, Jojo.”
We hang up right as West reaches me. “Am I interrupting?”
“Nope,” I look up at him, the moon illuminating his handsome face. “You feel like joinin’ me?”
“I’d love to.” He drops to the grass, his feet dangling over the edge of the cliff with me. He lets out a shaking breath. “Fuck, maybe I need to scoot back.”
“Why, Doctor, are you scared of heights?” I tease, looping my arm through his and resting my head on his shoulder. His mint and chamomile scent soothes me, and I let out a contented sigh.
“It’s not the height I’m afraid of,” he snorts, “it’s the falling to my death and drowning in the ocean that does it.”
“Don’t worry, my good Doctor,” I murmur, watching the way the moonlight sparkles against the rippling water. “I won’t let you fall.”
His hand clamps over mine. “Of that, I have no doubt.” We’re silent for a moment, watching the ocean and listening to the roar of the waves. It’s nice, just sitting with him here like this. “Was that Mabel on the phone?” he asks quietly.
“Yeah,” I sigh, “I haven’t said anythin’ yet, but I have a feelin’.
..” I trail off, biting my lip. I haven’t voiced my concerns to anyone, because I’m not sure if it’s breaking Mabel's trust or not. I mean, I haven’t even told her yet.
But I have to talk to someone. “I think Mabel and Declan’s pack might be true scent matches. ”
“Oh, shit.” West mutters. “That’s…”
“Weird as hell?” I offer, letting out a little laugh.
“Yes and no,” he shrugs, “I mean, it’s your brother and your sister, but technically you and Mabel aren’t even biologically related, plus the fact that Declan had never met Mabel before Thornfield.
He didn’t even know about her before you called him the first time, right?
So it’s not like there’s ever been a moment where he thought Mabel was his sister. ”
“That’s all true,” I sigh, lifting my head. “But…I don’t know. I’ve wanted him to find an omega for years, and Mabel’s always wanted a pack, even when we were teens…”
“So why haven’t you said anything?” West tilts his head, looking at me.
“I’m almost afraid that if she knew, she might run and break his heart.
If he knew, he might overdo it and make her run.
I just think…she still has so much healin’ to go through.
She hates her scars from her bond marks.
She can’t look at them without thinkin’ of the pack of shitstains that force-bonded her.
” My fingers reach up to touch the necklace around my neck, tracing the shape of the canine teeth hanging from it.
“You know…” West exhales, leaning back on his hands, “It’s been proven therapeutic to…
well, to get a tattoo over old bond marks.
So when you see them, you don’t see the teeth marks of your deceased lover…
or in this case, deceased abusers, you see a new start.
You see that you can move forward even after that part of your life is over. It can be healing.”
A small smile tilts at my lips. “I’ll have to tell her about that.”
We sit in amicable silence for a few more minutes when he speaks again. “How…how are you doing with it all? This is me as your mate who also happens to be a very good listener, not your shrink.”
I sigh, laying back to look at the stars. “With what exactly?”
West lays back as well, his arm pressing against mine. “I don’t know. Any of it. Losing your bond with Hayden and getting it back. Being stuck in a safe house with four guys who are infatuated with you.”
Turning my head, I look up at West to see he’s already looking at me. His honey brown eyes shine with affection as a smile tilts at his lips.
“You first,” I tell him, reaching for his hand and linking our fingers together. “You’ve gone from a hot but boring psychologist to an omega kidnapper all in the span of a week.”
He snorts. “Omega kidnapper, huh?”
“I didn’t say I wasn’t glad to be kidnapped.”
“Right. Well…I don’t know, Jo. I think ever since I discovered that omegas were being…misplaced—”
“We’re not socks, West.”
He huffs a laugh, rolling his eyes. “Fine. Lost in transit?”
“Not a mail package either. I believe the word you’re searchin’ for is ‘kidnapped’. Not the good kind. It’s strange that that word keeps poppin’ up tonight.”
“Kidnapped,” he concedes, “Ever since then, I’ve started to look at things differently.
I lost faith in the system. Realized that the way I was raised was a lie.
The way things progressed with Banesworth and getting you out of the Cathedral…
well it didn’t feel like a huge deviation from where we were already headed with everything.
With all that said…I’m doing surprisingly well.
” He gives me a heart-stopping smile, squeezing my hand once.
“Turns out I can withstand just about anything as long as I have my Siren by my side.”
“Hmmm,” my fingers tighten around his, “you should be careful callin’ me a Siren this close to the ocean, Doctor. I might sprout gills and a tail and drag you under the waves so I can have my way with you.”
His eyes dart down to my lips. “Maybe that’s exactly what I want.”
Heart pounding, my hand reaches up to cup his cheek. When I prop myself up on my elbow, lean over, and press my lips against his, I realize that I would love nothing more than to drown in this man.
The kiss is sweet and gentle, and when I pull back, his hand on the back of my head pulls me back to him for one last lingering press of his lips.
When we go back inside the house, Sam arches a knowing brow from his place at the kitchen counter.
“I’m gonna go take a shower.” West kisses my cheek before heading to the bedroom.
I walk into the kitchen, leaning back on my elbows against the counter next to Sam. “What are you makin’ today, Chef Sammy?”
“Only the best for my omega,” he grins, nodding to a spread of bread and cheese, “grilled cheese and tomato soup.”
A groan leaves me. “I know you were bein’ funny, but I love grilled cheese.”
He chuckles, shaking his head. “I would have made it sooner if I knew that.”
Grinning, I step behind him, wrapping my arms around his waist. “Don’t worry, Sammy.
You keep me happy in plenty of other ways.
” My hand dips down to cup his hardening cock.
“Maybe it’s time you let me return the favor.
” He’s pulled back since the morning he ate my pussy like a starving man and then shoved his cum inside me with his fingers, and I want to know why.
Sam groans, his head falling forward as I massage his dick outside his sweatpants. “Fuck, Jo— you can’t—”
“I can’t, what, Sam?” I snap, continuing with my motion before dipping my hand in the waistband of his sweatpants. He needs to get out of his own head and accept the damn fact that I want to suck his dick. My hand wraps around his hard length, making him shudder.
“Fuck, Trouble. Dinner—”
I remove my hand from his pants, then step around him so I’m between him and the counter.
“So?” I arch a brow, untying the tie of his pants before dropping down to my knees.
“Make dinner.” Pulling his waistband down, I grab his throbbing cock with my hand again, pumping it a few times.
Sam moans, bracing his hands on the counter.
When I lick the bead of precum off his head, he lets out a hiss.
“Make. Dinner,” I repeat, looking up at him.
“Let me be your dirty girl, Sammy-boy. I’m hungry for a pre-meal snack. ”
Then I swallow him down. He tastes like coffee and whiskey and that alpha musk that makes my thighs clench in need.
He moans, low and sexy as I brace my hands on his hips, bobbing up and down on his shaft.
“Dammit, Jo,” he growls, his hand fisting the hair at the back of my head.
He starts pumping his hips in time with me, and I whimper around his cock, my core pulsing with need.
“You’re so fucking stubborn. Is this what you wanted?
” He grunts as he pushes into the back of my throat, and I nod, looking up into his eyes.
He groans. “Fuck. Of course it is, you dirty girl, so hungry for my cock.” My thighs press together and I moan as he continues to fuck my mouth.
My fingers dig into his hips, and when I open my eyes to look up at him again, he is absolutely wrecked.
“You want to see me lose control?” he pants, his hips thrusting.
“You want to see what it looks like when I come undone? Fine. You have what you wanted, Trouble, now,” he grunts as he thrusts one last time, “take it.” I hold him in the back of my throat as he groans his release, and when he stops pulsing in my mouth, I pop off him, licking my lips.
He releases my head, lifting me up by my arms to sit on the counter, then bending down to meet my eyes as his chest moves up and down with heavy breaths. “That was bad, Jo.”
I arch a brow. “You just came in under a minute. You’re tellin’ me that was a bad blowjob?”
He huffs, dropping his head to my shoulder. “Fuck, no. It was amazing. What I mean is…I can’t be distracted when I’m trying to keep you all safe. The other day…I shouldn’t have let myself have you like that. Not when we’re in danger, not when our position is so exposed. I shouldn’t…I can’t…”
Frowning, I cup his cheeks and move his face so it’s level with mine.
His warm brown eyes ripple with conflicting emotions.
“It’s not your sole responsibility, Sam.
Kole can kill a man with his bare hands.
Hayden is a fuckin’ pyromaniac, and have you seen me with a knife?
” I give him a little grin. “I’m kinda bad ass. ”
“You didn’t mention West,” he mutters, his eyes darting between mine.
“West is our emotional support. He makes sure we don’t turn into heartless killers. My point,” I fix him with a look, “is that you’re not the only one who can keep us safe.”
He closes his eyes, leaning into my touch. “I know that. But…it’s ingrained in me, Trouble. I’m the oldest…I’m the one who has the most training out of all of us, and it feels…it feels irresponsible for me to indulge in your affection when shit could hit the fan at any moment.”
“Does it make you feel better?” I ask, tilting my head. “To deny yourself so you feel a little more in control?”
“I thought West was the psychologist.” He chuckles, shaking his head. “How do you see through me so easily?”
I shrug. “I’m good at readin’ people. But…I shouldn’t have kept goin’—”
“I did fuck your mouth at the end there, Trouble.” He smirks at me. “You know I’m not afraid to manhandle you a little, so if I really didn’t want you down there, you would have known.”
“So you want to wait, then? Until we’re not on the run anymore?” I wait for the disappointment to fill me, but really, what I get is…anticipation.
“Yes,” he murmurs, leaning forward and pressing a kiss to my lips.
“And believe me, Jo, when I finally sink into you,” he kisses me again, setting my skin on fire, “and fuck you senseless, you won’t be able to walk for a week, and you might forget every name but mine, since it’ll be the one you’ll be screaming. ”
A grin tilts at my lips. “Promises, promises, Sammy-boy.”