Rabbit Hole (Dark Trails #2)

1. Adair

1

ADAIR

W e eat in the living room, sitting on the sofa I slept on my first night here. It’s crazy how much has changed in two days. After we tear into those cold sausages and peppers like savages, Jack stands and stretches with a yawn.

“Heading up.”

I can’t tell if he wants a reply to that. “OK, I guess I’ll be down here.”

Already at the stairs, Jack turns. Hand on the railing, he cocks his head, looking like he’s not sure whether to be annoyed or amused. “That fucking wasn’t enough? Need to get in some werewolf porn before bed, too?”

“No, I just thought — I didn’t want to assume I was going to sleep upstairs and be wrong. I didn’t want you to call me needy again.” Jack frowns, but I’m glad I got that out of my system.

“You weren’t being needy,” he says tersely. “I want you in my bed.”

“Um, are you sure? I don’t mind —”

Jack stalks back over to me, getting in my space like he does as he leans over me, so close that I feel the breath of his words against my ear. “Oh, I’m sure,” he says quietly.

“Uh-huh. OK, then.” I think of something. “Um, not like I need to know for right now or anything, but just in general, does the safeword thing still apply?”

“Yeah. Of course.” Jack straightens up immediately and takes a step back. I feel wildly awkward againas I follow him upstairs.

He points to the same side I slept on last night. “I ran a cord over to that night table so you can charge your phone. Let me know if you need a second one for your tablet. There’s still an outlet open on the power strip under the bed.”

He must have done this after I went to work this morning. As a warm glow fills me, my embarrassment starts to fade. Jack gets into bed and I follow his lead, snuggling down underneath the blankets with a little hum of happiness.

My cozy contentment lasts for roughly two seconds. Jack flips off the bedside light and promptly rolls over to face his side of the bed.

I frown in the darkness. Why the hell did he make a big deal about me sleeping next to him if he’s going to act like I’m not here? Is this some sort of weird power trip, insisting that I come to bed with him and then ignoring me just because he can?

Remembering how I felt better a few minutes ago after I got it off my chest about him calling me needy, I push up to a sitting position. With the skylight above the bed, there’s enough light that I can see puzzlement in Jack’s face as he turns to look at me.

“What?”

“I don’t know why you wanted me here.” I hate the way my voice sounds. It’s hesitant, unconfident… needy . Fuck, maybe Jack was right.

My bad feelings multiply when he doesn’t say anything back. My anxiety pulls into a spiky ball low in my guts, so I get up and head towards the stairs. Jack props himself up on his elbows and looks at me. “What are you doing ?”

“Do you, um — I can sleep downstairs if you want.”

He scowls. “I thought we already went through this,” he mutters. I stay where I am until he lets out an exasperated sigh. “Get over here, you dumb bunny.”

I don’t make him tell me twice.

“I wanted to give you your space. Literally, the last words out of your mouth were asking if I would still observe your safeword,” he says in a gruff voice. “What the hell did you expect me to think?”

“Oh. I guess I didn’t…” I trail off. “Sorry. Now I feel stupid.”

“Great. Feel stupid quietly so I can go the fuck to sleep.” Jack drops his head back onto the pillows with a huff.

He stays on his back, though, so when I scoot under the covers again, I tentatively shimmy towards the center of the bed. He tenses when I brush up against him and curl up facing away from him, my back touching his side, but he doesn’t pull away.

After a minute or so, he rolls over. His chest hair tickles my back. A few breaths later, he throws his arm over me with a sigh.

“You alright, then?” he says into the quiet. “We good?”

“Uh-huh.”

“What are you thinking now?”

I take a big gamble. “That you’re kind of sexy when you’re mad at me,” I admit.

“Huh.” He sort of laughs. “Is that why you’re being such a pain in the dick?” When I don’t say anything, he pulls me against his fuzzy torso.

“You’re lucky I’m too tired to take it out on your ass tonight,” he murmurs. I think he’s going to say more. When he doesn’t, I press my body a little closer. I’m surprised by how quickly I fall asleep with his arm draped over me.

J ack’s shower is one of those big, glass-walled ones without a curtain. The next morning after I lather up, I get a little nosy and flip up the lid of his body wash. It doesn’t quite smell like him. Not far off, but it’s missing that top note of oh-God-bend-me-over-and-use-me. Hmm. I check out his shampoo and conditioner. Conditioner ? Jack doesn’t strike me as a conditioner guy, but his hair is pretty long, so I guess it makes sense.

The doorknob squeaks. I hurriedly put the bottle down, not wanting to get caught creeping on Jack’s toiletries. Glancing in his direction, I’m relieved to see that he’s not paying the slightest bit of attention to me.

Since he doesn’t even look my way, I take the opportunity to check him out. I know he’s a big guy, but I don’t usually get to see how big. I’ve never gotten a good look at him like this, naked in all his thick, hairy glory in the early morning sunlight. My dick wakes up as he yawns and scratches his belly. Oh God, no wonder he can throw me around like a ragdoll. My growing erection scrambles my brain when he steps in front of the toilet and reaches for his cock.

“Hey, sorry, sorry —I’ll be out of here in just a sec,” I call out hurriedly.

Rinsing off as fast as I can, I hear Jack snort. He shakes his head a little, hand still on his dick, looking bemused. “You for real, Bunny?”

“No, no, I’ll be out of here in less than a minute. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to wake — know you were getting up yet. I would’ve let you have the bathroom first if I — sorry...” I cringe as I hear myself babble and take in Jack’s expression.

The gaze he levels at me sharpens. “I’m just going to take a piss. Don’t freak out on me.”

Since he’s between me and the bathroom door, I’m stuck. I turn around to face the wall and stick my head under the shower spray as my mind races.

This shouldn’t weird me out. Why is it weirding me out? Why am I freaking out like Jack said not to? I wipe my eyes and glance over.

Big mistake. I should not be looking at his cock right now. Stop it . Look at anything else — there’s no shortage of options: Messy bedhead, broad shoulders, muscular arms, thick thighs, hairy ass.

But my eyes aren’t listening to my brain, even when it pipes up with a warning as Jack finishes and gives himself a shake: You know, you’ve only got a couple of seconds before …

He turns and raises an eyebrow. My brain sighs. Told you so . Jack snickers and I squirm, bringing my hand holding the washcloth down in front of my cock. I want to sink through the floor as he clicks his tongue, lips curled in a smirk.

“Oh, Bunny,” he says in a tone of mock reproach, shaking his head a little. Even through the water-streaked glass, I can see the feral gleam in his eye.

Eventually, Jack gets bored entertaining himself with my discomfort. He goes to the sink and stops paying attention to me. I breathe a sigh of relief before looking down.

I frown at my erection. It’s only like that because of the way he was looking at me just now. I’m going to keep repeating that to myself until it becomes true, until I’ve wiped my mind clean of even the suggestion that I might have popped a boner while I watched Jack take a piss.

Which definitely didn’t happen.