Chapter 10 Jade #2
I could go back to the idea of just having one night, but as appealing as the idea sounds, I’m very aware of the ticking timer I’ve set for myself.
I wasn’t joking when I told the guys we had to handle the last ring by Christmas.
The thought of going back puts me in a minor panic, but I know it has to be done, and it’s been a long time since I put my fears before my responsibilities. I won’t start now.
Movement to my right pulls me from my internal debate.
I’m not at all surprised when I look up to find Jake standing next to me.
He flashes me a smile as he waves down the bartender for another drink.
I assume he’s a regular here because his drink is in front of him a moment later without them so much as saying a word.
He picks up his drink and takes a sip before waving the bartender away without so much as a glance in his direction.
I’m almost positive the guy behind the bar is Vengeance, and I know Jake is.
Maybe that’s why he knows his drink order.
Not that it matters.
With a huff of annoyance, I turn away from Jake, leaving him to look at my back. If I didn’t think he was a jackass from his behavior at his party, it’s clear to me now that I don’t have time for anyone like him.
Instead of taking the hint, he moves to stand at my side once again. I roll my eyes when I look up at him, but he smiles down at me as if I’m not being as rude as humanly possible.
I wonder if he’s really this arrogant or if he’s possibly just really, really stupid. Either option is a very real possibility.
“Out at the club without the guard dogs?” Jake asks. No greeting, as if we were friends.
We’re not, and I open my mouth to tell him just that, but stop short.
Jake’s one of our men, and being on drug distribution puts him in a perfect position to hear things. The guys on the ground always hear the most, something I learned firsthand after years of trading hands in the rings.
People with money love to talk, even when they shouldn’t. It’s almost as if they can’t help themselves.
So instead of telling him off, I give him a smile before tipping my drink back, finishing it in one gulp, while I take a moment to fall back into character.
It’s almost suffocating to go back to being the girl who smiles and nods after being free. But I dig deep, and when I set my empty glass back on the counter, I’m ready.
I chuckle, reaching out to place my hand on Jake’s arm before looking up at him through my lashes with a flirty smile that works on just about every douchebag ever.
“No, the boys were suffocating me, so I asked Hazel to save me.” I wave toward the floor in Hazel’s general direction but don’t give him time to look for her before I stand up, making a show of swaying slightly.
When the sway isn't completely fake, I have to fight off a grimace. I may have slammed that last drink too quickly. Thankfully, it’s not bad, and as long as I keep my drinking to a minimum for a little while, it won’t be a problem.
As I expected, Jake reaches, grabbing my arm to steady me, and I dial my smile up a few levels as he looks down at me. He smiles back, and I can see that all of this is working just like I knew it would.
Men are so simple when they think they are the ones in control. If only he knew.
Thankfully, he doesn’t, though, or all of this would be for nothing. The thought makes my stomach roll.
“They don’t know how to have any fun. Everything is always so serious with them.
I just had to get out,” I continue, laying it on thick.
I wave him closer, leaning forward until my chest is pressed against his so I can attempt to whisper something to him.
Even pressing up onto my tiptoes, I’m still way too short.
Thankfully, he takes the hint and leans down.
“Shhh, don’t let them know I’ve escaped,” I whisper, letting my lip graze his ear just the slightest bit before I pull back and give him a wink.
I push past him and head back out to the dance floor with a quick glance over my shoulder.
He stands watching me for a moment, shock clear on his face, but as I walk away, he seems to pull himself together, and quickly moves to follow after me.
I have to fight against a sigh. Why are men always so predictable? As I push through the crowd, I feel his eyes on me as he hurries to catch up.
The guys would have never chased me like this. Hell, they would’ve never let me walk away like that to begin with, or bought the shit I just tried to sell him. They know how to actually control a situation instead of being puppeteer'd.
Huh, I guess not all men are so simple-minded.
The thought catches me off guard, and I stagger forward, tripping over my own feet.
Fuck.
I can’t afford to be thinking of them right now, especially knowing they would probably be pissed if they knew what I was doing.
Aww, who was I trying to kid? There’s no probably about it.
Continuing across the floor, I spot Hazel and Leo still where I left them, dancing and smiling.
Hazel looks so relaxed and not at all like the timid girl she is most of the time at school.
She doesn’t even notice me, and I don’t try to get her attention.
I continue walking further into the crowd, satisfied just to know she’s still okay.
I stop just shy of the DJ booth. The floor here isn’t as lit up as some of the other areas because most of the light is coming off the DJ’s equipment instead of overhead lights.
I let myself feel the music, running my hands up my body and onto my head to thread through my hair, the same way I’ve seen other girls doing all night.
I don’t know the song that’s playing, but the beat is easy to move to.
When Jake finally breaks through the crowd, I pretend not to notice him as I let my hips sway more. Unfortunately, Jake’s eyes aren’t the only ones I feel on me anymore, but he’s my only concern right now, so I ignore the rest of them.
Jake’s hand snakes around my stomach as he comes up behind me to press himself to my back.
I swallow down the urge to push him away and instead lean my head back on his shoulder.
The way we’re pressed against each other reminds me a lot of the way I danced with Kratos not so long ago, but this is nothing like that.
With Kratos, I was comfortable. His hands lit a fire inside me that was only hotter with every touch.
With Jake, the only thing I feel is the need to flee.
Thankfully, my need for information outweighs it, so I stay.
The songs here in the club don’t end the same way they did at his house party, and because of that, it’s easy to lose track of time.
I don’t know if we dance for five minutes or five hours, but I know it feels like forever.
The longer I spend pressed against him, the more his hands roam over my body.
Running down my stomach to hold my hips before traveling back up to move along my arms. Goosebumps break out as his fingers trail my skin, and his chuckle lets me know he’s happy with the reaction.
I wonder what he would think if he knew those goosebumps had nothing to do with pleasure and everything to do with the fear that lives inside my bones, ready to be turned into a weapon at a moment's notice.
He runs his fingers all the way up my arms to my neck before he pulls my hair to one side, resting his mouth against the sensitive skin behind my ear. He doesn’t do more than that, but his hot breath against my skin lets me know he’s looking for some kind of reaction.
Not one to disappoint. I give him what he’s looking for, tilting my neck to the side to give him better access. I expect him to kiss me, lick me, hell, even bite me.
But he does nothing, and for the first time since he approached me tonight, I’m wondering if I misjudged the whole situation. It wouldn't be the first time, but more often than not, I’m pretty good at this type of thing. After all, my life has kinda depended on it until recently.
“I know you're faking, Princess,” he whispers, with his lips still pressed up against my neck, his voice so quiet I almost miss it over the noise that fills the club.
I move to pull away, but his hand on my hip holds me in place. I could break his hold and leave. Grab Hazel and make a run for it, but I can’t guarantee I won’t make a scene to do that, and at the moment, a scene isn’t necessary. He could be talking about something else entirely.
“The question I have is, why?” He continues on as if he didn’t feel me try to pull away. As if we're just two people pressed together on the dance floor. “What could you possibly get from me that could be worth you letting me paw at you like this, I wonder?”
Fuck.
Okay, so he's definitely not talking about anything else.
I could still make a run for it. Honestly, it would probably be pretty easy to break his grasp on me and get lost in the crowd.
The only problem with that is he’s now piqued my curiosity, and I’m not sure I want to leave anymore.
If he knew I was faking, why follow me around like a lost puppy and be all over me?
Is it just for status? A chance to say he got hot and heavy on the dance floor with the new girl everyone's talking about? Or is there something more to Jake that I’m missing here?
If you’d asked me that question ten minutes ago, I would have sworn he was all about status, but now I’m thinking I might have been wrong about him.
I fucking hate being wrong.
I spin around in his arms, and he releases his hold on me.
The moment I’m facing him, his hands reach out to sit on my waist again.
His head, still bent low from pressing his lips to my neck, means we’re a lot closer than I’m used to when we come face to face.
A smile twists his lips up as I pull back slightly to create more space between us, but there’s no malice there.
Instead, his face is open, his smile genuine if not playful, almost, in a way that I hadn’t seen before just now.
Not in all my times of seeing him on campus, or even when he showed an interest in me at his house party.
No, the Jake in front of me is so different from what I’m used to that I wouldn’t have thought he was even capable of this range of emotions.
It’s almost as if he’s wearing a mask.
Regardless of what it seems like, I can’t play with maybes. Instead of admitting he caught me in something, I continue with my act.
“Who says I don’t want you pawing at me?” I question him, dropping my tone to make my voice come out deep and seductive—yet another trick I’ve used a million times.
This time, he doesn’t take the bait. Instead, he drops his hold on my hips in favor of gripping my chin, forcing my head back so that our eyes meet as he raises back to his full height.
“Everything about you says you don’t want me pawing at you.” His voice is harsh, all playfulness gone, and when I open my mouth to laugh his comment off, he cuts me off before I even get the chance to start.
“Just my eyes on you had you looking back. Every touch had you ready to run. You covered it up pretty quickly, using your fake drunkenness as a distraction, but I’m not buying it.
I’ve played this game for a long time, Princess, and I know a mask when I see one.
The same way I know your boy Rick hides his violent tendencies and every other real scrap of emotion behind one, I know you are, too. ”
I don’t know what to say to that, and this time I don’t even try. I stand there with him in the middle of a club full of dancing, grinding bodies, both of us unmoving as we look at one another in a silent test of wills.
Jake might have more brain cells than I thought, but that doesn’t win him any answers, and I’ll be damned if he thinks he can call me out on one little thing and just expect me to spill my guts.
I’d rather spill his.
The thought sends a thrill through me, but I quickly push it away.
Killing people is familiar. It’s something I’m good at and have used to help others around me. It’s not something I should miss or be looking forward to.
But against every piece of me knowing that’s true, I also know that no matter how true it is, I still crave it. I crave the power, the rush, and the undeniable fact that I am good for something.
Killing Jake would be too easy, and while I might enjoy it, I also know I would regret it.
There’s no way a club full of people would miss him dropping dead if I were to slit his throat right here.
Even if they didn’t connect it to me, I have no doubt it would be a huge thing that I simply don’t have time for.
Not to mention it would leave questions unanswered, and I have enough of those as it is.
We continue watching each other, both of us refusing to budge, and I realize this is getting me nowhere. I’d be better off going back to Hazel so I can at least enjoy my night if I’m not going to get any information I can use from him.
“Fuck.” Jake’s eyes snap up to look at someone behind me, and I feel the shift in the air as I watch his eyes harden. I don’t even get the chance to look before Jake is moving to step between me and what or whoever he just noticed.
I open my mouth to tell him I don’t need his protection, but snap it closed again just as quickly when I see who caused his reaction.
No.