Chapter 11
“Jayden?” I launch myself from the back passenger seat before Draven is even at a complete stop.
“Hades, Beth, you’re gonna get me killed,” Draven shouts from the car.
I’m barely listening to them shouting at me as I slam into Jayden’s chest. His arms wrap around me, and I wrap my legs around his waist, kissing him hard.
“How are you here?” I ask him, breathless. “What’s happening at the academy? Has the battle started? Is everyone okay?”
“Whoa, no. Everyone is fine at the academy. The battle hasn’t started yet.” Jayden kisses my forehead.
“Then how are you here? Did you change your mind because I got stabbed? Because it’s really fine. I’m all better.” I point to my shoulder.
“You’re rambling, love. Take a breath.” He grins.
“Let’s get inside. You all look like you’re about to keel over and die.” Jayden doesn’t put me down as he carries me into the pack house, the others following close behind.
The alpha nods as Jayden carries me into a sitting room. “You all look rough.”
“We had a bit of an incident outside of Flagstaff.” I shrug. “Not a big deal but we’ve been driving a long time to get here.”
“You all should rest. There is much to discuss.” The alpha waves a hand for us to sit.
“Thank you, Alpha.”
“Are you hungry?” he asks.
My stomach rumbles on cue and my face heats. I bury my face in Jayden’s chest, glad he’s there but still needing answers to why. He should be back at the academy leading our people. What is he doing here?
“I’ll take that as a yes.” The alpha chuckles.
Several wolves walk in with platters of food. My stomach gurgles again and I sigh.
“Thank you, Alpha. I depleted my magic earlier and haven’t had a chance to stop for a solid meal. We have been surviving off meats and cheeses the Kourai gave us in Flagstaff.” I sit forward, still in Jayden’s lap.
“You promised you would take care of yourself, love,” Jayden growls.
“I’m fine, Jayden. Really nothing some food and sleep won’t cure.” I shift on his lap.
Jayden’s fingers dig deeper into my hips, holding me in place. “You’re gonna pay for that, baby.”
“Promises, promises,” I whisper back.
“Here, Beth, since the caveman won’t allow you to move to get your own plate.” Raven hands me a plate piled high with steak and potatoes.
“Thank you,” I say.
“I’ll let you all eat and send some of my people to get the guest rooms ready for you for the night.” The alpha presses his hands to his knees and stands before striding from the room.
“Okay,” I say. “Spill. How did you get here?”
“Hermes came by the academy with a message from Apollo, reminding me that I have been here before and if I want to see you again before everything kicks off, I should meet you here at the Colorado pack, but he warned me that I must transport back by morning.” Jayden rests his chin on my shoulder.
“That feels ominous,” I say. “Why would he give you that option and warning? What does he think is going to happen?”
“I honestly think it was just a gift of more time, love. Before things get crazy for all of us. Don’t read too much into it.
” Jayden grabs my fork and presses it to my lips.
“You need to eat and stop worrying about the academy. We have our best chance of survival because of what you guys are doing. Trust me?”
“Always,” I mumble.
“I’ve got it handled.”
“Okay.” I nod.
We eat in silence for a long time before the alpha comes back into the room with several others. “The rooms are all ready for you when you need them. We can table any conversations about strategy or problems until morning when you’ve rested.”
“I very much appreciate the courtesy. We are all wiped out after the battle in Flagstaff.” I bow my head to him.
“You’re welcome. Powerful allies are well respected within my pack.” He turns and strides down the hall.
“C’mon, love,” Jayden says, holding out a hand to me. “You need to rest, and I need to take a look at your shoulder for my own sanity.”
“My shoulder is fine.” I grip his hand and follow a woman down a different hall.
“I’m on edge, so humor me.” Jayden tugs my hand.
“Fine, if you’re going to be all growly about it.” I roll my eyes. “You aren’t even a shifter, and you sound like one right now.”
The woman opens the door down the hall and smiles at us. “Have a good night.”
“Thank you.” Jayden tugs me into the room, slamming the door behind us.
My back hits the door and Jayden’s lips crash down on mine. His tongue demands entrance, and I moan as I open for him.
“I thought you wanted to see my shoulder,” I say, breathless.
“I will.” He grins against my lips.
“Is everything really okay at the academy? I hate leaving everyone behind.” I lock gazes with him.
“Everything really is fine. Apollo gave us a gift of one more night together before everything goes crazy. I don’t want to talk about the academy, the war, or the hammer.”
“I’m suspicious of this gift. If it really is a gift and not like giving the prisoner on death row their last meal, then why didn’t Dax come with you?” I ask.
“I asked Hermes about Dax coming along and he said it wasn’t wise to bring him in his volatile state.” Jayden runs a hand through his hair.
“He hasn’t gotten any better?” I ask.
“No, I honestly think he’s becoming a loose cannon without Kira there to ground him.”
“Shit, is he going to be a problem during the coming battle?” I chew my lip.
Jayden’s thumb runs across it, freeing it from my teeth. “I don’t think so. He knows what’s at stake for everyone.”
“I hope so. He needs to live up to the reason he was left there for the battle. To be a leader.” My head thumps against the door.
“I’ll handle Dax. Don’t worry about it.” He runs his nose up along my neck.
“Are we done talking, then?” I ask.
“Absolutely. I don’t have a lot of time. It will never be enough time with you,” Jayden whispers against my neck.
“It’s harder without you but not impossible. I had to light up the sky to beat them so Kira could control them and send them to the academy.”
“I’m going crazy at the academy wondering what’s happening with you. When you called me covered in blood, I thought I was going to lose my mind.”
“It could have been a monster’s blood,” I say.
“It was gold, Beth. That comes with its own concerns.” Jayden grips my hips with shaking hands.
I sigh, pressing my forehead to his. “We have no idea what that would have done to me, but yeah, I don’t think I can get dosed from my own blood.”
“Smart-ass.” He kisses me hard.
His hands skim up my hips to slip beneath the fabric of my shirt. A shiver travels down my spine all the way to my toes.
“I need to see it.” His lips paint a fiery trail down my neck to my shoulder.
“Then take my shirt off and look for yourself, baby,” I whisper.
My hands clench in his shirt as he slowly exposes my stomach.
“You have to let go of my shirt and raise your arms, love.” Jayden nips my shoulder.
His fingertips brush the underside of my breasts, and I release his shirt. I raise my arms up over my head as he commanded. Jayden smirks.
“Good girl.” He pushes my shirt over my breasts and stops.
He bends down and sucks my nipple into his mouth through the fabric of my lacy bra. Fire races a path through my veins, lighting everything up inside me.
I rub my thighs together, aching for friction. My back arches as he sucks the other into his mouth in the same way.
“I need it off, Jayden. Please, you’re torturing me here.”
“Patience, love.” He chuckles against my breast.
Leaning back against the door, I wrap one leg around him and press my body against his, wiggling my hips. “I don’t have any patience. I need you.”
Jayden yanks the shirt the rest of the way over my head and tosses it to the side. He plants his hands on the door on both sides of my head and leans in. My chest heaves with every breath as his teeth graze over my collarbone, his tongue swiping out in a long lick across my shoulder.
“I want to savor this. Savor you, my love. This will get me through the coming battle until I can see you again.” His fingers skim across my sides to my back, brushing featherlight touches just underneath the clasp of my bra.
“No. We aren’t talking about that right now. This isn’t our last night together. This is the start of something more. We just have to get through this next challenge and we’re free.” I thread my fingers through his hair and yank his head up.
My lips crash against his and I run my tongue along the seam to demand entrance. With a quick flick of his fingers against my back, my bra flutters to the floor. Jayden’s tongue dances with mine as he pulls me so our bodies are flush together with no space between us.
His hands roam up my back until one grips the back of my neck in a possessive hold, angling my head exactly the way he wants me. His other hand fists my hair, yanking my head to the side. Tiny pinpricks of pain in my scalp heighten my impending orgasm and he’s barely touched me.
Gripping his shirt, I yank it over his head, momentarily breaking the kiss, and run my hands over his chest down to his abs and lower to the waistband of his jeans.
“What are you doing, love?” he asks through heaving pants.
“For once I want you undressed first.” I grin and pop the button on his jeans.
“That wasn’t in my plan for tonight.” His eyes widen as my hand slips inside his pants and strokes his cock. “Oh fuck.”
“The time for teasing me is done.” I drop to my knees and free his cock.
I dart my tongue out, licking my lips before I slide it up the underside of his dick. Jayden’s shadows explode out of his body in a swirling tornado of darkness that consumes me, touching me everywhere as I wrap my lips around his tip and hollow my cheeks out, sucking him hard.
I glance up at him when his hands thump against the door, bracing himself against it, and I grin around him.
“What are my shadows doing to you?” He grins.
I gasp around his length as a stinging crack hits my ass. Wetness floods my panties, and I arch up, taking his entire cock down my throat and swallowing it down.
“Oh gods, you’ve gotta stop, baby. You’re sucking the soul out of my body.” Jayden shudders.