Chapter 17 Jack #2
Pushing through the crowds of students, I squinted through the fire light, searching for Tabby’s familiar face. After a few minutes of searching and not finding her, I stopped one of the witches and asked if they’d seen her.
“Tabby?” the female witch I’d stopped asked, then looked around the space. “She was here a minute ago. If she’s not here, then she went into the woods. She’s in charge of the fireworks tonight.”
“Thanks.” I headed toward the woods. “Did you get that?” I said to Julian once I was far enough away from the crowd.
“Yeah,” Julian replied, then there was a pause. “There’s a light to the east of where I’m at, could be where they’re setting up.”
“Okay…” I drew out, standing in the middle of some trees, but not seeing any sign of Julian. “And where might that be?”
“Here.” Julian dropped out of a tree a foot from me, ripping a startled scream from me.
I slapped him on the chest. “Fucking hell, Julian. Don’t do that.”
He grinned at me, a full wide smile, one I hadn’t seen directed toward me in a long while.
Trying to ignore the racing of my heart, I skimmed my eyes over him.
He had traded in his slacks and button-up for our typical hunter attire, black pants and matching flak jacket.
His blond hair was pulled back from his face in a messy bun, his eyes no longer hidden behind a pair of wire-rimmed glasses.
He looked like himself. The self I had always known… . and loved.
“Wow, you like more like a hunter than a professor for once,” I commented, pushing down the nostalgia welling in my chest.
“I couldn’t very well come out here looking like a professor.” Julian removed the earpiece he’d been speaking into. “The students might think I’m spying on them.”
I arched a brow. “But you are spying on them.”
Julian leaned toward me, his voice lower than needed sounding more intimate. “But they don’t know that.” He pulled back before I could respond and jerked his head toward the woods. “Come on, they were going that way.”
After taking a moment to calm myself, this playful Julian was hard to handle. I’d been so used to his no-nonsense personality the last year that I forgot he could even be anything else. It gave me some serious whiplash.
We walked through the woods side by side, ears listening for where the witches were likely to be setting up. Several students passed by us, but they reeked of alcohol so the likelihood that they even noticed Julian was the one walking with me was slim.
The other students weren’t interested in anything other than getting their clothes off as fast as possible. There was so much sexual tension in the woods I thought I might explode from embarrassment.
Finally, a dim light appeared after what felt like forever. Soft voices started to trickle toward us. I caught a few words here and there which to most wouldn’t have been concerning but it made my footsteps slow.
“The Durand girl is here,” a male voice stated.
I grabbed Julian’s arm, urging him to stop. I touched my ear. Listen.
“Yeah, so what?” a female voice didn’t I recognized asked. “She’s not bothering you. She’s a student, just like the rest of us.”
“Still, she’s a Durand,” the male growled. “They walk around like they own the place.”
“They do own the place.” The female giggled. “It’s literally called Durand Supernatural Academy.”
“You know what I mean,” the male huffed. “I just want to take her down a peg or two. Show the Durands not everyone worships their feet. They’re no better than any of us.”
“Then do something about it,” a new male voice chimed in. “Just don’t let Tabby hear you. All she does is gush about her.”
Footsteps started toward our direction, closer than I expected them to be.
There was nowhere we could hide and, if we ran away, it would look suspicious.
We might be able to climb a tree, but they’d smell my scent for sure.
I wasn’t sure if they were all witches, but even they had a better sense of smell than most humans.
We couldn’t chance it.
Without warning, Julian pushed me up against the bark of a tree, his body pressing over mine. My head tipped back. Our faces were millimeters apart, our breaths mingling. My heartbeat picked up from the press of his hips against mine, and his broad shoulders virtually hid me from sight.
If we were working with our team, this kind of scenario wouldn’t have been at all intimate, but with no one else there to pretend for, it made my skin tingle and ache.
The voices moved closer to us, and I was barely able to focus on anything but how well we fit together, even after all this time.
“My scent…” I protested quietly, then he hooked his fingers on a twine necklace that had been hidden beneath his shirt.
It took me a moment to realize what he was suddenly getting handsy with me. Julian’s scent blocker charm would cover me, too, if he stayed this close.
I didn’t have time to ask him anything further before the voices were feet away from us. They weren’t talking about me anymore. Instead, they were gossiping about who hooked up with who last weekend. I held my breath, my eyes unable to see anything but Julian.
“Wait,” the first male voice said, stopping nearby. “Do you hear that?”
Someone sniffed the air. “I don’t smell anything.”
“A heartbeat. No, two.” The leaves crunched under their feet as they moved closer to where we hid. “Someone else is here.”
My eyes widened as I peered up at Julian. Sure, we hadn’t heard anything damning. People could bitch and moan all they wanted about me and my family and not get in trouble. But, if this guy had it in for me, I definitely didn’t want to give him an extra reason to come after me.
Panicking, I grabbed the back of Julian’s neck and dragged his face down to mine. Our mouths pressed together, our lips smacked, and out tongues tangled. I let out a long-exaggerated moan.
“Oh, yes, right there,” I breathed out between kisses.
“You hear that?” the male asked.
The female giggled. “Don’t be such a perv. Let’s go.”
Julian’s hands went to my hair, and he turned my head. His tongue pulled mine into his mouth where he suckled, pulling a real moan from me.
Fuck, he still knew how to kiss.
My back arched, my nipples hardening as they rubbed against his chest. My fingers tugged at his hair, trying to bring him closer to me as I lost myself in the kiss.
Warmth spread through me, settling low between my thighs. Julian hooked my leg up and curled it around his hip, pressing in to where I ached. I could feel him through his pants, long, hard, and hot as he ground into me as desperately as we had been that first night.
That thought was a bucket of cold water on my libido. I pulled back, gasping for breath. Julian’s lips continued down my jaw, finding that spot behind my ear that made me cry out. Gloved fingers brushed against the skin of my stomach, and his hand crept upward.
“They’re gone now,” I panted, my eyes rolling up into my head. Half of me knew we needed to stop, but the other half wanted nothing more than to let Julian take me right here against this tree. It would be so easy and…
“What’s this?” Julian’s hand curled around my gun, pulling it from the back of my waist. “Did you really bring a gun to a recon mission?”
The amusement in his tone made me scowl. I pushed him back with both hands before grabbing the gun from his hands.
“I was taking any chances. If they can break into my room to leave that note, then they could easily try to attack me.”
Julian nodded as he took another step back.
The sexual tension laid thick between us for a moment, both of us breathing heavily before awkwardness swept in.
“I should…” I gestured toward the light lamely. “See if Tabby’s over there. You can…”
“I’ll stay here,” Julian offered, adjusting the hair that I’d pulled from his bun. “Act as back up.”
My gaze lingered on him for a long moment, wondering what could have happened had we not been in the middle of the woods on a mission. Then I shook my head and walked away.
There was no point in wondering. It wasn’t and wouldn’t happen again. Julian would make sure of that.