Chapter 30 Jackson
Chapter thirty
Jackson
The smooth slide of steel on whetstone soothes something in me. The sound of it, the gritty texture that vibrates into my fingers as I drag the blade along the stone, strokes my soul. If I were a feline, I’d probably be purring.
Water runs from the kitchen sink as I work through each of my knives and spread them out on the counter.
We’re getting close to Raegan’s plan being put into action. Alice finally managed to make another person invisible two days ago. Now, she and Reid are teleporting around the country to find and convince her siblings to help us.
Considering Harvey’s and Alice’s initial refusal to go against Charles, I don’t expect it to be easy.
Reid’s been instructed to grab and bring back anyone who can’t be convinced, so they don’t squeal to Daddy President.
It’s up to Alice to avoid that outcome. If we lose eyes on a board member, it puts the whole plan at risk.
They’re trying to reach all of them in one day, which means they’ll be gone all day and likely won’t return until later this evening.
Then, it’ll be our turn.
I angle the current blade into my arm, and a line of red blooms with minimal pressure. I swipe it clean with a cloth and place it beside the others.
The small creak of a door opening tells me Raegan’s exiting the bedroom.
“Hey,” she greets, strolling up to the counter while squeezing the ends of her wet hair with a towel.
“Cassandra invited a bunch of us to her apartment. Evie still hasn’t woken up yet, so she and Silas think she might if she hears us playing cards. ”
Cassandra and Evie are sharing one of Elias’s apartments, as all of the Guild members are. There aren’t enough for everyone to have their own, but this combination in particular was chosen when Evie didn’t wake up even after being healed.
She’s in a coma.
“I’m going to join them for a bit since Kell and I finished training.”
I don’t share my annoyance again that he let her walk up here on her own. She’d defended him, saying that he’d gotten caught up talking with one of Elias’s crew, and she was too impatient for a shower to wait for him.
Doesn’t matter.
This isn’t home.
Though Aiden believes Elias and his people are allies, that doesn’t mean we can trust them like our people. Raegan shouldn’t be out of our sight for even a second until Charles and Gifted Enterprise are wiped from the board.
And maybe not even then.
“I’ll come with you,” I tell her before she can rush out the door on her own. I have one knife left to sharpen before my backup set is ready for use.
Raegan nods, settling in to watch my process with interest. A smile curls my lips at her concentration on what I do and how I move the blade along the stone. I know she’s memorizing all of it, even if she doesn’t know why I do something. She trusts that I know, and for her, that’s enough.
“Do you want to try?” I offer, extending my hand to her.
She bites her lip to hide her smile, but I see it anyway.
I can see it in the way her eyes light up or widen a fraction.
I can hear it when her breath catches. Feel it when her quiet, reserved strength vibrates the very air around us.
She’s not just strong when she’s using her gift to bring the world to heel at her fingertips.
It’s in the moments of calm, like this, when I feel it just as much.
Her desire to learn more, know more. To push herself beyond complacency.
Her hand falls in mine, and I tug her to the small space I’ve made between me and the counter. With my arms capturing her on either side, I take her hands and guide them to the blade. “Keep it at an angle—like this. Then drag it back from heel to tip down the stone. Mm... good.”
She shivers. It’s barely more than a tightening of her muscles as if she tried to hide it. But she should know by now there is no hiding from me.
Releasing her hands, I settle mine on her hips, grazing my thumbs along her skin beneath her shirt. “Keep going, little one. Ten times per side should do.” I pull her hair around one shoulder, revealing the perfect curve of her neck that begs to be tasted.
“Jack,” she pants.
“Focus on the knife,” I warn without stopping. The sound of steel on whetstone paired with her intoxicating vanilla-cinnamon scent from a fresh shower is stirring my desire faster than I can keep it leashed. My lips descend onto her skin, and an unmistakable shudder rolls through her.
She presses her ass against me, finding my hard dick and releasing a tiny gasp as if she’s surprised. She shouldn’t be. I’m hard the moment she deigns to lay her eyes upon me. The second her skin meets mine. Or her scent overwhelms the air I breathe.
“Turn it over,” I remind her after I’ve counted ten strokes of the blade, even though my eyes are closed. It feels like she’s touching me with that knife when I block my sight. Like she’s the one stroking my soul with that blade in a way that sends ripples of pleasure straight to my cock.
Shhhhhhnk. Shhhhhhnk.
Her breathing is shallow, but her pulse beats excitedly against my tongue.
Shhhhhhnk. Shhhhhhnk.
Her body wash smells sweet, but its taste isn’t the same as hers. And now that’s all I want—to taste her.
“Use the black stone next,” I direct huskily, tapping the shallow tub of water beside it. “Ten strokes on each side again.”
Hooking my fingers into her waistband, I push her pants to the floor and drop to my knees, twisting to sink my tongue into her core without delay. Raegan cries out and almost drops on my face if not for my gift pushing her upright.
“Oh fuck! Jack!”
I don’t stop. I’m not sure I could now that I’m here. I’m dying for her taste, starved for her to coat my face until it buries into my skin, and everyone knows I belong to her, that I would do anything for her.
Her strength calls to mine as it always has. Even before she knew her full potential, I was drawn to her. Drawn to the only person whose strength could put me in my place if she wanted to.
She rocks her pussy onto my mouth, wanting this just as much as me and only feeding my own hunger to give it to her.
Once I add my fingers, she detonates. Her sweetness is everything I’d been hoping for as I lap it up and hold her steady.
She quivers with every stroke of tongue.
Squirms when I graze an overly sensitive spot.
It’s tempting to give her another orgasm, but I know she’s worried about Evie.
If I keep her here too long and our Guild member happens to wake up to everyone’s rowdiness, as they hope, then she’ll be unhappy with me.
I can wait to finish this later.
This was just a taste.
An appetizer.
Once I’ve cleaned her up, I pull her clothes over her hips and pick up the throwing blade to study it over her shoulder while she catches her breath. I test the edge of one side on my arm like the others, and Raegan gasps.
“Jack! What are you—How many are there?!” She grabs my arm once I’ve pulled the knife away to stare at the myriad of thin red lines. They’re all shallow cuts. Nothing to bleed out by, and they won’t scar. It’s how I always test them.
“They’ll heal,” I reassure her, unbothered. Swiping the cloth over the blade to remove the blood, I place it with the rest.
“We’ll have Cassandra heal you when we get there,” she says with a bit of bite to her tone. As if to say, I don’t care if you think this is fine; I’m not fine with this. A soft reprimand.
Smiling, I don’t reply.
It’s obvious I’ll do exactly that if it’s what she wishes me to do.
She turns in my arms to face me. “I’m going to use the bathroom quick and then we can go. You can clean up while I’m in there.”
I tilt my head, my smile still in place.
Raegan motions her hand in front of her face, then sighs when I still don’t give her anything. “Your face. Me. Off your face.”
“I want it there.”
Her mouth pops open. “What? No. Absolutely not.” She snatches the nearest dish towel and swipes it over my face. “Wipe it off, or you’re not escorting me anywhere,” she threatens while handing me the towel to finish what she started.
I’m helpless to disobey a direct command from her. I do as she says, and she smiles at me. “I’ll be two minutes.” Then she’s off to the bathroom.
I tuck the towel in my pocket.
For safekeeping.
Raegan knocks eagerly on Cassandra’s apartment door. The laughter and excited chatter are loud enough to be heard through the door even without my gift. The fun’s already started, and it doesn’t sound as if anyone heard her knocks.
Before she wastes her effort knocking again, I pinch the key card in my back pocket.
I’d had Dane program it to unlock every door in the building.
It’s not something Elias would be happy to learn about, but I don’t care how he feels.
I need to know that I’ll have direct and easy access to any room where Raegan may be.
Whether it’s with another Guild member or Portia or Elias doesn’t matter.
Picking these locks with their electronics would be a pain and take too long. This was the easiest solution by using Raegan’s old card and some tech.
I hold the card against the door lock and—to Raegan’s surprise—it clicks and the door pops open.
“How did you—” she starts, but cuts herself off when the door swings open to a just-as-shocked Silas.
His dark eyes freeze on mine. “Well, that’s terrifying.”
“Oh my god. Does that work on all our rooms?” Cassandra whispers not-so-quietly.
Raegan enters the room, and I follow. Silas closes the door behind us.
“It does,” I confirm coolly.
“Wowee!” Gabe laughs from the floor around the coffee table since the seats are filled. “But my guess is it’s just for Reggie’s benefit and not ours,” he concludes cheekily.