Chapter 39 One Condition
ONE CONDITION
PATIENCE
Jacob presses his forehead to mine, and I want to believe him.
I do believe him.
He’s right. Everything I’ve denied—everything I hate—means nothing when it comes to this man.
Here we stand feet away from a pool of blood so wide I know someone didn’t walk away from it, and I grip his shirt with my fingers, not wanting to let go. I’ve spent my life fearing monsters, only to fall for one.
Except my monster doesn’t prey on me like I’m weak. He offers me his bloody hands and wants me to take them. To accept them. He believes I’m strong enough to stand here with him, and that alone has my resolve slipping.
I blink, looking up into his eyes. “Are you really taking over the House?”
He nods, his forehead still pressed to mine. “Declan will run the fraternity and keep things under control in Bristal, but I’ll be sworn in as the national Sigma President next week.”
“Why? You got out once. Why not just walk away now?” It might be a selfish question, but I have to ask.
We could run from this. We could take his lead, like he did before, and get out. Maybe if he wasn’t part of the House, I could be with him.
Except, it’s who he is. Would I have fallen for this man any other way? I might not have seen his Sigma House ties, but it’s a part of him.
“Because I’ve learned you can’t escape your fate, Patience. All you can do is embrace it. And only then, can you shape the outcome.”
“What outcome are you going to create?”
“Not me—us.” He picks me up, spinning until I’m sitting on the table of bloody instruments.
“You’re asking me to live in hell with you?”
“I’m asking you to help me rule it.” He shoves my knees apart, standing between them. “I’m asking you to be my queen.”
“I won’t be my mother. Some man’s trophy. Blind to what you’re doing and the destruction you cause. Silent while you do as you please.”
Jacob smirks, rolling my hips against him. “I don’t want you silent. I want your eyes wide open. Your mouth screaming at me or for me. Whatever you wish, baby. I want you to tell me exactly how you feel at all times, just like you’ve done from the start.”
“Why?” It doesn’t make sense.
He could have anyone. Someone simpler and easier to mold. Someone soft.
“Because I love you, Patience Lancaster. Like the darkness needs light to exist. I need you to define who I am. We weren’t born for easy things or a simple life. You and me—we’re born from blood. No one will understand you like I do. And no one will protect you like I will.”
“Even from the House?”
“From anything and anyone.” He brushes his lips over mine. “No one will hurt you again. You are mine now. And I’m yours.”
“No one else?”
He grins against my lips. “Never.”
Jacob plants his mouth on mine, and I submit to this mess we’ve made. This mess that bore us.
Revenge and blood and hate all swirl. And somehow, it transforms into love.
Into something only the two of us can create with each other.
My nails scratch the back of his neck, and I realize we aren’t that different, even if his limits stretch a bit farther than mine.
We’ve both been on the altar. Our hope sacrificed. Our futures erased. But here we are.
We survived.
Maybe we can do as he says and create something new. I’d like to think I’m meant for better, but I’ve knelt in front of the cross long enough to know that not all things holy are peaceful.
It could be that I was always meant to stand at the side of the devil. At least then I would know his true face. His true motives. And even if he’s willing to bring harm to everyone else, I don’t think he would do the same to me.
He drags his teeth over my lower lip, groaning as I rock my hips on him.
“Am I supposed to call you Ezra now?” I tip my head back as he kisses my neck.
“What do you want to call me?”
“Jacob.” It’s a moan as much as an answer.
He hums, nipping at my throat. “I like it when you say my name like that.”
Slowly, he kisses lower, until he lays me down on the table before him. Only then does he stand tall, towering over me. A beast in his domain, ready to claim the girl who dared take a bite of the apple.
His hands skate up my sides, along my ribs. “Do you trust me now, Patience?”
I bite my lower lip, watching him hold me like I’m precious. And when I answer him, I believe it with every bone in my body.
“Yes.”
“Then arms up.” He circles the table until he’s looming over my head.
I reach overhead, he grabs my wrists, pulling them farther, and then he binds them with a soft rope at the other end.
“What are you doing?” I tug, but there’s barely any give.
“I’m proving to you that I am the one person you can let your guard down with, and I will not hurt you.
Even when you are bound and tied. Even when you feel weak or defeated.
I will never make you feel anything but good.
I promise you, baby.” He strokes my cheek, slowly circling the table again and standing between my legs. “Do you want to feel good?”
“Please.”
A growl rumbles in his chest. “I love when you’re sweet and polite. It makes me want to defile you.”
“Then do it.” I can’t deny how much I need him anymore.
I need him to make me feel good, and I want to do the same for him. I want Jacob to lose himself in me until all we are is what we are together.
Jacob reaches down and strips me of my pants and underwear. Then he tugs my shirt up, exposing my breasts as much as he can when my shirt has to stay put with the way my arms are bound.
“Is anyone going to walk in here?” I bite my lip, completely exposed.
He strips his own shirt off and tosses it aside. “They know what will happen if they do.”
The dark promise in his eyes should be terrifying, but when he sinks a finger into my core, he’s met with the sick excitement I can’t deny. He has no limits when it comes to me, and I love that about him.
“Do you want to know what I was doing in here before you arrived?” He rolls his thumb over my clit, and my back arches.
“Yes.” That might be the wrong answer, but I need his honesty, no matter how twisted it is.
Jacob grins, adding another finger. “I was questioning the man who followed you to LA to keep an eye on you for your father.”
My eyes widen. “Someone was following me?”
“Don’t worry. I took care of it.”
Turning my face to the large pool of blood, I’m met with the depth of that promise.
“He won’t be following you anymore.” Jacob sinks deeper, and I lose my breath.
“And my father?”
“He’ll be taken care of soon. I told you, there is nothing I won’t do to keep you safe.”
I believe him. It’s wrong in every way, but that brings me peace.
“Fuck, baby, you’re dripping for me.” He slides his fingers in and out. “Does it excite you to know what I did with these bindings before I tied you up with them? Does it turn you on to know I’d slit a man’s throat without thinking if it means protecting you?”
I bite my lower lip, nodding.
“Good.” He pulls his hand free, undoing his pants, and I take in the beauty that is this man. Beautiful, sculpted muscle.
Unmarked skin.
My eyebrows pinch.
“You don’t have any marks?” I rove his chest with my gaze. “Legacies all have marks.”
It’s a Sigma House tradition. The men mark passing their seven trials by carving them into their bodies in one form or another. My brother stacked tallies on his chest. But Teal told me Declan was a little more creative, getting the letters for the word ETERNAL carved into his.
Jacob has nothing.
“They’re on my back.” He turns to show me the row of seven X’s carved down the top of his spine. “Guess you were too busy staring at my ass to notice.”
He winks, turning to face me.
“Stop fishing for compliments.”
“I don’t need to fish for them. You’ll be complimenting me in a moment with your beautiful moans, whether you want to or not.” Jacob pulls out his cock, stroking it in his grip. “Won’t you, baby?”
I glare, but there’s no real fight in it. “Fuck me and find out.”
“Good lord, you were made for me, Patience Lancaster.” Jacob spreads my knees wide and thrusts forward.
Delivering the answer our bodies are both searching for as his hips meet my core. Slowly, he starts to rock his hips. Leisurely fucking me as he plays with my clit.
“Jacob.” I pull against the restraints, but there’s no use.
“How do you feel, Patience?” He leans down, licking my nipple.
“Good.” I moan. “So good.”
“What do you want?” He kisses between my breasts, slowly drawing a path until he’s biting my other nipple.
“You.” I tip my head back.
“You have me.” He breathes me in, pumping his hips forward. “Now tell me you’re mine.”
“I’m yours.” My nerves are sparking with his touch. “I’m yours.”
“Yes, you are, baby. And how do I treat what’s mine?”
“So good.” I lick my lips, meeting his gaze.
“Exactly.” He rewards me with a brutal thrust, and I’m on the verge of detonating. “Are you done fighting me now? Are you ready to accept what we are?”
“I—”
He thrusts again, cutting me off. “Are you going to stand up on that altar next week when I accept my role with the House? Show them who I belong to first and foremost?”
“You want me to do that?” Heat pools at my core.
“I want you to be the one holding the knife.” He leans over me, driving his hips deeper as he grabs my face and brushes his lips over mine. “I want you to carve my presidential mark. Will you do me that honor?”
He’s asking for a lot more than a relationship in this moment, and he knows it. The only time a woman stands on the Sigma House altar during a ceremony is if she’s his wife. His partner in every way.
“You’re asking me to—” I don’t finish the sentence.
I can’t think with how he’s fucking me. Claiming me. Consuming me.
“Marry me, Patience Lancaster.” He kisses my lower lip.
I stare into his green eyes, giving up all fight. Relaxing beneath him. Appreciating that he has the power to bring me peace.
“Under one condition.” I arch my back, grazing my nipples on his chest. “You mark me too.”
The grin that stretches his face is predatory.
It undoes what little control Jacob had left.
And when he starts fucking me again, there is no restraint.
There are no secrets. He fucks me with my arms bound over my head and touches me as he wishes.
He fucks me until I’m a shaking mess, and then he paints my stomach and breasts with his cum.
There’s no more denying.
No more running.
No more fighting.
I’m his.