“It stays with the house. The previous owners didn’t have room for it in their new houses and they couldn’t sell it on an agreeable term for it. So it and the eighteen chairs stay with it if you want them.” Luke nodded but she only smiled. To have a family this large to fill this thing would be amazing. She entered the kitchen just as the agent was telling Cash and Luke about the other things that were staying with the house. Jack could not believe that someone would move from this house if they had a kitchen like this.
“You want this one, don’t you?” She turned to look at Luke to see if he was making fun of her. All she could see on his face was happiness, but she was still slightly leery of him. “The appliances stay, as well as the large walk in freezer in the back of the pantry. He said there is also two sets of dishes; one is every day, the other is for large family gatherings. The garden you wanted is also back there, but it has been neglected for a very long time.”
“Why did they sell it?” He sat on the counter and smiled at her. “They murdered each other and now it can’t sell. Not that it matters. You can’t afford this. I can’t either. Half of whatever they want a month will take everything I have and then some. I wish now we’d gotten the pee house.”
“No you don’t. And I can afford this house. It’s in foreclosure. The couple that lived here divorced and alone, neither of them could afford it. The bank is letting it go for a very reasonable amount.” She asked him how much. “Less than whatever amount you have dancing in that pretty head of yours.”
The low growl spilled from her lips before she could stop it. Her wolf, the monster inside of her, wanted out. Jack backed away from Luke when he hopped off the counter and came toward her. She shook her head at him and put out her hand.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen. Don’t touch me right now.” He ran his finger down her arm, and she moaned. “I don’t want this. Make it stop.”
“My dad and the agent are gone. I made an offer on the house and they left us.” He put his hand over hers and curled his fingers into hers. “Let her go, Jack. Let her out and let me play with her.”
“No.” But it was too late. Her entire body screamed at her to let go, and she had no power over it any longer. Jack heard clothing ripping and the sound of bones cracking. She wasn’t in pain, but she waited for it. When it didn’t come, she looked at Luke. He was down on his knees in front of her.
“Christ, you’re more beautiful than I thought you’d be.” He touched his nose to hers, and she knew that she was no longer human. “You’re gray, almost all gray, with a dark streak along your nose and back. Your paws are dark as well—socks we call them―you have four dark socks.”
I didn’t hurt.
He laughed and shook his head.
I thought I’d be in so much pain. She’s been fighting me for days now, and I held back because I thought I’d hurt.
“No, you won’t hurt.” He stood up and started pulling off his clothes. “We’re going to run. You and I are going to run through the fields behind the house. Then I’m going to fuck you hard before we shift and I take you harder as a man.”
Jack whimpered and felt her body heat for him. But she did want to run, and as fast as she could. As soon as he opened the back door, she started toward it and fell twice before she could get used to walking on four feet instead of two. The trees seemed to call to her and she took off for the darkest part of the woods.
She could smell everything. Jack felt as if she could hear even the bee’s wings as they fluttered in the air. Leaping over fallen logs and brush, she laughed. This was something she’d never equated with being a wolf…the freedom to be out of doors. When she came across a herd of deer, she stilled and watched them. Wishing she could tell them she would rather cut off her arm than to harm them, she knew the exact moment when they saw her. Or smelled her. The big buck made a noise, and they took off like she’d shot them. She was still staring after them when Luke came up beside her.
They must have a den around here.
Nodding, she moved forward. She could hear water and wanted to see the stream
. Careful of your paws. You don’t want to get caught in a trap. The realtor said that there have been sightings of hunters around here.
They’d trap on our land? You’ll have to put a stop to that.
She stopped and turned to him.
Did you really put an offer on this house?
Yes. And he told me that the bank would take it. They are desperate to get rid of it. And me being the mayor and all, it was a feather in their cap to sell it to me. Apparently your mate is a big deal around here.
He moved up beside her and rubbed his body against hers.
I want you. We both do.
I don’t know how this works.
He nipped at her shoulder, and she felt her body respond.
Is it always going to be like this between us? Always wanting to have sex no matter where we are?
I hope so. I love making love with you. Love the way you scream out your release. The way you taste. Everything about you is amazing, and I love you.
He moved up behind her and her wolf seemed to understand. She snarled at him, but in the end he mounted her from behind. As soon as he sank his teeth into her shoulder she cried out, but she let him fuck her. It was sort of disappointing until he moved off her and told her to shift.
Her body seemed to ease into being herself again. She was still on her hands and knees and moaned when Luke grabbed her hips. She wanted him to take her, but she needed more than she’d gotten with his wolf.
“I need to come.” He growled and nipped at her shoulder with his human teeth. “Luke, I need more. I need to come.”
He rolled her to her back and fisted his cock as he stood on his knees over her. She wanted to take him into her mouth, but she wasn’t sure he was into that sort of thing. But she wanted him and when she sat up, he laid back on the ground for her.
His cock was thick. She knew that, but it was long too. Wrapping her hands around him, she still had a couple of inches that she couldn’t touch. Leaning down to him, she licked his crown and swallowed when he rose up to her mouth.
“That’s it, baby. Suck me.” She cupped his balls while she licked his length before taking him into her mouth again. Over and over he fucked her this way until she felt his fingers in her hair. Then he pulled her up. “I need to be inside of you when I come. You have to be marked again.”
“I do.” He growled and pulled her over his hips. Before she could figure out his intentions, she was sliding over his cock and riding him. “Oh yes. This is wonderful.”
She rode him slowly, enjoying the way he fit inside of her, the way his groin pressed against her clit with every forward motion. She held him, her fingers on his bare chest just below his nipple. Leaning down, she took one into her mouth and bit down. His hand at the back of her head had her suckling hard at the tiny hard nubbin.
“Come for me.” She felt him roll her over and he started pounding deep inside of her. “Come with me, Jack, scream out my name and mark me.”
He cupped her ass, bringing her clit to his body every time he slammed into her. When he licked her shoulder, she did the same to him and bit him when she came. Christ, she came so hard darkness seemed to swallow her up.
When she opened her eyes, it could only have been a few seconds, and she looked into his. Luke was looking at her in a way that no man, no one, had ever looked at her before. She could almost bathe herself in his love for her. Touching his cheek, she knew that Allen was right. He had to know what had happened to her. Had to know…needed to know what she’d been forced to do.
“I’m in love with you.” He kissed her gently on the mouth when she spoke. “I’m going to tell you what happened. What really happened the day I left home and never returned. You may hate me afterwards, but I just wanted you to know that I love you.”
“Nothing, and I do mean nothing, you could have done will make me love you any less, Jack. I swear to you. Tell me before it eats away at you.” She nodded. “Tell me, love. It can’t be all that bad.”
“I killed a man. I killed him by cutting his throat open, and then I watched him bleed out.”
Chapter 8
Mark Wagner moved along the cattle, as he liked to call everyone, as he made his way through the airport. He hated to fly, almost as much as he did anything he had to do, but the kids had been fucking around long enough. They were to come home now and he was going to see that they did. Especially his daughter. She was going to straighten up her act or he’d tell everyone what she’d done.
Mark was flying first class this time out. He could hardly afford it, but he liked the better things in life. He’d always prided himself on that. But the money was nearly gone now, and that was why he was making this ungodly trip out to Ohio, to bring the spawns home so they could support him. After all, they owed him, both of them did. And he was going to make sure they knew it too. Daily.
His wife had been insured, something he’d not expected of her. He’d never given her permission to buy a policy and would have canceled it had he known about it. Now, to think back on it, it would have been a stupid and costly mistake on his part, but he never told anyone that part of the story. He just told whoever asked that she’d provided for him and the family as she did everything. With grace and love.
“Bitch.” He looked at the woman who huffed at him. “Well she was. Fucking bitch went and gave me a defective son and a stupid daughter. What the hell was I supposed to do with that? Nobody wanted her after she grew up. It was that mouth of hers. But I taught her a thing or two about that too before she left me.”
The woman got up and moved to another seat. Not that Mark cared one wit if she did or not, but he wanted to vent. But as both seats on either side of him were empty, he just thought about what he was going to say to his offspring when he got there. That boy Allen was going to get some help from him too.
Dry. What the fuck did that mean? The last time he’d spoken to his son, before the accident that made the daughter famous, he’d told him that he’d been dry and drug free for nearly six years. Why’d he want to go and do something like that? Mark wondered. So long as he was on the shit, Mark had been getting a tidy sum from the government. It was a burden to care for an addict son. Mark laughed when he thought about how cheap the drugs had been compared to the money he’d gotten from the assistance people.
His zone was called and he moved to get in line to be seated. Mark had a moment of fear that they’d check his carry-on again, but they moved him right on through. He smiled when he thought of how easy it had been to get a gun on a plane, and wondered if the people who ran this place had any idea that it was as simple as going to the right counter and saying the right phrase to get just about anything on that they deemed illegal. Mark was nothing if not connected. And his cane—pretty useless as a cane, as he didn’t really need it—hid a nice little stabber when he needed one. Yeppers, Mark thought, he was going to teach them kids of his some nice fine lessons, or they’d know he’d have to kill them. Both the daughter and the defective son.
He shoved his carry-on over the headrest. Mark hated all these rules they had. What he really wanted was to have it in the seat next to him, but the fat broad next to him was smashing herself right up against his part of the seat. What the hell were fat people doing on planes anyway? He leaned his seat back as far as it would go and smiled when the person behind him started cursing. It was fine with him so long as he kept his mouth shut to the stewardess.
As soon as someone tapped him on the shoulder, Mark knew someone had had the balls to say something. The man standing over him surprised him.
“You’ll have to put your seat up, sir. At least until we’re in the air.” He stared at him, a man who had probably dressed in the lavatory of the plane. “Sir? Could you please put your seat up?”
“For what now?” Mark tried to act as if he was slightly feeble minded. It usually got him everything he wanted in the real world. “You want me to do what now?”
“Your seat has to be in an upright position. The plane cannot pull out without everyone in the proper position.” Yeah, Mark thought, like his chair and how it was seated was somehow attached to the engine of this thing. “As soon as we’re airborne you may lean back. But be mindful of the passengers behind you, please.”
“Why do I care what the others are doing?” He let it slip out before he could think it was the wrong thing to say. “What are you talking about, young man? My seat is up.”
The man actually reached over and flipped his seat up. Mark was so shocked by the move that he was still sitting there when the little bastard moved away. The nerve of the prick. He started to put his hand on the lever to put his seat back when a voice behind him spoke. It was so close to his ear that Mark actually flinched from it.
“You put that seat back again and I will make sure your trip is made from a prone position. As in wrapped up in a body bag.” Mark started to turn but a sharp pinch to his neck made him still. “You think real hard on that, Mr. Wagner. If you so much as act like you’re going to give anyone around you a hard time, I will make it my business to fuck you up. Gun or no gun.”
Mark sat very still. He didn’t so much as reach for his belt to loosen it when the sign came on that it was possible. The woman next to him no longer concerned him because his entire focus was on the man, the threat behind him.
The flight, mostly in a blur, was over before he finally got up the nerve to look behind him. He got up to get his things from the overhead and snuck a glance. There was only a woman there, and a child. A small one too. He looked further back in the seats and the only man he could see was one nearly to the back, well behind the curtain that divided first class, his area, from the rest of the plane. The only other man in the section he was in was a man in his later years, and he was sleeping soundly. Mark had to sit down again to get his breathing under control.
Where had he come from? Where was he now? The first class seating was wide, the seats far apart. How had he even been smashing the man at all? Mark started to ask the flight attendant about him, but he was busy helping the others off. It wasn’t until the fat broad asked him if he was planning to leave that he got up. Mark was standing in the lobby of the smallish airport when he realized he must have been sleeping.
No you weren’t.
He looked around.
You’re not going to find me, you ass wipe. I’ve a taste of you now so you’ll forever be in my mind. And me in yours.
“What the hell do you mean? Where are you? Show yourself, you coward.” People in the lobby stared at him and he flushed. “Where are you?”
I’m a friend of your daughter’s friend. I’m…let’s just say I’m going to be guiding you through this visit of yours, and if I see anything or hear anything that pisses me off, I’m going to come after your ass. And trust me, you do not want me to be pissed.
The laughter again had him cringe.
You’ll want to ask Dan when you see him if the name Steward means anything to him.
“Dan? I don’t know a Dan. I’m here to bring my children to heel.” He tried to lower his voice as others were beginning to stare at him openly now. “I’m not going to be visiting anyone while here. Where are you? I’ve asked you that several times now.”
I’m nearer than you think, and further away than I’d like to be.
Mark waited for him to say more but nothing was forthcoming. As he made his way to the luggage terminal, he heard the man again. This time it had Mark scrambling for his carry-on.
I’ve taken the liberty of removing your gun from the bag you have. A man like you, a man on parole, shouldn’t have one anyway. I’ll give it to another friend of mine when I see him. Have a lovely visit, Mark Wagner.
Mark watched his luggage, a small bag, roll around twice before he got up to retrieve it. He’d been had was all he could think of what had just happened. Someone had found out he was here and now they were fucking with him. Mark moved out into the fresh air and looked around for a taxi, anything that would convey him to the hotel. It took him nearly thirty minutes to realize that not only wasn’t anyone going to carry him away from here, but he was going to have to have someone call his children to have them come for him. It was not the way he wanted this trip to begin.
“Come to the airport and get me. I’ll be just inside the place. Don’t be long.” He hated to leave a message, but Allen would no longer take his calls. When he tried to call his daughter, all he got from her was that the number had been disconnected. What the hell? Was she out of money too?
Nearly four hours later someone came into the lobby and shouted his name. The man…well, there was no way he was going to ride anywhere with this person. His pants were dirty, his ball cap looked as if he’d rolled it in manure, and he had enough paint on his pants that he looked like that famous painter had used him as a model. He was simply a mess. Then the man looked at him and started coming at him. Mark stood up.
“It might have saved me some time had you answered me.” He picked up his bag and Mark started to protest. “I’m Dan Rogers. I work with your daughter’s mate, Luke Emerson. I was sent to get you.”
“Dan?” Mark felt his face pale, and he had to grab onto the chair next to him. “You know a man by the name of Steward?”
The grin told it all. He knew him. And Mark had a feeling that this Steward person had talked to Dan and was the reason he was here to get him, to make him suffer more. When Mark took a step back, Dan put down the case and crossed his arms over his massive chest.
“Are we going to have a problem?” Mark shook his head. “Then let’s get going. I’m not going to hurt you. Yet, at any rate. Besides, I think you’re going to be surprised at how well your kids can take you on now. If I were you, I’d think long and hard about fucking with them. Especially your daughter. Jack has…changed.”
“They most certainly will not do a thing to me. I’m their father. I’m here to bring them in line, not listen to them whine about what they want.” Dan only nodded and walked away. Mark had to carry both his pieces of luggage or be left behind. He was going to take care of this as soon as they were settled in whatever contraption he came to pick him up in.
The truck had a name blazing across the door that looked impressive. He started to comment on it, the nice way that the crew seemed to be working hard; the truck, with the same name on it, looked clean, professionally done. As he was told to dump his things in the back, Mark stood back and looked at the drawing harder. Whoever did this needed to work for him. As a man of all kinds of trades, this would be a feather in his cap.
“She did it.” Mark looked at Dan. “Your daughter did it. Jack. She sat down and drew it out in less time than it took Ellis, my boss, to tell her what he wanted. Looks good, doesn’t it?”
“She has no talent to speak of.” Mark was soured on the drawing now. So much so that he wanted to point out the flaws in it, but really, he couldn’t see any. Just as the big truck started and was moving into traffic, he realized that the man was laughing.
“Perhaps you can tell me what you find so funny? Is it that I knew better than the drawing to be my daughters? I assure you, I know her much better than most. She will lead you down a merry path and then leave you out to die if you should let her.” Dan glanced at him and frowned. “You’ll see if I’m correct or not. My daughter is quite the schemer when it suits her.”
“Jack Wagner? Tall, dark hair, blue eyes, right?” Mark nodded. He honestly had no idea what color the daughter’s eyes were, as he’d never really cared to get close enough to her to look. “Yeah, you’re all wrong about that woman. Christ, she has Luke all tied up in knots and they haven’t even said their ‘I do’s’ yet.”
“My daughter is not marrying anyone.” Dan laughed. “I’ll put an end to that the minute I see this young man. There is no way he’ll take her on once he finds out what sort of person she is. Did she tell you that she murdered a man?”
“Nope. But knowing her, she had a good reason.” Mark looked out the window. There was no talking to some people. The rest of the ride was made in silence, other than telling him which hotel he was staying in. As he was dropped off, literally at the door, Mark had a feeling that he was going to be seeing more of that man.
As he moved into the lobby of the hotel, he noticed all the work going on. Most of the construction was happening behind the desk. Mark was annoyed that he had to put up with this sort of thing.
After he was taken to his room, his bags put on the bed and the boy dismissed without a tip, he tried to call Allen again. There was no reason for this and he was going to make sure his son knew how displeased he was about his treatment. Mark lay down on his bed and tried to get his nerves under control. It wasn’t so much his nerves as it was his anger. His children were completely out of control. It was a good thing he was there to bring them back in line.
~~~
“Took him there myself. He’s a turd if you ask me.” Luke tried to think how the hell he was going to tell Jack her dad was in town without upsetting her when Dan smiled at him. “She can take him. He’s a prick and a bastard, but she’s a good deal stronger than she was when she ran away from home.”
“But he’s still her dad.” Dan nodded and sipped his tea. They were having tea and sandwiches before going back to work on the dining room. He had hoped to get it finished before now, but there were issues they were running into. Like the fact that the police had been out here five times checking permits.
“That prick has to go too.” Luke nodded and wondered if Dan had a plan to get rid of the chief of police. “No plan, just stating some truth. I have all the paperwork we need and we both know it. And for that matter, if he comes out here again, I think Jack just might tear him a new ass.”