We were ushered back into the foyer with the torturous furniture and firmly shown the door. It was the most graceful eviction I’d ever seen. Giddiness bubbled up inside me at the absurdity over what had just happened. I’d had a verbal sparring match with a King, got recruited into a special ops team, and been evicted from a building in the space of thirty minutes. How had my life gotten so weird? As I stepped back out into the cool night air I turned to Jasper, and lost it.
Full-blown belly laughs erupted, and I had to clutch my knees as I doubled over in hysterics. Jasper’s face was a picture. He was furious. I had never seen his scowl so deeply etched into his brow, and I thought I’d seen them all.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” he roared, which just made me laugh harder.
“I’m sorry… I just… Can’t you see how crazy this all is?” I managed to get out through the giggles. Tears streamed down my face as I clutched my ribs to ease the ache from laughing. Jasper crossed his arms over his chest in his I’m-waiting-for-an-answer stance, but it just set me off laughing again. Bless him, he was trying so hard to be serious and give me a good telling off, but it was having completely the opposite effect on me. He threw his arms in the air and walked off leaving me to catch up with his retreating form. This was starting to become an annoying habit.
I ran after him and fell into step beside him. As we walked in silence, I regained control over my composure enough to ask what would happen now. This seemed to shake him from his surly mood. It was to do with being in command and that was comfortable territory for him.
“I will get you onto the schedule with the rest of the team. You will join them in their tours and chores. It’s the quickest way to learn to be part of the team. I will also pull a training schedule together for you. The team each have different skills so you might as well learn from them.”
“Will I get to work with you?”
Jasper paused in his tracks but didn’t look at me. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
This had something to do with whatever was happening between us. “Jasper, we need to talk about this. I don’t understand what’s going on here, but you do. Can’t you just tell me?”
He took a deep breath and turned to face me. “I can’t, Lori. I’m not ready.”
I looked up at Jasper and I had never seen him look so vulnerable. He was trying to be honest with me and while he wasn’t telling me everything, maybe with some time he would open up to me about whatever this was. I just needed to be patient. Not one of my strongest virtues, but I could cultivate it. This felt important and it felt right.
“Ok. But don’t think that gives you a free pass to avoid me. What kind of example would you be setting your team if the leader doesn’t lead by example?”
He narrowed his eyes at me. He knew I’d backed him into a corner deliberately, but I couldn’t bear the thought of him staying away.
“That’s a low blow, Lori.”
I shrugged. “I know, but you can’t argue the point, can you?”
He took a step closer and my smile fell. He was intimidating up close and it was fucking sexy. “Lori, you’re under my command now. Infractions earn punishments.” His tone was soft, and every word crawled deliciously across my skin.
Yes. Punish me.
“You want my attention, then fine. Be up at dawn. We’re going for a run.”
“Urgh, do we have to? I hate running.”
“Yes, we do. I need to know what stamina you have.”
“I can certainly think of more fun things to do than running, if you want to know that,” I replied saucily which earned me a flat look. “Ok fine. I will be up, and we can go for a run. I am sure I could run circles around you, vampire.”
Jasper tilted his head up to the sky and exhaled deeply. “Heaven save me,” he muttered and headed back towards the base.
We made it through the imposing front gates and started the walk down the long drive. A flash of colour caught my eye beyond the tree line and Alec jogged into view. He raised his hand in greeting and I found myself waving back. Jasper noticed Alec heading towards us and frowned. “Don’t fall for his charm. I will not have any members of my team sleeping together.”
Annoyance had my eyes narrowing and my jaw clenching, but I could keep a leash on my temper. “He’s just being friendly, which is more than I can say for you.”
Jasper was about to respond but Alec had made it into ear shot, curbing his need to berate me again.
“Hey Lori, how was the meeting?” Alec said without showing any sign he was winded, but all thought fled from my mind as I got a closer look at the masterpiece that was Alec’s physique. Jeez the guy was toned, and who didn’t wear a shirt or vest or something if they had abs like that? He was going to cause accidents walking around like that.
He was hot and sweaty, and the dips and planes of his taut muscles were mouth-watering. My eyes trailed down his torso drinking in the sight, all the way down to where his shorts hung low on his hips exposing the tantalising V on show. He had the kind of body I just wanted to explore.
Naked in the bedroom.
As he was between my thighs.
“Are you checking me out?” Alec chuckled softly.
I bit the inside of my cheeks and tried to stop the flush creeping up my neck. “Nope. Just thinking you must be cold, what with the no shirt and all.”
He leaned in and his musky scent tickled my senses. “You can touch me if you want.”
Hell yes. I wanted to.
His voice echoed in my mind again. “Just to make sure I’m not too cold.”
Fuck yes. I wanted to run my hands all over him, maybe even lick his –
“Alec!” Jasper shouted. “Knock it off.”
Alec raised his hands in mock surrender and took a step back from me.
What the fuck had just happened here? I blinked and tried to clear my head but all I could think about was the desire that was now pumping through my body. I glared up at Alec, but the douchebag just chuckled at me, clearly enjoying my discomfort.
“So, how was the meeting?” Alec asked again.
“Well, turns out you get to train me. I’m your new recruit.”
“Seriously?” He glanced between Jasper and me as if waiting for one of us to jump and say gotcha.
“Yep. His majesty thinks it would be a good thing for me to learn to take care of myself.”
“Well I will certainly enjoy seeing what that body of yours is capable of,” Alec replied suggestively which had me hot under the collar. Fuck, this guy was dangerous.
“Team meeting. Now,” Jasper barked before marching off towards the house leaving me and Alec in his wake. I rolled my eyes and Alec chuckled as we set off to catch up. “Jasper, slow down. My legs aren’t as long as yours.”
His eyes dipped down to my leather clad legs and stopped. Oh yeah, he had definitely noticed the leather pants. Busted big guy. I coughed, and he drew his attention back to my face looking for all the world like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
He released a growl in which he managed to convey all his frustration and irritation before stomping off like a grouchy adolescent. He made it about four strides before he turned back to face me.
“You are the most impossible, difficult and vexatious person I have ever had the misfortune to meet,” Jasper shouted.
That was it. I’d been doing so well to keep my temper in check over the past couple of days. I’d been mentally congratulating myself on how well I had remained so level-headed in the face of his sour moods, and I’d been positively cheerful despite being thrust into this bloody world of vampires and demons.
No more.
“You,” I exploded, barely resisting the urge to punch him in the face, “are the rudest, most ill-mannered man in all creation.”
He raised a brow. “Surely you can do better than that?”
“I can, but I’m in polite company,” I growled.
“You don’t mean Alec?” he said with a short lau
gh as he turned his head to his grinning teammate. “He’s about the least polite company I know.”
“However,” Alec cut in, “I would have to agree with Lori’s assessment of your character.” He turned to me. “He’s a brute.”
“Watch your tone, Devaux. I am more than happy to put you on base lockdown.”
Alec grimaced but didn’t give in. “I think having a new recruit will do some good for the team, Sir. It’s another reason to keep living, Sir.”
“Fuck off, Alec.”
I looked between the two men. There was an unspoken secret here between the two of them. The tension was palpable and the need to diffuse it before it became something more violent than a staring contest, seemed necessary. For both my safety and theirs. Thank god for my winning humour.
“You never know, I might even liven the place up a bit Jasper. Maybe even balance out your grumpiness. The least you could do is thank me.”
“Thank you?!”
“You’re welcome,” I said quickly. “Now then, are we going to stand here all day?”
Alec rolled his lips into his mouth as if suppressing a smile and Jasper looked flabbergasted, his mouth opening and closing like a fish. I chose that moment to saunter past the pair of them and into the house until I realised I had no clue where the team meeting would actually take place.
“Alec,” I called over my shoulder, “would you be a dear and take me to the team meeting?”
He finally released his smile and the flutters in my stomach went into overdrive. That mouth was going to haunt my dreams.
“It would be my pleasure,” he purred before joining me in the hallway. As we wandered further into the house, I started to worry Jasper wasn’t following but then I heard the dogged steps of a man who had just been thoroughly whipped.
Lori, one; Jasper, nil.
It really was the small things that made life worth living.
Chapter 19
LORI
The team meeting turned out to be just as awkward as I imagined it. At least Alec had put a shirt on, although I couldn’t decide if that was a good or a bad thing. Saskia thought my joining the ranks was the best thing since sliced bread. I guess being around all the dick-measuring-macho-bullshit grated on you after a while. I, for one, was glad to have her company. Alec thought it was a great way to get “hands on” with me, Fenris couldn’t really care less, and Cassian, well… Cassian just stared at me through literally the entire meeting. I think he was hoping that I’d burst into flames if he stared hard enough, or perhaps my entrails would become my extrails merely because he wished it so.
“So, to recap.”
Jasper’s voice pulled me from Cassian’s death stare, and I focused back on the man in charge. His face was all authoritative lines, and he rocked the don’t-mess-with-me-sucker look. His eyes caught mine and my heart stopped. Holy moly, he was gorgeous. The room around me faded into nothingness as I became entangled in his breath-taking gaze. It was like drowning in a sea of hunger. It robbed me of my breath and my lips craved his as if they would be my salvation. I leaned forward slightly in my chair and Jasper resolutely pulled his eyes away from me, breaking the tension between us. Shit, I had been about to jump out of my seat and claim him in front of everyone here. I took a quick glance around the room but no one seemed to have noticed. I shuffled in my seat to cover my sudden movement and then made a show of relaxing back in my chair. But I wasn’t relaxed. I was as far opposite from relaxed as I could possibly be.
“Saskia, you’re on weapons. Fenris, you will help uncover any magic Lori may possess. Cassian, you will train her in hand-to-hand combat. Alec will skill her in tracking and covert ops and with me,” he turned to face me again, a wicked grin curling his lips, “you’ll get physical endurance.”
The other four groaned. I already knew I was going out for a run with Jasper in the morning, but what was so bad about his teaching methods? I looked at them all and dread settled in my stomach. Even Cassian’s face had soured at Jasper’s words. Jasper must be bad if even Cassian winced.
“What’s so bad about that? Why are you all cringing?”
They all exchanged a look that spoke volumes. Jasper was clearly a hard ass. Great.
“I’ll update the rota and add Lori to it. She can spend the first week training and then she can join you on patrol. Any questions?” Jasper paused long enough to allow anyone to raise an objection. No one did. “Very well. You’re dismissed.”
Chairs scraped across the floor as the team filed out. I went to catch up with Saskia, hoping she could lend me something for tomorrow, seeing as I still didn’t have any clothes. Heaven knew how long de Santis would take to come through with that. Maybe he’d use it as a tactic to make me feel uncomfortable. He seemed to get a perverse enjoyment from making other people squirm.
“Saskia,” I called out. She turned to face me with an excited grin plastered on her face. “You think you can lend me something for my run with Jasper tomorrow?”
“Girl, I do not envy you. I remember my first training session with Jasper. I couldn’t move for a week.”
Crap. My limbs already hurt from just thinking about the torture Jasper was going to put me through tomorrow.
“But sure,” she continued, “come with me. I’m sure I will have something that will stand up to all the mud.”
Double crap.
I sighed wearily, resigning myself to my new routine. It was going to be a painful learning curve, I could tell. But maybe I could weasel some tips and tricks for surviving from Saskia. She seemed genuinely friendly and perhaps having a friend here would be a good thing. I missed being able to just pick up the phone and call Rae. She always had a way of putting things into perspective, and god knows I could do with a serious reality check right now. Maybe, spending some time with Saskia could help with that. To be honest, I was looking forward to putting some space between me and Jasper. I couldn’t think clearly around him. He had a way of getting tangled under my skin, and he became an itch I wanted to scratch really badly. He made my every thought –
“Lori. A word.”
I stopped in my tracks at the sound of his growled words and slowly spun to face Jasper. He leant back against the table with his arms folded across his chest. His mouth was set in a grim line, and he looked like he was trying to keep his temper in check. Boy, was I in trouble. Again.
I glanced back at Saskia. “I’ll come find you later.”
She nodded and pity flashed in her eyes as she gave me a little wave before disappearing down the corridor.
I closed the door behind me, sensing that this was a conversation he didn’t want anyone to overhear. Not that I think that would stop those with super hearing. I bet Alec had that with him being a Hell Hound but I wondered if any of the others did. I’d have to ask some other time because right now it looked like I was going to be rather preoccupied with a surly vampire.
“Lori, we need to get one thing straight. You’re here for protection. Nothing else. I can’t have my team compromised because of you.”
I folded my arms. I couldn’t take this any more. “What’s your problem with me?”
“I don’t have a problem with you.”
“Could’ve fooled me. You can’t seem to stand to be around me. You continuously berate me and all for what? To show me how much of a problem you don’t have?”
“I don’t think anything about you, Lori.”
“Well, that’s clearly a fucking lie.”
Jasper pinched the bridge of his nose. “Look. Whatever this is between you and me is never going to happen.”
“You’ve decided that have you?” I spat.
He dropped his hands and his eyes burned straight through me, like he was seeing more than just me. Like he was seeing into my soul.
Maybe it was shitty of me to push him, but he was clearly not giving me the whole picture. I hated that I still wanted him, that I was attracted to him, that my body craved him in a way I had yet to understand. That need for h
im hadn’t gone away. Even now, when I was royally fucking pissed at him, I still wanted his hands on my body, his lips pressed against mine. I wanted to know what he felt like inside me.
Jasper clenched his jaw. “Lori, I can’t… I can’t be what you want me to be. I won’t.”
My jaw dropped in angry disbelief. “What does that even mean? What’s really going on here Jasper? Why all the hesitation about even considering looking at whatever this is between us?”
“There is nothing between us,” he growled.
“That’s bullshit and you know it!”
With a deliberate slowness, he rose from the edge of the table. “Miss Monroe, do not mistake me for a man who tolerates insubordination.”
I didn’t like his threatening tone, or the way he used my surname, like the formality was going to put some kind of barrier between us. So, of course, I went on the offensive and lashed out like an angry child.
“What are you going to do about it? Punish me?”
“Very funny.” He loomed over me, trying to intimidate me into submission. I don’t even think he realised he was doing it, but it made me want to do something stupid, like pull him closer and press my body against his.
“That’s not an answer,” I shot back at him with a challenging look.
“Fucking hell, Lori.” The muscles along his chiselled jaw pulsed, and he closed his eyes for a moment as if trying to gather some inner strength.
Fuck. This was dangerous.
I heard the little voice in my head whispering all those little warnings. This was a bad idea and I really should listen but… sometimes my selective hearing came into play.
“Are you saying you would punish me?” I asked, a teasing lilt to my voice. I tilted my head up closer to his and licked my lips, the tip of my tongue catching his lips. A warning growl rumbled from deep in his throat. I rested my palms on his chest, spreading my fingers across the firm wall of muscle. His hands found my waist and slowly slid down. It was like he couldn’t stop himself from touching me. “How much?”
To Crave Darkly: Trials Of A Morta: Book One Page 16
