“Nothing.”
“Come on, you know you want to tell me what changed,” Jacks said, trying to elicit some sort of response from her.
“Nothing. Jackson, leave it alone,” Ryleigh demanded. He was starting to annoy her with this nonstop pestering, like it was his goal to aggravate her. What kind of reaction was he looking for?
“No, tell me. I want to know what changed,” he demanded again.
“Fine!” Ryleigh finally broke down. “If you must know, you stopped putting out your alpha vibes, and I can finally breathe. The dominance you exude is stifling at times. I'm not sure if I should expose my neck or go to my knees. Are you happy now?”
Jacks was happy that Ryleigh responded to him in any way, but wasn’t going to let her in on that.
“Either will do, but if you want to know my preference going to your knees is always going to be my first choice,” he told her with an irritating, smug smile. “However, I could also see the benefits of exposing your neck as well. So, it could be a toss-up. But if you do either of those things, you need to know you will indeed be playing with fire. I like my women submissive and at my mercy.”
“What, are you a Dom or something?” Ryleigh asked mockingly.
“No, Baby. I am an Alpha. We are all dominate,” Jacks snapped back. “Don’t confuse that with some storybook version of BDSM. We expect and honor submission. It’s in our nature. Having a willing woman on her knees in front of me, waiting for whatever I desire, is my preference. Her knowing that she’ll be on the receiving end of ecstasy she could only imagine is a major turn on. The only thing better would be having her tied and blindfolded to my bed.”
Ryleigh couldn’t help but press her thighs together; Jacks was getting to her with what he was saying, even though she thought he shouldn’t be. Definitely, something she needed to think about. Her reaction to this infuriating man was not normal.
“I like to leave my women wondering what I am going to do next, anticipation is also a major turn on, not knowing what is going to happen from one minute to the next. Only knowing that it’s going to feel unbelievable. What do you say, Baby? Do you want to be in my bonds or do you want to keep this a PG version?”
Ryleigh could feel her breathing speed up, the butterflies in her stomach turning into full blown birds the longer he talked. Oh, my Lord, she thought, I could see myself tied to his bed waiting for his touch. What the heck was wrong with her? She needed to shut this conversation down and fast.
“I don’t know, Jackson, but considering that I was kept in a cage and treated like an animal for the first eleven years of my life, I don’t think your bonds would do much except maybe trigger my flight or fight instinct,” she replied with heavy sarcasm. “No worries, though, we will only be together a week. Although we need to put on a show for the Franklins household, I don’t think that is the kind of show we want to project.”
Fuck, he could smell her arousal when he was talking about tying her to his bed. Was his bear that screwed up when it came to this woman? The bear couldn’t tell the difference between arousal and fear at this point? No fucking way she liked what he was saying. Why was she shutting him down like this, Jacks thought? Time to give her a little space, for now, but this discussion was far from over.
“Rye, can I call you Rye?” Jacks said in an attempt to quickly change the subject. “I’m curious as to why your group is called the Holly Group. Was one of your first cases for a girl named Holly, or is it something else? NAC is pretty self-explanatory, Not Another Child. But the Holly Group is an enigma.”
Ryleigh was taken aback, but happy Jacks changed the subject. No way did she want to go into how aroused he was making her. Things between them were getting too personal for her comfort.
“Wow, that is actually a good question,” Ryleigh willingly responded. “People tend to make assumptions like you, that maybe it was an individual or someone's last name, but it isn’t either of those things. During my time with Naval Intelligence, I was in on the rescue of Mia Carpenter. The conditions she was held in were very similar to what I experienced as a child. One of the major differences was that her captors didn’t feel that it was necessary to keep her brain stimulated.”
Jacks almost shut her down; it wasn’t his intention to make her sad, but by the look on her face, that was exactly what this conversation was doing.
“She suffers from many of the same things that I do, but again, her captors ignored her decline.” Ryleigh continued. “It was felt that as long as she was alive, they could continue their testing, catatonic or not. The funny thing was we were not on a search and rescue mission. Instead, we were tracking guns. Finding Mia was a big surprise.”
Jack’s noticed that Ryleigh looked a little less sad, but he could tell the story still deeply affected her.
“After her rescue, she spent many months in the hospital, and I kind of adopted her. I was able to recognize that she needed brain stimulation in the same way that I did. First, I started reading to her, mainly technical manuals. My talents are more towards numbers and figures, puzzles if you will, so that is what I started with hoping that it would trigger a response.”
Damn, Jacks’ life hadn’t been a storybook, but he had to acknowledge, at least to himself, that the things these women went through were awful. He also had to wonder how they became such productive members of society, helping others when they themselves had suffered so severely.
“After about a week she spoke to me and pleaded for anything but more accounting manuals,” Ryleigh chuckled. “Not left with much in the hospital, I pulled out one of the textbooks I had from medical school. I had already dropped out of the residency program, but I found I liked neurology, so I kept the book. Within days, she was devouring medical books at a rate that even alarmed me. She was so into them that she refused to do anything else. We figured her brain was so deprived that once the switch was flip, she couldn’t stop herself. Her body was already in a weakened state and only getting worse because all she wanted to do was learn, so I had to do something.”
Ryleigh knew she was sugarcoating the extent of the situation, but there was no way anyone would believe how bad it was without seeing it for themselves. Mia’s body was shutting down, and she didn’t care, and Ryleigh was desperate to help her.
“In the gift shop, I grabbed a book, not really paying attention to it at the time, and went back to her room.” Ryleigh continued. “I had all the textbooks taken away from her. To say she was pissed was an understatement. She didn’t care that her body was literally shutting down; a void was being filled, and that was all she cared about. We made a deal that day that if she did her physical therapy and ate all her meals every day, we could read one chapter from the book I had bought and discuss it. I also told her that when she was healthy enough, I would sponsor her to attend college and medical school if that was what she wanted.”
Ryleigh wasn’t going to tell him that at the time, she thought Mia would turn her down. Mia was at a point that she didn’t care if she lived or died, she just wanted something to take a little of the pain away and learning about medicine seemed to do that for her.
“The book was on Celtic legends. Through our discussions, other aspects of our lives were brought up. I told her about my first eleven years, and she told me about her captivity. She had only been there for a couple years, but her family had been the people to sell her out. We had also talked about how I figured out that she needed the knowledge to bring her out of her catatonic state. Being that my brain worked the same way, I told her it was just a hunch.”
Jacks couldn’t imagine a life where if you didn’t learn something every day, you would go into a catatonic state. Shit, some days he and the guys just played video games and ate junk food. He wondered if Ryleigh or Mia were ever able to have a day like that.
“It took us forever to get through the book, as neither of us were really into mythology. We prefer tangible evidence and factually based readings. However, on the day that she was to be re
leased from the hospital, we read the last chapter, waiting for her discharge. It described the meaning of many things, but the description of what the holly plant represented resonated with both of us.”
Ryleigh was afraid that she would lose Jacks by continuing this conversation. She knew what it meant to her and Mia, but realized others beyond the Holly Group wouldn’t understand, and that was okay with her. She kind of liked having his undivided attention on something other than her body. He was actually listening to her, and she loved it.
“You see, the Celtic meaning of holly deals with ruling the winter realms with style, dignity, and honor, even in the midst of great challenge,” Ryleigh explained. “While most plants die, or hibernate in the cold, dark, winter months, the holly thrives. Celts consider holly a sign of good luck. In fact, they would often bring it into their homes, even planting it around them, as a symbol of protection because of its light repelling properties, not to mention their prickly leaves.”
Looking up into his eyes, she didn’t see the hazed over look that she had expected. He was listening to her story, seemed to like it, but she knew she needed to finish it before he remembered he was an Alpha male.
“All of this together represents another metaphor for protection, vigilance, and stubborn victories won. If you feel the walls of life starting to descend upon you, Celts believed you could call upon the holly plant to invoke its protective qualities, and you would no longer need to be on the defensive. The holly will protect and push you towards victory, whether that victory is for your mind, body, or soul.”
Shit, Jacks was at a loss. The whole holly thing was neat, but a little too deep for him, but he figured if it got those two ladies to help others, he was all for it.
“Like I said, the legend resonated with both of us. We wanted to live by those properties and help others gain them as well. So, that’s where the name for The Holly Group came from. We will repel the bad, help the innocent, and never give up. We will win no matter what.”
“Wow, that is incredibly intense,” Jacks replied. “I just thought that holly was a Christmas decoration.”
Chapter 20
“Come on, we need to get to the plane so I can start the pre-flight testing,” Ryleigh said. “We have a departure time soon, and we can’t miss it or we will be forced to stay here for a while. We have places to be.”
“Wait a minute. What do you mean you need to do pre-flight testing? Are you going to be flying the plane?” Jacks was shocked. “I didn’t agree with you flying the plane. Don’t you have a pilot? How are we going to go over the operation if you’re flying the plane?” He was finding it increasingly harder to hide his unease.
“I know some pilots. I could call them,” Jacks said, almost pleading. “They could fly the aircraft. That way we won’t waste any time.”
Jacks was sweating it. He didn’t like to fly on a good day and generally only flew with his team, specifically when his second was at the helm. His bear didn’t like flying in any way; it was unnatural, and the beast was scratching to run away and hide, for fuck’s sake. Most of the non-feathered shifters felt this way. Jacks only flew with pilots he knew and trusted. There was no way he would let Ryleigh take him up in the tiny plane they were headed for.
“What? Is Jackson Thorp afraid to let me fly him to Tennessee?” Ryleigh asked, not sure whether she should be offended or amused. “I assure you, oh Alpha, I have a valid pilot's license, and I’ve only crashed three times. Nothing serious, just small accidents,” she teased.
“There is no such thing as a small crash, Ryleigh,” Jacks said, not being able to take a joke. “Yeah, I think I need to call a buddy to fly the plane. Actually, my Second, Cash, is a pilot. He even has his own plane. Let me give him a call. It makes more sense because we can work on the case while in the air and he can fly the aircraft. Yeah, best leave it up to the professionals.”
Just then, ramp supervisor, Ollie, walked up to the waiting pair. Ryleigh loved the old Airforce Pilot. They usually had dinner or drinks every time she came into JFK. He had been a pilot during Vietnam and would tell Ryleigh stories of the time he spent over there. He would also complain that the airport was trying to get rid of his old ass. Ryleigh would never tell him, but she had her Dad pull some strings to make sure that never happened.
Ollie needed this job, it kept the demons away, at least that’s what he told her, and she believed him. She kept her demons away by solving puzzles. He could no longer fly, but he could be around the machines that had saved his life back when he was barely old enough to drink. Ollie had been drafted, and because he had been operating a crop plane, he was instantly put in for pilot training. His help and skills in Operation Frequent Wind were his pride and glory. He loved that he was able to assist in the evacuation of Saigon; Ryleigh was grateful for his service to their country.
“Hi Honey, you ready for pre-flight?” Ollie asked. “You’re all loaded and gassed. And what does this guy mean leave the flying up to professionals? Doesn’t he know you are certified to fly anything that has wings? I mean Navy pilots are pretty professional, wouldn’t you say?”
“You were in the military?” Jacks croaked.
“Yes, sir. I was raised military, like my dad. I decided to do my residency with the Navy, but figured out that medicine wasn’t my passion, so I explored the pilot's program. Dad had been taking me up in his plane since I was a little girl, and I got my pilot's license even before I could drive,” Ryleigh replied. “I have a little falcon in me. The skies call to me, kind of like how hibernation calls to a bear, you know what I mean?” she teased.
This woman could turn him into a pile of mush on command, but her calling him ‘sir’ had and immediate effect on his cock. The only thing better would be her on her knees with her full, supple lips wrapped around his cock. He could actually see it. She seemed kind of inexperienced so he would probably have to teach her how he liked to be sucked. Imagining her pink little tongue peeking out of that gorgeous mouth to taste his essence caused a shiver to crawl up his spine.
He would then tell her to trace the rim slowly around his bulbous head, paying particular attention to the notch at the bottom. After he had his fill of that, he would grab the hair at the back of her head, pulling her forward to take more of his cock, encouraging her to suck. He would gradually make her take him deep in long, slow draws, moving her head faster until he was fucking her mouth the way he wanted.
Snapping himself out of his little daydream, he couldn’t help but think, fuck, who am I kidding? The one that would be brought to their knees in this relationship was him. That was if she didn’t kill him first. It was then that he got his second epiphany. Fuck, he thought of her regarding a relationship, he had never done that before. He was starting to resign himself that she was his something more, maybe a mate, definitely more than a one and done. She had to be, right?
“So how long were you in?” Jacks questioned. “I mean, you’re not that old?”
Yeah, he was also trying to delay the flight from hell as long as he possibly could.
“I was only in for one term,” Ryleigh replied. “I graduated medical school at 17 and immediately joined. I wanted to be like my Dad and serve my country. Like I said, medicine wasn’t for me, but I had always liked flying. Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be. The other pilots we not happy with a female in the program, let alone one that was so young. I was quickly moved to Naval Intelligence, but some stuff happened and I decided military life wasn’t for me in the long run. I’ve been running The Holly Group full-time for about six years now.”
“Well then, let’s get this over with. Where do you want me?” Jacks said, trying not to let his thoughts show.
Jackson went somewhere for a while mentally, and by the bedroom eyes he was giving, Ryleigh could only assume where he went. Was he as attracted to her as she was to him or was this fascination one sided? By all accounts, he was a man whore who flirted with anything that had boobs. Yeah, she guessed at that, but he did say he had
worked with professionals. She hoped this feeling was mutual. He could have been thinking of one of his many professionals, jerk. Ryleigh decided to push him a little more.
“Why up in the cockpit with me, Jackson, you’re going to be my copilot,” she joked with a smug little smile on her face. “You don’t have any problems with flying, do you? How about confined spaces?”
I hope he is claustrophobic, it would serve him right for making me feel this way. Why him? Twenty-eight years, and she had never encountered such problems. Men barely penetrated her radar and now this man was making craters in it. Crap.
“No need, honey,” Jacks said, trying to save face, “I wouldn’t want to be a distraction for you while you’re flying the friendly skies. I’ll sit in the back like passengers are supposed to.”
That way you can’t see the white-knuckled grip I have on the armrests of my seat and the sweat that will most assuredly be dripping from my brow, Jacks thought. I wonder if she has liquor on this thing, a couple of shots, fuck, a bottle might calm down my bear. He had joined the Navy because of this; bears liked water, not so much tin cans that flew through the sky. He was finding it increasingly harder to hide his unease. Was she sensing his weakness?
“Got yah, almighty Alpha,” Ryleigh laughed, “no, the copilot's seat has your name on it. You’re not scared, are you?”
“Touché, Miss Quinn, touché,” was all he said. Jacks knew he needed to man up, or in his case, bear up. There was no way he would let Ryleigh see him sweat, at least that’s what he told himself.
Once the preflight check was completed, you could have broken Jackson in half with a swift kick, he was so tense. As soon as the engine started and they began taxiing down the runway, he literally went white. Which is saying something because the man had a golden tan you could tell was from working outside, not from any artificial means like lotions or tanning booths. He started hyperventilating when Ryleigh called the tower for departure approval.
NAC & The Holly Group - Box set: Alpha Team Page 13
