by Dakota Rebel
“We don’t have to go yet. But soon, okay? It’s getting late.”
She nodded and walked back to take her spot in the centre of her new adoring fans. I turned to go tell Reagan I’d found her friend and bumped straight into Skip.
“Where’s my sister?”
“She went to mingle. I thought we should have a little chat.” He grabbed my wrist, pulling me toward the door. I yanked back my hand but followed him outside.
“Since our last chat went so well, I can’t wait to hear what you have to say to me now, Skip.”
“I told you to leave him alone. What the hell are you doing here?” His hands were balled into fists, and his eyes were narrowed at me.
“What the fuck do you care? Jarrod told me that you had no interest in him as anything other than a friend.” I tried to keep distance between us. If he rushed me, I wanted to have some room to maneuver.
“Jarrod doesn’t understand what’s going on here. He thinks he loves you and that you love him and the two of you will live happily ever after. But how is that going to work? You’re mortal. You’re going to grow old and die then who will Jarrod have? No one. Because if he throws me away now, I won’t be there for him when you’re gone.” His voice softened a little. “If you really do love him, you’ll do what’s best for all of us and just go. If you promise me right now that you’ll leave us alone, I’ll go end things with Reagan. You won’t have to worry about your little sister anymore if you just go. Just go, Mitch.”
Maybe, Jarrod was wrong. Maybe, Skip really did love him. Or maybe, Skip recognized that he was in trouble. The whole band knew I was a federal marshal. If he’d figured out why I’d come into their lives in the first place, of course, he would want me gone. And if I persisted, he had a great little hostage in my sister. I couldn’t kill him even if I was trying to save Reagan. Fuck.
“Skip, listen carefully. I am only going to say this once. I love Jarrod.” I paused for a moment, letting that comment sink in for both of us. “And I think he loves me, too. If you care about him so fucking much, you should want to see him happy. Threatening my sister isn’t going to get you anything but dead. Do you hear me?”
His eyes went wide, and to be honest, I was slightly startled by my words, too. But I’d meant every one of them. Fuck the contract and fuck the Army. If he didn’t leave my family alone, I would stake him where he stood. I was done letting Skip Axlerod dictate to me how things would be.
“Interesting,” he said. He smoothed his hands over his jeans, looking at the ground. His hand shot out toward me, but I was ready for it. I caught his wrist and used his own momentum to swing him into the side of the building. I pinned his arm behind him and pushed my shoulder into his back to hold him still.
“Stay the fuck away from us,” I hissed into his ear.
I let him go, stepping back quickly in case he tried for me again. He didn’t. He just brushed himself off again and stalked into the warehouse, not even bothering to look back at me.
I let out a shaky breath, the adrenaline fading. My hands shook, and I put them in my pockets to make it stop. I stood outside for a few more minutes, letting the cool air calm me. When I was finally sure I could walk without my legs giving out, I went back inside to find Jarrod.
He was just inside the door, dancing with Reagan. They were making exaggerated movements, with big dips and wild spins. Donna was off to the side watching them and laughing. I went to stand with her, noticing how happy Reagan looked. I hoped she never had to find out what some vampires were really like. I wanted her to always look at Jarrod like she looked at him now. It was the same look she sometimes gave me when we’re goofing around and having fun. I liked that she felt that way for him.
I had to do something about Skip. I couldn’t let him hurt us. If Reagan’s heart got a little dented, I could live with that. And more importantly, so could she. I glanced at my watch and groaned. It was really late, and I had to get the girls home. I also wanted to talk to Jarrod, but it wasn’t going to be tonight. I could only hope Skip wouldn’t ruin everything before I got the chance to explain myself.
The girls came quietly enough. There were no big arguments about leaving the party. I think they were more tired than they would ever admit. Jarrod followed us out to the car, giving me a lingering kiss that made the girls giggle inside the car. I flipped them off with one hand while the other just wanted to stay gripped in Jarrod’s. He finally pulled away, a small smile on his lips. I promised to call him the following evening and got in the car to go home—alone—with two teenage girls almost asleep in the backseat.
Chapter Twelve
I woke up late the next afternoon and found an empty apartment. Reagan had left a note saying she promised she really was going to stay with Donna and that she would call me later. Jarrod wouldn’t be up for a few more hours, so I decided to go to the gym and try to run out some of my frustration.
After two hours on the track, I was sweaty, my muscles ached, and I was no closer to a solution than I had been earlier. I would have to call my father and ask for his help, but I wasn’t looking forward to it at all. And as satisfying as I would have found it to kill Skip, it wasn’t going to cancel out the contract on Jarrod so that wouldn’t help me in the long run.
I went back to my loft, showered and got dressed. It was still too early to call Jarrod, but there was a phone call I had to make, and the sooner I got it over with the better.
My father’s phone went straight to voicemail, and I was more relieved than I wanted to admit. I didn’t want to talk to him right away. I left a brief message, telling him that I needed to speak to him about the Axlerod case and to call me as soon as he could.
After wandering around the house for another hour, bored out of my mind, I finally decided I had to get out of there. I didn’t want to believe I was so pathetic that after a week and a half there was nothing I wanted do without Jarrod beside me.
A nice long car ride sounded like fun. It was a beautiful afternoon, and I had been seriously lacking in sunlight lately, thanks to my sexy new vampire companion. So I opened the convertible top and took off with no particular destination in mind, the sun shining on me and the air in my face.
I hit the highway, speeding just enough for fun but not enough to get pulled over. The air felt amazing. I turned up the radio and forced all thought from my head, just enjoying the peace of my solitude in my car.
It had gotten dark, but the air was still warm as I turned around to head home. I was almost back on the highway at eight-thirty p.m. when my cell phone rang. I glanced at the screen and smiled.
“Well, hello there,” I said in my deepest voice. “What can I help you with?”
Jarrod laughed. “Gee, sir, I would be most appreciative if you were to come rescue me from the cranky roommate monster.”
“I can do that,” I said, laughing too. “I’ll be there soon.”
I hung up the phone and raced back to town. As much fun as I’d had alone in my car, having Jarrod next to me would make it so much better. I wondered if it was a bad sign that I already missed him but dismissed it. I could worry about it later. For now, I just wanted to have some fun for once in my life. And so far, Jarrod had been great for that.
I made it to his apartment much faster than I probably should have, but I hadn’t seen any cops so I wasn’t worried about it. Jarrod sat out front when I pulled up. He climbed into the car, giving me a quick kiss.
“Let’s get out of here.”
“Are you all right?” I asked him, putting my hand over his on his lap.
“I’m fine. Skip is just being an asshole, and I’m tired of dealing with it.” He smiled, but it was forced.
I pulled from the curb, driving the speed limit like a good federal marshal.
“What do you want to do tonight?” I asked him. I headed back toward the highway, but I didn’t have any particular destination in mind.
“I don’t care. What were you doing when I called?”
“I had ju
st gone out for a drive.”
“That sounds nice. Are you sick of driving? I wouldn’t mind cruising around and just being with you.”
I smiled, squeezing his hand and falling a little more in love him for saying what I’d been thinking earlier. I drove onto the highway and took off again heading north. We didn’t talk for a while, just held hands and enjoyed being with each other.
It had been a hard few days, probably for both of us, and we both just needed to unwind. I liked that I could feel relaxed with him. No matter what happened, driving with him to nowhere that night would always be one of my favorite memories.
Around midnight, we were so far north that all the traffic had disappeared. We had the road to ourselves, surrounded by trees and not much else. It was so dark up there we could see millions of stars, stars I always forgot existed when I was in the city. But up there, no light pollution marred the beauty of the sky.
The highway was less highway and more of a wide road. Instead of actual exits there were just small roads leading off to the side. I turned onto one of these streets, lined with trees and no buildings as far as I could tell. I pulled off to the side, into the first break in the trees. I leaned back my seat and stared up at the stars, still gripping Jarrod’s hand in mine.
“This is amazing,” he whispered. I heard him drop back his seat, too. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen so many stars. It’s beautiful.”
I turned to look at him. “You’re beautiful.”
Jarrod undid his seatbelt then reached over and unhooked mine, too. He bent over me, and I thought he would undo my jeans, but his hand went completely past my legs to move my seat all the way back. When it was as far from the steering wheel as he could get it, he climbed over the console and straddled my lap.
I ran a hand up his thighs, massaging his muscles. He put his hands on either side of my face and kissed me, holding my head still as he attacked my mouth with his tongue and his teeth. I wrapped my arms around his waist and squeezed him tight against me. His erection pressed against my stomach, and my own pressed into his leg.
“Mitch, I want you. I want you to take me right now, under the stars.” His eyes almost glowed in the bright moonlight overhead.
I wanted him, too, but I’d never had sex in a car before, and the Mustang wasn’t really built with room in mind. I wasn’t sure how we would manage it. But Jarrod seemed to have it all figured out.
He climbed back into the passenger seat and undressed, throwing his clothes into the backseat. I did the same and soon we sat there naked in the night air. He handed me a condom he must have had with him, and I rolled it down my cock. He climbed back over me, holding himself up on his knees while I stuck two of my fingers in his mouth to get them slick with his saliva.
I reached between his legs, placing my fingers against his tight hole, working them in slowly to loosen him up. He rocked his hips into me, urging me to move them faster. I finger-fucked him for several minutes, until I was sure I could penetrate him without causing him pain.
I spit in my palm. Sliding it up the length of the condom, I mixed it with the lubrication already there then I finally let him lower himself onto my cock, easing down inch by inch until his ass gripped the base of my shaft like a fist. I pulled his face closer so I could kiss him while he moved his hips on top of me, fucking me slowly.
He leaned back a little, careful to avoid hitting the steering wheel. I shifted in my seat so I could taste his skin, trailing kisses over every inch of his chest I could reach. His hands went to my shoulders, using me as leverage to start moving faster. I tried to sit still, tried to let him set the pace, but as the orgasm built in my balls, I took the lead.
I wrapped my hands around his hips and lifted him up then slammed him onto my cock over and over again until he screamed. He came in thick, hot streams on my chest. The feel of it sent me over the edge, too.
“Jarrod!” I screamed, my cum pumping through my cock so hard and so fast I was afraid the condom wouldn’t be able to hold it. I collapsed back into the seat, my cock still twitching inside his ass. He lay back, too, and we both jumped when the horn sounded.
He climbed off me, laughing. “And I’d been trying so hard not to do that.”
He rifled through the backseat, handing me my clothes and starting to put his back on. I climbed out of the car, burying the condom in the dirt next to the road. I grabbed my jeans. Standing in the street, I pulled them on before brushing the dirt off my hands and climbing back into the car to get my shoes and socks.
Jarrod smiled at me from the passenger seat. I leaned over and kissed him, practically climbing all the way into his seat until I had him pinned against the door. He laughed into my mouth but kissed me back just as hard.
I pulled away, falling back into my seat with an exaggerated sigh. I pulled my shirt over my head and looked back up at the stars.
“That was a really good idea,” I said. “We should do that more often.”
“How about right now?” Jarrod asked.
I looked over at him in disbelief to see him grinning widely at me. I shook my head and started the car. We drove back to town the same way we had come out, hand in hand. I was happier than I could remember being for a long time.
* * * *
“You’re going to ruin this, aren’t you?”
We had gotten back to my apartment around midnight and were sitting on the sofa next to each other, sharing the last beer I had found in my fridge.
“What do you mean?” I asked, not looking at him.
“I mean, you look like you’re going to say something stupid…like we can’t see each other again. Or love isn’t enough. Some bullshit cliché I’m going to argue with. Then I’ll storm out, and we’ll both be miserable.”
He had put it pretty succinctly. I had been contemplating talking to him, though I really hadn’t wanted to ruin the evening. I sighed, and he hit me.
“What was that for?” I rubbed my shoulder in fake pain.
“Don’t do it. I mean it. I don’t want to hear it tonight. If you have to go and fuck it all up, do it tomorrow. Let’s just share this night, okay. If things aren’t going to work out in the long run, can we at least have one memory to look back on and smile about?”
I nodded. He was right. We could talk about it another night. I also wanted this night to be perfect. Even though he had to leave soon, I would always be able to look back fondly on the time we’d spent together. The torture could wait.
A knock on the door made us both jump. I looked at him and laughed.
“Some vampire you are.” I stood to answer the door. “Aren’t you supposed to have super-human hearing or something?”
“Shut up,” he said, throwing a sofa pillow at me.
I opened the door and immediately slammed it shut upon seeing who was on the other side. It was strange that he had bothered to knock at all. I always assumed he just floated through the cracks in the walls and appeared inside.
Jarrod looked at me, his features showing both amusement and confusion. My body had gone rigid with fear. I didn’t know what to do.
“Mitch, open up. I know he’s in there,” my father called from the hallway.
I opened the door, moving aside to let him come in. I closed the door behind him and moved to put myself between Jarrod, who had stood, and my father.
“Why are you here?” I asked.
“Hey, you called me.” Dad gestured to Jarrod who had also wisely backed up a few feet. “The better question would be why is he here.”
“Listen, it wasn’t him. I know you don’t believe me, or even care, but I know who killed those men. And it wasn’t Jarrod.”
“Whoa,” Jarrod said, taking a step forward. “What the hell are you talking about?”
I sighed, turning to face him. “This is my father…and my commanding officer, Captain Arnold Baine. Dad, this is Jarrod Axlerod.”
Jarrod looked confused. “I thought you were a federal marshal?”
“I am, but
I’m a licensed bounty hunter, and I was contracted by the Army to kill you.” I turned back to Dad. “I’ve tried to tell him that the reports are wrong, but he won’t listen.”
Jarrod sat on the couch again, his face in his hands. Dad and I both turned to look at him.
“How did you guys find out?” Jarrod asked.
“We have photos of you at some of the crime scenes. The Army, wrongly, assumed that you had killed the victims. I have been trying to explain all of the reasons they are wrong, but I don’t understand what you were doing there.”
I sat next to Jarrod, using a hand to turn his face to look at me. I pleaded with my eyes for him to come clean now. If my father heard what had really happened, hopefully, we could fix the whole situation.
“Mitch, you’re going to have to kill me,” he said softly, pulling away from my touch.
My father reached for his gun, but I jumped to my feet and stopped him with a hand on his wrist. I shook my head, glaring at him. He wasn’t going to kill Jarrod.
“Don’t do this, Jarrod, please.” I stayed in front of my father, hoping he wouldn’t press the issue, hoping he would let me handle it.
Jarrod stared at me as if he didn’t recognize me. “Is this what you wanted to talk to me about? What you were thinking about when we got back here?”
I’d earned that look from him, that and so much more. I would be lucky if he didn’t disappear forever. Or actually make me kill him.
“I need you to leave,” I said to my father. “I have to talk to him. Please, Dad. Just go. I’ll handle this. Give me an hour and come back if you want, but I need you to not be here right now.”
“Mitch, I really don’t think that’s a good idea. You have shown nothing but terrible judgment regarding this entire case. You’re fucking your hit, for God’s sake. Why should I go? Tell me why I shouldn’t kill him right now.”
“Because I love him.” I stood my ground, keeping eye contact as I said it. My father had always chosen to ignore that part of my life, but that was his problem, not mine.
