by Scarlet Dawn
But I froze completely when a large, heated, strong palm landed on my shoulder from behind. I stayed utterly still as…Isaac…leaned over me, his stomach muscles clenching against the back of my head. He stared down into the open cartons in the middle of our table.
Jonathan stilled too, his gaze flying to Isaac’s hand on my shoulder, and watched as his thumb brushed under my hair to my neck, then stroked once gently in a semi-hidden gesture.
Isaac asked calmly, “Do you two have any more eggrolls? Caleb didn’t get me any.”
I made a choked noise in my throat as Jonathan’s eyes began to simmer vehemence, moving from the hand on my shoulder to Isaac’s stomach pressed against the back of my head. Jonathan’s nostrils flared, and his breakneck violent gaze slammed up to Isaac’s face, his tone deathly quiet, “Get off her.”
“Hmm?” Isaac hummed, still staring down into the containers, even lifting a few with his free hand, completely ignoring the deadly hunter staring daggers at him. His gripping hand on my shoulder swiftly released me, though, when he leaned further over the table, my chin literally pressed down to my collarbone as he reached for the sack, finding the eggrolls. He hummed happily. “Here they are.” He jiggled the bag, pressing away from my chair, away from me. “These are my favorite.” He simply walked away, the bag in his hand crinkling as he dug into it for an eggroll.
My lips were slightly parted as I blinked stupidly. The Mayor seriously shouldn’t have done that. Jonathan had told me that Gargoyles were weird about physical contact—because too many random people touched their statue form. And Isaac had just crossed over that line, showing blatantly he had them with me.
Black eyes flayed me so harshly that I was at a loss. My lips parted further, and I mumbled, “It’s not what you think.”
His gaze narrowed even further, not peering away from me, even as the room had quieted, no conversation occurring at all inside my apartment. Jonathan stayed silent for a full minute, his jaw clenching and unclenching. Until his gaze snapped from my eyes to above my head, his tone a menacing purr. “It was you.”
My fists clenched on top of the table as the crinkling of paper could be heard again.
Isaac was chewing as he merely stated, “That didn’t sound like a question to me.”
Jonathan gradually began to stand, his words a slow, deadly tick. “Isaac…was it you?”
More crunching sounded and the crinkling of paper. Isaac hummed softly. He murmured ever so gently, “That night was no one’s. It was the power that owned the night. The power that took control of everyone. If we were together then, it was neither her fault nor mine.”
I shrieked, quickly shoving my legs to the side, sitting on my chair sideways when Jonathan, in a fit of fury, lifted the table and slammed it against the wall faster than I knew him capable of. The room was silent as the plates and bottles shattered against the wall, the side of the table thumping heavily against the floor. The black wood was cracked down the bottom of it. I hugged the back of my chair, breathing heavily and staring at the wall where the remnants of our dinner remained, slowly sliding down to the floor behind the upended table in disgusting wet thumps.
Jonathan stood utterly still, his fists clenched down at his sides, every single muscle bulging in his body as he kept a tight rein on his growing fury, his eyes like lasers over my head on the Mayor, who had lowered the eggroll sack to the coffee table, his hands hanging loosely at his sides.
A fight was definitely imminent.
Yeah…that shit wasn’t happening in here.
I quickly pivoted on my chair, and stood to my feet, holding my hands out in either of their directions in the universal ‘stop’ gesture. “There will be no fighting in here.” My tone was serious, even if entirely breathless, my chest heaving. “I’m a human. Remember? I won’t be able to handle that kind of violent power this close.”
Isaac actually grinned, a wicked, sinful tilt of his lips, glancing at me. “Why do you think I haven’t unleashed it?” A black brow quirked, a head tilt at the overturned table. “Besides, if that little bit of vehemence scared you, then you’d probably scream even more like a girl than you just did, and then faint before us like a weeping willow if you really saw what we’d like to do to each other.”
Jonathan growled, even as my eyes narrowed at the Mayor. “What kind of damn game are you playing this time, Isaac?” He was standing stock still, holding himself back. “You may not have been able to stop it that fucking night, but you know she’s mine now. You know you can’t have her. You know you will push me past my point of patience if you even think about it, which would most definitely mean I would no longer sit back while certain shifters attack my people. Not to mention, Mrs. Stone would never allow her in your bed again. So what the fuck are you doing?”
Isaac’s gaze snapped from me to Jonathan, altering and glowing. He stalked forward until he was an inch away from my outstretched hand, and then he leaned forward, pressing his stomach against my palm. His stomach muscles clenched, his eyes dead set on his enemy as he hissed furiously, “Don’t think for a second that I can’t handle my mother. I’ve been doing it for far too long not to know how to handle that bitch.” His head cocked, his Gargoyle peeking out as he stared him down. “Don’t you think the more adamant question is why did Hanna send her to me in the first place? The true package she sent that night was Kennedy. To me. She knew we would spend the night together, and you know as well as I do, she knew the two of you were together. That wizard knows everything.”
Jonathan slowly leaned back from the balls of his feet. He stopped glaring, but he flicked a hand in the Mayor’s direction—even as he started stalking back and forth between the overturned table and my front door. “Quit leaning on her. I’m trying to think, and I can’t with you touching her.”
I swiftly yanked my hand back, crossing my arms, not touching Isaac’s hot stomach any longer. The situation had calmed some. My man, Jonathan, always thought with his head before his fists, this situation no different…even if the Mayor might have helped him get past his jealousy.
Isaac leaned back, away from me, his expression calming as he watched Jonathan pace. His lips twitched the barest bit when Jonathan’s back was to him, and he turned and strode easy on his bare feet back to the coffee table. He lifted the bag of quickly diminishing eggrolls and munched silently, the bag crinkling every so often as we watched Jonathan march back and forth, the muscles in his biceps bulging as he continued to stretch his fingers down by his side, then clench his hands into fists.
Absurdly for this situation, I noticed… “That’s a new sweater.”
He glanced once at me in his trek. “I got it today.”
It was black, and appeared delicately soft, stretching across his torso beautifully. “I like it.”
He snorted softly, then peered away from me on his walk. “I saw you looking at it in the store.”
My blink was gradual, comprehension dawning. “You followed me.”
An absent finger flick, his forehead creased in thought as he stared at the carpet he was wearing out. “Technically, I didn’t. I’ve had a man following you, making sure you stayed safe. He called to tell me your whereabouts, and I actually was in the area. But when I saw you were with Rachel and Jackie, I left you alone.” Another finger flick and mumbled words. “Jackie’s going through something right now.”
I hummed quietly. “Yes, she is.” My head cocked. “How long has your man been—”
“Since we started dating.”
My blink was gradual, my words quiet. “You knew.”
His lips curled the barest bit, a cruel tilt as he glanced up from under his dangling red hair. “I knew he was a shifter since it had happened at the shifter building. I didn’t know it was him.”
I stood like a stump. “Oh.” Until my eyes narrowed the barest bit. He had pretended not to know. “I’m not happy with you.”
He chuckled quietly, a quiet menace in the air. “Back at you.” He ran a hand through his h
air, tugging a bit on it, and then he turned abruptly, sharply pointing at the door, his gaze scanning the other occupants. “Your eavesdropping is done. Everyone except Kennedy and Isaac leaves. Now.”
Caleb chuckled softly, picking up his trash. “I had wondered how long it would be before you asked us to leave.” With that, carting the leftovers of his dinner, he began exiting my apartment…and with a small flash of wizard magic, my table, and our dinner was completely fixed, including the wall.
I blinked, calling loudly before the door shut, “Thank you!”
Caleb glanced back. “It’s the least I can do for intruding as I did.” He shut the door behind him.
Isaac crumpled up the empty eggroll bag, nonchalantly tossing it on the coffee table, watching his actions, his tone bored. “Go home, Mike.”
His brother crossed his arms, cocking his head. His expression was blank. “You sure?”
“I am.” He brushed his hands together, wiping off crumbs. “Make a production of leaving.”
Mike hummed quietly. “All right.” He glanced once more between the three of us, scanning the situation, and then he turned into a silver vapor that curled through the air and filtered through the crack in my windowsill, gone.
My blonde brows lifted. I mumbled to no one, “I need to get that fixed.”
My apartment was silent.
I glanced back and forth between the two men now staring at each other. “No fighting.”
“There won’t be any fighting. Not right now.” Jonathan ran his hand through his red hair, his gaze still on Isaac. “How much do you think Hanna knows of the past?”
Isaac abruptly moved, stalking to lean against a wall, resting back against it and dropping his head back to stare at the ceiling. He scratched at his chin absently, his tone quiet. “She’s younger than we are, but she’s cunning with her power.”
Jonathan cracked his neck. “She knows then?”
Still quiet words. “I assume so.”
My brows were furrowed in confusion. “What are you two talking about?”
Jonathan lifted a hand in my direction, a gesture to not interrupt. “What aren’t you saying?”
Staring at the ceiling, Isaac chuckled softly, absently rapping his knuckles against the wall beside his legs. “You think you still know me that well?”
“Give me a damn break, Isaac.”
Again, the Mayor chuckled quietly. “Hanna and I met some time ago. She said many things. None of them I truly enjoyed hearing. One of them being that I needed to follow your lead.”
Jonathan stared. “And?”
“And the rest was for my own ears, no one else’s.”
“Give me a hint.”
His head dipped back down, holding Jonathan’s gaze. “It was nothing to do with this situation.”
Jonathan sighed heavily and ran his fingers through his hair once more. “What is she doing?”
“What she always does.”
A snort. “How the hell is this keeping the peace?”
“That’s not all she does.”
Quiet grunt. “That’s for damn sure.”
I cleared my throat when they paused, a bit irritated at being left out. “What past are you talking about that Hanna knows about?”
Silence was all that met me, no one moving.
Both men began to quietly glare at one another.
Jonathan’s jaw started ticking, his eyes narrowed. “She wouldn’t do this.”
Isaac grunted. “I wouldn’t put it past her.”
Red brows furrowed. “This makes no sense.”
“No. No, it doesn’t.”
It became quiet again.
Jonathan ran a hand through his hair again, glancing at me. His black eyes ran over my face unhurriedly, seeing my clear confusion. Plush lips thinned, and then he peered back to Isaac. He jerked forward on his feet, prowling straight to the Mayor, who tensed the barest bit, but didn’t sidestep him.
My jaw dropped as Jonathan leaned forward and cupped Isaac’s cheeks. And planted his mouth directly on his. Supreme shock held me utterly immobile as Jonathan tilted his head, his eyes closed. His lips brushed in gentle strokes over Isaac’s mouth. So damn gently. My eyes were enormous on my face, my jaw hanging open, as Isaac’s eyes fluttered shut…and he kissed him back, his body still tense, rock solid from the appearance of his straining muscles. But he still raised his hands and threaded his fingers roughly through Jonathan’s hair.
Their kiss deepened.
Almost like a dam breaking around them, they pressed against each other, their height the same, all their hard muscles pressing against each other.
Utter confusion swamped me as I stared, sucking in a massive lung full of air, the emotion overriding my shock. I even shook my head to clear it, but the scene was still the same in front of me. Their mouths…pressed together…caressing and stroking each other with a lot of damn hunger. I repeatedly blinked, my brows damn near touching each other.
It was when a deep moan filtered through the air—from my man—and I saw their mouths open and…tongues met…that my confusion sped away like a racecar. Jealousy and fury entered my veins like a bubbling caldron. I growled softly in my throat, my fists clenched. My feet were already moving as I raced across the room.
I grabbed Jonathan’s hair and jerked hard as hell.
His head snapped back, and he stumbled backward a few paces, grunting and grabbing his hair as I released him. I slapped his face harder than shit, my jaw clenched and cheeks flushed, and now standing between them. His head jerked to the left from my blow, and I shouted, “What the hell was that?”
My gaze snapped to the other man who was breathing heavily, his cheeks flushed.
Ah, hell. Why not?
I reared my fist back and jumped, punching him as hard as I could across his cheek.
Landing, I wobbled a step, treading on their feet, watching as Isaac grabbed his cheek as his head jerked with my blow. I pointed a finger straight at his face, turning so I fully faced him, keeping my man and him away from each other. “He is mine. Not yours. Past, present, or future. Don’t you ever fucking kiss him like that.”
In the absolute silence that filled the air, my finger still pointed in the Mayor’s face, fury was running amok inside me—a haze of possessiveness running through my veins—I felt Jonathan’s palms land on my hips from behind. I instantly lowered my own and roughly swatted his away. I turned on my heel, and started roughly shoving his chest, making him move back across the room, my voice unlike I had ever heard it before as I hissed with each shove, “Don’t. Ever. Do. That. Again.”
He grunted as his back banged against the wall.
I kept a hand on his chest where his heartbeat was thumping heavily under my palm, firmly holding him there as I tilted, my head snapping back to the Mayor, where he now stood with a carefully neutral expression, one hand in his pocket, the other scratching his chin absently. Too bad his cheeks were still flushed and his lips were even rosier than they normally were. I pointed my finger at the door, ordering him brutally, “Get the fuck out of my home.”
Hell, my breathing was louder than theirs, my chest heaving forcefully.
Brutal quiet weighed the air.
Jonathan rested his large palm gently on top of my hand on his chest. “Peanut, calm down.”
The hell with that. “Fuck you. You just kissed him.” I jerked my attention from the Mayor, glaring at my man. “We’re going to church.”
His expression instantly cracked from detachment to one of exasperation. “I am not going to church. How many times do I have to tell you this?”
My eyes narrowed to mere slits. “The fact that you think it is all right to kiss someone else in front of me is a perfect indication that you need to go.”
He merely stared. “I won’t go to church.” His palm on top of mine gently curved, holding my hand against his chest. His gaze was patient. “And he’s not leaving. The three of us need to talk.”
Instant. “No.” I je
rked my hand away from his, and stepped back a few steps, but still stayed between them. “There will be no talking. I don’t give a shit that you two had a past together. You are mine now. Not his. I want him to leave.” My nose crinkled. “He is a shifter, Jonathan.”
It was quiet for a beat, and then Isaac snorted. “You sure as hell didn’t care that I was a shifter a month ago.” His plush lips curved ever so slightly, and the devil gleamed in his eyes as he stared at me. “Even when the spell ended,” he hummed quietly as my shoulders stiffened, “we didn’t stop.”
My breath caught in my chest, and I quickly slammed my gaze to Jonathan, mumbling hurriedly at his blanking expression, “We were already…” I waved my hands at each other, “…in the act.”
Isaac chuckled softly. Complete arrogance. “Now, now, Kennedy. You seem to be skirting around the truth to your advantage. I gave you the chance to stop. You didn’t take it. In fact, you kissed me if memory hasn’t failed me.”
I growled under my breath, baring my teeth at the damn Mayor. “You are a fucking asshole.” I leaned to grab my plate off the pristine table…and chucked it straight at his head. He easily ducked and danced to the side, my plate shattering against the red and black striped wallpaper lining the wall my couch rested against. I jammed my pointed finger at the door. “Quit trying to wreck us even further! You. Can’t. Have. Him. Now, get out of my home!”
The Mayor merely smiled with the barest flash of his white teeth between his lips. “You don’t technically have him either. Not when he kissed me like that.”
In that mere statement, the simple breath that it took him to say those words, all of my fury melted away. The possessiveness that I had felt was still there, but I crossed my arms as my stomach churned, falling back into the reality of the situation.
I felt cold. Alone. My bones chilled with it as misery made my shoulders slump.
He was right.
Jonathan muttered a curse and shoved off the wall. He waved a sharp, agitated hand at the Mayor, his tone just as brutal. “Cut the shit out, Isaac.” Black eyes turned to me. His features were still quiet, but his gaze may have softened a smidge, his tone gentle. “He’s playing a game with you. You don’t understand what he’s doing.”
