Jax and the Beanstalk Zombies

by Avery Flynn

  Veronica watched as the two continued to play their game. His laughter filled the woods. His obvious joy at such a simple thing as playing fetch played havoc with her heart. The late afternoon sun highlighting the warm brown of Jax’s skin reminded her of just how good it felt to curl up next to him in bed. How many times had she woken up with his arm tossed across her waist, one of his hands cupping her breast? Too many and not enough.

  Jax tossed the stick again. “I spotted an onyx rabbit the other day and thought of you. Are you still collecting them?”

  “Not really.”

  Her father had decimated her miniature rabbit collection when she had refused to give up treasure hunting. With precise movements, he’d smashed the delicate objects one by one while his bodyguards restrained her. He’d thought to control her, to bend her to his will by threatening something she held dear. It wasn’t until he stood in a pool of broken glass and ceramics that he realized just how wrong he’d been. Veronica had lived her life under his thumb for too long. She wouldn’t do it any longer. She’d started Kwon Limited the next day.

  Jax made his way over to her. “Well, here’s to hoping you give it another shot.” In his palm lay a cameo the size of a half dollar on a silver chain. It had a black background polished to a high sheen with a white rabbit in profile carved in white onyx in the foreground.

  “Where did you find it?”

  “Pull your hair back.” When she complied, he fastened the chain around her neck, never losing eye contact. “There was an estate sale in Durham.”

  “On the way up to see Antoine?”

  “Nah, about six months back.” His fingers followed the silver chain down her neck, leaving a trail of fire. He traced the line to the cameo resting an inch above her breasts’ upper swell.

  The air stilled around them. Veronica sucked in her bottom lip, betraying her sanity by wishing like hell he’d continue his path of discovery, pull her jumpsuit’s zipper all the way to her hips and peel the leather from her overheated skin.

  Muttering under his breath, he dropped his hand to his side and glanced away from her, seeming to have found something fascinating hidden among the rocks, moss and dead leaves in the woods’ underbrush.

  Veronica’s hair slipped loose from her fingers and cascaded down her back. Awareness prickled across her skin as the constant buzz of attraction between them grew into a cacophony of promised pleasure and something more. Grasping for something–anything–to say, she blurted out the first thing that came to mind that didn’t involve tangling their naked limbs together. “When did you start collecting?”

  “I didn’t.” He raised his gaze from the ground, hitting her with the full force of those deep, brown eyes. “I got it for you.”

  The last bit of resistance she could manage against him crumbled. “And if we hadn’t seen each other again?”

  “Then at least I would have had it to remind me of the woman I love.” His warm hands cupped her face and he lowered his mouth.

  Veronica considered turning her head a few degrees so his lips would land on her cheek. It was the smart thing to do. The sane thing. Jax had been the one person in her life she’d trusted, the one who’d never tried to manipulate her or bend her to his will. Then he’d broken her heart with the swift brutality of a unicorn skewering a leprechaun.

  But that thought lasted only a millisecond because she couldn’t deny any longer that she’d never given up hope that he’d return and explain why. The truth of the matter was she’d never stopped loving him and there was nothing in the world she wanted as badly as this.

  She met him halfway, and his full lips tasted like peppermint candy, cool and refreshing. The kiss wasn’t delicate and sweet. Hungry and desperate for the salvation she could only find with him, she crashed her lips against his.

  He groaned his approval, and glided his hands from her face, down her torso and brought them to rest on her hips. Fingers splayed wide, he grasped her ass and lifted her until she could wrap her legs around his waist.

  Relishing the hardness nestled against her clit, Veronica gripped his shoulders and rocked against him as she deepened the kiss. The warmth building in her belly expanded, filling her with a kind of frantic need to touch him everywhere all at once.

  Jax must have felt it too because one of his hands drifted up her back, pressed her upper body to the hardness of his. He curled his fingers around her hair and fisted a large swath, pulling her head back.

  The action yanked her away from his succulent lips. At first she mourned the loss, but a heartbeat later he found that spot with his mouth where her shoulder met her neck and a sexual lightning bolt short-circuited her system. She quivered in his arms and tightened her legs around him so his cock was as close as it could be to her while they were both fully clothed. It took everything she had not to mewl her pleasure.

  He continued his hedonistic assault on her, skimming across her flesh with his lips, stopping to suck on her collarbone before continuing downward. “I’ve missed you so much. Your soft skin. The smell of vanilla trailing after you wherever you go. The way you make me sit up and take notice. I’ll never stop loving you, Veronica Kwon.”

  Forget the gold coins and the magic goose. Finding Jax again was her greatest discovery. “I love you too.”

  “I have to explain what happened before–”

  “Let’s talk about it later.” She inched the zipper on her jumpsuit down over her teal lace bra, stopping only after her belly button came into view. “Right now, we have other matters that demand our attention.”

  Jax’s already dark eyes became almost black with desire.

  She snapped open a pouch attached to her tool belt and pulled out a piece of soft fabric. “Have you ever fucked on a magic carpet?”

  With a flick of her wrist, she unfurled the cobalt blue material. It hovered a few feet off the ground. The goose nudged the corner with its beak, but when nothing happened, wandered over to a patch of mushrooms.

  The magic carpet tickling the back of her knees, Veronica snagged his cotton t-shirt, pulled it free from the confines of his jeans and snuck her fingers inside. His abs twitched underneath her fingertips. “What are you waiting for? Let’s go for a ride.”

  Whatever internal battle Jax had been fighting ended, and he kissed her like a man possessed. He pushed her jumpsuit off her shoulders until it hung loosely at her waist. His mouth found her breasts, licking and then sucking her nipples peeking out through her lace bra.

  The ardent attack made her entire body vibrate with need. She shoved the jumpsuit off her hips and shimmied it down her legs, while Jax worshipped her tits like a new convert. With a hand on his shoulder, she pushed him away so she could slip her feet out of the boots and the leather. Without the height from her heels, she only came up to his clavicle.

  He whipped his t-shirt off and made short work of shucking his jeans. “Damn, you look good enough to eat.”

  “Is that a promise?”

  He hooked his thumbs in the band of her lace panties and sank to his knees. “You know I can never get enough of your sweet taste.”

  She expected him to sweep the flimsy material down her thighs. Instead, he found the tender spot right above the silk bow on the waistband with his lips. That kiss melted her bones into warm caramel. Lucky for her, the magic carpet was there to catch her fall. The ancient threads caressed her back as Jax finally slid the lace down her thighs and spread her legs.

  He delivered feather-light kisses from her knees north. Then he flicked her clit with his tongue, making every nerve in her body cheer.

  “So damn good.” He whispered the words against her center before weaving a spell with his tongue that made actual magic seem paltry in comparison. His hands gripped her hips, anchoring her to him as he pushed her farther, demanded more of her.

  She clenched the magic carpet in her hands as pleasure twisted her body. The trembling started in the small of her back, a mini-bodyquake tensing her muscles. It built in waves, heightening th
e sensations until her orgasm arched her back and her scream filled the woods, scaring flocks of sparrows from their hiding place in the branches.

  Thighs still shaking from her climax’s aftershocks, she watched Jax rise to his feet. Her attention started out on his juicy mouth, but slid down, taking in his well-defined pecs, defined abs and the stiff cock jutting from between his legs. Damn, she’d missed that, and all the many ways he knew how to use it.

  Jax stepped between her splayed legs and slid his hard length into her an inch at a time.

  Slowly, so slowly, the bliss of being filled nearly overwhelmed her senses. “Please Jax, I need you.”

  “I live to please you.” He pushed forward in one thrust until his pelvis rubbed against her sensitive nub.

  It only took a few heartbeats for them to find their old rhythm. Pressing her feet to the magic carpet, she lifted her butt up, matching his thrusts in and out with an up and down motion. The increased contact sent waves of hot, silky tension through her clit. Again, the vibrations intensified throughout her body, tightening her muscles enveloping him.

  “Oh God, yes,” Jax groaned. “Babe, I’m gonna–” His body went rigid as he plunged into her one last time as his orgasm overtook him.

  She continued to move against his shaking form, and a moment later, her back snapped with a second climax.

  They snuggled on the magic carpet, Veronica trying to catch her breath. Surrounded by a languid cocoon of satisfaction and the warmth of Jax’s arms, she relished the bliss that had turned her body to mush. She couldn’t stop smiling. A warm breeze tickled her cheeks. This was how she was meant to be. Not naked in the middle of the woods necessarily, but happy, relaxed and at peace. And Jax had wanted to talk first. What had the crazy boy been thinking?

  “Thank you for agreeing to do this first.” She kissed the underside of his jaw. “So what was it you wanted to tell me? What deep, dark secret have you been hiding?” She laughed at her joke.

  Jax turned onto his side, propped his head up with one hand. He’d lost his contented smile. Worry lines crinkled his forehead and tension radiated from him despite his relaxed posture.

  Her stomach sank. She wanted to reach out and cover his mouth. Whatever he was about to say wouldn’t be good.

  A vein throbbed at his temple. “I used a love spell to make you fall in love with me.”

  Chapter 9

  Before Veronica even opened her mouth, he knew he was doomed, but like a condemned man, couldn’t let go of the last thread of hope.

  “Are you fucking kidding me? Tell me you’re joking, Jax.” She jumped off the magic carpet. “Tell me!”

  As if Mother Nature needed to add her two cents to the discussion, thunder boomed loud enough to startle the goose. It waddled over to Veronica and scooted its feathered butt close to her leg.

  A fat drop of rain splattered Jax’s bare shoulder. “I didn’t do it on purpose.” He sat up and reached for her but she brushed his hand away.

  She rolled her eyes. “What, you just accidentally whipped up a cauldron of double, double, toil and trouble?”

  She couldn’t get much closer to the truth than that, but she’d never see it that way. Wind scattered the leaves at their feet and twisted her ebony hair around her face. Lightning flashed across the sky, illuminating Veronica in her fearsome glory. Like a vengeful goddess, she didn’t even flinch when thunder cracked a moment later.

  “Answer me, dammit.”

  He’d wanted so badly to make her his that he’d lost her. Bile rose in his throat as his body rebelled against his own stupidity. “Sort of.”

  “What kind of answer is that?” She snorted and started to get dressed. “Then again, why should I expect any more out of someone who was willing to manipulate me with magic to make me do what he wanted.”

  She stilled in the middle of pulling on her leather jumpsuit, her long hair twisting and turning around her head like an angry bird’s nest come to life. When she looked up, tears glistened, heavy in her eyes. Shoulders slumped with resignation, she slouched, half naked and emotionally vulnerable. She took in a deep breath and blinked furiously.

  “You’re worse than my father. He’d berate and humiliate me in an effort to create his perfect little heiress, but he never stooped so low as to use magic to trick me.”

  When Jax started to speak, she held up her hand. “Don’t bother.”

  Helpless to do anything to stop her, short of sitting on her, he stood by while she finished dressing, her movements jerky. Every once in a while she’d go perfectly still with her hands curled into fists by her side. After a few deep breaths, she would loosen her hands and seemingly let go of whatever emotion had tied her up.

  Seeing her like this was his worst nightmare come to life. He’d never wanted to hurt her, but it was all he’d done. A potent cocktail of guilt and remorse nearly choked him as his lungs tightened. His mother had urged him from the beginning to tell Veronica the truth, but like an idiot, he hadn’t listened. He took a deep breath and prayed it wasn’t too late. “I’d gone home to North Carolina to visit my mama after we’d recovered the Bavarian wolpertinger. You remember the craziness of tracking down that mean little horned rabbit? I’d fallen in love with you on that trip, but I couldn’t figure out how to get you to see me as more than that Jax boy with the funny accent.”

  They’d spent two days tracking down the wolpertinger before cornering it in a hollow tree stump. Little did they know, the stump was actually a fairy house. A blast of magic had blown the wolpertinger out of the stump and into Veronica’s arms, the force of it knocking her on her ass. She’d lain there with twigs in her hair, laughing, but never let go of the horned rabbit. Something inside him had shifted as he’d watched dawn’s light dance across her smiling face.

  “My mama had been working on a love spell when I surprised her by showing up unannounced. She’d left the bat’s wool, dog’s tongue, fairy wing and moon dust on the counter and run up to the house to fetch us some sweet tea. When I was checking out her crafting ingredients, I accidentally slipped and knocked them into her cauldron. Now, I’m a witch’s boy. I grew up next to that pot and know just enough magic to be dangerous, but not enough to help anyone a damn bit–including myself. Still, I know a love spell when I see one.”

  He hadn’t planned to do it, but he’d been too selfish and lovesick to realize what a fatal mistake he was making.

  “The water began to boil and swirl. A pink mist rose up, filling my nose with the scent of vanilla and my eyes with visions of your beautiful face. It knew what I wanted and just how desperate I was. I should have known better, but I called out your name anyway. That’s all it took. I tried to take it back, but it was too late. By the time my mama returned with two big glasses of sweet tea, the die was cast. Mama told me not to worry–love spells were notorious for being weak magic and the spell wouldn’t take. But when I got back to New York, it was like the world had started to spin on another axis. Within a week we were dating, a few months later we were engaged. I should have been the happiest man in the world, but the knowledge of what I’d done ate away at me. I knew I had to reverse the spell, whatever it took. What I did to you was the lowest thing one human being could do to another. I was wrong and I am so sorry.”

  Pain shimmered in Veronica’s eyes as she zipped up her jumpsuit. “Did you reverse it?”

  “Yes.” It had taken several pints of his blood and he’d had to forfeit three years off his life, but a medicine man in Haiti had done it.

  “How do I know you’re not lying?”

  “Would you rather kiss me right now or kick me in the balls?” She flipped him off and his gut sank. “Yeah, well that answers that question.”

  She glared at him, bringing her hands up behind her neck. A moment later the onyx rabbit cameo fell to the ground. “Tomorrow morning we’ll go up that beanstalk. We’re going to find that damn harp for Antoine and make a dying man happy one last time. Then I’m going to walk out of these woods and never set eyes
on you again.”

  She snapped her fingers. The magic carpet folded itself until it was the size of a business card and flew into a pocket on her tool belt. Without another word, she pivoted and marched toward the campsite, the goose dogging her heels.

  The sky let loose with a torrential rainfall, pelting Jax with icy droplets that skated across his skin. Naked, alone and shivering at the sudden temperature change, he stood in the middle of the woods that only an hour before had been filled with their laughter. He had well and truly lost the only woman he’d ever loved and it was his own damn fault.

  Chapter 10

  Dawn broke without a single sparrow’s song or bright yellow ray of light. Veronica stomped out of her tent, not giving a damn about the thick gray clouds that blocked out any hint of sunshine. All she wanted was to get this last day over with. She tossed the duffel bag with Hermes’ shoes in front of Jax’s tent. She’d rather fall than accept any gifts from him.

  One of her clients had been begging her to come to South Korea and hunt for Yongwang the Dragon King’s jade shield. She’d call them as soon as they got back down the blasted beanstalk. The Eastern Seaboard couldn’t get in her rearview mirror fast enough.

  So dark was her mood, she ran smack dab into Antoine near the beanstalk’s base, nearly knocking the older man onto his well-padded behind.

  “Well, don’t you match the skies today? You aren’t planning to slit my throat with that, are you?”

  She had a white-knuckle grip around the Chisa Katana sword’s handle. With conscious effort, she peeled one finger off at a time, then slid it into the worn leather sheath on her thigh. “Sorry. Rough night.”

  “Nightmares?”

  “Only when I’m awake.”

  “I know all of this.” He waved his hand at the beanstalk. “It has been a bit much, but it has to be done. One last trip up.” Her mentor paused and stroked his chin. “But that’s not it at all, is it? Do tell.”