Claiming Jade

by Teresa Gabelman

  “Why the frown?” Jade slid into the seat in front of him, setting down a glass of water and a biscuit.

  Surprised, he looked up from his phone, then to his watch. It was her break time. “Is that all you’re eating?” His frown deepened. “A biscuit?”

  “And jelly.” She lifted the top of the biscuit to show the jelly and smiled. He didn’t return it. He watched her smile fade and felt like a shit, but before he could say anything, she started talking. “Listen, I know you have to be bored to death. I think the threat to me is over, and I’m sure there are others who need your services more than me, in more danger than me.”

  Okay, now he was really pissed. For her to say anything at all would have calmed his mood, but not those words. “Why do you do that?”

  Her brows dipped in confusion. “Do what?” she asked, putting her glass of water down.

  “Act like you’re not important.” He kept his voice low, but it was angry. He couldn’t help it. This did anger him.

  “Because I just wanted a biscuit for dinner?” She sat back, her eyes still in their confused state.

  “No, not because of the fucking….” He stopped, calmed himself and then started again. “Not because of the biscuit. Butch told me that you refused to let him ban that bastard Ray from here because you’re afraid he’ll lose business.”

  “And he would have. It’s a small town.” She finally seemed to understand what he meant.

  “Butch said you even threatened to quit.” He eyed her, realizing he had never met anyone like her. Selfless to a fault.

  “I did.” She nodded. “It’s not worth Butch losing his business over.”

  “But you are worth it.” He leaned forward with a growl. “No one should treat you like that. And then you asked me not to make him apologize. That’s bullshit, Jade. And now you’re questioning if I should even be protecting you because there may be someone out there in more danger.”

  “And there probably is someone out there in more danger than me.” She also leaned toward him, her eyes narrowing. “Can you tell me there isn’t? Not one pixie has shown up at my home or here or anywhere. They’re after my brother, not me.”

  “So you want me to leave?” He actually backed away from her first, which shocked the shit out of him. He never backed down first, ever. But the thought of her wanting him gone didn’t sit well with him, threw him off guard, but he’d be damned if he was going anywhere.

  “I don’t want to be a burden, and I can tell you are—”

  “You are not a goddamn burden.” His voice rose, causing customers and Marsha to look their way. Even Butch stuck his head out of the food window. Drake glanced around, then looked back at Jade whose shocked face stared at him like he had just slapped her. “Or did you enjoy Ray’s attention and you want me out of the way so he can come back?”

  What in the fuck just came out of his mouth? He hadn’t meant to say that, but son of a bitch, there it was, and nothing he could do would change the fact he had literally stuck his big-ass foot in his jealous big-ass mouth.

  Jade sat there, her face pale, her eyes narrowing as she grabbed her glass, stood and tossed the rest of the fluid in his face. “You’re fired,” she hissed, then went to leave, but stopped. Looking around the restaurant briefly, she then spun back in his direction and leaned toward his ear. “Fuck you!”

  “Fired,” Drake mouthed, watching the angry sway of her hips as she marched toward the back of the restaurant and then disappeared. His eyes met that of an older man who sat alone.

  “Hmm, never seen Jade angry before.” The old man took a spoonful of soup and slowly swallowed before looking back at Drake. “Guess she told you.”

  “Guess she did,” he muttered, and instantly felt like a pile of shit. He shouldn’t have said that, but fuck, it just came out, and he had no clue why.

  Jealousy, asshole, a small voice echoed in his mind, and then that knowing voice added, And because you’re afraid of the real deal, you pussy. And the voice was absolutely right. The more love they made, the more they fucked, the more time he spent getting to know her, the more he knew that without her, he was nothing. To him, a dark elf, that was terrifying. Maybe he needed to look in the mirror. Maybe it was him who felt unworthy.

  He went to get up to follow her, but Tarron and Max slid into the seats in front of him.

  “What the fuck happened to you?” Max’s eyes took in his wet hair and shirt.

  “What’s up?” Drake ignored Max’s question, realizing he hadn’t even noticed them enter the restaurant. That wasn’t good. Not good at all. He was being lax in his duties, and it all had to do with a beautiful green-eyed beauty. His eyes scanned the restaurant to see what else he had missed.

  “We’ve made contact with King Valor.” Tarron frowned, waiting for Drake to pick up on what he was saying.

  “Yeah.” Drake swiveled away from them, searching for Jade. Where the fuck did she go?

  “Yeah, and he wanted to give you a blow job.” Max smirked, staring at Drake.

  “What?” Drake turned to look at Tarron, then Max.

  “I knew blow job would get him.” Max chuckled, then looked around. “Hey, is the food here any good?”

  “Yeah.” Drake glanced around again, then back at Tarron. “Who wants a blow job and why the fuck are you telling me this?”

  “Hey, I got a question for you. Why is your head up your ass?” Max muttered, then waved the waitress Marsha over. “And I cannot believe this place is named BJ’s. Kinda makes me second guess eating here. Ah, fuck it. I’m starving.”

  “I said we made contact with King Valor and he wants to meet with Jade,” Tarron repeated, his eyes now scanning the restaurant. “What in the fuck are you looking for?”

  Butch shouted out that an order was up just as Marsha hurried up to their table.

  “Where’s Jade? She’s late from her break and orders are backing up.” Marsha huffed out of breath, but her tone sounded worried as if this wasn’t regular behavior for Jade.

  “Fuck!” Drake jumped up, moved Marsha out of the way as carefully as he could, then rushed toward where he’d last seen Jade. He swore right then and there if she was hurt, not one pixie would survive his rage.

  Jade slammed her small plate and glass on the table. What a jerk! Thinking she wanted Ray’s attention because she kept Butch from losing customers. Asshole!

  “Big elf asshole jerkface!” she reeled off in one long breath as she looked up at the wall clock. She still had ten minutes left of her break. She had wanted to spend it talking to Drake, but not now. Being attacked for acting on others’ behalf was bullshit. Yes, she used his own word. And it wasn’t because she thought so little of herself. No, it was because she had compassion. Was that such a bad thing? Okay, maybe a little had to do with not feeling more important than someone’s life business, but she was a big girl and could handle herself. Had been for years before Drake Jerkface, or whatever his last name was, came into the picture. Shit, she needed to find out his last name since she’d been in and out of his bed for the past two nights and days. Sensual heat flared through her body at that thought, but she forced it away. She was angry, not turned on, dammit. Who was he to tell her how to act and that being a good decent person was wrong? And the asshole insinuated she wanted Ray! She huffed. He totally deserved the water to his face. Jade wished she’d had a pitcher. With a snort, she headed toward the back door, grabbing a full garbage bag as she went. She needed air.

  Once outside, she took a big deep breath through her nose, then gagged. It smelled like garbage and mildew, unsurprisingly. Rolling her eyes, she walked to the dumpster then tossed in the trash. Seeing some wooden pallets stacked against the wall, she headed over and sat down, staring at her shoes. Her feet were killing her tonight. She really needed to get some better shoes.

  With a sigh, she stretched then put her elbows on her knees, rested her chin on her hands then closed her eyes. She’d only tried to be nice by letting Drake know if he was needed elsewher
e that she’d be fine, but then he got all angry about it. Well fine. Maybe she should stop being nice; maybe she should just be a bitch and let everyone else fend for themselves. Not that they couldn’t anyway, but dammit, she liked being nice and doing for others. That’s who she was. It wasn’t because she wanted Ray’s hands on her. Plus, she’d avoided him this long without any help, and she could continue to do it without anyone losing their shit or fighting or dying for shit’s sake. Though if she were totally honest, knowing Ray was probably still peeing his pants in fear of Drake, the asshole elf, did make her a smidge happy.

  Taking another deep breath, which she again regretted, she tried to calm down. She was cussing like nobody’s business and needed to stop. She had customers to take care of, and she couldn’t be slipping up. She used to have such a potty mouth but curbed it when she started taking care of her younger brother. Now she was back at it because of a bossy, mean pissy elf who had turned her whole world upside down. And who could also make her scream, cry, and moan in the same breath.

  That thought had her eyes snapping open as she shot to her feet. She was angry, dammit. She went to take a step, but something grabbed her arm.

  “Where’s your brother?” a rough voice hissed in her ear.

  Tugging her arm, she tried to get loose but couldn’t. Glancing over, she realized her mistake. She had been wrong. She was definitely still in danger.

  “Get off me!” She went to smack him, but he caught her hand. He was actually quite scary looking, and she could tell his hair had been dyed black. She was aware a lot of pixie males did this to hide their colorful hair, but to see it up close was odd. Or maybe she was just freaked out because one mean-looking pixie had a hold of her arm and wouldn’t let go.

  “You are going to tell me where I can find your brother.” He jerked her so she was face-to-face with him. His breath smelled like rotten fish, making her gag reflexes go into overdrive. Maybe if she puked on him, he’d let go of his brutal grip.

  “Ah, no I’m not,” she replied, with as much courage as she could muster. Bullies always pissed her off, and he was definitely a bully. “Because I don’t know where he is and if I did, I wouldn’t tell you, asshole. Oh, and by the way, that is the worst dye job I’ve ever seen. I’d fire your hairdresser.”

  His arm went up as if to smack her, but he stopped. “I will give you one last chance. Where is your brother?”

  Her eyes were glued to his long, pointed nails, and she knew this was going to hurt as well as leave scars. Maybe the dye job joke wasn’t such a good idea. Pixies obviously didn’t have a sense of humor.

  Just as his hand made a downward motion, it stopped inches from her face. She was suddenly pulled away and pushed behind Drake. Peeking around, she watched as the pixie blinked but remained motionless. An odd golden glow was radiating off Drake, but her focus was on the pixie. How strange, yet fascinating.

  “I know you can hear me, you son of a bitch,” Drake said into the man’s face, his voice barely controlled. “Did the pixie king send you? Blink once for yes, twice for no, or three times to just kill you now.”

  The pixie quickly blinked twice for no.

  “Are you lying to me?” Drake growled, leaning closer to the motionless pixie.

  He frankly blinked twice again for no.

  “I’m going to release you, but if you make one wrong move, I will kill you on the spot.” Drake turned, nodding at Tarron—when the heck did he get here?—who pulled Jade further back behind them. “Do you understand me?”

  The man blinked once and suddenly, he was released, his arm slashing downward. Jade gasped, realizing if she had been there, she would have been seriously injured.

  “It’s not possible.” The pixie shook his head, staring at Drake who was still glowing. “You’re a dark elf.”

  “You know,” Max whispered beside her and Tarron. “I never understood how in the hell a dark elf could glow like the fucking sun. Makes no damn sense to me. Dark means dark, not all sunny and cheery.”

  “Shut up,” Tarron hissed.

  “If you don’t work for the king, then who sent you?” Drake continued to interrogate.

  “The kid has a bounty on his head, set by the king. That’s what I heard, and that’s all I know.” The pixie was actually shaking. “He’s fair game to all now.”

  Jade’s body quaked, realizing how much danger her brother really was in.

  “And so is she.” He pointed past Drake, straight to Jade.

  Her eyes met Drake’s, his golden glow disappearing as he turned back to the pixie. Jade watched as he leaned over and said something to the pixie, whose already white face paled as his eyes came back to her. Drake then punched him square in the face, knocking him out cold.

  Jade gasped as the pixie hit the ground, hard. Drake turned, his gaze avoiding her as he looked at Tarron. “I want to see the fucking king, now!”

  Chapter 9

  Drake couldn’t stand still, couldn’t sit, and definitely couldn’t get the picture of that bastard’s claws coming so close to Jade out of his mind. They’d been back at her house for a half an hour, neither saying a word on the way home. He didn’t trust himself until he calmed the fuck down.

  Actually, most of the way home, he had argued with Jack about seeing the bitch of a king, Declan Valor. But the day and time had already been set up before this attack on Jade. The shower was going; he could still hear it. The urge to kill was fresh and raw. The only reason the pixie survived was for information, and it was the rules. But if the bastard had made one mark on her, fuck the rules; he would have died an ugly death.

  He checked his watch for the hundredth time. Tomorrow they’d meet the king, the day of reckoning in his mind. He didn’t have any respect for a piece of shit who put a hit out on a defenseless woman.

  Jade came out into the living room and sat on the couch. She had on a sweatshirt and shorts. He frowned. It had to be at least eighty degrees in the house. Her hair was wet and slicked back away from her face, showing her delicate structure. They’d brought food home from the restaurant, but neither of them had touched it. Once again, she hadn’t eaten, and it was pissing him off. Well, pissing him off more than he already was.

  “You need to eat.” Drake stared at the side of her head as he spoke that demand, but she ignored him, flipping through channels on the television. Drake’s narrowed eyes went to the television, then to the kitchen and back to her. “Okay, fine. Silent treatment. No worries, but you are going to eat.”

  He went in the kitchen and started going through the bags, opening up the containers. He looked around for plates, opening every cabinet until he found them. He piled food on a plate, grabbed a fork from the drawer, which he found easily since he knew exactly where that was located from the other night. His dick hardened at the thought. He glanced down at it and growled in warning. Now was definitely not the time.

  Walking back out into the living room, he set the plate down on the coffee table then held the fork out to her. She was still flipping through channels but looked at the plate, then the fork, totally ignoring him until she finally returned her gaze to the television.

  “Stop being a baby,” he hissed, still standing there with the fork held out. Okay, that got her attention since she was now shooting daggers at him with her eyes.

  “You can stick that fork up your—”

  He took hold of her arm to place the fork in her grip, but her yelp of pain stopped him immediately. She tugged her arm back and held it to her chest, tears of pain welling in her eyes. Dread filled his soul as he stared at her, then her arm. She was hurt, and he hadn’t even realized it. Sitting on the couch, he reached for her arm, but she leaned away from him.

  “Let me see, Jade,” he ordered, but his voice was even and calm. Angry and demanding wasn’t going to get him anywhere.

  “It’s fine,” she replied, but her pain-lit face and voice indicated she was lying and she was far from fine. “Really, I’m fine.”

  Drake sighed, alre
ady tired of the “pissed off” game they were both playing. Shit, he’d really fucked this up. Knowing when to swallow shit, he swallowed hard. “I’m sorry.” Drake leaned around to put his face in her line of vision. “I shouldn’t have said what I said about Ray. I was just….”

  Finally, her eyes lifted to his as if waiting to discover what he had to say, but her mouth remained closed. Okay, so she was going to make him finish. He swallowed again.

  “I was fucking jealous, and I don’t know why. This is a new emotion for me,” Drake finally admitted.

  “Jealous?” she whispered, then shook her head. “Of Ray? Please give me some credit. I’m not that hard up.”

  Her response surprised him. He glanced at her arm, which she still held protectively against her chest. “Let me see.”

  She watched him carefully but didn’t move. “I’m sorry I threw water in your face.”

  He studied her as a smirk curved his lip. “No, you’re not.”

  She bit her lip, but he could tell she fought a smile. “It was a really mean thing to say.” And there it was… the smile that could drive him to his knees. “And you’re right, I’m not.”

  Jade angled her arm away from her chest carefully, pulling the sleeve up. His eyes burned, as did his rage, at the black, purple, and red bruising on her arm from that bastard’s grip. Indentions from the soon-to-be-dead pixie’s fingernails marred her pale skin. He should have killed him and fucked the rules.

  “It’s just sore.” Jade shrugged. “I’ve had worse.”

  “Why in the hell did you go outside alone?” His eyes rose from her arm to her face.

  “Because I was mad and needed to cool off.” Jade pulled her sleeve down, shifting uncomfortably on the couch. “I didn’t realize the danger until it was too late.”

  “Did you have to goad him with the hair-dye jab?” He cocked his eyebrow at her.

  “Well, it was hideous.” Jade glanced over at him. “But, no I shouldn’t have. My mouth seems to get me in trouble when I’m mad, scared, or upset.”