“Yep.” Quincy sat back. “So, you’re going to have to piss Junior off enough that he takes Rafi back without you having violated your obligations to him.”
“No.” Jed sat back. “I can’t send him back to Junior’s hell. Not even for a minute.”
Justine was playing with Derek’s hair. “One minute of hell for freedom? I think you might underestimate your brother and what he can handle.”
“It’s, um, actually, about five minutes,” Paige spoke up. “That’s how long it takes for all the neurons to fire, or whatever happens, for the powers that be to realize that the contract needs to be voided and to actually have it happen. But I don’t think it’ll work anyway, because Satan told Junior that he couldn’t recall Rafi unless he violates the contract.”
“Recall him as part of the contract, no, he can’t do that. But he could simply steal his soul. It would be no different than stealing anyone else’s.” Quincy grinned. “Junior’s not the brightest, so I can’t imagine you’d have too much difficulty tricking him into stealing Rafi.”
Jed stood up. “Thanks for your help. We’re leaving.”
“Don’t be a fool.”
Jed turned to look at Derek. “Don’t judge me.”
Derek shifted Justine off his lap and walked over to Jed, blocking his path. “Sometimes you have to take a risk to save those you care about. Quin found your loophole. Don’t be too stupid to use it.”
Take a risk? Not when his brother had already lost what little sanity he still had. Give him back to Junior for five minutes? Even if Rafi’s soul was free, Rafi would never be alive again. “Get out of my way.”
“Theresa told me that if you choose to save Rafi, then Paige dies. Is that true? You’d trade her for your brother, when you could save both of them? Five minutes of torture?” Derek’s eyes flashed. “I thought you loved her. You’d kill her? Just like that?”
Jed felt his fists curl into tight balls. “Get the hell out of my way.”
“Okay, boys.” Justine was suddenly between them, a hand on each of their chests. “Derek, let him go. Jed, I see something in your eyes that I don’t like, so you’d better walk out that door before I have to kill you.”
Paige jumped between them to peer at his face. “Oh, that’s bad. His eyes are black.” She grabbed his hand. “Derek, you don’t understand the situation. Jed can’t put Rafi back in Junior’s hands. He can’t. It’s not an option.” She tugged at his hand. “Come on, Jed. You’re getting a little too malevolent, and I would hate to have to kill Theresa’s best friend to save your evil butt, as nice as it is.”
Justine stepped aside, using her body to make Derek back up. He put his hands on her shoulders and whispered something in her ear. She smiled and patted his hand, and suddenly Jed stopped to face Derek.
Derek’s eyes narrowed. “What?”
“If you had to choose between your brother and Justine, who would you choose? How would you choose?”
“I did have to choose.”
Jed blinked. He hadn’t expected that. “How did you choose?”
Derek wrapped his arm around Justine’s neck, cradling her against him. “I made the only choice I could, because it was the only chance of everyone surviving.” He kissed Justine’s hair and nodded at his brother. “Any other choice, and one would have lived, but the other would have died. With the choice I made, we all had a chance.”
“Dammit, man! But who would have died if you’d been wrong? How did you choose?”
“We were all in it together,” Quincy said.
“Team decision,” Justine agreed. “Whatever happened, we all took responsibility.”
Derek looked at him. “Have faith.”
“‘Faith’?” Jed spit out the word. “I lost that a long time ago.”
Derek shrugged. “Find it again. It’s not that hard.”
“Not that hard? Are you—” He stopped as Paige slid her arm around his waist.
“Jed,” she whispered. “You’re starting to go fuzzy around the edges. Let’s leave before we both end up killing people, okay? These are my friend’s friends, and I don’t want them to be hurt. And if I kill them, then no more decisions will need to be made because my fate will be a foregone conclusion.” She tugged at his waist, and he again felt a tingling from her touch. “Come on.”
He let Paige drag him to the elevator. Not because he was concerned he couldn’t control his shadow warrior, but because his entire left side was starting to go numb from her touch. Something was happening to Paige, and it wasn’t good.
Twenty-five
Paige turned on Jed the instant the elevator door shut behind him. “Okay, so that was a bust. New plan: We need to find a gate like really, really soon. I’m totally starting to wig out here.” She smacked his chest. “And you cannot go all evil on me! You practically call my dark side right out of my body when you do that.”
He cupped her face between his hands and kissed her, trying to soothe her wraith.
She sighed and kissed him back, gripping his wrists.
After way too short a time, he stopped kissing her and pulled back just enough to see her face. “You’re not doing well, are you?”
“No, not really.” She tightened her grip on his wrists, in case he was thinking about letting go. “You have to find the gate.”
He cursed, and rubbed his thumb over her lips. “I don’t—”
“Yes, you do! Rita knows things. Couldn’t you tell? She knows.”
“I got that feeling too.”
“What did you find in her closet?”
“Can’t tell.” He kissed her jaw, feathering kisses along it. “Not worth the risk.”
She tilted her head so he had better access as the desire pulsing through her distracted the wraith, which, apparently, was rumbling but willing to be distracted for the moment. Probably still had a full stomach, and who can destroy the world on a full stomach? “If you find the gate, then, according to Rita, we’ll know how to save me. Which means that you won’t be able to convert me for Junior. Is that why you don’t know where the gates are? Because you don’t want to know?”
His mouth froze on the side of her neck, then he lifted her head to look at her, a look of startled surprise. “It can’t be that easy, can it?”
“What can’t?”
“I hate being a shadow warrior. The thought of being trapped guarding a gate is like a nightmare.” He met her gaze. “I’ve never wanted to know where the gates are. I don’t want to get trapped.”
“And you don’t want to know now either, do you? Not really.” She shrugged. “I mean, I know if it was just about me, you would, but that will end Rafi’s life.” She felt his sudden frustration. “No, no, I understand. Rafi wouldn’t survive the torture chamber for another minute, let alone five. I know that. I’m not asking you to trade him for me.” She cursed and let her head flop back against the elevator wall. “I don’t know what I’m asking you for.”
He cupped her neck with his hands, his gaze intense. “You’re asking me to find a way to keep you alive.”
She nodded. “I guess I am, if there was a way. But maybe there isn’t.” She looked at him, appalled to discover her eyes were starting to sting. “Maybe it’s time to walk away from you.”
The elevator doors slid open, but neither of them moved.
Jed slid his thumbs along her throat. “We still have Jerome. He might have answers.”
She felt a flicker of understanding, of hope. “You’re actually hoping for a team win, like Derek and Justine got? You’ve come over to the other side?”
He managed a half smile. “Not a team win. A win for the two of you.”
She scowled. “Why not a win for you?”
He lifted her hand to his mouth and pressed his lips against her skin. “Because there is no win for me. I’m damned.”
She saw the sadness in his eyes, and she immediately wrapped herself around him and buried her face in his chest. “I don’t care if you’re damned. I lo—”
Jed slammed his hand over her mouth, his face raw with emotion. “Don’t say it. If you say it, Junior wins.” His voice fell to a whisper. A plea. “I beg you, please don’t say it.”
Her throat tightened. “If I say it, Rafi’s free. But you don’t want me to say it?”
“Not yet.” He leaned his forehead against hers. “Not yet.”
The elevator doors began to slide shut, and he thrust his foot between them, not breaking eye contact. He twisted his fingers in her hair, tugging her close so his breath was warming her lips. “Tomorrow night, we run out of time. Tomorrow night, Junior calls in his marker on my brother.”
“I don’t know if I’ve even got that long.”
He kissed her hard, and then let go of her. “Let’s go meet with Jerome.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the elevator. “With any luck, he’ll void the contract and we can go after that gateway.”
She managed a smile. “Look at you, sounding so optimistic. I’m rubbing off on you, aren’t I?”
“Yeah.” He gripped her hand. “More than I can afford.”
Jed leaned against the wall as he watched Paige walk around his apartment. Inspecting it. They’d come straight to his place and they were waiting for Jerome.
Jerome was their last chance for a win-win. If he wouldn’t void the contract and free Jed and Rafi from Junior, then Jed had a choice to make. The gate to try to save Paige, or convert Paige to save his brother.
Hell.
Paige came out of his bedroom and set her hands on her hips. “It’s awfully barren.”
It felt right to have her in his space. “It’s a place to crash.”
“But it’s not home. You live here, but it doesn’t have any of you in it. You need some personal touches to make it home.”
Home. Now there was a word he hadn’t thought about in a long time. But seeing Paige standing there, in his house, made him think of things like roots and belonging. Things he hadn’t considered in years. Or maybe ever.
The buzzer rang and he reached over his shoulder and punched the intercom. “Yeah.”
“Jerome here.”
He and Paige stared at each other, and he felt his adrenaline kick in. This was it. “You bring anyone with you?”
“No.”
“Good. Come on up.” He buzzed Jerome through, and then resumed watching Paige, who had tied his shirt in a knot around her waist to get it up off her thighs. The style revealed curvy hips and a flat stomach that he wanted to touch. To taste. To—
Paige noticed him watching her, and raised her brows, then slowly untied the knot, sliding the shirt up over her ribs, letting her skin peek out.
He groaned, and she smiled, a seductive smile that she had no right torturing him with.
Then she slipped her hand under the shirt, raising it ever so slightly so he caught a glimpse of the underside of her breast, braless after he’d torn off the one she’d been wearing. He thought of how they tasted, and his body began to pulse.
She cupped her breast with her hand and flicked her thumb over her nipple, a small noise of surprise popping out of her mouth.
He levered himself off the wall, and grabbed her, slamming his mouth onto hers, sliding his hand to cup her breast. “Teasing me is a bad idea,” he growled. “Not with my bed twenty feet away and at least three minutes to kill until Jerome gets up here, thanks to the slow elevators in this building.”
“Three whole minutes? So much time.” She grabbed the waist of his jeans and slipped her hand down the front.
His whole body jerked when she wrapped her hand around his arousal, her fingers warm against him. She lifted her face to his, her face radiating her need, her openness, her trust. “I want you. You said okay.”
“Three minutes isn’t enough time to give you what you deserve.” He grabbed the bottom of her shirt and tore it off over her head, then felt his gut clench at the sight of her body before him. “You’re a virgin, for hell’s sake.”
Her only reply was to wrap her legs around his waist, flatten her breasts against his chest, and plunder his mouth with a kiss that was so fierce he felt like she was tearing his guts out. She grabbed his hair so he had to look at her. “I love your damned blackness and your evil shadow warrior and your guilt and your self-hate and all the shit you’ve done for your brother. You’re too hot for words.”
And suddenly, he couldn’t stop himself anymore. He just couldn’t. His hands went to her butt and she crushed herself against his body. He staggered over to the couch and dropped them both on it. “I can’t merge my aura with you,” he gasped as her hands went to the front of his jeans, yanking at the zipper.
“I have faith in your ability to restrain yourself,” she sighed as she parted his pants and he burst free. “You’re beautiful.” She scooted down and feathered soft kisses over him.
Jed held himself over her, his arms rigid, his body hard as he felt her tongue flicker against his skin, her fingers cup his balls, gently, tentatively, but with a conviction that had his muscles tighten. “Jesus.”
He closed his eyes and drank in the sensations of her exploration, her innocent wonder at his body. Then her mouth closed over him, and he shuddered and pulled himself out her reach, nearly smiling at her protests. “Come on, darling. This is about you.” He wrapped his arm around her waist and tossed her on her back.
He landed on her and kissed her hard as he quickly undid her jeans and slid them over her hips. She clung to him, her arms so tight around his neck that he couldn’t have gotten free if he’d wanted to.
And he sure as hell didn’t. Not anymore. He was committed all the way.
A knock sounded at the door, and Jed felt a surge of resentment, and finally understood Bandit’s position about “a last hurrah.” Five minutes with Paige, to last them forever. Five minutes of escape before everything came crashing down. He needed it too desperately to walk away. Five minutes.
Jerome knocked again. “Hello? Paige?”
Jed skimmed his fingers down over her belly and tangled them in her curls. “You bring coffee?” he called out, and he slid his fingers along the crease of her legs, so close, teasing her.
“What? Coffee? What are you talking about?” Jerome sounded annoyed. “I just got here.” He rattled the door. “Open up.”
“Coffee, Jerome. I’m extremely cranky before I get my coffee, and trust me, you don’t want to see me cranky.” He dropped his head and trailed light kisses over her breasts, grinning as she twisted under him, whispering his name.
“Coffee? You’re serious.”
“There’s a Starbucks on the corner.” He slipped his finger inside her and nearly groaned at how ready for him she was. “I’m a shadow warrior, Jerome. Coffee or you see me at my worst.”
Jerome cursed, and then there was the sound of feet running down the hall.
Paige moaned softly, lifting her face to kiss him. “That was mean, scaring him.”
“Fuck him. I need more time.” He kissed her again, hard, his tongue mating with hers as he slid another finger into her body, stretching her. “Five minutes to last an eternity. I have to have this moment.”
“That is so sweet!” Paige broke the kiss with a gasp, her fingers digging into his butt. “Do that again.”
He slid down her body, letting his skin rub over hers, grazing his teeth over her nipples, over her belly, then kissing her hard at her core, while his fingers continued to slide, to caress. He wanted to do this right. He’d never really cared before, but now, he had to know, had to make it good for her; not good, amazing. . . . “How are you doing, sweetheart? Is this okay?”
She groaned and grabbed his shoulders so hard that it hurt. “God, yes.” She lifted her hips off the couch, driving his fingers deeper inside her. “Make love to me, now, Jed. That’s all I want. You inside me. Now.”
He hesitated. “I have to run to my room and get protection.”
“I can’t get any diseases. I’m immortal.”
“Can you get pregnant?�
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“No. Maybe. Yes. I don’t know. Good question.”
He scooped her up, wrapped her legs around his waist so his arousal was rubbing up against her. “Come on, sweetheart.” He shot to his feet, kissing her hard, continuing to caress her as he took them into the bedroom.
Paige made a small noise and started shifting her hips, rubbing against him, her body so slippery that she glided easily. “This feels amazing.”
All he could manage was a groan in response as he dropped her on the bed, yanked open the nightstand drawer, and sheathed himself. Paige pushed him onto his back and threw her leg over him. “This way.”
“Any way you want.” He caught her hips, directing her as she eased down onto him, groaning as her body enveloped his, her hot warmth drawing him in deep.
She flattened her palms on his chest as she began to move, and he gripped her hips tighter, driving his hips upward into her. Wanting more. Needing more. Intensity began to build inside him, and he felt her brightness reaching out. Enveloping him. Spearing his core.
Shit. They were merging. He slammed up his shields, as she began to move faster, whispering his name, clutching him, and he felt her need for him. Not just for his body, but for him.
Something rose deep inside him, and he felt her soul rise in response, answering his call. Reaching for him. Embracing him.
I need you, Paige.
No. He needed to stay in control. He gritted his teeth against the call of her soul, yearning for him, felt his own ache for completeness. His soul began to respond, and he instantly felt a darkness rise in her.
“Jed—” There was a slight rise to her voice, as her hips slowed.
“Don’t worry. I’ve got it under control.” He cupped her breasts and flicked his thumb over her nipples. “Let it go.”
“Jed . . .” There was such relief in her voice, and he felt her body commit, felt her trust as she did exactly as he said and dropped all her guards and opened herself to the moment, to every sensation, to the feel of his body driving deep into hers.
He groaned and lifted his hips, moving with her, rising to meet her with each move of her pelvis, fighting against his need to commit with his soul and his heart and his spirit. He closed his eyes against the urge building in him, not physically, but spiritually, needing her, needing the completion of the merge unlike he ever had before.
Sex & The Immortal Bad Boy Page 19
