Keeper vs. Reaper (Graveyard Guardians Book 1)

by Jennifer Malone Wright

  She lifted her chin defiantly, and mimicking his actions, took a step toward him as well. “I’m not scared of you.”

  By now they were less than six inches apart. “You should be scared.”

  What was wrong with her? She just waltzes in here without thinking of her own safety. But, God fucking damn, her lips …

  Their eyes were locked on each other, both of them unwilling to turn away. “Why should I be scared of you?” she demanded. “Why would you save me from the other Reaper if you wanted to hurt me?”

  With strength he didn’t know he had, he tore his eyes away from hers and spun around, grabbing his truck keys off the table. “I’m taking you home. You should have never left.”

  “I need to talk to you. That’s why I came here.” With both hands she unbuttoned the long coat she was wearing and slid it down her arms.

  Oh holy hell. So much skin.

  She turned to set her coat on the back of one of the dining chairs and he was rewarded with an amazing view of her perfect ass. Again, oh holy hell. He let out a long breath and tried to send a brain signal to Mr. ‘gets excited over everything’, down there, to tell him to behave himself.

  “I don’t know what I can do to help you that I haven’t already told your sister.”

  “You didn’t tell her everything.” Lucy wandered around the room. He could see her taking in the details of his temporary home. Normally that kind of shit bothered him, but not this time. Nope.

  “How would you know?” he demanded.

  She peeked into the bedroom and then glanced back at him. “Because I didn’t tell her everything either.”

  Well fuck, he leaned on the doorframe by the kitchen and watched her poke around the house. “So, are you ready to go now? We can talk in the truck.”

  “Why are you trying to get rid of me?”

  “Because you’re a Keeper. I don’t associate with the likes of you.”

  “Well, under normal circumstances I’d feel the same way about you. But, I think you know as well as I do that we don’t have normal circumstances.”

  “And you are putting yourself in danger by coming here, walking around in the fucking dark, what the hell is wrong with you, there is someone out there trying to kill you!” As soon as the words were out of his mouth his eyes went to her neck and he saw red.

  Son of a bitch.

  Mother fucker.

  The faint scabbed line from where Aiden’s knife had dragged across her throat stood out against her pale white skin. He wanted to choke the shit out of Aiden for marking her.

  Her hands fluttered up and touched the wound. “I can take care of myself.”

  Without thinking, he closed the gap of space between them and dropped his keys on the floor. Reaching out and clutching her arms, he yanked her toward him. “You think you can take care of yourself, huh?” She let out a tiny gasp as he crushed their bodies together. “Those Reapers you fight on a regular basis do not want to kill you. They want souls. The Reaper after you now, he wants you dead.” He shook her a bit. “Do you fucking hear me?”

  “Yes! Now get away.” She was demanding that he let her go, but she didn’t fight or struggle against him. It almost felt like she was relaxing against him. “

  “If I wanted to hurt you, I could, and there is nothing that you could do about it.”

  What the hell, was he trying to piss her off? She was here, she was safe.

  She lifted her chin, looking up into his eyes. “That’s not true. You have no idea what I am capable of.”

  His eyes zeroed in on her lips, slightly parted and shiny with some kind of gloss that smelled like strawberries. His gaze continued down her neck, beyond the knife wound, to her chest which was heaving gently, lifting her exposed cleavage up with every breath.

  Fucking hell.

  He raised his eyes and locked them with hers again. “Is that so?” he barked. “Fight me then, show me how fucking tough you are. Show me how you can protect yourself.” With that, all control was lost. He pushed himself against her and crushed his mouth to hers.

  As soon as their lips met, his body erupted with electric tingles that could be felt over every single nerve in his body. Her lips parted, making way for his tongue to graze hers. He moved forward, walking her back until she was pressed against the wall. Her hands were clutched in his, and he raised them up pinning her against the hard surface.

  “Fucking fight me, Lucy.” He pulled away only enough that he could mumble against her lips. “Show me.”

  With her lips against his and the connection made, he realized how hungry for souls he was. It had been a while since he had any soul other than the little bits he’d taken from those girls he’d been with.

  She moaned, and then abruptly turned her head to the side, forcing their lips apart. “I just came here to talk. I don’t need to prove anything to you.”

  With a push, Jack forced himself to move away from her. “Well, like I said, let’s talk in the truck.”

  Lucy shook her head, smoothing down her top and getting her nerves back in order. “Why … um …” She paused and shook her head, as if trying to clear the sexual thoughts out of her head and make way for the actual questions she’d come to him with. “There isn’t any burn when we touch, why is that?”

  “I don’t have a clue.”

  “Has this ever happened to you before, with another Keeper?” She began moving around the house again.

  “Nope, never.” He went into his bedroom and found his jeans. “I’m going to get dressed now.” Without even bothering to shut the door, he slid out of his pajama bottoms. Before he reached for the jeans, he glanced up, wondering if she had been curious enough to look in at him while he was changing. But, no, she wasn’t anywhere near the doorway.

  “Do you know what would cause the contact between you and me to be different than it is with every other Keeper and Reaper?”

  He pulled on his jeans and a black tee shirt and headed back into the living area. “No, I don’t know what the hell it is. Supposedly, the burning sensation is caused by something that’s in our DNA that goes against the nature of each species. It’s some kind of a reaction. Maybe we just don’t have whatever that is. It’s some kinda super scientific shit that I wouldn’t know anything about.”

  Lucy looked him over, eyes scanning from his feet, up his legs and torso, finally meeting his eyes once again. “So, Liv told me some stuff … stuff about how you’ve been feeling since we first met.”

  He gave her a nod and sat on the couch with his boots. “Yeah, I don’t know what the hell it is. I don’t know what started it. I don’t know if it will last, but I wish it would go away because, frankly, it’s a real pain in the ass.”

  “I know.”

  His head snapped up. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, that I know … because I’ve been experiencing a weird attraction to you.”

  What the fuck? He could only stare at her with his mouth hanging open.

  “Maybe not as severely as you are, but it’s there, nonetheless.”

  This whole situation just got a hell of a lot more dangerous than Aiden being after her. If she had even half the attraction for him that he had for her, then they were both staring trouble right in the face. On the other hand, he had spent the last few days thinking he was just going crazy, and now it turned out that he wasn’t alone in his craziness. The fact that she was going through the same shit he was could be an upside or a serious downside.

  He finished lacing up his boots and pulled the strings tight. “Yeah, let’s get you home.”

  She stepped away from him a couple of feet. “But, we need to talk about this. It’s important.”

  “Well, I’m going. You can either come with me and talk in the truck or walk home and not talk to me.” He pulled open the front door, hoping to God that she would follow him.

  She did.

  He stalked out the door and she hurried after him, grabbing up her coat on the way. Once they were out at the truc
k, he watched her hesitate by the door and then reach out and yank the handle.

  Why couldn’t she have just stayed home? This whole situation was going to shit as it was, and he didn’t need even more Keepers up his ass because she couldn’t sit at home where she was safe.

  He slid behind the wheel, fired up the engine and backed out of the driveway. Once they were on the main road she started up again. “Do you think that when you leave here, that the attraction will fade?”

  He shrugged “I don’t know.” He paused. “I hope so.” Well, he kind of hoped it did.

  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her turn toward him in the darkness of the truck. “Look, I know that this situation isn’t exactly normal and we aren’t supposed to get along, but I don’t understand why the hell you’re treating me like this if you are supposedly feeling so protective of me.”

  Good God, why didn’t she get it. He was careful not to look at her and kept his eyes on the road. “Because, it’s exactly the reason that you said. We aren’t supposed to get along. We are enemies, Lucy.”

  He heard her flop back in her seat in a huff. “I don’t feel like we’re enemies. Maybe that’s what this Chosen One bullshit is all about. Maybe you’re a part of it too.”

  Yeah right.

  “I highly doubt that is the case. The Chosen One is supposed to bring forth and end to the Reapers, remember. I don’t think that a Reaper can be part of bringing himself to an end.”

  He glanced at her again and she shrugged. “Maybe … maybe not.”

  A few minutes later he turned into a pullout a ways down from Lucy’s house and killed the engine. Then, he reached behind the seat and pulled out his hoodie. Slipping it on, he made sure that it was zipped and the hood was up.

  “Put your coat on. I don’t want anyone to see us.”

  She did as he asked, but kicked up her chin in defiance. “I don’t need you to walk me, I’ll be fine.”

  “I’m walking you at least until I can see that you’ve gone into the house.”

  “I don’t need you.”

  “Shut up, Lucy. This is happening.”

  He didn’t really expect her to shut her mouth. He barely knew her, but from the small amount of time he had spent with her, he did know that she was stubborn and used to fighting to get her way. Surprisingly, she kept silent as she slipped down from his truck.

  She had covered her hair and face with that giant hood, which, ironically, reminded him of the Grim Reaper. He followed behind her as she cut through the woods. His eyes were everywhere, searching for any movement or flashes of color. At this point the color didn’t matter, both red and silver were just as dangerous.

  As the farmhouse came into view, she stopped at the edge of the trees and turned to face him. He could barely see her with her hood pulled up, but he could see the tiniest bit of silver floating on the warm summer air.

  “We’re here.”

  Fucking right they were. And the shittiest part about it was that now that they were at her house and he had to send her back inside, he didn’t fucking want to. Whatever the hell was happening to him seemed to multiply every time he saw her, but when he was with her it was even worse than that.

  When he didn’t say anything, she turned back toward the house. “I’d better go now. Sorry you had to do this.” With that, she stepped out beyond the trees.

  Aw, fuck it. “Wait!” He reached out and grabbed her arm, dragging her back toward him.

  “What?” Her head was tilted up and he could see her eyes underneath the hood, they were wide with surprise, but he didn’t sense or see any fear from her.

  He pulled her back a little bit further so that they were completely out of view of the house. What was he going to say to her? Shit. He didn’t have a clue, the only thing he knew was that he didn’t want her to leave him. Not yet.

  So fucking strange when, not a half an hour ago, he had basically kicked her out of his house.

  “Jack?”

  “I … I just needed another minute.”

  She glanced back at the house and then back at him. “I’m glad. I don’t know why. But, I am.”

  God, her voice was just as sexy as the rest of her. “I want you to do what your family tells you to do.” His voice was uncharacteristically soft.

  “But…”

  He held his hand up to stop her protests. “But nothing. They are only doing what is best for you. I will be helping find the Reaper who is after you. Hopefully soon, this can all be over.”

  “And then you will leave Summer Hollow?”

  He nodded. “I think that is probably what’s best.”

  Then she smiled. “This is like some fucked up movie about two very different people falling for each other for no reason, isn’t it.”

  He let out a low chuckle and tapped the top of her hood. “Hey, we even sparkle, it must be fate.”

  “Don’t even go there!”

  He paused and then reached down and found her hand, which was buried within the confines of her sleeve. It was so odd, not having the burn when he touched her. “I am an asshole, this isn’t just my reaction to you. It’s just how I am.”

  She gripped his hand tightly and then found his other hand and took hold of that one too. She held fast to both of his hands. “Crazy thing is, I really don’t care if you’re an asshole. We are supposed to be enemies, but right now, maybe we should just concentrate on our common goal.”

  He loosened his grip and flattened his hands against hers. “What exactly is our common goal?” God, how he loved the feel of her skin against his. Not exactly the thought of an asshole, now was it.

  She moved their hands up a little, so that they stood face to face with their hands pressed against each other. “To find out what is going on with us.”

  He shook his head. “No. The fact that someone is trying to kill you is more important.”

  He wanted to send her away, to shove her back and force her into the house, but at the same time, he wanted exactly the opposite of that. “I’m fucking confused about all this, so just do what your family tells you to do, all right.”

  He could barely see it, but she offered him a small smile. “I can’t make any guarantees, that’s just how I am, but I’ll try. Okay?”

  “Okay.” He pretty much had to summon the willpower to pull his hands away from hers and take a step back. “You should get in there before they realize you’re gone.”

  “Yeah,” she agreed. “I don’t know when I’ll see you again, but I’m sure I will.”

  Suddenly grim, he found that he couldn’t fucking wait until the next time he saw her. “Go.” He waved her off. “I don’t need your family out for my blood.”

  She turned toward the house and then paused, appearing to contemplate leaving, but after a few seconds she hurried off across the expanse of lawn to the safety of the yellow farmhouse.

  He moved to a spot where he could see the side of the house that her bedroom was on. Vaguely, he could see the dark shape climbing up the low branches of the tree, up to the second floor window where he finally saw her crawl inside. Once she was safely in her room, he released a breath that he hadn’t even realized he was holding.

  Wow. Shit certainly wasn’t going the way he expected.

  The next morning, Lucy woke to her alarm, even though she had no reason to get up. Still no classes for her since she was on Estmond family lock down. Not quite ready to get out of bed yet, she lay there, staring at the ceiling and thinking about Jack.

  This was so wrong … sooooo wrong, and she totally knew it. But, on the other hand, she had never felt so attracted and connected to one person in her entire life.

  Sure, she and Ethan had a connection, but what she felt with Jack blew Ethan right out of the water, and that was saying a lot.

  Of all the men in the world, this was the one that she had to go and feel something for.

  Like he said, he was an asshole. She could tell that from the very beginning when she met him in the bakery. Or maybe no
t quite an asshole … most likely just a smart-ass. But, damn, he was hot. When she was around him, there was something else there ... something that was missing when she was with anyone else.

  And ... he had kissed her. Sure, it was meant to prove something to her or some shit, but she didn’t care. It was phenomenal. If he had kissed her much longer, she may have taken things into her own hands and tried to get him to sleep with her. Yeah, it was that fucking good.

  This was almost like Romeo and Juliet, two houses at war and two people forbidden to be together. Damn, could she possibly get anymore chick flick over this? Where’s the chocolate and wine when you need it.

  “No more,” she said out loud as she sat up and flung the comforter away from her. Ugh, time to think about something else.

  After a long shower, she went down to the kitchen for coffee and found Greg underneath the sink with only his legs sticking out.

  She headed straight for the coffee pot. “Hey bro, what are you doing under there?” she asked as she poured her coffee into a large mug.

  There was a grunt and a shift and then, “I’m relaxing. Seriously Luce, what the hell does it look like I’m doing?”

  She shrugged, even though he couldn’t see her, and then pulled out a chair at the kitchen table.

  “I’m fixing the leak that you never told anyone was leaking for God knows how long. Now there’s damage under the cabinet.”

  Fuck. “I’m sorry, Greg. I didn’t even know that it was leaking.”

  “We can all fix this stuff for you, you just need to keep an eye out and let us know when shit goes wrong.”

  Shit was going very wrong lately.

  “I said I was sorry. I’ll keep a better watch on things from now on.”

  Greg pulled himself out from under the sink and sat up. His hair was sticking up in some places and his eyes were wide with mock surprise. “What, no arguments?”

  She took a sip of her coffee. “Nope.”

  “I don’t understand.” He kept up the rouse, feigning confusion. “You,” his hand went to his heart, “you agree with me?”