Jackson (16 page)

“It makes you want things, doesn’t it?” he asked her huskily.

God, does it ever.
She wasn’t sure she’d ever wanted him like this. She slipped her arms around his neck and kissed him again, and his hands gripped her waist and pulled her hard against his hips.

The fire from that contact threatened to consume her. The entire world faded to nothing but Jackson—his hands, his lips, his heat, his taste. Her body vibrated with need.

“Why don’t we find somewhere a little more private?” he whispered.

“Yes.” The word was almost a moan.

He led her to one of the ferry’s bathrooms. The moment the door was locked behind them, they were wrapped around each other again—hands grasping, lips searching, tongues meeting. There was nothing to do but surrender.

His mouth burned a path down her throat. Her fingers found their way to his hair. A short time ago, she was fighting for her life. She should be hiding in a corner somewhere, but instead, she found herself shrinking from the idea of running back to safety. She never wanted this rush to end.

Jackson had pushed her straps down her shoulders, revealing her breasts to him. She moaned softly as his lips caressed the delicate, sensitive skin of her nipples.

“I love you,” he murmured between flicks of his tongue.

Her stomach flip-flopped. “I love you, too.”

And she did. God, she did. So much it hurt. So much that she wasn’t sure how she could contain all of the emotion and desire throbbing through her body.

But she also hadn’t forgotten the question she’d asked him in bed only this morning—the question at the center of everything between them. The question that might break her heart again.

Jackson had pulled her dress all the way down to her waist. He was on his knees before her, his tongue lapping at her skin, his fingers curled against her lower back. He was worshiping her body with his mouth and hands, loving her as if any moment could be their last. Her throat ached as she tightened her fingers in his hair.

“I don’t want to go back,” she heard herself say. “I never want to go back.”

His kisses stopped. He looked up at her.

“It doesn’t get any less dangerous from here,” he said softly.

“I know,” she said. Those two men they’d left out in the woods wouldn’t be the last they encountered. “But I don’t care.”

He kissed his way back up her body until he was standing again. She could feel the tension in his arms around her, but his lips were light as air against hers.

“You
should
care,” he said gently. “If anything ever happened to you, I’d—”

“And what about if anything ever happened to
you
?” When he didn’t immediately respond, she added, “Think about it. We could see the world together. Find the treasure. Fight the bad guys.” She kissed him, then sucked his bottom lip between her teeth before releasing him again. “Fuck each other silly when we’re finished.”

His nails dug into her skin and his eyes flashed with a devilish look she knew all too well.

“It’s a hard life,” he said, yanking her even harder against his hips so she could feel just how much he wanted her.

“I can deal with that.”

“You might have to sleep on the ground sometimes. Or go days without a shower.”

“Maybe I’m all right with being a little dirty.”

He pushed her dress down past her hips, then let it fall down her legs.

“I’d probably need to teach you how to shoot,” he said.

“When did I ever say I was opposed to that?”

His mouth took hers in a kiss so fierce her heart nearly stopped. When he finally released her, she noticed he’d managed to undo his pants. He pushed her back against the door.

“Sometimes this job is boring,” he said. He slipped his hand down between her legs. “Sometimes we don’t find what we’re looking for. Or we have to spend weeks researching or prepping an expedition. It isn’t all chases and diamond necklaces.”

She moaned as his fingers found their mark, and she grabbed his shoulders for support.

“I guess we’ll just have to come up with other ways to entertain ourselves during the boring parts, then,” she said.

He growled and grabbed her thighs, lifting her and pushing her back against the door again. She wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist, aching for him to drive into her.

But he didn’t. He held her there, his eyes boring deep into hers. Hunger blazed in their depths, but there was something suddenly serious about his expression as he gazed at her.

“This isn’t a decision you have to make right now,” he said. “You should wait until the buzz has worn off.”

“I know what I feel,” she whispered back.

“You have a life back in Atlanta.”

She gave a laugh. “There’s no way in hell I still have my job.”

“But you’re still giving things up. Still leaving things behind. I won’t ask you to do that, Goose.”

She could feel the restraint in his arms around her. There were so many things in his eyes—lust, tenderness, regret, hope—that she didn’t know which to respond to first. She could only imagine he saw the same things in her expression.

“You’re not asking me for anything,” she said. “I’m making the choice on my own.”

His fingers dug into her. “It’s a reckless choice.”

“So you’re the only one who’s allowed to be reckless?” She shifted her body against him, trying to get closer, but he held her in place against the door. So she tilted her face toward his. “It’s the only way we can be together.”

Something flickered in his eyes—something fierce and gentle all at once. “Not the only way. I could go back with you.”

The fact that he’d even suggest that made her love him even more.

“You can’t leave the Set,” she said. “You belong here. You’d never be happy back there.” She knew it deep in her gut, in spite of the way he was looking at her right now. Jackson needed this. She needed it, too.

“And you think you could be happy out here?” he said finally. His whole body was tense against hers.

She squeezed him. “I feel like I’ve only gotten my first taste of the life I’m supposed to be living.” She wouldn’t be okay with just dreams anymore. If her mom’s death had taught her anything, it was that life was precious and short, and she didn’t want to spend another minute of it wishing she were somewhere else.

Jackson must have seen the resolution in her eyes, because he shifted again, grabbing her ass and grinding against her.

“There’s no guarantee that Roth will agree to any of this,” he said.

She smiled as the ache between her legs intensified. “I found Vincent Rinaldi’s clue in the atlas. He’ll have to give me some credit for that, won’t he? And if he doesn’t, then I’ll just find some other way to convince him.”

Jackson grinned. “What exactly are you planning to do?”

She wiggled against him. “Why don’t I show you?”

Apparently she’d taken him right to his limit, because he drove himself into her so suddenly and so deeply that she let out a cry she was sure they heard all the way out on the deck. But she didn’t have the patience for embarrassment right now.

“You’re not showing anything to anyone but me,” he growled at her.

Her response was a whimper.

As they came together, nothing else mattered. There were still questions to be answered, still things she—
they
—needed to figure out. But they’d cross those bridges later.
This
was the life she wanted. The life she’d
always
wanted. And she was no longer afraid to reach for it, to grab it with both hands and refuse to let it go.

She’d never let it go, as long as she lived. Their adventure was only beginning, and no matter what happened, she and Jackson were in it together.

EPILOGUE

Split, Croatia

Four days later

Being shot sucked.

Leo could deal with the pain. He’d had worse. This wasn’t bad, as far as injuries went. But Roth was insisting he take it easy, and that just wouldn’t do.

His boy Jackson had come through—or, perhaps more accurately, Jackson’s girl had. Apparently Charlotte had spotted something even Alexei and Roth had missed in Rinaldi’s atlas, and it had blown the whole expedition wide open. Now they had nine leads, each pointing to what they assumed was a different piece of Rinaldi’s fortune, and Roth wouldn’t even let him look at the damn pieces of paper. Said he wasn’t allowed to do anything until he’d had several more days of bed rest. It was fucking ridiculous. It wasn’t like he’d been shot in the head.

He’d been forced to entertain himself in other ways. Drinking got boring pretty quickly, but he’d found some good sport in saying things to make Charlotte blush—at least until Jackson stepped in and spoiled his fun. Looked like Jackson’s girl might be around for a little while longer—even Roth had had to admit that she’d turned out to be a bigger asset than any of them had expected. Leo was never going to let Alexei live down the fact that Charlotte had found something in the atlas that he, their resident cryptographer, had apparently overlooked. Alexei had always been the quiet, gloomy sort, but he’d been especially broody these past few days.

But even teasing his teammates was getting dull. The truth was, there was nothing Leo hated more than feeling useless. It was why he’d joined the Set in the first place—to get off his ass and do something spectacular with his life. This waiting around was going to drive him insane, especially considering there was more than just the Rinaldi expedition to deal with. Tav was still gone, still presumed to have betrayed them, and the time had come to deal with that. And they’d still had yet to hear anything from Sloane.

That was what was weighing on him the most—Sloane. He’d always felt a little protective of her, even though she’d kicked his ass on a couple of occasions in the past—the girl could definitely take care of herself. But it wasn’t like her to disappear without a word.

He’d seen the question in a couple of his teammates’ eyes—could she have betrayed them like Tav? But he knew that was impossible. Sloane had her own beef with Nash and his men. There’s no way she would’ve thrown her lot in with them. Something was wrong, and he wanted nothing more than to figure out what.

If Roth would ever let him out of this fucking apartment.

They were on the scent of what might be the greatest haul of their lives and the team was falling apart around them. One thing was clear—things were changing for the Devil’s Set. And damn them all to hell if they thought he was going to stay still.

~ * ~

The Set's hunt for Rinaldi's fortune is only beginning, and none of the boys are prepared for the danger--or love--that awaits them as the adventure unfolds. The next book, 
Leo
, will be arriving Fall 2015, but in the meantime, you can 
join Ember's mailing list
(
http://embercasey.com/newsletter/
) to get an email reminder when it goes live (plus some other exclusive bonus content!).

Need something else to read until then? Meet some of Ember Casey’s other leading men:

Want a wicked billionaire?

Meet the sexy, brooding Calder Cunningham in
His Wicked Games
, the first book in the Cunningham Family series.

Want a master of seduction?

Meet the charming, devilish Roman Everet in
The Secret to Seduction
, the first book in the Fontaines series.

Want to discuss this book (and others) with other readers?

Join the Readers Lounge
!

BOOKS BY EMBER CASEY

THE DEVIL’S SET

Jackson

Leo (Coming Fall 2015)

THE FONTAINES

The Secret to Seduction

The Sweet Taste of Sin (Summer 2015)

THE CUNNINGHAM FAMILY

His Wicked Games

Truth or Dare

Sweet Victory

Her Wicked Heart

Take You Away

Lost and Found

Completely (short story)

Their Wicked Wedding

A Cunningham Christmas

Want to be the first to know when Ember has a new release?

Want exclusive extras and freebies?

Join Ember’s Mailing List!

(
http://embercasey.com/newsletter/
)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ember Casey is a twenty-something writer who lives in Atlanta, Georgia in a den of iniquity (or so she likes to tell people). When she’s not writing steamy romances, you can find her whipping up baked goods (usually of the chocolate variety), traveling (her bucket list is infinite), or generally causing trouble (because somebody has to do it).