Madly & the Jackal (12 page)

Releasing Jackson’s hand, I stepped from beneath the shelter of the trees and walked to the center of the clearing.  I stopped and tilted my face up to the soothing moisture.  It was cool on my cheeks and it felt like nourishment to my bones.

I felt it when Jackson approached, knew it when he moved to stand behind me.  Reaching back, I wiggled my fingers, a silent plea for him to take my hands.  And he did.  Lacing his fingers through mine, Jackson stepped forward until his front was pressed to my back.  Immediately, my bracelet warmed against my wrist, reacting to his proximity as if knowing we were on a mission. 

I pulled his arms around me and felt the power surge between us.  It wasn’t necessary for me to summon it; it was never absent.  It always hovered in the space between us, around us, within us.  It simply was, as the air and the sun and moon simply were. 

Neither of us spoke. 

Jackson bent his head and I turned my face, pressing my cheek to his as I closed my eyes.  With my race’s most powerful element raining down around us, pouring through my hair and over my skin, I focused.  There was one thing I was interested in seeing—all the people in Slumber who had an off-the-charts aptitude for science.  I was looking for all the people who could be descendants of Hyde.

Like the shimmer of the moon on the rippling surface of the ocean, watery faces began to dance behind my eyes.  They dissolved into one visage.  Oddly, it was a familiar one. 

That couldn’t be right.  Maybe I needed to start over.  Maybe I needed to reset and concentrate harder on what I wanted to see. 

Shaking my head to clear it, I began again.  In my mind I silently chanted, repeating over and over what I needed from the rain.  But just as silently, it gave me the same answer.  Before I could make out a single face among the liquid vision, the image of my friend dropped down like a curtain in front of my eyes.

“Kellina,” I half whispered, half growled.

“Kellina?” Jackson asked from behind me.

“Yes,” I snapped in frustration.  “For some reason, I keep seeing her face.  Here,” I said, stepping out of his arms.  I turned to face Jackson, taking his hands in mine and closing my eyes again.  “Maybe I was too distracted by somebody’s delicious body at my back.”

I saw Jackson arch one raven brow just before I closed my eyes again.  “And that makes you see Kellina?”

I scoffed.  “No, but it certainly affects my concentration.  Now hush.”

I knew without opening my eyes that Jackson was biting his tongue.  Such high-handed behavior would not normally be ignored.  But these circumstances were different, so Jackson kept his commentary to himself.  For the moment anyway.

Smothering my grin, I focused on the energy flowing between Jackson’s body and my own.  I felt it tingling in my fingertips where our skin touched.  I felt it burning its way up my arms and into my chest where it pulsed like a fiery sun.

Although I could still feel the warmth of my bracelet, it was easily eclipsed by what blazed between my mate and me.  It felt even stronger than it had before and I couldn’t help but wonder if it had something to do with our recent union. 

Pushing every other thought from my mind, I concentrated on the information I sought, feeling every rain drop as though it were one small piece of a puzzle.  But still, the only face I could make out was that of Kellina Stratford, the werewolf mate of one of my best friends.

It was with the beginnings of alarm niggling at the back of my mind that I opened my eyes to find Jackson staring at me.  His face was blank but intense.  I didn’t have to tell him that something wasn’t right; he already knew.

“What could that mean?  Why can I only see Kellina?  She has nothing to do with this.” I asked.

For an eternity, Jackson said nothing.  I didn’t prompt him to answer me because I could practically see the wheels of his brilliant mind turning, shifting bits and pieces of information this way and that until they fit into a picture that made sense.

“All descendants are marked,” he finally said, dead pan.  “To my knowledge, no one has ever wondered why.  We’ve just accepted it as truth.  Fact.  Maybe it is caused by exposure to the Lore.”

I shrugged, not sure where he was going with this.  “Okay.  So?”

“Kellina was marked as the Strauss descendant, but she was also possessed by the Wolfhardt Lore.  That had to leave an impression.  No one has ever hosted both, at least not that I know of.  Is it possible that she now shares some kind of…
link
with the Lore?”

“What do you mean, ‘link’?”

“Even though you’re asking to see a broad category of people, your objective is still to identify the descendant.  And yet you see only the face of Kellina.  Maybe it is through her that the descendant will be revealed.  Maybe her connection to those we seek is strongest on dry land.”

Part of me thought it was a stretch, but part of me could see his rationale.  All of me, however, knew that, even if it wasn’t the best theory, at the moment it was the
only
theory.  That being the case, we had no choice but to run with it until we either disproved it or something else turned up.

“Well, at least we know where to go next,” I offered.  But then I paused.  “Or do we?”

Jackson frowned down at me.  “What is it?”

“For one thing, Kellina is still recovering.  I mean, I did almost kill her.  Inadvertently, but still.”

“It’s not like we’ll be asking her to chase him down and rip him to shreds with her canines,” he quipped.

“I know, but still.  It might be taxing for her.  Besides, what exactly
would
she have to do?  We have no idea why I’m seeing her.  Not really.  Does she know something?  Can she see something?  Sense something?  Is it someone she knows?  Or maybe it’s just me.  Maybe I’m doing something wrong.  Maybe I’m not concentrating enough.  Maybe I’m—”

“Madly, stop,” Jackson said, winding his fingers around my upper arms.  “We don’t have the answers to any of those questions.  The only thing we can do is go talk to Kellina.  See what she says.  If we don’t glean anything useful there, we start over.  Simple as that.”

Jackson.  He was so logical, so practical, so in control.  Even though he didn’t really give me any answers per se, he provided sound direction and, as always, I found his confidence reassuring.  He was my rock in every way.

I looked down at my wet clothes, shuddering involuntarily as I pulled at the cool, soaked material of my shirt.  “We can’t very well go like this.  Do you think it can wait until tomorrow?  Maybe after school?”

A slow smile curved Jackson’s lips and he wound one arm lazily around my waist, pulling me in close to his warm body.  “I think it can wait until then.  Right now, I think it is of utmost importance that I get the Princess into warm, dry clothing.  After a hot shower, of course.”

I shuddered again, but this time for a totally different reason.  “Did you have a particular shower in mind?”

“Think you can be quiet as a mouse?”

I rose onto my tiptoes, barely able to brush my lips against Jackson’s.  “Depends on whether or not you can keep my mouth busy.”

Jackson chuckled.  I felt the vibrations of the deep rumble tickle the walls of my chest where I was pressed so tightly to him.  “I think I can manage that no problem.”

“Get me out of here then, Sentinel Hamilton!  Make haste!”  I teased, taking his hand and running for the trees, back the way we’d come.

I let the giggle burst from my lips.  The moist air held the sound close, making it seem like I was in a bubble, one containing just Jackson and me.  It filled me with a happiness, a carefree feeling I hadn’t experienced in a long, long time.  Maybe not since childhood.  I would enjoy to the fullest every moment of bliss that came my way.  After all, it was impossible to tell when they might come to an end. 

Immediately, I pushed that thought aside in favor of the anticipation that had unfurled deep in the pit of my stomach.  Making love to my husband had become my favorite activity.  By far!

My husband!
I thought. 
Jackson is my husband!  He’s mine.  All mine.

A kaleidoscope of colorful emotions swirled and twirled inside me.  Happiness, gratitude, disbelief, desire, love, hope—I felt everything, all at once, and it nearly stole my breath.

Increased pressure on my fingers drew my attention to the object of my ruminations where he walked at my side.  He was looking down at me, smiling in a gentle way that tugged at my heartstrings.  On his face was love—pure, gleaming white love.  It shone into the dark corners of my soul, chasing away the shadows of doubt, leaving only the certainty that, somehow, everything would be all right.  It had to be.  This man and I had a future together.  An important one.  And we
would
survive to see it.  We had to!

Outside the forest, it was still cloudy and pouring rain.  Jackson and I made our way toward the dormitory.  He seemed impervious to the moisture.  I was unbothered for the most part, but for the slight chill on my skin.

When the building we called home loomed up ahead in the distance, Jackson stopped.  “You up for climbing through the window again?”

His eyes twinkled in mischief.  I would’ve agreed to anything he’d asked me to do at that moment. 

I nodded.

“I think we’ll be all right since it’s rainy and cloudy.  Everyone should be inside, not looking out here.”

I nodded again, feeling a little short of breath with thoughts of what was to come.

Hand in hand, we approached the side of the dormitory.  As he’d done only hours before, Jackson hefted me up to the window and I climbed through.  Before I could scramble off the desk, I heard Jackson whisper, “Move.”

I turned to see him take several steps back and run toward the brick wall.  With the grace of a large cat, Jackson planted one foot against the surface and launched himself up to the opening.  I watched the muscles in his arms tense and strain as he pulled himself through the window with annoying ease.  I felt at once both envious and excited. 

That was so hot!

That
was my last thought before Jackson leapt silently off the desk, scooped me up in his arms, and headed for the bathroom. 

My heart was pounding.  I felt alive.  It was if Jackson awakened every nerve, every fiber, every cell in my body.  Even my blood swam with delicious anticipation.

Jackson set me on my feet just inside the small bathroom and turned to close the door quietly behind us.  When he pivoted, his eyes locked on mine.  He took one large step.  It brought his body flush with mine.  I felt his muscular length from breast to thigh.

Neither of us said a word.  I watched Jackson’s pupils dilate and eclipse the pure blue of his irises.  He raised his hands, drove his fingers into my hair and crushed his mouth to mine. 

I was immediately breathless, caught between a sigh and a moan.  His hands left my hair and seemed to appear everywhere at once.  They were at my waist, tugging at the hem of my shirt.  They were at my back, releasing the clasp of my bra.  They were at my waist, peeling my jeans and panties down my legs.  Then they were burning my naked flesh, blazing a trail of fire over my back and hips, around to my belly and up over my ribs. 

They disappeared for a heartbeat. I didn’t even open my eyes, still lost in sensation.  I heard the hiss of the shower cutting on and then Jackson’s mouth was back on mine, his big hands cupping my breasts and bringing my body to burning life.

When the air became thick with steam, Jackson wrapped his arms around my middle and lifted, my feet dangling high off the floor.  He stepped into the shower and turned until the hot spray hit the hypersensitive skin of my back.  I gasped in pleasure, a sound Jackson swallowed with his mouth.   

“You know, you don’t look nearly warm enough,” he said when he finally released my lips.  “Let me see if I can get some more blood flowing under that perfect skin

Reaching behind me, Jackson grabbed something and rubbed his hands together.  I assumed it was soap.  When I felt his palms glide, hot and slippery, over the skin of my back and shoulders, I knew I was right.

Dragging his hands over my flesh in small circles, Jackson started washing at my neck and then worked his way down my body toward my hips.  When he reached them, he dropped to his knees, his fingertips teasing my butt and the tops of my thighs.  His face was positioned at my stomach, his mouth right at navel level.  I looked down into his hypnotic eyes just as he pressed his lips to my belly.  Flames of desire leapt in the smoky hot depths.  But something else flickered there, too.  Something like mischief.

Opening his mouth, Jackson nipped the skin of my stomach with his teeth, nearly causing my knees to give out.  I inhaled sharply and fisted my hands in his hair to keep my balance.  I had to swallow a moan when he ringed my bellybutton with his tongue and then slid it just inside.  I let me head drop back on my shoulders, the warm water massaging my scalp as Jackson paid careful attention to washing my front. 

When his ministrations had me trembling on the edge of ecstasy, he rose to his full height and grabbed my shoulders. 

“Time to rinse,” he declared quietly, turning me around to face the spray.

The water coursed down my body and Jackson set about ridding my skin of soap.  His fingers caressed my throat and chest, tickling their way to my breasts where they teased my nipples to even tighter aching buds. I leaned my head back against his chest as his hands drifted lazily over my stomach to the place I wanted his attention most.  Abruptly, he stopped.