Society Rules (39 page)

His hands suddenly moved with even more purpose now, his passion nearly explosive as his body seemed to blast into overdrive. Indie went limp with pleasure. He was every inch the man, and she was ready to receive anything he chose to do for her.

More than ready.

As Jackson went all out, she was pleasantly shocked.

Whoa,
he
was
really
into
this
, she thought breathlessly.

Well. The civilized gentleman had stepped out for a bit of fresh air, leaving behind a simply raging beast of desire. Which was perfectly fine by Indie.

It crossed her mind briefly that the books that she loved, maybe, just maybe, had a little competition now.

As Indie felt her own desire rise, the passion building, she inexplicably thought of Will. Not in a wistful or desirous way . . . just the fleeting thought that with him, it had never felt like this. With Will, the rush of need, the tightening below her belly, screaming for release had never manifested. Will had never . . .

Jackson abruptly tore his lips away from Indie and took her face in his hands, pulling her up to look in his eyes. Eyes that were blazing fiercely, with an almost violent emotion.

Not at all afraid, Indie watched in fascination as the fierce look gradually softened into one of rueful apology.

His breathing steadied, and he leaned forward to kiss each of her eyelids, then her cheek, and finally, ever so softly, her lips.

“I . . . ah, I am thinking, that maybe we could do this without quite so much “
Will
” in your thoughts?”

Busted.
Oh how horrible, that he thought . . . .

“No, I don’t mean to intrude, but his name was kind of hitting me like a spike through the forehead, and I just couldn’t . . . I mean if you want to stop . . .”

“No! Oh, no I do not! And, just so you know, the only thought I was giving to . . .” she felt Jackson tense, “to
him
, was how completely different this was, and in only the best of ways.”

Indie met his eyes and silently commanded him to read the truth in her thoughts. “I was simply thinking that I finally get to feel how it is
supposed
to be, and it makes me so very happy!”

Jackson’s beautiful eyes cleared as he acknowledged this revelation, and he began the assault on her senses once more, with even more enthusiasm.

He was relentless as his lips left trails of fire down her belly, and he hid his lack of experience amazingly well, as his tongue masterfully traced tantalizing patterns of sensation in exactly the right places.

She felt a torturous need to have him inside her when she experienced the release that she knew was coming, but no matter how hard she tried to dictate the pace of things, Jackson held her fast to his own schedule, defying her impatience with maddening strength and complete control now.

At precisely the moment that Indie truly feared for her sanity if he didn’t give himself to her fully, Jackson pulled upward and turned to lay on his back. He lifted her body, aching with need, down to his own, completing the union; his hands locked down behind her, and his triumphant whisper in her ear kicked her straight over the edge . . . .

“So
much
for
your
leadership
 . . .”

When the promised reward came, she felt a shock of relief, joy and pure love that was almost unendurable as they finally crested in the most primal of physical acts. Physical, but with more emotion than Indie had ever imagined could exist between two people.

When her heart rate finally returned to within normal limits, she felt as though every bone, every muscle in her body had turned to liquid.

A warm, soothing liquid. and she was unable to move.

“And who
wants
to, anyway!” Indie thought, completely dazed, and grateful that the house wasn’t on fire or anything, forcing her out of her state of blissful paralysis.

Jackson surfaced somewhere behind her, in a state of new-found physical disorder.

“Unbelievable . . . that was . . . .” His words trailed away. Speaking seemed just too difficult a chore, somehow.

He was floating, and his joints and muscles had little function, and so he decided that collapsing in a heap next to Indie was all he could manage, although his hand kept contact with her skin.

Indie was dimly aware of Jax’s hand, softly tracing patterns across her shoulders and back. It felt so soothing.

So loving.

She sighed contentedly, and allowed herself to be engulfed in the clouds of swirling emotions. She knew that the difficult realities that lie ahead were still there, tapping their fingers impatiently, waiting for them to recover. However, for the moment, she was going to ignore them.

But it soon became clear, that something was different.

As she lay quietly, she noticed the clear sound of Jax’s heartbeat; steady, strong and regular.

“How strange,” she thought. “It’s not as if I have my ear pressed to his chest.” Actually, she had ended up on her belly, face pressed into the pillow. Her hands had always been warm, but now she could actually feel heat pulsing out from her palms.

Not a sweaty, nasty heat, but a powerful warmth she somehow knew would bring a more impressive healing comfort to the suffering than she had previously given. There was also now a strong sense of serenity within her; a confidence from knowing with certainty her true destiny.

She felt Jackson roll over fully, to shape himself to the curve of her back, and he pulled her close.

Well,
I
suppose
the
days
will
be
full
of
surprises
for
the
both
of
us,
as
we
become
privy
to
the
full
range
of
our
gifts!

His thoughts were now moving fluidly into her own, while his lips trailed kisses from her shoulder to the bend of her elbow. Indie’s brow creased in concentration. She could feel her heightened senses. Her hearing, amazing before, was amplified further.

From the skin-to-skin contact she shared with Jackson, she could sense his perfect health. A complete lack of inflammation or disrupted cellular growth. She was also slowly gleaning an uncomfortable feeling coming from the mind of her
Equal
.

A sharp instinct, warning of something horrible swirling its way toward them both. She cringed, feeling the hair on her body rise, goose bumps appearing everywhere.

“Jax?” Indie spoke out loud, her voice strangled with a sudden unnamed fear.

“It’s true.” Jackson responded reluctantly. “I can feel a danger. A plot building that will bring about . . . unpleasant events.”

Indie spun around to face him. “What is it, then? What can we do?” “Nothing, for the moment,” he answered, speaking with deliberate thought, cradling her close to his chest. “This plot is still unfolding, and we must bide our time until we understand it fully.”

With a swift kiss, he moved her back, and brought his head down to look her in the eye. “Know this. Whatever happens, I will not let any harm come to you, and I will battle for those that you love!” he reassured her.

Indie stared back at him, swallowing the sudden terror she felt. Placing her hand to his face, she nodded her head.

She did trust in his vow to protect her. She reluctantly pulled away, leaving the bed. Jackson followed. They showered and redressed in casual comfy clothing. The afternoon was ending, and they had no need to leave.

They spent the next several hours locked together in the big suede chair, communicating silently, and adjusting to their own unique new feelings. The warnings of danger were set aside for the time being, as Jax was certain that they were safe for the night, at least.

Indie mentally prepared herself for the next day’s challenges, as Jackson regarded her in worshipful silence during this transitional time.

As the sun began to set, Jackson disentangled himself from Indie’s grip very gently and stood, pulling her up along with him.

“Come,” he spoke aloud. “I have much to tell you, and even more to show you. We should begin at once!” Indie’s eyes were clear, bright and expectant as she looked at him with complete trust.

“Yes.” She whispered softly. “I am ready!”

Chapter 19

Shawn pulled his car into the parking lot of the diner. In keeping with her typical scofflaw ways, Lockhart’s car was parked in the handicapped space near the front door.

He closed his eyes and shook his head.

“Yeah, real classy, Cassandra!” He exhaled with irritation.

The woman disgusted him, although he couldn’t put his finger on exactly why, aside from her blatant disregard for anyone other than herself. It wasn’t as if Shawn had never seen less attractive women in his life, but for some reason, looking at this one for too long made him nearly physically sick.

Her infatuation with him was no secret either, in spite of his continued act of ignorance. It was the main reason he had decided that she should be the one to help him hatch this plot. There wasn’t much Cassandra wouldn’t do to improve her chances for a little game of one-on-one, Shawn was willing to bet.

He suppressed a shudder of revulsion. Not that there was any chance of that happening,
ever!

There wasn’t enough tequila in Tijuana to get him near that.

Stepping from his car, Shawn cursed as he sank ankle deep in the muddy parking lot.

March, in the great state of Vermont, was a truly awesome experience. Otherwise known as mud and black fly season.

Sweet
. No wonder Lockhart had parked practically on the walkway.

He extracted a small roll of Tums from his pocket, as he prepared himself for both the brutal assault on his senses from Agent Lockhart, as well as the rare treat of diner food that he was going to indulge in for supper tonight.

Maybe a little greasy, but good.

If any of his snobby friends found out, he would deny it to his dying breath, but Shawn loved their Sheppard’s pie. It was killer here.

It should be worth the extra hour it would require at the gym to work it off.

Shawn tossed the small pink tablet into his mouth and worked at grinding it into the dusty-tasting paste that was a part of his every waking hour. He tilted the cylinder-shaped roll and squinted at the wrapper.

Cherry flavor.

Right.

Shawn’s sensitive stomach was about to be put through a hellacious ordeal; diner food in tandem with Lockhart.

Good
God!

Meeting with Lockhart was an unavoidable necessity right now, but Shawn couldn’t help thinking how much he’d rather be out doing his usual Friday night thing; cruising the clubs of Stowe, and disturbing the peace of every female around, by his very presence. He paused, thinking wistfully of all the activity he was likely to miss out on, all in the name of duty.

But
it
will
all
be
worth
it
in
the
end,
won’t
it?
Just
think
of
it
as
a
working
tribute
to
mashed
potatoes
and
gravy,
right?

He just hoped that he could still enjoy the treat while looking at her bulging eyes, watering at him suggestively. Shawn took one more, just to be safe.

As he picked his way carefully through the mud, Shawn heaped silent curses upon the head of the plow-guy for this establishment. You would think after being in operation for almost one hundred years, they might have found a way to scrape the slush, mud and melted gunk off of the damn parking lot.

Pausing at the front door, he scraped as much of the mess from his shoes as he could manage. He spied her, waving from a booth near the back of the restaurant, and rolled his eyes. Yeah, good thing she was back there with the hand gestures. God knows, he never would have found her otherwise, in that tiny little dining room.

Shawn buried his irritation, and fixed a grin on his handsome face. He knew how to work her.

“Hey there, Cassandra. Lookin’ good, sweetie!” He restrained his desire to laugh at her obvious “come hither” outfit.

Agent Lockhart had transformed herself into something resembling a pole dancer on break.

“Yeah, eat your heart out, Baker,” she purred, tossing her head, but looking pleased. She smiled a big toothy smile at him, and Baker winced. There was pink lip-gloss on her teeth.

Shaking off his revulsion, he took a steadying breath and reassembled the sincere looking smile as he slid into the seat across from her. She reeked of cigarettes and a potent amount of a sharply unpleasant perfume.

As Shawn struggled not to gag, he reminded himself how important she was to his plan. Cassandra Lockhart was his candidate of choice not only because she would bleed just to get closer to him, but also because of her nonchalant attitude toward rules and the law in general.

She got off on using her status for bullying the good citizens of Earth, to get out of speeding tickets and most especially to intimidate local law enforcement. For reasons Shawn didn’t understand, Lockhart seemed to have a real problem with cops.

But she would have no problem going along with the most unthinkable of plans, if there was something in it for her. Or if she thought there was.

“So.” She got right down to business. “What is this career making coup that you’re about to pull off?”

“Well brace yourself,” he replied, grateful that there would be no need for small talk. “I have found us a few
Society
Members
!”

“Society Members?”

Cassandra drew back her lips in a grimace, which Shawn guessed meant that she was digesting this information. She did not work in his department, and wasn’t fully educated about these creatures, but he knew that she had heard about them, and no doubt, the direct instructions to find another.

“Are you sure about that, Baker? I thought that they were, like, really rare. We only got the word yesterday about looking for another. And, what did you say . . .
a
few
?”

“That’s right.” Baker replied casually, picking up a menu in an effort to deliberately keep his eyes distracted from the woman across from him.

“Where—when . . . .” she began excitedly, looking around and spotted an elderly gentleman looking at her curiously from the next booth. “What are you staring at, Methuselah?” she snapped, rudely.

The old man shrugged.

“Keep your nose at your own table, then!”

“Yeah, okay. You’ve got lipstick on your teeth . . . .” the old man shot back, before returning to his coffee and paper.

Shawn coughed quickly to hide his laughter at the old man’s moxy. Cassandra snarled, enraged, and suddenly, he was a little afraid for the outspoken senior citizen. He decided to get her back on track, quickly.

“Listen, we don’t have time for you to play with the locals, okay? I need you to help me with a plan. A plan that will get them all together where we can snap them up fairly easily.”

Palms down on the formica table, he leaned in closer, fighting his facial features to avoid having a lip-curling look of disgust accidentally pop up while he was looking at her. “I don’t want anyone else in on this, understand? You and me, that’s it. We don’t need anyone one else horning in on this haul!”

This idea quickly recaptured Lockhart’s attention. “What do you have in mind?”

“Well.” Baker drew another head clearing breath. “First you should know, there are children involved.”

“So?” she returned, harshly.

“Will’s kids.”

“Will? As in your partner, Will?” Cassandra demanded, incredulous.

“Yeah. It’s his wife who is one of the things we are hunting . . . his wife, and her boyfriend, who she ran off with yesterday!”

She grinned her nastiest grin. “Kinky!”

Baker swallowed down the acid rising from his stomach. It was true, he was willing to do whatever it took to get what he wanted, but damn, he didn’t take the glorious pleasure that she seemed to get out of the thought of bringing down one of their own. The unethical feel of the idea did
bother
him, at least.

That had to make him better than she was, didn’t it?

“So.” She was speaking again. “Where do the brats fit in with the plan?”

“They will be the bait; the incentive to get them out of hiding. This will be where you come in. Will’s mother is keeping the kids for the weekend. You are going to go pick them up, telling her that you were sent by Will.”

“And suppose she doesn’t let me take them, without talking to Will first?”

They paused the conversation as the waitress appeared to take their order. After another furtive glance at agent Lockhart, Shawn decided that he did not trust his stomach after all, and ordered only coffee and a slice of pie. Cassandra ordered a small side salad.

Oh
yeah,
whatever!
He thought to himself, thoroughly annoyed now. Like you’re not just going to go home and down a pint of Ben and Jerry’s!

There was nothing worse than the chicks that pretend they don’t eat, around guys.

They kept the conversation stalled until the she reappeared with the pie, coffee and the tiny bowl of salad and left them alone again.

“So, okay,” Baker began again. “You leave that to me. I will take care of the Will angle, if she gives you any trouble, but I doubt she will. I have met Will’s mom a few times and she’s kind of an airhead. I know Will has complained about how Indie was never really comfortable with his mom watching the kids, because she’s just not a real cautious person.”

“Good. Then what?”

“You will take the kids somewhere, to a motel or something, but listen, it’s important that I don’t know the location.”

“Why should it be secret from you?” Cassandra was confused. This reminded Shawn that she didn’t know much about these creatures’ abilities.

Okay, this was always the hard part.

Shawn thoroughly understood the difficulty people suffered when confronted with the alternative realities that he had come to discover dwelled within this world. Things that most citizens were not inclined to believe.

He leaned forward and whispered urgently. “They can read
minds
, Lockhart! If they get near me, I can’t know where those kids are, until I’m ready for them to know!”

“Read minds?” She guffawed, skeptical.

“Yes. Do not blow this off, Cassandra. Remember, I have dealt with them before. They have all
kinds
of abilities. We don’t even know exactly what we will be dealing with, but they can all dig into your brain, and I want to control the amount of information they can get this way, understand?”

“Whatever you say,” she smirked, still unconvinced.

Well okay, fine.

To hell with it then. At least she wasn’t afraid, and he knew that she would do what he told her regardless, even if she was not a believer.

“Okay.” He sighed. “Bright and early tomorrow morning, you will go to Marie Taylor’s house, grab those kids, and hit the road. You don’t have to go too far, but definitely get out of town. I will contact Taylor and tell him that we have a plan to catch the male . . . the guy Indie took off with. This will keep him in the game because he wants his little wifey back. He thinks that I don’t know that she’s one of
them
, too.”

The waitress strolled by, refilling the two coffee cups as she passed. Shawn doctored his with cream and Splenda before continuing.

“Will unfortunately had a few too many when he brought me into this. He wanted me to help him get this dude out of the picture. I guess his plan was to simply welcome Indie back home. He thinks that he’s been very clever and kept this little interesting fact from me.” He laughed his famous Bart Simpson-like evil laugh.

“There is no way I am not capturing the two of them. At least the two!” He cut his eyes over to Lockhart, pausing dramatically.

“What do you mean, ‘at least’? What else do you have up your sleeve, sugar?”

Baker recoiled mentally from her endearment, but forged on. “I mean that I have reason to believe that when I . . . I mean
we,
bring down Indie and her boyfriend, that we just may have a shot at a couple of others, okay. Let’s just leave it at that, shall we? I’m not 100 percent positive about it yet, so let’s just see what happens!”

Cassandra narrowed her spherical eyes at Baker for a millisecond, and then smiled.

“Alright then baby, let’s go for it!” She reached across the table and grasped Baker’s hand. Involuntarily, he shrank away from her cold and bony fingers, but quickly hid his shock with the pretense of checking his cell phone for messages.