Surprisingly, Jay hadn’t called me into work. I wondered if Gage had something to do with that. I hadn’t had these many days off in a long time. It was nice to finally relax. Gage and I had spent a few days together talking and letting my body heal. My shoulder still hurt but I was getting better. He massaged every part of my body with his. He was very good at what he did.
I woke up reluctant to get out of bed. I laid there letting the sun that streamed through the curtains warm my feet. An hour or so later, I was up and dressed. I knew we had to find Dawn. She was on the loose and causing more problems. Jay found his tires torn to shreds and someone had smashed the front window of the office. Good thing he had bars covering the inside, so no one could gain access to the files on that computer, or even break into the gym.
I was sitting at my vanity, putting on a little moisturizer while thinking about the bitch trying to kill me and harm my friends. Something about our last encounter got my wheels turning. She was filthy and that scent that clung to her, it was unmistakable. Then the dirty piece of trash paper came to mind.
“I know where you are.”
“What’s that?” Gage asked from my bedroom door. I looked at him and his jeans were covered in grease and he was wiping his hands on a red mechanic’s rag.
“I know where Dawn is hiding. At least, I think I do.”
“If you have any idea, we need to call Jay about it.”
“No. I need to go to the office. There is something there I need.”
“Alright. Let’s go,” he said. “I’ll be in the truck.”
My eyes landed on the one thing I needed, the instant we entered the office. “Jay, are you in here?”
“He’s probably in the gym.”
I ripped what I needed off the wall, typed my key code into the keyboard of the old computer, and the door to the gym opened.
“What do you need that old thing for?” he asked as I scanned it and found what I was looking for. “You can get maps on the internet now.”
“I know, but this makes everything easier for everyone to see,” I stated with a smile. I looked down at the location and I knew I was right. “We got you now, bitch.”
We entered the gym but I was stopped in my tracks when I realized how many people were inside. Jay was in the wrestling ring and everybody else was standing outside it, watching him. He seemed to be giving a speech. They were all engrossed in what he had to say.
“What’s going on?” I whispered.
“It’s a pack meeting.”
“Aren’t you pack master? Why aren’t you directing this meeting?”
“Jay takes care of this part of it, I do the rest. Believe me, I’m in charge.”
I thought that was strange. If I were a leader, I sure as hell would be giving the orders. “Are all of these people hellhounds?”
“Yes,” he replied curtly. His energy changed and I could tell he didn’t want to be here.
I observed Jay and the way he addressed the pack. He had a voice you wanted to listen to. You could feel the command. It wasn’t anything like being around Gage. Yes, he was controlling but nothing like Jay. Jay had this pride about him that anyone would envy.
I observed everyone in the room. There had to be twenty people here. Some I recognized from town and others I didn’t. I couldn’t believe some of them were what they were. One of them was a regular at the bar I used to work at years ago. Marie was also in the crowd. I adored the way she watched her man talk. She loved him and clung to every word he said.
My eyes landed on Rayce. My heart fluttered at the sight of his cool physique. I hadn’t realized how much I had missed seeing him. As if he could feel me watching, he looked at me, smiled, and winked. My shoulders were suddenly weighed down with Gage’s arm as he wrapped it around me. Rayce laughed and shook his head in disbelief. I had a hard time tearing my eyes away from him as I tried to watch Jay speak to the pack.
“We need to break up into groups of two and start the search. We will not stop until she and her nest are found. Remember, she used to work for me, so she will know where we will look. Inspect places you wouldn’t normally think of,” he said.
I shrugged Gage’s heavy arm off and stepped forward, “Jay I believe I know where she is.”
“Jessica, you shouldn’t be here,” he said a little surprised to see me among the pack.
“I think she has the right. She is a hunter is she not?” Rayce asked. I was surprised he spoke up for me.
Gage stepped forward next, “She is welcome at this meeting, and has the right to speak if she wishes.”
Jay stepped back from his place, “The stage is yours.”
I was nervous to get up in the ring with everyone watching me. Judging me for not being one of them.
Gage stepped up before me, “Most of you have hunted with Jessica.” He was right. I had seen over half the faces here. “She is the one Dawn is after. She knows how she thinks, she also knows what she wants. Please listen to what she has to say.”
“Thanks.” I took a big breath and blew it out hard. I looked into the faces of all the people standing in front of me. Though I knew some of them, I was nervous as hell. I lingered on Rayce and he gave me a nod of approval. “Okay, here we go,” I whispered to myself but I was sure everyone could hear it. “The night Dawn attacked me, I noticed some things about her that made me think she’s at the Blackwater Land Fill.”
“What makes you think that?” one man asked.
“She was filthy and smelled like natural gas,” I explained.
“That could be anything,” A woman stated.
I was beyond nervous now. They were shooting me down but I knew I was right. They all looked at me like I was an idiot.
Jay stepped up, “That’s right. Her father owns a scrap yard near there. She would know the layout. I can’t believe I didn’t think of that before. That’s a very promising lead, Jessica.”
I unfolded the map and put it down on the mat. “Does anyone have a marker or something?”
It was Marie who walked up behind me and handed me the pen. She watched as I circled the location I believed Dawn was hiding. It wasn’t far at all. About twenty minutes away from the office.
“Excellent, Jessica,” Jay said and took the map in order to show the others. Marie tapped me on the shoulder. I looked over at her and she had her signature smile to her lips.
“Hey, girl.”
“Hey. Thanks for the pen.”
“Listen, I’m sorry for slamming you around a while back. I didn’t know how to control myself,” she explained sheepishly.
I shrugged my shoulders, “It’s ok, no harm was done.” I had to be nice to her, she is one of us. I wasn’t too sure about that quote because all of these people belonged to a pack and I was the human outsider.
“We need to plan this out. We as a pack will locate and survey the location.” He looked to me. “We will meet up in a few days.”
I nodded my head and exited the ring. When I stepped down, my foot caught the fabric and I slipped. Someone caught me before I could hit the hard floor.
“Shit,” I huffed a little embarrassed. When I finally found my footing, I looked up into his eyes. Rayce. My entire soul flipped as we looked at each other. I stumbled over my words. “Umm.”
“Thank you?” he asked in a teasing tone.
“Yeah. Thank you.” I giggled a little and realized his hands were still lingering on my hips. His touch gave me a pleasing shiver and I wanted to kiss him in that instant. I finally woke up out of my trance and reluctantly pushed his hands away from the intimate touch I craved. “See, ya, Rayce.”
“See you soon, Jessica,” he said deeply and I turned to walk away from him. I scanned the crowd for Gage. Finally spotting him, I made my way through the people. When I grew closer, I froze.
What I saw was a woman rubbing her hands up his chest. What the hell? She was rubbing her body on him like she was a cat in heat. He didn’t seem too bothered by her touching him until he saw me. “Stop!”
I could hear everything, even if they were being as quiet as they could. “Come on, baby. Why haven’t you called me? It’s been days,” she complained.
I was embarrassed. I looked around the room at everyone and they all seemed engrossed in the search, other than Rayce. He watched the entire thing play out with complete disgust on his face. I felt sick. I couldn’t believe this was happening to me.
The tramp had her hands all over his body, and her skinny little hands with the hot pink nails started to move south against him. I couldn’t take it anymore. I wasn’t going to do this again. I walked up to the two of them, snatched her hand off him, and pushed her back. She looked at me and then to Gage. “Who the hell does this bitch think she is?” she snapped.
“This is Jessica.”
“Only Jessica? Am I not your girlfriend?”
“Jess,” he tried to talk but I stopped him.
“And who the hell are you?”
Gage didn’t give her a chance to answer, “This is Jade. My ex-girlfriend,” he explained.
This was embarrassing, to say the least. Of course, his ex was a hellhound. I cut her a dirty look, “Then why in the hell does she have her hands all over you?”
“Because, he’s mine, bitch,” she growled and bared her teeth as she snarled. She put her hands on her narrow hips. She was wearing hot pink stretch pants, an off the shoulder shirt with tacky flowers all over it, and high heels. She actually reminded me of Dawn in a way. Her hair was a nasty grease pit. She looked like she belonged on a pole or on a corner for that matter. Her skin looked like boiled chicken, pale and dead. Her hip bones looked as if they were going to protrude through the stretchy material of her pants. She was a skeleton with skin.
“Jade, I don’t want you anymore. We broke up, IT’S OVER!”
Gage was looking down at her and put his arm around me. She looked up at him and I could see she was heartbroken. She looked at his arm around me and hate filled her face. She wanted to kill me. I couldn’t guarantee I would win but I was down for a fight if it came down to it.
“Oh, I get it,” she smiled.
“That’s a good thing,” I announced.
“This is the bitch you’re staying with now, huh?” she asked. “Did he tell you he was with me a few nights ago?” she asked, shaking her head with attitude.
I was shocked and shrugged out from under the weight of his arm. My mind was racing with the thought that I wasn’t good enough for him. I probably shouldn’t believe her but he did have a habit of taking off in the middle of the night. Gage looked like he was choking on a chicken bone.
“Jade, you need to shut the fuck up,” he commanded. He looked down at her with disgust and hate in his eyes. His face changed colors in an instant. He went to his tan color to a fire red, his breathing became deeper, and his nostrils flared. I have never seen him like this before. This side of him he hid well around me, I guess he had been hiding a lot of things from me, as I had suspected all along.
“Why should I? You came to my house and used your key to get in. You climbed in bed and said that no one could turn you on like me, and then we made love.”
“I said shut the fuck up, bitch,” he growled.
“You said you missed and loved me,” she said with tears in her eyes.
My jaw dropped, I looked to him and he couldn’t deny it, and he didn’t. I turned to her, “He isn’t worth your tears. Men like him never are,” I said cutting him a loaded look.
“Bitch, he is mine,” she snapped.
All my fight for our relationship was gone in a snap. “You can have him, honey,” I scoffed and walked away.
I left the gym and all my embarrassment behind as I began to walk toward home. Tears of betrayal flowed down my cheeks. I sniffled, “You have been here before, Jessica. Grow up.”
This only made me think about the last jerk I was with. He cheated on me and left me for another girl. Gage knew all about that. I told him everything, well, almost everything. I couldn’t bring myself to tell him about the pregnancy I had to abort. I was heartbroken after that happened, I never told anyone about it. Not even my mother knew and I told her everything about my relationship with Mr. Nobody.
“He is so full of shit! I hate men, I hate him!” I growled as I walked.
I heard the truck behind me. I looked back, expecting to see Gage coming after me, but it was someone else. I stopped walking and waited as they stopped on the shoulder. I was cold. My teeth chattered as I watched Rayce jump down out of the truck. He walked into the headlights, drowning out his features as he approached me. My body shook as he placed a heavy Carhart jacket around me.
“Thank you.”
His lips curved up in a tender smile, “Would you like a ride?”
I nodded as I shivered. It was beginning to sleet and I could see my breath in the air. “Please.”
He opened the passenger door for me and helped me inside. He had the heat on already and it felt great. I buckled my seatbelt and we started toward my house. I looked out of the window the whole time. I thought about things and I realized when Gage came to live with me was when everything got all messed up. I couldn’t believe I had opened my heart to him, I let my guard down when I told myself not to. I am my number one priority and I lost that to his seductive ways. His late-night kisses and sex. His words touched me and I thought they wouldn’t.
“What’s wrong with me?” I looked over to Rayce and shook my head in disbelief.
“Absolutely nothing.”
“How could I have been so stupid?”
“Gage has a way of slithering himself in. You are not the only one to suffer from his choices,” he scoffed and kept his beautiful brown eyes on the road.
“Leave it to me to trust a guy. What a dumbass.”
“Not all are like him, Jessica. I’m not like him.”
“I’m sorry. I know not all men are that way, but I sure do know how to pick them, don’t I?”
My cell phone rang but I ignored it.
“Are you going to get that?”
“No. I know who it is and I have no desire to talk to him.” My blood was boiling and my face burned in embarrassment. I couldn’t believe he did that to me, in front of everyone. My phone continued to ring but I couldn’t bring myself to answer it. Rayce stopped at the stoplight in town and as we waited, another ringing started. I looked at my body but it wasn’t my phone I was hearing. “It’s not mine.”
He smiled and leaned over, “Excuse me.” He pulled the jacket open and fished his phone out of the inside pocket. If I were in a better mood, I would have relished in our closeness. He swiped his thumb across the screen and pressed it to his ear. “Yeah.”
I could clearly hear Gage on the other end. “What does he want?”
Rayce smiled and shook his head as he listened. The light turned green and he drove toward my home. The entire time Gage was yelling at him, I was watching his reactions. Rayce didn’t have a care in the world. He put the phone down in his lap as he pulled into my driveway. I couldn’t help but giggle. He smiled and winked at me. His eyes were a gorgeous shade of chocolate. His smile was kind. I could see why I thought he didn’t like me. He seemed pleased to help me tonight.
“No, I don’t think she wants to talk with you.” My heart jumped. I cringed. “Matter of fact, I know she doesn’t.” He pulled the phone away from his mouth and began to mock Gage’s raging on the other end. I laughed softly. “I don’t have time for this. I’m driving.” He hung up the phone and looked over at me.
“Umm…thank you, Rayce.”
“He’s a dick.”
“No, I meant, for the ride.”
“Do you have my number?”
“No.”
“Get your phone out and put my number in your contacts. If you need me, for any reason, just call.”
“Oh, ok,” I said a little baffled by his offer. I couldn’t imagine why I would call him. I pulled out my phone and noticed Gage attempted to call eighteen times. Rayce gave me his number and I saved it. “Thanks again, Rayce.”
“No problem at all.” I hopped out of the T&J work truck but he stopped me before I could close the door. “Lock your doors tonight and I’m serious, call me if you need anything.”
“I will. See ya.”
I unlocked my back door but watched Rayce as he pulled away. In a million years, I would have never imagined Rayce being so kind to me. He flashed his lights at me before driving away. I should have given him my number in return.
I was beyond hurt and wanted nothing but to lock myself away from the world and lick my foolish wounds. I checked all the door locks, though Gage had a key to get it, he didn’t have one to my bedroom. I locked myself inside and stripped my clothes. I showered quickly and climbed into bed after taking an over-the-counter sleep aid. I needed rest. Tank was sleeping at my feet and before too long, I was as well.
Lips brushed mine gently. I could feel a weight on my right as the lips pressed into mine softly at first. I couldn’t open my eyes. They were exhausted with sleep. The weight shifted on the bed but I still couldn’t wake up as the tender mouth moved down my neck. Rayce’ adorable face played in my mind. If I were dreaming, I would enjoy it. As a tongue slipped against my throat, I lifted my hands to the body with me. It was hard and the heat was immense.
My shirt lifted, exposing my breasts to the air and an eager mouth. A pair of lips latched onto my nipples one by one. They tightened painfully but I loved it. My legs fell open and the hard body nestled between them. I drifted back to sleep for a moment but could feel everything. My sweatpants were removed, along with my cotton panties.
The sleep aid I took had a vise grip on me, I couldn’t wake. I wanted to but my mind continued to drift in the way of Rayce. I had to be dreaming. Soft kisses were placed along the inside of my thigh and slid closer to my heated core. My legs were shaking in anticipation. Finally, the hot mouth kissed me there.
“Mmm,” I whimpered as a skilled tongue began to flick my swollen mound. I gripped a handful of hair and held it there. I was moaning in pleasure. Suddenly, I was filled with two fingers. My toes curled as I imagined him between my thighs. “Yes, Rayce.”
Everything stopped. “What the fuck did you say?” Gage’s voice filled my ears. I was awake in an instant and froze. “You thought that asshole was here eating your pussy?”
“Gage?” I shoved him away and sat up. My head spun slightly. “How in the hell did you get in here? My door was locked.”
“I have my ways.”
I could hear the smile on his face. My eyes were tired and swollen. I couldn’t see him in the darkness. I felt his weight shift and he was on top of me again.
“Stop, Gage. Get off me.” I tried to push him away but he was too heavy. His mouth was greedily kissing my mouth and neck. “Stop!”
“You belong to me, Jess. You are mine,” he growled against my skin.
While shoving, I kicked my feet, trying to get him off. I felt him removing his pants. This couldn’t be happening. I had to wake up.
“Gage, get off me, now!”
Damnit, I wasn’t going to be raped in my own bed. Tank was barking but wasn’t in the room. Gage had locked him out and he was now clawing at the door. Gage was trying to pin me down but I was fighting with everything I had. He began to thrust against my already slick middle but I evaded his pursuit as much as possible. He was getting off on the simplest act.
“You will always be mine.” I was struck with a deafening pain on my shoulder. I bellowed a scream as his teeth ripped through the tender flesh. “Oh, yes.” His body stopped moving as he released against my thigh.
His weight pressed me into the bed but he wasn’t fighting me anymore. I reached to the bedside table and grabbed the first thing my fingers came in contact with, the lamp. He lifted his head from my bleeding shoulder and I hit him as hard as I could. He toppled to my left and I scurried out of the bed. He became enraged with me and lunged. I would never have thought he could move that fast. I was lying on the floor with him on top of me. One rough hand wrapped around my throat and the other struck my face so hard, I saw stars.
“You will learn to respect me, bitch.” He struck me again, splitting my lip. My face was already beginning to swell. I had been beaten up plenty of times by my ex but it was nothing like this. Gage’s punch was like being hit by a truck. “You will not ever embarrass me in front of my pack, and you will never mention Rayce again.”
He took my hair in his hand tightly. I hissed against the pain as he lifted me to my feet. His free hand slapped my cheek. I placed my hands on his shoulders, trying to push him away, holding him off the best I could.
“Who the fuck are you?”
“I’m your future,” he growled close to my face and kissed my sore lips.