Jackie walked into the house and started for her room without a word. During the walk, they’d agreed to let Brent order pizza while she took a shower.
Eddie followed her into her room as her phone rang. She answered it quickly. “Hey, Mike.”
“What’s going on with Jared?”
“He’s a vampire now. Sidra and Clive have him. He, um… shit.” She took a slow breath and forced the words out. “Seems they played with him before changing him. Right now, he’s not himself. He tried to attack me, but I froze him. Before we could call you guys, Sidra showed up and took him away.”
“Took him away?”
“Yeah. Don’t know what happened to him, but he’s gone.”
“Shit. Okay, I’ll see what I can do to track him down. Are you all right?”
“Yeah. Eddie and Brent are with me. Brent’s staying the night.”
Eddie’s hand closed over her shoulder in support. Their conversation was coming sooner than not.
“You don’t sound so sure, Jackie. What else is going on?”
“Fuck, it doesn’t matter. Tonight, Jared tried to bite me. I stopped him. Can we leave it at that?”
“Okay. You have me worried.”
“Find him. He needs help before he hurts someone.”
“Will do. Stay safe, Jackie.”
“I’ll try.” She tossed her phone on the bed.
Eddie turned her toward him. “Talk to me. What happened that night with Jared? Why does Stefano know, but I don’t?”
“Think he read Jared’s mind. I sure as hell didn’t tell him.”
“How?”
“Some vampires can read minds. Or Jared told him, but I don’t think so.”
He stared into her eyes with tender emotion. “Okay. What happened?”
Jackie sat on the bed. He sank down beside her, and she shifted to look into his eyes. “I was feeling sorry for myself the night of Scotty and Jayde’s party. Kim had reminded me who you were going home with, and I wanted to think about anyone else for a while. Jared was available, and we’d been flirting since we met.”
“Did he force anything?”
She looked away. “Not exactly. I was into everything until he cuffed me. He got me off, and I couldn’t think before he blindfolded and gagged me.” Her eyes squeezed shut. “Brent’s right, I climaxed, a lot, that night. Somewhere along the way I wanted it to end, but couldn’t tell him. He didn’t hurt me, and I did enjoy most of it, but restrained wasn’t how I wanted to spend my night.”
“You wanted him though?”
She nodded. “Not like that, but yes. It went too far and I’ll never want him again. I don’t hate him. It was out of control, but the last thing I said was yes, so really, he wasn’t totally in the wrong. He doesn’t deserve whatever Sidra did to him, what she will do to him.”
“And Brent?”
“He came in to check on me, knowing I went home with Jared. Not sure if he felt the magic, or knew something was off. I’ve never been so mortified in my life. Everything stopped, and I heard a thump.” She rubbed at her arms and swallowed. “The blindfold came off and Brent had tears in his eyes. He took me out of there, cleaned me up, and brought me home. Thankfully, while you were out with Kim.”
“I would have done whatever you needed.”
She winced, hating what she was about to admit. “I didn’t want you to know. You would have hurt him, and I don’t totally blame Jared. I mean, I had every intention of fucking him. That wasn’t the problem.”
He swept her hair behind her ear and softly asked, “You’re all right though?”
“I am.”
Eddie pulled her into his lap. “And he got the awakening started?”
“That’s what Brent said.”
He nudged her face up. “Hey, it sucks you can’t trust him, and that he pushed beyond your comfort zone, but I get it. I won’t kill him next time I see him.”
A sad laugh escaped. “I don’t hate him. I wanted him. And the crazy thing is we didn’t actually get to the sex.”
Eddie frowned, his brow wrinkling. “I understand to a degree—like the other morning. If you hadn’t stopped me, I would have made love to you. And at that point, it probably would have fucked with both our heads later.”
“Yeah, we need to figure out where we both stand. I have to admit though, I only stopped you because I was sure you would hate me for letting you go there.”
“Never could hate you, Angelfish.” He gave her a strained smile. “And Jared’s a fucking moron. He didn’t listen, but Jackie, this isn’t your fault. I appreciate wanting you so bad all thought flies out the window, but he should have listened.”
“You listened, once I woke you up.”
“The other morning—shit… the look of terror on your face, I was sure I’d lost you forever.”
“I believed it was Kim you thought you were with, not me.”
“Which is why I’m glad you stopped me. We’re in a better place because of your control. And when we’re ready, I am going to take my time and love you the way you want.”
She leaned in to graze her lips over his. “Thank you, Eddie.”
“Go get your shower. I’ll keep Brent company.”
She climbed out of his lap and grabbed a pair of shorts and tank before heading to the bathroom.
* * * *
Eddie watched her go, wanting to follow. The urge to beat the shit out of Jared nearly overwhelmed him. And yeah, he sort of got it, but he couldn’t understand how the fuckwad kept going if she wanted him to stop.
He took a deep breath and managed to walk calmly into the living room where Brent sat. She’d said Brent was in tears over it. Whatever he saw had to have been bad.
A new fury licked through him. “Why the fuck did you let Jared live?” Eddie growled.
Brent rubbed at his face. “Eddie, they were halfway to sex by the time they stumbled into my place. I didn’t anticipate he was going to lose his damned mind and push things past what she could handle. They’d stumbled in, hands all over, undressing each other, the whole nine yards. They were so engrossed they didn’t even realize I was standing there. So, I went to see Tiana, figuring Jackie knew what she was getting into. By the time I came back, her magic was flaring. I opened the door. If I had expected the look of terror on her face, or the tears, I would never have left.”
“Again, how the fuck did you not kill him?”
“It’s complicated for sirens and nymphs. Their magic elevates passions, and he didn’t actually fuck her. He never got his dick in her because he gets off on watching his partner come, over and over again. And he’s pretty torn up about the fact he scared the shit out of her.”
“He didn’t seem so torn up tonight.”
“It wasn’t sex he wanted. He needed her blood, and he knew how to get her off, so yeah, he intended to touch her. Sex and feeding often go hand-in-hand for vampires, though normally they refrain from drinking Other blood. He’s too new to know the difference.”
Eddie closed his eyes, clenching his hands into fists. “I don’t understand how you let him live.”
“Almost didn’t. Problem is, he’s part fairy struck. Toryn and Scotty are trying to find a way to break the enthrallment without directly involving Jackie, because she’d have to get him off to make him go away.”
“And you haven’t told her this?” Eddie barked.
“She’s not going to let him near her again. The only other cure is time, letting it fade. Though with him being a Shadowstalker, it’s going to be worse.”
“I’m not sure I won’t kill him.” Eddie dropped onto the couch and pushed his hands through his hair. “I don’t understand.”
“Jackie begged me not to kill him. Part of her understands, even if you don’t.”
“This is so fucked up.”
“Which is why she didn’t want you to find out.”
“Shit.” He punched the cushion. “I teased her about Jared the other day. Asked why she didn’t want anything to do with him and she shrugged it away.”
“She didn’t want you to gut him.”
“He didn’t hurt her? I saw Jared. Someone marked his body.”
Brent shook his head. “No, he didn’t leave a mark on her. He focused on making her come, and from what I understand, he knows what cues to read to achieve that, but he wasn’t paying attention to her fear. Not sure if he thought he could get her past it, or what. He understands if he ever does anything she doesn’t invite again, he won’t live through it.”
“Okay.” He sucked in a breath and let it out. “I hate that she was scared and didn’t tell me.”
“I thought you’d kill him,” Jackie said from the hall, in time for the doorbell to ring.
Brent hopped up to take care of the delivery.
“I won’t touch him. At least, not unless he tries to repeat his stupidity.”
She nodded. “If he repeats it, I’ll kill him. He gets one fuck up in this case, and he’s had it.”
Eddie snorted. “How can you be so blasé?”
“As messed up as that night was, his goal wasn’t to hurt me. Every time I’ve seen him since, he’s tried to apologize and convince me to give him another chance. He doesn’t push when I say no. He lets it go and tries again later. It twists me up because I see how much my reaction hurts him. I should accept his apology so we can both put the discomfort behind us.” She sighed.
His teeth ground together. “And tonight, when he ripped your dress open? You’re okay with that?”
“No, you saw I froze him solid. I’m not messing around. I won’t let him get me in a situation where I can’t argue and can’t protest again. But tonight, that wasn’t him. That was the thirst driving him. They changed him last night. I bet he hadn’t even fed yet. So, of course, he was going to go for someone’s throat.”
His brow arched. “Sorry. I have a hard time accepting that. Not sure how much you heard, but the thought of you bound and frightened…” He shook his head. “I hate it.”
She moved to him, and pulled him to a stand. “I heard enough to know that you care about me and what happens.”
“More than care, Jackie.” He combed his fingers through her damp hair.
She pressed tighter, pulling his mouth to hers. He couldn’t resist. His hands curled around her, pulling her against his body. He didn’t break the connection until she pulled back, her eyes locked on his.
“Sorry I didn’t tell you,” she whispered.
“Eh, you’re right. I might have killed him. I get why you didn’t want Brent to. Doesn’t mean I’m going to forgive him anytime soon, but I’ll try.”
She sighed. “Go change while I get plates for dinner.”
He kissed her one more time before going down the hall.