Page 20 of Tainted Gifts
She rubs her hand over her mouth like she does when she’s in deep thought, and then she takes a step back from the glass while sliding her gun free from her holster.
“No weapons. He’s a loner, but not because he wants to be. The fugitive lifestyle he’s had has forced him to be that way. He’s lonely, and I think that’s why he came so willingly. He’s ready for this to end. He wants to connect with someone, and I’m going to be that person. But I can’t do that if he goes on the offense.”
She hands her gun to Uncle Brazen, and he tucks it into the back of his jeans before pulling her to him for a much too showy kiss.
Ew.
Jase smirks, and his hand slides down my back as he moves to stand beside of me again. His cool touch lingers, setting me ablaze with such a small maneuver.
Crap.
I have to stop thinking.
He smiles - smug bastard - and then his eyes cut to my mother as she leaves the room. His seriousness returns, and he drops his hand from my back as he leans against the backrest of a chair.
Mom walks into the room with Kellan, wearing her short, showy dress swishing across her legs with the dazzle of a salsa dancer. She’s so good, and Kellan doesn’t stand a chance against her. I just hope she backs off without going after this threat.
“I won’t let her go after it,” Jase whispers into my ear, his delicious breath bringing the chills to the surface of my body. “I promise you that.”
My strength only wavers more, but I clear my throat and my mind as I stare straight ahead.
“So, Kellan-” she pauses to step beside him, and her body slides across the table so that her legs dangle between his “-how long has it been since you’ve been able to sit down and just rest?”
He shrugs indifferently, his lips refusing to answer her with anything but silence.
“I’m sure it’s been hard. Personally, I need peace more than anything to keep my sanity. Here you are, finally resting. You’re not looking over your shoulder, you’re not worried about your next move… all you have to do is just rest.”
He smirks, and I swear his eyes look through the glass to find mine. He looks away just as my mother cranks up her heat.
She slides down to straddle his lap, and her fingers stroll through his soft, tousled locks as she intentionally lets her breath find his lips.
“It’s not easy to go so long without someone to talk to, to confide in… to touch,” she seduces.
I swear the men in the room are dissolving right now, and then I feel Jase’s fingers strolling over the sparrow tattoo on my back. I tense up, but he doesn’t stop his tracing pattern.
“Stop,” I whisper softly, but he doesn’t even acknowledge I’ve spoken.
Stop!
He ignores my mind just as he did my mouth. I roll my eyes, and then I turn them back to my mother while trying to block out his touch - my sense of feeling shutting down to relieve me of his cool burning sensation.
“I’ve been there,” my mother continues to her quiet victim. “I’ve been in situations where it felt like there was no one I could trust. When I finally found a friend, I was relieved.”
Her lips trail up his neck, but he actually starts laughing instead of crumbling under her seductive web. There’s something so familiar about the sound of his laughter - a warming familiarity.
She stands up and fumes exude from her body once she feels utterly rebuffed. She storms out of the room to come regroup, and the fearless, impenetrable man just laughs harder while shaking his head.
“He’s gay,” she barks when she storms in to join us. “Find a male interrogator.”
Everyone moves their eyes away from the pissed off, scorned hybrid as she takes her place by the smirking Uncle Brazen. He mocks her playfully by pretending to soothe her burns.
She rolls her eyes while stifling a grin. Jase doesn’t seem amused though.
“He’s not gay. Before he went rebel, he was a womanizing legend. I’ve read everything there is about him. If he was gay, I’d know it.”
“If he’s not gay, then I’ve really lost my touch.”
She almost pouts, and my Uncle Brazen leans over to kiss his sulking wife.
