Page 154 of The Masks She Wore

?He shrugged, his eyes darkening. “I don’t know. I think he and Azrael know more than they will ever say and while that is usually the name of the game, in this case?”

?I could see the anger rolling over his shoulders. I wondered exactly how betrayed he felt by Malachi’s silence. By all of the secrets he had been keeping about me. This job was all about secrets, but from what I understood of the Claim, once that was made, everything about the claimed was supposed to be known to the brother or sister who made the claim.

?After Jack told Malachi that he was going to claim me as his, Malachi was obligated to share everything he knew about me.

?In most cases, nobody would know anything about the claimed. Why would they? We were just some girl or guy the Initiates or the Shadows picked out of the blue, but in this case?

?Malachi should have come clean.

?I wondered how deeply this would affect Zo and Jack’s relationship with him. “What do you think is in that storage locker?”

?He shrugged again. “You don’t remember?”

?I folded one knee over the other. “I remember my mom saying something about gifts. Sometimes important. She was all about contingency plans, so maybe it has to do with my old life. Why would Malachi say he was going to check it and then not?”

?His eyes softened ever so slightly. “I don’t know. I think this time is different. His secrets, the way he’s been acting. Something shifted. Maybe he really did love your mom. Maybe he knows where Marla is and they’re talking about what their next steps should be.”

?I chewed on my bottom lip for half a second before releasing it. “Maybe,” I agreed. Mom and I were partners, but that didn’t mean we didn’t have separate lives. If she was in love with Malachi, good for her, but why stay away for this long? Did she truly have no idea what dad had done to me? And if Malachi was talking to her even now, did she know about Jack?

?My eyes lifted back to his, taking their time as they crawled up his body.

?His jacket was gone, his vest discarded, his tie loose on his neck, and the top few buttons of his shirt undone. God, he looked good.

?When my eyes finally found his, I could see the desire in them. Clearand unabashed. I swallowed, my tongue going dry. I wanted him so terribly. This was the longest we had gone without sex since meeting.

?My thighs tightened together, and I leaned back on one hand. “Are you capable of gentle?” That’s what I needed. I needed him to be gentle. To remind me that his touch was safe even though I knew it deep down in my soul, I needed him to remind my skin.

?His nostrils flared as if he had just caught the scent of blood. “I can go slow,” he answered already walking forward.

?I unfolded my legs on instinct and started slowly backing my way onto the bed, the pain in those still healing cuts shooting down my spine, but they did little to detour me from the completely ravenous look filling Jack’s eyes.

?He crawled onto the bed slowly as I laid down in the center and watched him, my heart racing, my pussy throbbing.

?He slowly slid his right hand over my foot, my ankle, just that warm touch alone causing my head to fall back and my eyes to close.

?Focus. It’s just Jack. Jack Ashrin, my soon-to-be husband. The man I loved.

?His hand trailed up my leg as he made his way over me, sending shivers across my skin, hardening my nipples. He edged that leg up, my other following until they rested on either side of him, my dress pushed up to my hips, his pants grazing against the skin of my inner thighs.

?My eyes opened to find his staring right back at me as if he knew I would need some sort of anchor just in case those memories started creeping their way in.

?He slid his hand down my inner thigh slowly until his fingers grazed over the thin fabric of my thong causing my breath to catch and my back to arch like the hungry whore I was.

?Jack slowly pushed it aside, running a finger up the center of me. “What a good girl you are,” he murmured when he found just how wet I was.

?I swallowed, falling back into the bed, finding his eyes.

?His were all black now, his expression filled with lust. “My beautiful, perfect Princess,” he hummed and slid two fingers in.

?I groaned, bucking my hips against his hand, and he allowed it. He didn’t restrain me as my hands dug into the blankets and my body lurched towards his. He didn’t order me to lay still as he shoved another finger in and picked up his pace. He just watched me. Watched how I reacted to him as he worked me up, changing the motion of his fingers to hit that sweet spot gently as if he wanted me to orgasm slowly.

?I whimpered as I bucked my hips against his hand, pushing myself up onto my toes, trying to get closer when I found his eyes again. “Jack,” I pleaded.

?His throat bobbed, a muscle in his jaw feathering at the sound of his name on my lips. “Yes?”

?I was panting. He was keeping me at the same level. Not moving forward to push me over the edge, but not easing the life-altering torture. “Come here,” I demanded, releasing the blankets and holding open my arms. “Please. Come here.”

?He studied me carefully before he finally lowered himself down to me, keeping one hand inside of me while the other slid above my head.

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