Page 10 of Jackal

A few bunnies got quiet nearby and were obviously eavesdropping. Or maybe it was only one? Hard to tell if I didn’t close one eye.

He looked around and grabbed my wrist. “Come on.”

I smacked at his hand. “No. And seriously, where is my Fireball?” I said over my shoulder.

Lacy walked over and grabbed my hand. “Hey, you okay?”

I pulled my hand away. “I’m fine. But who do I have to fuck to get a shot of Fireball?”

A couple of guys walked to the bar and I laughed but Jackal swung his fiery gaze in their direction, and they stepped back. “Lacy, I’m taking her home,” he said in a low timbre.Did he just growl?

The noise distracted me for a moment, but then I looked over, expecting support from my friend and all she did was nod and walk back to the table. “Lacy, really?”

Suddenly, I was lifted, ass in the air, over his shoulder. “Hey!” I yelled as I started beating on his back.

But he was unbothered by my kicking, hitting, and cursing. The other guys made some comments as he marched me from the clubhouse and outside.

I kept squirming, my limbs flailing wildly but hardly connecting with anything as he kept walking towards the house. One of my heels fell off in transit so I said, “Hey! My shoe! You dropped my shoe!”

“I’ll get it later. Calm down.”

I fully had a snarky rebuttal about him telling me to calm down. But my eyes were unfocused and being slung over his shoulder as he walked had me bouncing around. It was dark and watching the ground shake was making me queasy. Slurring, I said, “You should know, I’m about to be sick.”

Jackal stopped and gently put me down. I toppled over because I only had one shoe, but he quickly grabbed me, righting me. I looked up and closed one eye to focus. “You’re really beautiful, you know. But you make me crazy.”

“I could say the same.” His expression seemed playful, but I could have been imagining that. Everything was blurring together. His strong hands were holding my arms, keeping me steady.

My breath hitched at his words and the look, but the moment was overshadowed by my mouth watering. “Oh my God,” I said before I turned so he couldn’t watch all the Fireball make a grand exit. My eyes watered as I heaved. “Oh shit, that burns,” I said before round two hit. “It’s like rotten Red Hots.”

He grabbed my hair, pulling it away from my face with one hand and rubbing my back with the other as I braced my hands on my knees. I was too busy getting sick to notice anyone else, but Jackal barked, “Get the fuck out of here,” and I heard a few squeals and quick footsteps heading away from us.

My hands shook, but I wiped my mouth with the back of one. “This is so bad,” I said after I was pretty sure I was done getting sick. My head started spinning and I stumbled when I tried to stand.

Jackal lifted me up in his arms, so I put my hand over myface. “I’ll try not to breathe on you.” My head rested against his shoulder, and I did my best to shield the rank Fireball-vomit breath from his nose.

His chest shook with laughter. This was awful. But being carried around wasn’t. His chest was firm, and he held me like I was light as a feather. Like a little bird. I couldn’t smell his normal fragrance of sandalwood with hints of citrus, only foul cinnamon. None of this was how I envisioned being in his arms.

The rest of the walk to Mama Hen’s was quiet and I focused on not getting sick again. Once inside, he walked me upstairs, still not even winded, and I pointed to the room I was staying in.

Mama Hen had insisted on me not sleeping with the bunnies. I didn’t argue with her since sleeping in a twin bed with another woman didn’t sound like fun. I wasn’t a prude, but I slept like a starfish and could barely fit on a twin by myself. It was just her and her daughter in the house on the property and Hawk stayed in another alone.

Jackal placed me on the bed, then pulled my other shoe off. “I’ll grab the other one later,” he said as he put it on the floor.

I was burning up and my head was spinning still. There was no way I could sleep with jeans on, so I started unbuttoning them and pushing them down.

Jackal turned. “Whoa, whoa, whoa.”

“Oh c’mon. I know you’ve seen women in underwear. I can’t sleep in this,” I said as I struggled to get the tight jeans off. “Helpmeeee.”

He turned and grabbed the end of the legs, tugging at them as I pushed. I’d seen my cousins dressing and undressing their toddlers, and this was similar.

Once the jeans were off, I sighed heavily and said, “Freedom.”

“Well, I’m off. I’ll get your shoe back to you.” He grabbed the tiny trash bin from the corner of the room and moved it to the side of the bed.

Rolling on my side to help the spins, I mumbled, “This isn’t exactly what I had in mind when I said I wanted you to take me to bed.”

“Good night, Lil Bird.”

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