Page 113 of Taking Jenny
She bit her lip, her eyes flashing with defiance and desire. Then she crossed her arms, sulking in the most tempting way imaginable. “You’re a bastard.”
I chuckled. “You say that like it’s new information.”
She huffed a disgruntled sigh. “So what now?”
“Now?” I took her chin, tilting her face to mine. “We head home.”
“And then?”
Her breath hitched when I brushed my lips across hers, just enough to tease, not enough to satisfy. “Then,” I whispered, “I’ll fuck you both until neither of you can walk in a straight line tomorrow.”
CHAPTER 34
Jenny
After everything I’d endured since arriving on Orhon, it was easy to use ‘being exhausted’ as an excuse to bail on the rest of the party.
Surge, Longshot, and Discord decided to join us, much to my mild annoyance. I had hoped for some alone time in the onworlder with Tiger and Mal. My skin still buzzed with adrenaline, tension, and lust. I needed them. Needed to burn some of this wild energy off in the best way possible.
Instead, I sat cramped in the rearmost seat beside Tiger, too revved up to sit still, too aware of every inch between us. His fingers threaded through mine, his warmth steady and grounding in the dark. He didn’t speak, but the smile on his face said enough, that quiet contentment that always melted me just a little more.
As the blackened scenery rolled by, my eyes fell on the mountain of the hunting ground where I had come close to deathso many times. Where Illiamor haunted. Where countless other women did, too.
“Are you alright?” Tiger asked in a hushed tone, as if he could feel the shift in my energy.
“Yes, why?”
“You have the strangest look on your face, and you shuddered. Are you cold?” He started to remove his jacket.
“No, I’m fine,” I insisted. “Keep your jacket. I’ll tell you later.”
He paused, studying me like he didn’t quite believe me, then nodded anyway. I snuggled against his arm, trying to tear my eyes away from that awful mountain. I had no idea how to help the ghosts, but I knew a few people who might. No contacting them just yet, though. They were all on Halla and had no idea the ordeal I’d just been though.
I also wasn’t naïve enough to think I could make contact without being watched. Justice had made it plain that I was going to be in the public eye from now on and hinted at a secret security detail tokeep me safe. What else could I tell him, but thank you? If I had said anything less than that, he might have killed me.
Every conversation with him was a game of chess where every word, every smile, was laced with a threat. A blade beneath velvet. He delighted in the performance, the icy dominance, the lingering stares. He didn’t want just obedience. He wanted my fear. Wanted me to understand he controlled everything and I had no way out.
I was jolted from my unsettling thoughts when the onworlder parked in front of Mal’s mansion, the place I had started to think of as home. Strange that. Tiger gave my hand a squeeze, and we all left the onworlder for the indoors.
As soon as the doors shut behind us, Discord asked me, “How did you manage to take out Pleon so savagely?”
I tried not to think about that gruesome situation. “Honestly, can we save all questions until the morning? I am dying for a bed right now.”
“Fine,” Discord conceded. “But I demand details.”
Mal abruptly lifted me into his arms, and I laughed. “What are you doing?”
He started to carry me down the hallway toward his quarters like a prized possession. “Rescuing you from Discord’s questions.”
Discord huffed indignantly from the foyer. “I just agreed—”
“Nope. I know you and your questions. You’ll start again, and I do not have time for that,” Mal called out. “Tiger, follow me.”
I watched over Mal’s shoulder as Tiger laughed. “I am not at your beck and call, sir.”
A wicked smiled curved Mal’s lips. “Tonight, you are.”
Tiger braced his hands on his hips. “I am not!”
