Part 21 (1/2)

She must have dozed off. She remembered staring at the wall and fighting the urge to check the clock a dozen times, but at some point she fell asleep, because she jerked awake when she heard the quiet knock at the door.

Marcus woke a second later, but she'd already tumbled off the bed, her attention focused on the door, on the familiar scent outside it and the soft sound of Nick's voice as she mumbled something.

”Mackenzie-”

She ignored Marcus's warning and bolted to the door, her hands shaking as she tore at the chain lock. ”It's them, I can hear them, I can smell them-” Oh G.o.d, and that might be the most disturbing thing ever.

But it didn't matter. She clawed at the lock and yanked open the door. Jackson stood there, looking bone-weary but relieved to see her. She ignored everyone else and flung herself at him, winding her arms around him as she nuzzled her face against his neck.

”Kenzie.” His arms locked around her, and he lifted her off her feet. ”Are you okay?” He spoke quietly but urgently. ”Are you really okay?”

”I am now.” She whispered the words against his jaw and dragged her head back so she could stare at him. ”Are you?”

”Yeah. Yeah, I think so.” He looked past her and his face hardened. ”Marcus Foster, I guess.”

”That's him,” Nick confirmed. ”We met several years ago.”

Marcus straightened his s.h.i.+rt and took a deep breath. ”I remember. h.e.l.lo.”

”Jackson.” She tightened her fingers in his hair and forced his gaze back to her. ”Don't. He had no idea what was going on. When he found out, he risked his life to get me out.”

Nick stepped past them both and favored Marcus with a small smile and an outstretched hand. ”Call me Nick. Want to go downstairs for a drink with me and Alec?”

Marcus cleared his throat. ”Mackenzie?”

She turned her head and met his eyes, recognizing the nervousness and indecision, and underneath the slightest bit of protective concern. ”Nick will take care of you.” Her cheeks heated, but it didn't stop her. ”Did you guys get a room? Jackson and I need to talk, I think.”

Nick coughed. ”We will be on an entirely different floor. Trust me on that.”

Oh, yeah. She was blus.h.i.+ng now. A different heat curled through her, spurred on by the proximity of Jackson's body and sheer, giddy relief at having him safe in her arms. ”Okay. Yeah, you can go with them, Marcus. I'll be okay.” I'll be wonderful. I'll be perfect.

Marcus nodded and grabbed his shoes. ”I'll be at the bar or-or wherever.” He hurried to follow Nick and slammed the door behind him.

Mackenzie drew in a breath and turned back to meet Jackson's eyes again. ”I think they think I'm going to-”

”Yeah.” He rubbed his forehead and sighed. ”We need to talk about what's happened, I guess.”

”G.o.d, Jackson.” She stepped forward and curled her arms around him, soothed instinctively by the warmth of his body and the steady beat of his heart. Holding him felt different now, probably because of the senses she couldn't control yet. The jumble of scents was hard to sort through, but the sharp, metallic smell of blood was unmistakable, and it made her tense. ”Promise me you're okay, first.”

”What? Oh. It's not my blood.” His fingers wove into her hair, and his eyes darkened. ”I can't talk about it right now. If I start thinking about it...”

”Shh.” She kissed the pulse beating too fast in his neck. ”We're here. We're safe. We can talk later. We have a later now-”

His mouth cut off the rest of her words, and he lifted her again. When he lowered her this time, she felt the softness of the bed against her back. His lips stayed on hers, coaxing and caressing. His tongue traced the corner of her mouth and dove inside to stroke over her teeth and tongue.

He kissed her with an expertise that set her heart to racing and shot heat through her. There was nothing slow or tentative about his kiss, nothing of the shy, cautious gentleman who'd taken such pains not to cross any lines before. His tongue teased at hers until she moaned in pleasure, and he responded by easing one thigh between hers and rocking against her.

Finally, he raised his head. ”I've been wanting to do that for days.”

Mackenzie panted for breath as she slid her hands into his hair. ”Only days?”

Jackson kissed the inside of her wrist and chuckled. ”Since the last time I saw you. I'm pretty sure I had already told you how much I wanted to kiss you before that.”

”The last time you saw me, I was half naked and getting the h.e.l.l kissed out of me.” She rocked her hips, rubbing against his thigh with a soft moan. ”G.o.d d.a.m.n it, Jackson, if you tell me you're not going to violate me in about ten different ways, I'm going to use my newly discovered superstrength to kick your a.s.s.”

”You were mostly naked,” he corrected. His hand eased under her s.h.i.+rt, and a crooked smile curved his lips. ”I remember it pretty d.a.m.n clearly.”

She s.h.i.+vered as his fingers traced a slow path up her side, but when he inched the s.h.i.+rt higher she remembered why she wasn't wearing a bra-and why she was in sweats and an oversized s.h.i.+rt. ”s.h.i.+t. The clothes. They're warded or something. So Talbot couldn't find us. Will they still work if I take them off?”

He arched an eyebrow. ”h.e.l.l if I know, baby. We can keep the s.h.i.+rt, though, just to be safe.”

Mackenzie hissed her frustration, yanked at his s.h.i.+rt and froze when the sound of tearing fabric filled the room. Heat flooded her cheeks and she squeezed her eyes shut. ”I didn't mean to do that.”

His shoulders shook, and it took her a minute to realize he was laughing. ”Do I need to worry about particularly cherished body parts, Kenzie?” Affection and desire colored his voice, made it husky and low.

”Maybe,” she retorted, tugging on his s.h.i.+rt more gently this time. She worked her hands under it and slid them across the warm skin of his back, thrilled by the play of strong muscles under skin. ”Turns out you're going to be the first man I have s.e.x with now that I've got all my super powers. Maybe you should restrain me so I don't injure you by mistake.”

He leaned up and tugged the s.h.i.+rt over his head. ”Left my handcuffs at home. I'll just have to take my chances.” When he moved again, he stretched out on the bed beside her and toyed with the waistband of her sweats.

Mackenzie turned over and gave in to the temptation to press her mouth to his bare chest. Her fingers found his waist and she curled her hand around it as she kissed her way to his collarbone and down. ”Foreplay,” she whispered before circling her tongue teasingly around his nipple. ”I want a lot of it.”

Jackson hissed in a breath and tangled his fingers in her hair. ”I thought I did an okay job last time.”

”Yeah. You did an okay job.” She scored his nipple with her teeth before swiping her tongue over it again. ”Actually you did a pretty d.a.m.n amazing job. But I didn't get much of a chance.”

He moaned softly and held her mouth to his skin. ”If it's that important to you, I promise to let you make it up to me now.”

She kissed her way across his chest and paid the same attention to his other nipple, unbelievably turned on by the way she could hear his heart pounding in his chest. He wanted her with the same fervor that she wanted him. About that, at least, there could be no doubt.

So she took her time. She teased across his chest with her tongue and nipped at his skin, enjoying every low moan and the way his fingers tightened in her hair when she found a particularly sensitive spot. She worked her way back to his shoulders and she slid over him, straddling his hips and rocking. ”You feel so d.a.m.n good.”

His hands framed her hips and drew her down against him, harder and slower. ”I am really hating that s.h.i.+rt right now,” he rasped.

She sucked in a breath and fought the urge to tear the s.h.i.+rt off. ”Maybe it'll be fine on the bed next to us. Or under us.” She curled her fingers around his hand and coaxed it under the s.h.i.+rt. ”Or we can just be creative.”

Jackson rolled her onto her back and pushed the dark fabric past her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. ”Like I said, I'll work around it.” He bent his head, barely brus.h.i.+ng his lips over one of her nipples.

The teasing touch wasn't nearly enough. She shoved her fingers back into his hair and arched her back in silent plea. He answered it by opening his mouth and curling his tongue around the taut peak.

She slid her leg over his hip and ground against him, the hard length of his erection making her weak with need. ”You need less clothing.”

He raised his head and flashed her another slow grin. ”Do I?” Without waiting for her to answer, he rose from the bed and stared at her. ”I guess I can get rid of my clothes. They're not magic, or anything.”

Mackenzie sat and wiggled to the edge of the bed. She dropped her feet to the floor and grinned at him. ”Plenty of magic between the two of us. Though I wouldn't mind seeing any interesting tricks you have. Ones that don't involve you being invisible.”

His smile turned to laughter. ”I usually keep those out of the bedroom, but I do have some more mundane ones up my sleeve.”

She brushed her fingers over his. ”I don't doubt that for a second.”

Jackson's laughter died as he slipped his fingers into her hair and tilted her face up. ”I think we've talked enough, baby.”