“I must say, I adore seeing you like this,” I said. “Totally at my mercy.”
His eyes softened. “I’m at your mercy no matter what position I’m in.”
My sense of triumph vanished, replaced by guilt and need...always need. How could I keep a secret from him?
I jumped off him.
“Where are you going?” he asked, grabbing my ankle and sending me crashing face-first. Rat! He moved on top of me. “We’re not done. There are things I want to tell you...do to you.”
“Uh, am I interrupting something?” Jaclyn stood at the open door, blinking at us.
I thought, Yes. No. Gah! Calm, steady.
Cole climbed off me, helped me to my feet and scowled at the girl with murderous intent.
“Your parents let you come back?” I asked.
She shook her head, saying, “Nope. They think I’m resting in my room.”
“Your timing is... Yeah. We’re headed out to search for Justin.” Cole drew in a heavy breath, met my gaze. What was going on inside that gorgeous head of his? “By the way, Kat’s coming.”
“What!” No way Frosty would allow it.
“Apparently she’s got some live-life-to-the-fullest list and Frosty can either go along with it or lose her. He’s decided to go along, and it’s making him crazy, so try not to even make eye contact with him. You’ll regret it. Trust me.”
Well, okay, then.
As our big group was about to pile inside two different SUVs, Juliana came marching outside, draped in more weapons than Cole and I combined.
Veronica jerked her finger to the front door. “Back inside.”
“Kidney girl is a freaking civilian and she gets to go,” the younger teen snapped. “I can actually help.”
One donkey-punch, coming up.
Cole held me back. “I’ll talk to her.” He closed the distance, whispered something in her ear.
She softened, muttering, “Fine,” and trudged back into the mansion.
“What’d you say to her?” I asked as I settled into the backseat of our SUV.
He took the seat next to me, clasped my hand in his. “She’ll get to spend a few hours every day training with Mackenzie.”
Mackenzie wasn’t one to care about age, and she would utterly annihilate the girl.
“As soon as Mackenzie deems her a good enough fighter,” he added, “she can start coming with us.”
“Mackenzie won’t deem her good enough for, what? Two years?”
“At least.”
River claimed the driver’s seat, Camilla shotgun and Jaclyn the middle. Gavin moved behind her, practically shoving Bronx out of the way to get there. Oh, no. That could mean only one thing...
I rolled down my window, stuck out my head and said, “Kat, change places with Gavin. Stat.”
“Already planned on it.” She trotted over, only to be grabbed by Frosty midway and carted back to the other car—but not before he flipped me off.
*
The fifteen-minute ride was both awesome and pure, unadulterated torture. Cole kept his arm wrapped around me, his fingers toying with the ends of my hair, but Gavin and Jaclyn snipped at each other the entire way.
“You gonna try to kill me again, sweetness?” Gavin began.
“Why don’t you save your breath?” she snapped. “You’ll need it to inflate your date later.”
“True. I will. Do you want to know what the sad thing is?” He didn’t give her a chance to respond. “She’ll still be better company than you.”
Jaclyn shook her fist at him. “If you don’t shut up, I’ll help you swallow your own teeth.”
“Even then, you’d still want me. Because that’s what all this animosity is about, isn’t it?” He wiggled his brows at her. “Why don’t you do us all a favor and admit it? After all, everyone already knows you’re going to end up throwing yourself at me. That’s the only way I’ll take you to bed.”
Her snort of derision echoed. “Me? Throw myself at you? Sugar, you couldn’t get laid in a whorehouse with a fistful of twenties.”
“I totally could. And when I sneak into your mom’s room later tonight, I’ll prove it.”
No. No mom insults. “Enough,” I said.
“Do you dream about all the ways I’ll satisfy you?” Gavin asked Jaclyn conversationally, ignoring me.
She bared her teeth at him in a fierce scowl. “The only way you would ever satisfy me in bed is if you left me in mine—alone!”
“Seriously. Enough!” River said with a lot more volume than I’d used. “I’m usually a big fan of sexual tension, but this is like an X-rated kindergarten class, with two little jerks crushing on each other, both too stupid to admit it out loud.”
Blessed silence.
Until Jaclyn said, “I do not have a crush on him. He refers to girls as candy. And guess what? This candy store is closed. Forever.”
Gavin yawned, then peered out the window, as if bored. “I’ve decided girls are like diseases. You happen to be Ebola. That causes vomiting, right?”
“And massive internal bleeding.” Jaclyn huffed and puffed, waiting for him to say something else, and despite everything, I was glad to see a little life to her.