I finished the last of my pasta, tossing the bowl down on the table. “I win!” I announced a second before Niall threw his bowl down beside it.
“I had more than you, so I win,” Niall said smugly.
“Na-ar. That’s not how it works,” I insisted.
“Is too.”
“Is not!”
“Is too.”
“Is not,” I snarled and he shrugged like it absolutely was. “Right then.” Niall stood up and walked straight out of the room again into the kitchen, returning a beat later with a gun in his grip and a package in the other hand. He threw the package into Jack’s lap and levelled the gun at his head.
“Niall, that’s no way to treat family,” I hissed, but Niall ignored me, gesturing to the package with the gun.
“Open that up, big fella,” he said, but Jack didn’t move. “Do. You. Comprende?” he asked slowly like Jack was stupid, but Jack was no such thing. He was as sharp as a whistle.
Jack slowly took the package into his grip, tearing into it and revealing a new shock collar in some plastic wrapping.
“Oooh, can I have that one?” I asked keenly, but Niall shook his head.
“That’s for Jack. Put it on now, come on, I don’t have all day,” Niall demanded and I pouted as Jack took it out and slid it around his throat, tightening it in place. Niall walked over to it, taking a padlock from his pocket and fixing it in place with his free hand, locking the collar on as tight as tight could be.
“There now,” Niall said, caressing the sharp line of Jack’s cheek bone with his gun while Jack gazed up at him without a flicker of fear in his stormy eyes. “If we’re gonna play house, then you’ll be needing a bedroom. You can sleep in the room next to Mateo’s down there.” He pointed to the corridor that led to a couple of bedrooms at the back of the house then took his phone from his pocket and started tapping something on it. “Both of your perimeters now allow you in here, to those rooms, the bathroom next to ‘em and for a bit of a gander outside if the notion takes you. If you try to go anywhere else, that collar will fry ya. I’ve set ‘em both to the max, so don’t go testing me, lad, unless you have a death wish, then be my guest and head on into the kitchen.” Niall gestured for Jack to walk that way, but my big man just remained in place, his gaze slipping to me and I swear there was a twinkle in his eyes that said he didn’t mind this situation so much.
“Do you understand, big fella?” Niall knocked the gun against Jack’s temple and I pouted, not liking how close those bullets were to tickling his brain. Bullets didn’t play nice. They’d make a right mess of Jack’s head if they popped out and shouted boo, but I liked his head just how it was.
“Yes,” Jack said, nodding firmly.
“Good. In return for being a good boy, I’ll feed ya on occasion and even let ya stretch those big stallion legs in the garden if I’m feelin’ real generous. But if you piss me off, I’ll drag ya down to my torture chamber, play Operation with ya and see how many organs I can pull outa yer body before you die.”
Shivers took root in me at Hellfire’s dark words, and though I definitely didn’t want Jack to be the victim in that scenario, I wouldn’t have minded him playing that game with one of my enemies.
Jack rose from his seat suddenly, forcing Niall to look up at him despite how big my Hellfire was. He was like Godzilla among skyscrapers, and I was the tiny person on the ground, horny for all of the giants around me.
Jack brushed past Niall, walking straight towards me until I was sitting in his shadow, licking my lips as my new monster reached for me. He scooped me up in his arms and carried me away from Mateo and Niall while they leapt to attention at his back.
“Where the fuck do ya think you’re going?” Niall growled.
“Put her down, gigante,” Mateo hissed.
“Room?” Jack demanded, glancing back at Niall as he reached the end of the corridor.
“That one,” Niall said, pointing. “But ya can’t take Spider in there alone.”
Jack ignored Niall, shoving through the door and leaving it open so Niall and Mateo spilled in behind us, looking frantic.
“Alone,” Jack echoed, but he was looking at me and there was a demand in that word.
I scrambled higher up his body, looking over his shoulder at Niall. “We wanna be alone for a bit, kay?”
“No,” both Niall and Mateo said at once.
I looked between them, rolling my eyes. “We need time to speak in our secret language. You can’t be here, or it’ll spoil the magic.” I waved my hands to usher them away and Niall tightened his grip on the gun in his hand.
“Maybe this was a bad idea,” he muttered. “Change of plan. You come out to the woods with me, big fella. You can dig a nice hole, about…hm, six foot eight, I’d say, then we’ll have a merry song and dance together. A real nice time, you and me, how about that?” Niall grinned and though his little fun diggy hole game did sound like a laugh, I really wanted Jack to myself for a bit.
“No, Niall. Go do something with Mateo,” I insisted. “You can have a pillow fight!”
Mateo folded his arms, his jaw grinding. “Mi sol, it is not safe to leave you alone with this strange man.”
“Strange?” I scoffed. “If Jack’s strange, then I must be an oddball riding a cuckoo.” I chuckled, but no one else laughed. Well, Niall did a bit, but he was looking at a bug that had fallen on its back by the window, so I was pretty sure he was enjoying its whirly legs, not my riotous sense of humour.
“Five minutes,” I insisted. “And I’ll crack the door so you know I’m as safe as a spoon who’s best friends with a fork.”
“Fine,” Niall said at last. “But if I give ya five minutes, then you have to spend the rest of the night training with me, while these two losers stay in their rooms.”
“Done!” I cried and Niall turned around, shoving Mateo out of the room and leaving the door ajar.
Jack placed me down on his bed and I scurried up it, whipping the comforter back and gesturing for Jack to get under it with me. He frowned, but did as I asked and I slid it over the two of us, concealing us from the outside world like two crows in a tent plotting a murder.
It was dark in here, but a little light filtered through so I could make out Jack’s huge form. He was so big that I had to keep tugging the comforter down either side of us so no cracks were there to let our secrets out.
“So,” I whispered, my knees butting against his as I shifted closer and my heart pitter-pattered at the proximity of him. “Tell me all the secrets.”
“Rook,” Jack growled, reaching out to cup my jaw, his thumb rolling along it then moving up to the corner of my lips. Tension formed between his eyes, a need there that desperately wanted to come out and say hi. I gave it a little wave to see if it might be lured closer, but the creases on his forehead only deepened.
“Tell me what you want, Jack,” I breathed, a creak beyond the room telling me Niall was earwigging on us. But he couldn’t crack mine and Jack’s secret code, our words were spoken in the silence, our thoughts shared between gazes. We didn’t need to use our tongues…although as my gaze dipped to Jack’s mouth, I didn’t think using our tongues would be the worst idea in the world. But not for words, there were far more tempting things than that which we could use them for. Mateo had taught me that.