Crux

Chapter 11

Jackson knew Mackenzie was going to kiss him long before she pressed her lips to his, and there were about a million reasons why he should have stopped her. Not surprisingly, he couldn’t think of a single one.

Her mouth was warm and dry, and it opened slightly as it touched his, the sensation dragging a low groan from his throat. He lifted a hand to her neck, relishing the fact that her skin was just as soft as it looked. Self-control and self-denial were beyond him, and he rolled to bring her body under his.

She hummed in pleasure, and her fingers slid into his hair. She held his mouth to hers as her tongue swept across his lower lip in teasing invitation before retreating again.

He groaned again and deepened the kiss, his tongue sweeping the inside of her mouth, tasting and exploring. It was maddening, and desire built in him with shocking speed as he lowered one hand to her hip and encountered soft silk. If she’d have been wearing this damned scrap of nothing at his apartment, he wasn’t sure what would have happened. He broke the kiss and whispered breathlessly, “I love this gown.”

Her voice sounded just as breathless, and warm with invitation. “I was hoping you would. It’s the only reason I let Nick buy it.”

He gathered the midnight blue silk in his hand and rubbed it against her skin. “How’d you find one the same shade as your eyes?” He nuzzled her neck. “Serendipity?”

“I was due a little good luck.” Her head arched back, giving his lips free rein over the soft skin of her throat. She moaned when his mouth reached the spot where her neck and shoulder met. “God, I’ve wanted to touch you since the moment I first laid eyes on you. You are unfairly sexy, Jackson Holt.”

“Quit stealing all my good lines.” He whispered the words in a path over her jaw, all the way back to her mouth. This time, their kiss was hot, insistent. Her response was just as enthusiastic as she arched into him and made soft, needy noises.

Her fingers left his hair and slid down his shoulders and back. The hem of his shirt bunched in her hands, and she urged it up.

Jackson tore his mouth away with a sharp exhalation. He wanted to feel her skin against his, wanted to sink into her, make her scream. “Hang on, Kenzie. We can’t do this.”

“Right,” she panted, looking dazed. “Bad guys. Serious situation. Not the time for hot, hot sex.” She took a slow, deep breath and let it out on a moan. “Damn it.”

He couldn’t drag his gaze away from her mouth. “Damn it,” he echoed in agreement. “I’m going to go…away, and you stay here. Uh, sleep would be good. I’m…going.”

Her lips seized his again in a brief but passionate kiss. “Sleep.” She kissed his chin and his jaw. She found his ear and her breath was warm and tormenting as she whispered, “But when this is over, we are going to have the kind of insanely hot sex that takes hours to finish and days to recover from.”

Going away suddenly didn’t seem nearly so important. “I’m intrigued.” He dragged his thumb over her lower lip. “Tell me more.”

Her tongue snuck out to tease his thumb. “I’m a dancer, remember. You wouldn’t believe some of the ways I can bend. And I guess I’ve got super stamina or something now too.”

Jackson stifled a groan and bit her ear. “Bendy, with super stamina. Christ, this is sounding too good to wait.”

“The bad guys aren’t breaking down the door yet.” She offered it almost hopefully, her voice delightfully husky. “We could compromise a little…”

Focus, Holt. This is a bad idea… He slid his hand under her nightgown to caress her leg. “Good idea.”

She pulled at the hem of his shirt again. “Off. Take this off—”

Jackson yanked the T-shirt over his head. “You know Steven can hear us, right?”

She froze for a second, her hands hovering an inch away from his chest. Then she groaned and grabbed him, her short nails digging into his shoulders as she dragged him against her. “He can go outside. Or get earplugs.”

“Not sure that’ll help.” He lowered his face to her neck and caught her delicate skin between his teeth. “Are you usually loud?”

She gasped sharply, cupping the back of his head as she arched her neck into his touch. “Depends on how much encouragement I’m getting. You seem good at encouraging.”

“I feel pretty damn motivated right now.” His fingers skated up her thigh again and found the thin, elastic edge of her panties. He fought back a moan and licked the skin he’d bitten. She rewarded him with another breathy moan as her legs inched apart in silent invitation.

Jackson barely hesitated before venturing under the expensive silk to explore the softness of her body. She arched into his touch, and he kissed her neck and skipped back to her lips.

She kissed him with a desperate need, open mouth and low gasps and her tongue teasing its way past his lips to tangle with his. There was nothing shy or hesitant in her kiss, just desire for him and an eagerness that made his hands shake.

Mackenzie tangled her fingers in his hair and tugged him back so she could wiggle out from beneath him. She rose to her knees on the bed, flushed and breathing heavily, and her hands shook as she curled her fingers around the edge of her nightgown and pulled it up. “I want you so much, Jackson.”

He leaned back on the bed and gave her his hottest, laziest grin. “What if I’m loud?”

“Steven and Mahalia can yell at you tomorrow.” The fabric inched up, revealing the soft silk panties he’d touched before. A little higher and his gaze slid over the smooth, pale skin of her stomach. Her gentle, warm laughter filled the room as she paused with the nightgown barely covering her breasts. “If you can walk by the time I’m done with you.”

He tackled her to the pillows, laughing at her startled shriek. “I think you might be the one in danger of diminished locomotion, darlin’.”

“Oh yeah?” She lifted her arms to rest on the pillows, leaving her nightgown clinging to the undersides of her breasts. “You think you’re that good?”

He nudged the silk up a little more and bent to taste her skin. “Determined. That’s what I’d call myself.”

“Oh—” The silk slid away to bare one breast and a tight nipple. “Oh, God, I want you—”

He fought for control, finally trusting himself enough to tease the puckered flesh with the tip of his tongue. “No more talking. Just let me…”

She broke through his words with a low moan that shot fire through him. “Let you what?”

“Let me love you for a minute.” He trailed his hand slowly over her hip, giving her time to stop him before he edged his fingers beneath the silk of her underwear again. He exhaled slowly, one long, hot breath over her breast, and sucked her nipple into his mouth.

She clutched his head and made a quiet, choked noise. “You can love me for a lot of minutes.” Her body trembled as his fingers slid lower, past the soft skin of her abdomen. “Maybe for hours.”

Jackson inhaled the soft, floral scent of her skin as his hand slipped between her legs. She was wet, hot, and he stifled a groan against her breast.

Mackenzie made another yearning sound and arched into his touch. He wanted to forget the danger and take her, feel her heat cradling his cock and the sweet slide of her skin over his. He couldn’t afford to lose himself in her, not right now…but he could touch her. Just for a while.

She didn’t make it easy. Her hips rocked against his hand in tiny, needy movements, and her quiet whimpers tore at the jagged edges of his self-control. Worse was the way she whispered his name, throaty and low and full of passion. “Jackson—yes—”

He couldn’t stop his own rocking as his hips rubbed her thigh. He squeezed his eyes shut and panted. “Kenzie.” He clenched his jaw and searched with his fingers, alternating soft and firm touches, trying to find the one that would make her shake, make her voice break over his name.

He knew he’d found it when she tensed and gasped, her eyes flying open. “Oh, God—right there—” Her hand dropped to his shoulder, and he felt the delicate sting of her fingernails. “Don’t stop—”

Jackson covered her mouth with his, muffling her cries as he stroked her. She was gorgeous, perfect as she writhed beneath him. He ached to fill her, but his discomfort was barely noticeable compared to the warm flush of excitement he felt at bringing her such pleasure.

He swallowed her low cry when she came, and he swore he almost felt her climax sweep through her. Magic blazed between them, all gentle heat and heavy pleasure as her body went taut against him. He shuddered and nipped at her lips as her energy prickled over his skin, and she moaned against his mouth and collapsed back to the bed.

Jackson didn’t dare move, so he kissed her mouth and cheek and exhaled shakily. “Okay?”

“Okay?” Her voice came out flatteringly breathless. “Jesus. More than okay. So much more than okay.”

He couldn’t hold back the satisfaction that flared at her words. “Good.” He pressed another kiss to her cheek. “Now I really, really need to go.”

She still looked dazed, but her expression faded from sleepy and sated to perplexed. “Wait, what? You can’t go.” Her hip rubbed his erection and she smiled. “That’s not fair.”

He swallowed his groan. “Neither is life in general, darlin’, and more’s the pity.”

Her lips sought his, and she kissed him gently, tracing her tongue over his lower lip. “I’m not going to pin you down and force you to have hot sex with me, but I’m more than willing.”

He rolled away. “If I don’t go now, Mahalia will whip my ass. Hell, she might do it anyway.”

Mackenzie laughed. “You’re scared of a sweet little lady. That’s cute.”

He stared at the ceiling fan and willed his heart to slow its pounding. “She is sweet. Until she thinks you’re taking advantage of some pretty young thing in trouble.”

Her fingers trailed lightly up his arm. “Want me to tell her I took advantage of you?”

He eased off the bed. “Then she might whip your ass. She’s protective of me.”

She chuckled again, low and warm and with a husky, sated edge that made it hard as hell to keep from turning around and climbing back over her, sliding into her. “Fine. But just because I’m letting you go now doesn’t mean I’m not going to pounce on you as soon as the bad guys are taken care of.”

“I’ll consider that a promise.” He chanced a look at her, taking in her disheveled hair and flushed skin. “Sleep tight, Mackenzie.”

Her lips curled in a lazy smile. “Good night, Jackson. I’ll see you in the morning.”

Jackson thought that maybe a dip in the pool would help cool his libido, but he didn’t get past removing his shirt before Mahalia’s voice stopped him. “Hang on a second, Casanova.”

He turned to find her sitting in a wrought-iron chair on the patio, smoking. “You know those things’ll kill you, right?”

“Not before you do, kid.” She flicked ashes onto the grass. “You two ran Steven off.”

“He heard?”

“Yeah.” She looked annoyed. “He heard.”

Jackson snorted. “Oh, I’m sorry, did I interrupt your booty call?”

“Hush your mouth.” The words lacked heat, and Mahalia fastened him with an appraising stare. “Do you really think you need to be messing around with that girl right now? With everything she’s gone through, not to mention what she’s got ahead of her?”

He had to look away. “It’s not like that, May.”

Mahalia tilted her head. “Tsk. I saw you earlier, Jack. She lights you up.” She held up a hand to halt his protest. “Mind you, I don’t think that’s a bad thing. If you find someone who makes you feel that way, you should grab ’em and hold on. The problem is the situation.”

Jackson wanted to deny it, all of it. He wanted to say he liked Mackenzie just fine, but there was nothing going on between them. But the way she’d felt beneath him wasn’t nothing, so he shrugged at his mentor. “What do you want from me?”

Her answer was firm. “I want you to say that you’re thinking with more than your dick, and I want you to mean it.”

“Jesus, May.” Jackson’s cheeks heated. “Fine. I’m thinking with more than my dick.”

She extinguished her cigarette. “All right.”

“I mean it,” he insisted. “Nothing happened, because this whole thing is just messed up, and that’s no way to start something.”

“No, it isn’t.” She rose from her chair. “I remember when I first met you, Jack. You were…miserable. Working that awful job at the insurance company, no friends. But you always smiled and joked, and not a single one of the regulars at the bar knew just how unhappy you were.”

As a cautionary tale, its clarity was questionable. “I’m not sure I get your meaning, May.”

She sighed. “If you can let this woman see beneath all that good ol’ boy bullshit, I think she could be good for you. And I know you could be good for her.”

She was warning him again, he was sure of it, but he just grumbled, “I’m going to go pull out the sofa in the living room.”

Mahalia smiled. “Good boy.”

He made a face and reached for the sliding glass door.

“Jack?”

“Yeah?”

“She’d be lucky to have you.”

Jackson was watching infomercials on the converted sofa bed when Steven came back. He nodded to the older man as he flipped channels. “Sorry about earlier. You didn’t have to go.”

Steven leaned against the doorframe and gave him a flat look. “I really did.”

“Mahalia already read me the riot act. Not that I needed it,” he added pointedly.

Steven dropped into the chair beside the couch. “I’m heading to the airport in the morning. I can’t do anything to help until Peyton arrives, and my presence could put you all in danger. But there are things you need to know before I go. Things she’ll need to know when she’s ready. You’re going to have to tell her if I can’t.”

Jackson turned off the television. “All right.”

Steven closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “I have to leave because there’s no spell you can cast to hide me from Charles Talbot.” A bitter smile tugged at his lips as he opened his eyes again, and the look in them was chilling. “Blood calls to blood. That’s what Mahalia says. He’s my uncle.”

Jackson just stared at him, trying to make sense of his words. “That’s why you were helping Mackenzie’s parents. How you even knew they needed help. Jesus.”

“It was supposed to be voluntary,” Steven said quietly. “Cougar couples who believed in Charles’s dream, who were willing to work with him. I wasn’t around much because I was the one who traveled the country to find them. The first couple I brought to him had a baby boy. Marcus. The next time I came home, they were dead and Charles was raising Marcus as his own son.”

“Talbot killed them.” It wasn’t a question.

“The closer he got to success the more…unbalanced he became.” Steven rubbed at the side of his face. “It seems brutal, the way the wolves treat Michelle, but there’s a reason Seers are so feared. Having access to that much power… Charles started to think he could play God.”

Anger welled in Jackson with surprising speed, and he rose from the sofa bed and began to pace. “Except he wasn’t just playing God, was he? He was getting it done, and you were helping.”

Steven didn’t defend himself, only nodded. “Yes. I was helping. I’ve tried to tell myself over the years that I didn’t know, but there’s nothing I can do to change what happened. All I can say is that as soon as I realized he wasn’t looking for willing participants, I tried to make it right.”

Jackson fought to calm himself. Whatever Steven’s role in Talbot’s operation had been, it was ancient history. “Mackenzie was already on the way, so you took her parents to New Orleans. To Mahalia.”

“I’d met her during one of my trips,” Steven confirmed. “She wasn’t powerful enough to hide them forever, but we needed to keep them safe until Jess—until Mackenzie was born. She watched over them and did her best to hide them while I tracked down Zacharias. It took four years to find him. Even then he was a virtual recluse.”

Jackson leaned on the arm of the couch. “Wait, so… Mahalia knew Mackenzie after she was born?”

“No. She cast the spells, but they didn’t stay in contact. They were only supposed to call Mahalia if there was an emergency, even after Zacharias cast his spell. Simon and Janice called her when Charles came after them, but by the time we got there all that was left was an empty, burned-out house.”

“The fire that supposedly killed them all.”

“Yes. That’s the end of what I know. Janice, Simon and Jessica Evans disappeared. I didn’t believe any of them had survived until Mahalia called me.”

Jackson nodded, his jaw tight. “We’ll have to get the rest of the story from Talbot when we find him.”

“Jackson—” Steven’s expression was serious. “You have to understand what we’re dealing with. Charles isn’t just powerful; he’s experienced. He’s had over sixty years to fine-tune his skills, and he has more raw power than anyone you’ve ever met. If we get the chance, we take him out. No questions, no complicated plans and no asking him why. It’s the only way Mackenzie will ever be safe.”

Jackson ran his hands through his hair. “If he’s so damn powerful, how exactly are we supposed to take him out in the first place? Do we have a plan?”

“We have Michelle.”

“That’s your plan?” Jackson asked, incredulous. They couldn’t throw Nick’s sister at Charles Talbot and hope she managed to best him. “Will there be a steel cage involved, or is this going to be more of a street fight?”

Steven sighed. “That’s not the plan. But she’s the only one with a chance of stopping him, and unless you can tell me exactly what she’s capable of, I don’t know how to plan at this point. Mahalia has the experience and Michelle has the raw power. We’ll do what they think will work.” His smile was self-deprecating. “I’m just the muscle.”

Jackson dropped to the sofa again. “I’m sorry. I feel so damn helpless. But that’s not your fault, so I shouldn’t take it out on you.”

“You like her.”

Jackson played dumb. “Who, Mahalia?”

Steven snorted.

Jackson shot him a look. “Fine, yes. I like Mackenzie. I thought that much would have been obvious, seeing as how you had to leave when she and I started making out.”

“I didn’t ask if you wanted her. You’re both young, attractive and dealing with a lot of stress. Sex wouldn’t be terribly surprising. I was asking if there was something more going on.”

It was Jackson’s turn to snort. “I tend to save my requests for casual sex for women whose lives aren’t in danger, thanks.”

“I suppose I screwed up taking care of her and have no right to worry now.” He shrugged. “I want to do a better job this time. Take care of her, Jackson.”

“I will,” he promised. “Don’t worry about her.”

“Take care of Mahalia too,” Steven added with a grin. “Just don’t tell her I told you to. She’ll kick both of our asses.”

“Will do. Thanks, Steven.”

Steven smiled as he rose. “Good night, Jackson.”

“’Night.” Jackson watched him go, trying to not to think about the fact that the man was headed in the direction of Mahalia’s bedroom. Instead, he settled back down on the sofa bed and retrieved the remote control again.