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He slips his hand onto my thigh, his fingers trailing up to my pussy where our juices have combined. My hips twitch as he slowly pushes his cum back inside me, claiming me in the most primal way.
“I hope you know that I’m never letting you go after this.”
It’s a warning, and I nod my head in understanding. “Just as long as you know that works both ways.” I roll onto my side, his fingers still inside me, and press a kiss to the side of his jaw. “You’re mine, Jackson, and no one is ever going to take you from me.”
Chapter 13
Jackson
Iwake with Dove pressed against my side, the heat of her body warming every inch of me it touches. Her leg is thrown over mine, her arm wrapped around my stomach, and her hot breath tickles my chest.
I peer down at her, my pulse racing as I watch her steady breathing for a little while, getting lost in her beautiful face and the way she feels against me. Eventually, I force myself out of bed, careful not to wake her as I slip out from under her. It’s been a rough time for both of us, and she needs the rest, even though I would love to wake her up with morning sex.
The shower I take is quick and perfunctory. I don’t linger under the spray longer than necessary. I also don’t allow my thoughts to wander. There’s too much stuff in my head, and if I let it out, I’ll crumble under the weight of it. Instead, I focus on the only things that matter: freeing Dove from the threat of the Order and making her mine.
I don’t yet have an answer as to how I’m going to do it.
Once I’m dressed, I check on Dove, who is still out for the count, and make my way onto the porch with a steaming cup of coffee.
I take in the plants and trees that are starting to grow. In a few weeks’ time, everything will look different, and I can’t help but feel it is the same for Dove and me. We are not the same people we were when she first came to the Sanctuary. Truthfully, I have no idea what kind of man I am now either.
Ayden’s words reverberate through my mind. Learning that the Order is running a breeding program to create super soldiers hit me and the others hard—especially Halle.
I need to discover my past, fill in the gaps in my memory about how Dove and I came to be imprinted. My stomach churns. Did I… did I hurt her? What did the Order make me do?
Imprinting mirrors a mating bond, that’s what Ayden said. It is used to bring on a heat cycle. What did I do to her when that heat was forced upon us? Did it even go that far? A hundred scenarios race through my mind, but I ruthlessly shut them down. I don’t want to remember what I might have done under the influence of heat.
A familiar scent reaches my nose, and when I glance up, I see Halle walking toward the cabin. She is the last person I want to speak to, but the look on her face stops me from moving back inside.
She looks…broken, and as pissed off as I am, I don’t like seeing it. There is a sadness sitting deep inside her, and part of me wants to comfort her. When we were running for our lives, I felt a kinship with Halle. She was the little sister I never had. That thought drains most of the anger from me, and her uncertainty does the rest.
Her green eyes lift as she pauses at the foot of the steps that lead up to the porch. I can tell she’s waiting for an invitation to come closer, and I jut my chin, giving it to her.
Halle digs her hands into her coat pockets, her mouth pulling into an uneasy line as she climbs the steps and comes to lean against the railing.
For a moment, she says nothing; she just stares unseeingly toward the lake, her fingers tight around the rail. “I know you don’t want to speak to me, but I’m begging you to listen. After that, if you don’t want me around, I’ll respect that.”
She lifts her head, and her eyes lock with mine. There is pain there.
“I know you hate me, Jackson.”
“I don’t hate you.” I give her my attention, not liking the way she shrinks back into herself. I soften my tone. “I don’t hate you,” I repeat, hoping she understands.
“You should.”
The anger and frustration I felt toward the girl diminishes. There are bigger things to face, problems that far surpass something that is now fixed. “Why are you here, Halle?”
Her mouth twists into a somber line. “I couldn’t stop thinking about what Ayden revealed.”
“Cade will never allow you to fall into their hands.”
She shakes her head. “I’m not worried about me. I can take care of myself, but my mom…”
It doesn’t surprise me that she would be focused on that. Her mother is still a captive of the Order. If I were her, I would be wondering what kind of nightmare her mom might be living.
“We’ll get her back, Halle.”
I don’t know why I promise this. I have no idea if it is even possible for us to liberate those being held by the Order. We’re a small group, and we don’t know the exact number of hunters we’re facing. It’s a war where the odds are not on our side.
