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Chapter Twenty-One
Jack
Claire was quiet. Too quiet. As she sat in the passenger seat of my patrol car, her forehead was creased with tension.
As soon as I’d seen the now-dead warlock unsheathe his pathetic excuse for a cock, I’d stormed into the cabin. I hadn’t much thought about what might have been happening in the moments before or after. Adrenaline flooded my veins, and I was intent on killing. I’d only dispatched one of the warlocks. Something that was going to piss me off for years to come.
What I knew was that they had attempted to inject Claire with some sort of bonding agent. Had I not made it there in time, they would have realized that she wasn’t going to present for the dumb, dead warlock. The possibilities of what they might have done to her after they realized that would haunt my dreams.
At some point, I would have to get back to that cabin and clean up the mess. Either that or call Sebastian and have him handle it. I hated to do the latter, but considering that I didn’t know what the drug was going to do to Claire, it might be the only option.
The whole time we’d spent getting Darla and Taryn to their families, a process that had taken too long for my tastes, Claire had remained silent. She’d given the families tight-lipped smiles as they’d offered their gratitude.
Now, she was sitting against the passenger side door, her forehead pressed to the cool glass of the window.
“The warlock that got away today, that was him. He was the one who took me the first time. He got away again.” Her voice was unsteady. I looked down at her hands in her lap. They were shaking.
“Tell me what’s going on, Claire,” I commanded. We were pulling away from the sidewalk, having dropped Darla off with her parents.
“You can’t take me home, Jack.”
My attention volleyed between Claire and the road. My hands ached from gripping the steering wheel with such force.
“Are you sick, Claire? I need you to tell me what’s happening to you right now.”
She was looking out the window, refusing to look at me, as I pulled out of the street that led to Darla’s house.
Then it hit me.
As I maneuvered onto Main Street, my body seized. Suddenly, it was clear what was happening with Claire.
She was going into heat. The signs had all been there. Her shaking hands had now moved from twisting in her lap to clutching the door handle as if she was ready to bolt from the car at any moment. A quick glance over at her told me she was closing her eyes tightly.
“Please don’t take me where you took me last time, Jack.” Her voice was barely above a whisper.
The desperation in her voice nearly broke me. My body was already reacting to her need, but it was the hurt in her voice that had me in thrall.
I had no intention of taking her anywhere but to my cabin. Damned if I would go through what I had gone through that night again.
That night, I’d taken her to the hospital. I’d had no choice. She’d had no choice in being bonded to me. She’d been so young and there was no godsdamned way I was laying a hand on her. The idea that some other disgusting warlock had been willing to — had demanded her body — made me sick.
Still, my body hadn’t been on board with my brain. It had reacted to the bonding drug as any warlock’s would have. I’d had to barricade myself inside the cabin to keep from going back to the hospital, throwing her over my shoulder, and dragging her back home.
It angered me that they’d manipulated us both that night.
But now? Now was different. Claire was a grown-ass witch and while I couldn’t see what would come after, she wasn’t going anywhere but home with me. My cock was painfully hard. My nostrils flared with each scent of her slick.
Next to me, Claire was growing more agitated. She shifted in her seat and failed to suppress a moan as she did so. That sound was like a straight shot of adrenaline to my prick.
“I’m taking you home, Claire.”
She moaned at this and I was certain that I would lose my mind before I got her to the cabin.
“Can’t go home, Jack,” she said, her voice breathy. She was all but panting. She was trying so damned hard to control her heat and quickly losing the battle. “If nothing else, just drop me at the lodge. I can’t go through this again.”
Anger and possession took over me at the mention of dropping her off at the lodge. The idea of anyone other than me touching her made me want to pull the car over right there and take her on the sidewalk in front of the whole town. I wanted to let them know she belonged to me and only me.
Later, I would pay for this. But now? I couldn’t be so close to her and need her so badly without taking her.
There would be no locking away the alpha warlock tonight.
Claire whimpered once again.
This time, the sound was heartbreaking. For a moment, my need to comfort her dampened my need to rut her. I couldn’t stand to see her cry.
“I’m not taking you to your house, Claire. I’m taking you to mine.”
