Jarrett (6 page)

“It’s my business because you’re mated to Jarrett.” Slone stood up, her temper right on the edge. “And if that’s not enough for you, then tell me what your father would think. What would he say to you, knowing that you are giving up on the life he gave you? Do you think he’d be proud of you, ashamed of you?”

“Fuck you.” Slone could handle Addie’s anger much better than she could her depression. And she could see that the woman was just as pissed as she was. “And what of you, Slone Giles? Didn’t you do the same? Hide away from everyone who cared about you, locked up behind your gilded gates? What do you think your precious father would have said to you?”

Her hand connected with Addie’s cheek before Slone could think that it was a terrible idea. As it reddened, she felt her own depression consume her. Thinking that she’d pull her into her arms and beg her to forgive her, Slone wasn’t surprised when she took a step back from her.

“It’s time for you to leave.” Slone started to speak, but Addie cut her off. “Don’t come near me again. If you do, I will cut my wrists just to spite you.”

“I’m sorry for what I did. I had no right to—”

Addie cut her off. “You’re right. You didn’t.” Slone curled her fingers into a tight fist. She wanted to touch her, tell her again how sorry she was when she headed to the other room. “I’m assuming that you called Duncan and told him what was going on. And that you have my money.”

“I do. Luke arranged with the bank to have it turned over to him.” Addie nodded and began to pick up the things she’d had on before she’d gotten there. “What are you going to do?”

She didn’t answer and to be honest, Slone didn’t think she would. As she moved around the tiny apartment, Slone felt her heart breaking. When she went to the kitchen door again, Slone knew that she was leaving, and there was no way that she could stop her. But she did reach for Hunter when the door closed behind her as she left her alone in Jarrett’s apartment. Sobbing, she told him what she’d done.

~~~

Cash was standing in the lobby of the hotel when she walked in. He’d been talking to Shawn, who had arrived earlier than expected, and just happened to see her at the front desk. He nearly went to her when Shawn stopped him.

“Is that her? The girl you were telling me about?” Cash nodded. “Do you know who she is, Cash? She’s been in the papers a lot lately.”

He pulled out his briefcase and handed him a file. Cash watched Addie with one eye as he sat down and opened it. There on the front was a little girl of about six or so, and the headlines called her a hero. But as he read more in the file, he read how things had not only changed for the girl, but her father as well. He read about her helping the police catch a man who had committed murder, and then them thinking that she’d been in on it. It said, at least in the first few newspaper articles, how this little girl had screamed for the police and stayed calm while they arrested the killer.

“It says here that she was taken to jail. On what grounds?” Shawn handed him a few other pages that were not in the file. Cash looked up and saw Addie going to the elevator, and wondered if she was going to stay here with Jarrett.

“She confessed to feeling it from him. The papers thought she was insane, and they had her locked up ‘for her own good’.” Cash looked at Shawn when he continued. “She said that she’d seen what he’d done and knew that it had been a bad thing to do. And she said to them that one of the officers was stealing things from the lock-up place, she called it, and he needed to be put in jail too.”

“They didn’t believe her.” Shawn told him on the contrary, they did. “They did? Then why did they have her go to jail? It’s not like she killed them.”

“No, but she did get bombarded by everyone and their brother who wanted her to tell them the lotto numbers or when they were going to die.” Cash nodded, knowing what kind of people he was talking about. “Her dad was working in the basement of their home when some guy made his way past the gates. When he got into the house, he cornered her in the kitchen and held the staff at gunpoint while he told her she was coming with him. He said he had a sick daughter and needed money badly.”

“Did he?” Shawn said no. “So what? He was going to kidnap her? Exploit her? That’s no reason to think she was insane. The poor child was as much a victim as poor Slone was.”

“She said she killed him. But it was discovered that he’d had a massive heart attack and died there. Stress, they said. He was going to take her to his home and use her…for money. The cage and the chains he had to hold her in were already set up. He even had a list of potential clients she was going to get more money from.” Cash leaned back as Shawn continued. “No one is really sure what had happened. The staff, a cook and a maid, told the police that it had happened so fast, but the man had lunged at little Addie. She was about seven then. But when she touched him, trying to get away, the man simply screamed before falling to the floor, dead.”

“The cause of death was declared as a heart attack, so why the problems with it?” Shawn told him it said heart attack. “But you don’t believe it, do you?”

“I’ve been working for Slone for a long time. And in all that time I’ve seen a great many things that I can’t explain. This girl…that woman has an ability that scares even me sometimes. And I’ve never even met her.” Shawn handed him another sheet of paper. “Slone is the richest woman I know, have ever met. But this girl, with her investments, her homes, her businesses, is a close second. Only other person that comes even close to Slone is a woman by the name of Clementine Mantle, who just happens to be Addie’s grandmother.”

Cash was still sitting there when Jarrett came into the hotel. He wanted to head him off, tell him what he knew, but he thought it better that he let the boy find out on his own. It was going to be hard on her. Addie was a fragile thing, but he knew that of any of his sons, Jarrett might be the one to keep her safe. If nothing else, he’d love her the most. As he stood up, holding all the files that Shawn had left him, Cash tried to think what he should do now.

Dinner. He needed to be in the diner so he could think. As he made his way there, he thought about what he’d just learned and had to laugh. His sons…they sure knew how to pick them. And here he was with two of the richest women in the world as daughters. Yeah, Cash thought, he was one lucky wolf.

Chapter 6

He was steaming mad when he stepped off the elevator, and when the two men standing outside her door stepped in front of him, he felt his wolf stir to be freed. He didn’t even try to calm him, his own temper about to the boiling point.

“You can’t go in there, sir, unless you have an appointment.” Jarrett nodded at the first man, who actually put his hand on his gun. “We have orders to keep everyone out. And she said everyone.”

“You’re cat, right? Panther?” The man nodded; the other one looked confused. “I’m going in that room and talk to her. You can try to stop me, but we both know that coming between a wolf and his mate is not the best idea. And he’s ready to take you on should you try.”

“I need this job.” Jarrett nodded. He could understand needing a job, but he wasn’t in the mood to be too terribly sympathetic right now. “You’re going in no matter what, aren’t you?”

“Oh yeah.” The man moved back from the door, but he stopped him with a hand on his arm. “Slone…Mrs. Hunter said that we had to check on her every hour. Just knock on the door and have her answer us. I’m thinking that she’s not answered us in a while. Might should…I don’t know, break the door down. You willing to pay for that if she’s—?”

The door opened in front of him and Addie stood there, not looking any happier than he was. When she stepped back, allowing him in, she turned to the two guards.

“Tell Mrs. Hunter to fuck off for me.” The guard he’d been talking to looked like she’d asked him to shoot Slone. “Okay, but tell her I fired you. And if you come around here again, losing a job is going to be the least of your worries.”

He nodded and Jarrett moved into the hotel room. When it closed behind him, he looked around before looking at Addie. Christ, she’d been busy. The room looked like his store did when a new shipment came in.

“I don’t want to talk to you, but since you were going to hurt those men, I thought I’d just get this over with.” He nodded and sat down when she did. But she at the table made him think that while he might have been allowed in, he wasn’t any closer to being with her. “What do you want, Mr. Emerson?”

“I’ve been inside of you, Addie. I think we can skip the mister part.” She didn’t answer, so he went to the table where she was. “What are you doing?”

“Moving things around from Duncan.” She closed the laptop when he stood behind her. “I’m busy. Say what you want and get out. I don’t have the energy to deal with you right now.”

“I’m your mate, make time.” She didn’t say anything. He looked at her and could see that she’d been crying again. His heart broke for her, but he had to talk to her. “Shawn found some newspaper stuff about you.”

“I wondered if the great and mighty Slone would have him look. Is there anything you think he might have missed? Any questions you might have for me?” She leaned back in the chair as she continued. “Or did you have someone you wanted me to tell you about? Is that it? You want me to go with you to a meeting or something and tell you if they’re trustworthy or not. I’m sorry, but I’m not really into that anymore.”

“Are you going to kill yourself when you leave here? Is that why you’re moving things around? Setting up charities that will get all your money?” She didn’t say anything, and he knew he was right. “I see. So, when we do this, do you shoot me first, then cut your wrists? Or will I have to shoot you, then kill myself?”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” He stood up and moved to the other side of the table she was using as a desk. He picked up the file there and put it back down when he saw the amount of money she was leaving a place called Left Behind. “Get out of here.”

“I told you, I can’t be without you. And I’m reasonably sure that you know of or have had contact with another shifter that has hurt you or someone you care about. So you might also be aware that I cannot live without you. I will die without you now.” She snorted at him. “You die, Addie, and I die too. Either by your hand, mine, or my family having to kill me when I go rogue.”

“This is how you’re going to do this? Add more pressure on me…do you fucking have any idea what I feel every day? Every hour? Like a black soup…no, a black tar is over me in a great, heavy coat. I can barely get up daily, don’t even want to. And here you are adding more to my life. Well, I fucking don’t want it, or you.” The gun slammed onto the table hard enough that he could see the marks of it in the surface. “You want to know about the shifter? Okay. He lived in our house. My dad’s assistant. Every day he’d come in and work with my dad, and then when my dad was too caught up into his work to notice, he’d shift and chase me around the yard, nipping at my body until he’d get tired of his game and tackle me. He never raped me, as you well know, but he did make my life a living hell. There was a vampire too…he was more a friend of my cook than he was my family, but I liked him.”

“What did you do to him? The shifter that chased you?” She got up and pulled a large case to her. When she came back with a file, she tossed it at him. Laying it on the table, he looked at her. “I want to hear it from you.”

“I murdered him, of course.” He didn’t believe her and told her that. “Well, thank you for that. But I did. Not directly but…his car was in poor shape. He never saved for a rainy day. All I did was…make him think that his tires were just fine. I didn’t want to be knocked around by him anymore, and I fucked with his mind. He was killed when his bald tires lost their grip and he skidded into the path of another vehicle.”

He wasn’t even going to think about her having the ability to mess with someone’s mind. “And you’ve done what for his family since then?” She looked shocked but said nothing. “I can’t help you if you don’t tell me everything. What else do you have weighing you down? There’s more, isn’t there?”

“Why do you care, Jarrett? I’m sick of life. Shouldn’t that be enough for you?” He told her no. “Then would it help you if I left you some money? Ultimately that’s what everyone wants, isn’t it?”

He stood up and pulled her to him. His first thought was to tell her off, explain to her that he could not be bought, but he had a feeling she’d heard that before. Instead, he kissed her, deeply and full of the hunger he’d had since he’d left her that morning.

Picking her up, he was thrilled when she didn’t fight him. Taking her to the bedroom beyond this one, he stood her near the bed and began stripping her down. He had no idea where she’d gotten the clothes that she had on, but he loved them on the floor beside him more than he did on her.

“My wolf wants you.” She stiffened. “I said he wants you, not that he was going to take you. But I’d very much like for him to do so soon. He’s not as patient as I am. He wants to mark you as well. Bite you as I have done, and he wants to eat you as well.”

She didn’t say anything about his wolf and neither did he as he pulled her blouse off and dropped it to the floor. She had some scars on her back, two that he knew had been made by a wolf, but he only licked them for now. When he changed her, and he wanted to, the scars, along with the ones on her wrists, would disappear. Turning her to face him, he pulled her bra off and watched her face as he did.

“You’re not going to change my mind.” He leaned down and suckled her breast into his mouth. She was full, larger than his hand, and her nipples were thick and stiff. Long enough for him to suckle and not touch her breast. “You’re very good at this.”

“I love your body. The way it responds to mine.” He reached between them and unsnapped her pants. “I can smell your arousal. How wet you are for me. Did you know that I can also tell when you’re in heat? Ready for me to fill you with our child?”

“I don’t want children. I wouldn’t know what to do with one.” He didn’t say anything to her but dropped to his knees to pull her pants off the rest of the way. When she stood before him naked, he took a moment to appreciate the bounty before him.

“You’re too thin, did you know that?” He kissed her belly, taking the time to lick the inside of her navel, and realized it was a sweet place for her. Her moan made him want to explore more and he would, but for now he wanted her to need him as badly as he did her. Cupping her breasts from his position on the floor, Jarrett leaned into her pussy and kissed her. Lifting his head, he looked up at her, saw her need on her face, the way her nipples hardened. “I want to eat you, Addie. Will you spread your legs for me and let me do that?”

“I’m not…I have things to do.” He ran fingers down her belly and into her navel again. It was dirty play, but he really did want to drink from her. “How would your wolf have sex with me? I don’t want him to…I’m not into that kind of sex.”

His wolf stirred along his skin, and she must have felt it. When she backed from him, Jarrett pulled her to his mouth and sucked her clit hard. Lifting his head from her, he guided her to the bed and had her sit.

“He wants to drink from you.” She nodded and he nodded too before standing. “When I shift I don’t want you to run. He’ll love to chase you down.”

“I don’t want this.” He pulled his shirt over his head and threw it across the room. “No. I don’t. I’m leaving here and I don’t want you to have your wolf do anything to me.”

“Yes, you do. I can smell you. And so can he.” Jarrett hoped he was right when he pulled his pants off, boxers and all. When he let his wolf take him, she sat there staring at him.
Talk to me. Tell me you don’t want this now. Or open up for him. Let him have a taste of your pussy before he marks you too.

He didn’t think she was going to do it. Then little by little her legs widened. When he moved his nose between her thighs, his wolf growled just a little before lapping at her cream. When she lay back, spreading her legs wider for him, his wolf drank greedily from her.

When she came the first time, Jarrett thought his wolf was going to howl. He might have had they been anywhere but in a hotel room. But when she came a second, then a third time, holding onto his fur when she did, his wolf did howl, but quietly in the big room.

“Tell him that’s enough.” Jarrett knew that he wasn’t finished and told her so. “I’m…he’s made me come so much. I can’t come again.”

You can. You will. But he has to mark you
. She didn’t answer him, and he really didn’t give her a chance. When his wolf licked her calf, Jarrett begged him to be careful.

She cried out when his wolf sank his canines into her. She tried to pull him away, but Jarrett told her it was only making it worse. As she lay there sobbing, he shifted back to himself when his wolf let her go. Picking her up and cradling her in his arms, he held her while she cried.

~~~

Addie got up when she knew he was asleep. She pulled her clothing back on, the ones that she’d had Duncan have here for her when she arrived. Standing in the living room, she looked at the mark on her leg and thought it was small compared to the amount of pain that had come with it. Sitting back down at her little table, she began working again.

Addie knew that she was considered nasty rich. She’d been born to money, but her father had told her that didn’t mean that she didn’t have to appreciate it. And she had…all the things that it could afford her had made her life on the run a good deal easier than it might have been. But it hadn’t been enough to save her daddy.

She caught herself staring at the screen more than she was working, and got up to go to the balcony that was just off her room. There was about five inches of snow on the table and single chair there, but she wasn’t out there to sit. She looked down at the covered pool beneath her.

“Please don’t do that.” She turned to look at Jarrett, who had pulled on his pants but not bothered to snap them. “Please. I beg of you, don’t jump.”

“I wasn’t planning on it. I’m not the jumper type.” She came back into the room and closed the door as well as the curtain. “I think you should leave now.”

“Where are we headed?” He sat at her table in front of her computer and lifted the top. “Home? I guess you have some things there that need to be—”

She closed the computer and glared at him. “We had sex. There was nothing more to it than that. I know that having your wolf bite me was a stupid idea, but it’s done now and you’ll have to live with it.”

“I told you, Addie, if you die, I will as well.” She wanted to hit him. Instead, she went to the couch and sat down, curling into the corner as she’d done so many times since she’d gotten here. He sat next to her and pulled her on to his lap. She tried to struggle away from him, but he was too strong. “I won’t leave you. I won’t hurt you either.”

“Everyone hurts me.” He didn’t say anything and she squeaked when he turned her on his lap. “What is wrong with you? You can’t just jerk me around like you own me.”

“I do, sort of. And you own me. But I wanted to suckle your nipples again. I love the way they fill my mouth when they’re hard.” He tore her blouse open, and she felt her breasts swell. Then when he pulled her bra down, tugging it over her full breasts, she cried out when he bit into her nipple then sucked hard at it. “Christ, you make me hard. I would love to have you ride me right now.”

Riding him sounded good right now, and when she looked down at his pants, his cock was sticking from the top of his unzipped pants. She wanted to taste him as he’d done her, but she had no idea how to even go about asking him that. When he pushed her off his lap and held her while she steadied, she watched him pull his pants off the rest of the way and lay back.