Rush Against Time (9 page)

****

After she had showered, dressed, and consumed a plate of eggs, sausage, and toast big enough to feed a small army, Jessa busied herself tidying up the house, keeping her mind off the latest slew of events that had taken place.  When there wasn’t anything left to dust or scrub, she decided to make her way outside.  Damion still hadn’t come back, and with every growing minute, a slow ache drifted deeper and deeper into the bottom of her heart. 
It was only a kiss.  Any man would have responded the same way if they walked in on a half-naked woman and a dildo rolling across the floor. It was just a heated moment, and will never happen again.  If I run into him, it will be just a coincidence.  Yep, just an accidental cross of paths.  I don’t care if I ever see him again.  Nope, I don’t need any pushy man like that.  Ever. 

She stepped off the porch and walked around to the back, admiring all of the lush flowers and trees that decorated the yard. 
Allowing her mind to rest and just enjoy the beautiful day, she became engrossed in picking a bouquet for the kitchen table. 

****

Damion watched her from the shadows of the shed.  He had been busy wiring extra security alarms when he heard the door shut and Jessa’s footsteps on the porch.  He couldn’t shake the feelings that rumbled through him when he had tasted her sweet mouth.  His wolf had gone wild, and still hadn’t settled. This little, sweet, fragile, firecracker package of contradictions was his mate.  He knew she had felt it too the way she had surrendered all control over to him so easily.  She might not recognize what the pull was, but she would figure it out soon enough. 

Jessa
had always been full of piss and vinegar, keeping everyone around her in check.  With a simple kiss, he had melted her shell and molded her into a hot mess.  Now as she roamed through the yard, he observed her picking colorful flowers with a gentleness so delicate he was taken aback. The bright sun glistened off her golden hair.  She was beautiful, and she was his. 
There are so many sides to her.  Who would have known the tough-as-nails Jessa Meadows had a soft bone in her body? 
Damion couldn’t peel his eyes off her.  After staring for way too long, his mind flashed back to the scene from morning.  Here he was, frozen by her beauty again. 
I can now be classified as a peeping Tom. 
With a shake of the head, he walked out and began placing the silent alarms. 

Panic shot through D
amion’s chest when he heard Jessa’s yelp cut through the air.  He responded instantly, setting out in a dead run to find her.  Just as he rounded the corner of the house, Jessa hurdled against him.  The impact was so strong and fast he didn’t have time to catch her.  She bounced off, catapulting backwards and landed on her ass.  His first instinct was to pick her up and hold her to keep her safe, but instead shook the newfound feelings and offered his hand.  “Are you okay?  Why did you scream?”

“
No, I just broke my rump!  I yelled because there is a huge ass spider in the garden!”  He had pulled her vertical and she now stood, rubbing her butt with a grumpy look.

“
Damn it, Jessa!  You yelled like you were about to be shot because of a tiny freaking spider?  Your ass already had a crack, so I think you will survive,” his voice roared a little louder than he had intended, but irritation had taken over. 

“
No, asshole!  I said it was a big freakin’ spider!  Like, huge!  I have never seen one ginormous and fugly in my life!  It was staring at me with all of its beady little eyes, and its legs were all furry...and it’s web!  Oh my gosh, its web was bigger than I am!  I swear it is the one from
Harry Potter
!”  She seemed genuinely afraid, and now pissed. 
Well, there is the Jessa I know.  I went from protecting our pack, to babysitting, and now killing spiders.  Shoot me now.  Alan is going to hear about this. 

Damion
wiped his hand over his face, trying to rub the frustration away.  When it didn’t work, he huffed a sigh of defeat and looked at her again.  “Okay.  Take me to the spider so I can squash it.  If you ever yell like that again and you aren’t dying, I will personally kill you myself.  Understood?” his condescending tone earned him a lethal stare down. 

After a few seconds longer than necessary, she answered,
“Fine.  Come on,” and stomped away with her fists doubled at her sides.  When she rounded the corner, she stopped and let him proceed before her.  When he came to a stop, she hid behind his back with her hand on his arm and her head peeking out around him.  He had to bite his lip not to laugh.  She was acting like a scared bunny over a garden weaver spider.  He walked over and grabbed the shovel that leaned against the house and whacked it, taking web and all in one swipe.  Once he confirmed it was dead, he snickered.  “How in the hell have you lived here your whole life and never seen a garden spider?  They are everywhere.  They won’t kill you, I promise.” 

“
You mean there are more of those things?”  He could hear the quiver in her voice, and felt a tinge of sympathy for the poor girl.  Realizing she obviously had a fear of spiders, he decided it best not to share the numerous jokes and teases he had piling up in his mind and tried to look serious. 

“
Yep, but like I said, they won’t hurt you.”  The pouty face she gave was almost more than he could handle.  Torn between finding the situation both irritating and hilarious, and wanting to pull her tight and reassure her, his vision dropped to the grass.  The awkward silence lingered longer than he would have liked before he turned and walked off without another word. 

****

Jessa stared at the backside of Damion as he walked away. 
What an asshole!  The nerve!  I don’t know what the hell I was thinking letting that man kiss me.  I must have still been drunk this morning
!  “Ughhh!”  Jessa turned and made a beeline back into the house.  With an overly exaggerated slam of the door, she went straight into the guest bedroom and locked herself in.  Both shoes went flying across the room to hit the wall and slide down with a loud ‘thud’.  Face first, she fell onto her stomach atop the black silk comforter like a rebellious teenager.  Her fists punched the bed a few times as she released a string of curse words vulgar enough to make a soldier blush.  When her little fit ceased, she flipped over and stared at the ceiling.  The past twenty-four hours had been more chaotic and confusing than she had ever dealt with in her life.  Her head ached, her wolf paced, and she was still freaking horny!  She growled in defeat.

After her temper calmed down, a wave of emotions crashed into her.  Three faces ke
pt popping in her head, and in spite of what she did she couldn’t make it stop.  Logan, Damion, and the guy she fantasized about while she was drunk and masturbated to last night invaded every thought.  Before she could stop it, they had become her
only
thoughts.  Her body heated to a sheer sweat from the inferno that blasted inside her.  The heat was attacking with a vengeance, and fighting for control seemed almost helpless.  Her wolf howled and urged her to go to Damion to get what she needed, but the tiny string of human thoughts that remained kept her in place.  She remembered the purple dildo in the dresser, and jumped to her feet to grab it. 

Jessa
’s movements were a blur.  Nothing registered in her brain except the growing, agonizing ache that now consumed her.  Shallow breaths panted from her lungs as sweat rolled off her body.  Jessa’s clothes flew off in a blur, and she jumped onto the bed and thrust the vibrator against her clit.  Her body reacted on contact.  Jessa’s hips rose uncontrollably.  Ecstasy rolled off her, bringing moans and grunts of pleasure to pierce through the room. 

****

Somewhere in the Arizona desert, deep below the surface of the earth….

“
Take them down to the dungeon with the others!  I want you to go get twice as many subjects this time!” Tonya Blackard hissed through elongated fangs. 

Tonya was beautiful beneath the layers of hate and pain. 
She was thin with an athletic build, had smaller breasts, and legs that went on forever.  Her golden hair was the palest blonde that glistened in the dim light.  The vivacious green eyes that normally had lit up the room had since been replaced with deadly crimson.  “Yes, ma’am, but the agencies are starting to take notice of all the disappearances.  Getting more numbers will be next to impossible,” her tiny minion whined, trembling with fear. 

“
I guess you need to look somewhere else then, don’t you?  I don’t give a shit what happens to you, as long as you get me more test subjects.  We are so close to getting the formula correct!  I will not fail now!”  Rage pumped through her veins, fueling the hate that had built up over the miserable centuries since her father had murdered her mate.  With Lestar out of the way, it was the perfect opportunity to find the ultimate potion to bring her lover back from the dead. 

“
Shall I look more in the southern states?  Those hillbillies won’t be missed as much as the royal packs and clans.”  Vince rubbed his bony fingers together.  He reminded her of the creepy little guy from
Lord of the Rings
.  He was the only human who had survived the serum injections but had withered into a deformed, disgusting creature.  His strength had been amplified some, and he had gained the vampire and shifter abilities.  He could perform compulsion, read thoughts, had enhanced speed, and had a high sense of smell and sight. 

“
Yes.  There are a lot of different packs that hide out in the woods there.  Get me one from each.  I also need four more vamps.  Make sure they are all younger this time.  No one over twenty-five, or younger than eighteen this time, you imbecile!  I don’t know what the hell you expect me to do with these kids you brought.  They have not developed yet, you idiot!  Now I have to slave them until they are old enough.  Daddy dearest may not have had the intelligence to succeed, but I do.  Now go!” 

Vince scurried out of the room like a
cockroach.  Anticipation grew in Tonya’s stomach.  Soon, she would have her Xylar back, and everything would be back to normal. 

****

Damion stood staring at the house.  His ears picked up the faint moans and pants coming from within, making his wolf fight for control.  He knew she was getting worse, and hated standing by allowing it to happen.  In all of his twenty-six years, there had never been a female fight the heat, much less want to wait for her mates.  As ridiculous as it all was, the strangest part was that
he
was her fated mate.  Damion knew without a doubt that Jessa had felt the connection that sparked the instant their lips joined, but with her inexperience she couldn’t distinguish it from the fever that had already began to set in.  The worst part was the longer he waited to mark her, the sicker she would get.  His wolf and mind told him to bust through her door and give her what they both needed and end the whole mess, but in his heart, he knew that she would fight.  He refused to take a woman unwillingly, whether partially against her will or all the way.  It was wrong.  She belonged to him, but unlike the other sick bastards in the pack that didn’t take into consideration their true love’s feelings, he could not and would not force her. 

The louder she moaned, the closer
to the door his feet carried him.  It was good that she was turning to self-pleasure to avoid going totally mad, but at the same time, it only made the urges and needs grow tenfold.  It wouldn’t be long before she went into a coma, and then shifted into her wolf until she was fucked good, given if her body could handle the extreme temperatures and sickness.  The idea of having to mate her in their animal form was unsettling.  Not many shifters had partaken in wolf sex, but those who had said it sucked ass compared to human sex.  The feelings and sensations don’t get to be enjoyed, and there is no exploring or playing.  It is simply nature’s way of procreation.  The female wolves don’t experience orgasm at all. 

When he took
Jessa, he wanted to make sure she knew who her pleasure belonged to.  Visions of her floating on the clouds of orgasmic bliss took over his thoughts, making him walk closer and closer to the house without realizing it.  Before he even knew he had moved, he stood by the only downstairs bedroom window and caught sight of Jessa through the crack in the curtain.  His balls loaded up and sent his cock straining against the teeth of the evil beast of a zipper once again. 
I am getting button fly jeans today.  Ouch! 

Jessa
was now on her knees, rubbing the rubber toy against her clit and cunt hard and fast, desperate for relief.  He released a howl so loud he was sure she would stop and spot him being a peeping pervert again.  Much to his surprise, she didn’t.  If anything, it made her go harder and more frantic.  She was absolutely breathtaking.  Her gold hair clung to her face from the perspiration that now sheeted her body.  Her lips were full and a deep pink, parted slightly as she gasped for breath in the throes of passion.  She was arched slightly, tilting her perfect tits out and emphasizing amazing abdominal muscles that led to the prettiest shaved pussy he had ever seen in his life.  When she reached down and squeezed her right nipple, he almost blew in his pants.  She was the goddess of every fantasy and wet dream he had since puberty. 

Unable to resist, he reached down to unfasten his jeans when his cell phone rang. 
“Son of a fucking bitch!”  His hand fumbled to get the ringing device out of his tight pocket due to the lack of room they now held from his raging hard on.  Walking away from the window, he answered.