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Jackson didn't come home from his hunt until well after the sun had gone down, and when he did come in the house, his face darkened. "I hope you're not expecting a kiss," he said coldly, folding his arms as he stood in the doorway. "I'm not risking getting my heart broken a third time."
"Elena told me she'd talked you out of leaving," I said.
"For tonight," Jackson said. "But don't think you're going to weasel your way back into my affections and then smash them again like you've done twice now. Fear is all well and good, but you've done nothing but be irrational ever since I came back. I'm not having that happen to me a third time." With that salvo he left, and I winced when I heard his door slam shut a few moments later.
"I love you, idiot," I whispered to the empty room, and the tears slid down my cheeks for a very long time after that.
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Despite his epic shut down, his door was ajar when I came upstairs a few minutes later, and I held my breath as I carefully nudged it open, enough to give me a glimpse of him as he lay in bed. He wasn't asleep; I could see the muscles in his back tense, but he said nothing.
"I'm sorry," I said softly, fighting to keep the sobs down. "I do love you, more than I should, and I don't care anymore. I have been a fool, and I did let my fears get the best of me. But not anymore. I love you more than anything in this world, and in the morning, I'm going to kiss you in front of everyone, and I don't care what our parents think." They'd raise hell, but I no longer gave a shit what they thought. "I was scared, but I'm not anymore," I whispered, tears sliding freely down my cheeks. "You're my mate, and I want nothing more than to show you that I do see you the same way as you see me."136Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtwxTgJ7yGT
I held my breath once I'd finished speaking, but no reply was forthcoming, and I bit my lip as I turned and walked across to my own bedroom. But I refused to give into the heartbreak threatening to rip through me, leaving my door ajar in the hopes my plea had gotten through to him. Still, long after I'd turned my light off and hopped into bed, new fears were plaguing me; Jackson had shown he wouldn't be won by words, and I had the horrible feeling his love had run dry after two rejections caused by my own irrational stupdity.136Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZYpRi7D6lf
But then a loose floorboard outside my door creaked, and I froze, hardly daring to breathe as Jackson's shadow darkened the doorway. I'd never gotten that floorboard fixed; it was the one way I could tell my parents were lurking about in hopes of "catching" Jackson and I in some form of illicit activities, but they'd never been able to - Jackson had always slipped out in the earliy mornings after a good snuggle in my bed, and up until the pool incident two years ago, my parents had remained largely ignorant of our secret nighttime snuggles. 136Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxNWgxFCoi1
But right now, I didn't have any thoughts beyond a wild hope, and when Jackson stepped into my room, that hope grew stronger. There was no moon tonight, but werewolves could see in the dark almost as well as cats, and I made out Jackson's shirtless form as he came to my bedside, and despite his tense stance, I sensed the tentative hope he carried. "You break my heart again, I'll break you over my knee," he warned, unshed tears glistening in his eyes. "I'm not playing around, Candy. If you're really ready, you'd better be sure. I don't want to wake up in the morning and see you've let irrational fears get the better of you again."136Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsi1lITf85u
"I'm not afraid anymore," I insisted. 136Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyvXfHJmwSD
Jackson sat down on the edge of my bed. I scooted over to give him room, but he made no further moves. "I mean it," he said. "I'm already smarting as it is, and right now, part of me wants to get up and walk away. It's taking everything I have to be in the same room as you, and I don't want to risk going against my better nature only to find out you've played with me again. You know I'm not a hot-and-cold man; when I love a woman, I love with everything. I hoped Elena would be able to help me get over this irrational infatuation I have with you, but every time I held her in my arms, I wanted it to be you. Making love to her was a torture; your face kept intruding no matter how much I tried pushing you out, and when Saffron was born, I found the perfect excuse to stay away from Elena's bed, even though I hated myself for breaking her heart." He clenched his fists, and in the dark, I saw him grit his teeth. "All because I was deeply, stupidly in love with my sister, who didn't want to give me the time of day until I dunked her underwater and kissed her until she couldn't see straight. And even then, you let your fear get the better of you, when you should've have known, even then, that we were always meant for each other. I love Elena, god help me for a fool, but you're a part of me, and I hate that I can't shake you, even now. I want to wring your neck, but at the same time, I want to make love to you until neither of us can walk straight." 136Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyddPQoB2An
I reached out and gently touched the fists still bunched in my bedclothes. "Elena wants the four of us to live openly as a family," I said. "She still believes in you and I."136Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCn8WIOj6lk
"Damn her for a fool," Jackson said with a bitter laugh. "But she's got me pegged right down to my bollocks. Fuck me running."136Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRVb1sPnDvf
Despite the seriousness of the situation, I couldn't help the ever-present desire that had managed to resurrect itself after getting brutally slaughtered this morning. "I'd rather fuck you lying down," I said frankly.136Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVjx5guN3Fg
Chaser gasped. 'Oh, you minx,' she said. 136Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdzH7FyixS7
Jackson blinked. "You mean that," he said, disbelieving. His fists uncurled as a light that I thought I might never see again rekindled in his eyes. "Don't make me regret this," he warned, throwing the bedcovers aside. "I'm not in the mood for any more games."
I wanted to promise that there wouldn't be anymore games, but his kiss cut those words off, and it didn't take much longer for all rational thought to unravel into unbridled passion.
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