I waved him off, not all that angry about it. With my enhanced blood, the cut would likely heal before the night was over. If I were lucky, before I arrived home and my mom caught wind of it.
“Is the lecture over so I can go home?”
Julian pulled his phone out of his pocket and tapped on the screen a few times. “Yes, but don’t think that I won’t be reporting you to President West for jumping the gun… again.”
“Great. Tell him hi from me.” I wiped my blades off on a nearby dead vampire before sliding them back home.
We weren’t very far from my house, so I decided to walk it. If I stayed there much longer, Julian would try to convince me to help with clean-up, and that wasn’t my thing. Vampire slayer I was… cleaner of messes I wasn’t.
As I made the trek home, I lamented over Julian handling me with kid gloves again. One day, they’d stop underestimating me.One day, I’d be able to prove myself as more than the liability they all saw me as.
Yeah, and werewolves were just big puppies.
Chapter two
Julian
MyeyesfollowedJackas she walked away. The urge to bring her back and tell her how much I wished things could be different between us pushed against my well-trained restraint.
“Wish I didn’t have to clean up,” Ives grumbled beside me, picking up around the living area, then chuckled. “Nice to be the boss’ goddaughter, huh?”
I shot him a flat look. “You don’t want her helping clean up, Ives. Did you forget about the boat incident?”
Ives’ face paled. “Oh, right. Yeah.” He laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head. “Better to keep her stabbing and slashing; Durand is good at that.”
Though I didn’t need to explain myself to my underling, none of us needed to be cleaning up an even bigger mess on top of our own. Jack did many things, but being efficient wasn’t one of them.
“Finish up and then report back,” I commanded the group. “I’ll head back first to give our report to the president.”
A chorus of acknowledgements followed me as I jogged away from the scene toward where one of our vehicles was parked. With me and Jack gone, they would all fit into the one vehicle, leaving me to go back early.
The ride back to headquarters was a quick one, since our squadrons only took care of supernaturals in a hundred-mile radius. There were other chapters of the Hunter’s Guild spread throughout the state and country, each handling their own territory.
I parked in the back and made my way into the hunter’s barracks. President West would want to hear from me soon, but I had time to shower and change first. I nodded to a few hunters on my way to the locker room, not bothering to stop to chat.
Finding my assigned locker, I worked the lock and then proceeded to disrobe. One benefit of having Jack on my team was how quickly she took out each vampire, leaving me with barely anything to do and less laundry. I unzipped my flak jacket, shoved it in my locker, then tossed my remaining clothes into the bulk laundry basket. Before heading to the shower stalls, I grabbed my toiletry bag.
A handful of the stalls were filled but, with full-length doors on each of them, we had a faux sense of privacy. I flicked the water on and hooked my toiletry bag on the nearby hook. After I washed, my hand brushed against something inside my toiletry bag.
Something I had promised I would get rid of.
My eyes closed, and I gripped it in my hand before drawing it out. A thin white triangle with three straps connecting it tangled in my fingers. Just looking at it, the feel of it in my hand, brought back memories of that night.
Turning my back on the water, I brought the material to my nose, breathing the fading scent of Jack’s arousal. My handwrapped around my hardened length, stroking it as I let my mind drift.
Her shy smile. The flutter of her lashes as I leaned over her, tipping her head back to look at me. That first press of our lips together. Fuck, I could taste her on my tongue like it was yesterday.
The small cries she made for me. She’d been so tight. Fuck. Squeezing me until I swore I’d pop. I memorized every inch of her body with my hands and mouth. We had all night, after all. Plenty of time for me to know every part of her and for her to know me.
My hand moved faster, the material pressed to my nose and mouth, muffling the sounds of my pants. Body tensing, I doubled over as I released all over the shower stall wall.
Once my senses came back to me, I took one look at her panties and tossed them to the side of the stall. Disgusted with my lack of self-control, I turned back to the cooling water and rinsed away my release.
After I’d turned the water off and toweled dry, I paused at the stall entrance. Then, without letting myself think about it too much, I picked the white cloth back up and shoved it in my bag again.
Irritated at myself, I quickly dressed in a pair of slacks and a plain white t-shirt. People moved out of my way as I slammed my locker door and peeled out of the locker room, my mind swirling with thoughts of someone I wasn’t supposed to be thinking about.
I wanted Jack so badly, but then it all went to shit. That one night together had turned from a breath of relief to pure agony within mere hours. Sometimes I wished I’d never known the touch, the taste of her, at all.
