Jarrett (7 page)

“Ride me or suck me. Your choice. Either way is great with me. But right now the thought of your mouth over my cock while I fuck that pretty mouth of yours is making my balls ache.” She stood there, and when he pulled her down to her knees, Addie leaned in and licked the tip of his cock. “That’s it, baby. Lick the crown for me, circle your tongue around me, then take me into your mouth.”

She did as he’d instructed her to do and moaned when she got a taste of him. It was salty and sweet, hot and thick. She sucked at the tip of his cock and ran her tongue over the tiny eye there. Jarrett raised his hips up to her mouth even as he held her over his cock with his hand at the back of her head. She didn’t know if he was going to pull her away or not, so she held onto his hips and let him fuck her mouth as hard as he wanted.

It was getting harder and harder to keep up with him. His cock would touch the back of her throat, and she learned quickly to swallow around him. When she did that the second time, a flood of his juices filled her mouth. Addie wanted more of him, needed more, and when he lifted her head from his still hard cock, she thought he was rejecting her.

“I need to fuck you.” She was still trying to figure out how to get out with some of her dignity when he pulled her up off the floor and ripped her pants off her. She was impaled on his cock before she could imagine what he was doing.

“Ride me. Christ, take your pleasure before I turn you around on this table and fuck your pussy from behind.” He slid his fingers over her clit as he lifted her over and over with his hips. She rode him hard and was close to coming when he said “Fuck it. I can’t wait, I need to fuck you.”

She was nearly tossed from him again and she found herself leaning over the back of the couch. Before she could ask him what he wanted her to do there, he entered her hard, slamming his cock to his balls. Addie came so hard that she thought that the entire hotel heard her. His command of “Again” had her grabbing the pillow this time and screaming her release into it, even as he leaned over her and bit her on the shoulder. Addie felt the darkness swallow her up so fast there was no time to wonder what he was doing.

When she woke, the room was dark. She moved on the bed and felt the weight that could only be Jarrett next to her. He was wrapped around her like a vise, and she really didn’t mind it so much. There was a blinking light on her computer that she knew was a message from Shawn, but she wasn’t worried about it right now. Things were…they were proceeding. That was about all she could say about it for now.

“Tell me what you feel when you’re depressed.” His voice was low, but she was still startled from Jarrett speaking. “I’d like to know.”

She was thinking how to answer him, or for that matter, if she really wanted to. No one could understand it. Addie had seen doctors about her depression since she could remember. And none of them, not a single one, had done anything about it but shove drugs at her.

“Your mother is gone, right?” He said that she was. “Were you old enough to understand it? I mean, that she was going to be gone from your life forever?”

“Yes, all of us were. I think it hurt Dad more than he’d ever tell you. But I think he felt he had to be strong for us. And in turn, we felt that we had to be the same for him.” Jarrett shifted on the bed and pulled her over him. He was stroking her back with the tips of his fingers when he continued. “She was everything to me. My entire life. We all knew…she never let us feel sorry for her. But...yes. I miss her every day.”

“When my father died…he was everything to me, too. The reason I would…he used to take me to see his designs. They meant so much to him, coming up with the concept of things and seeing them through. I never appreciated what he was showing me when I was younger, but as I got older it wasn’t what he was doing that made me want to see his inventions, but the excitement that he got from them.” She realized that she’d not answered him and tried again. “Imagine your darkest day, the day that your mother died, the day that you knew that she’d never kiss you goodnight. Never tell you that she loved you. And never bake cookies for your class parties again. It’s like a thick black soup. Like…like you can’t move in it, it’s so tight around you; in your ears so that you can’t hear, your mouth so that you can’t speak, and in your lungs so that all breath is gone, and you just want to let it take you. And you’re all alone.”

Jarrett didn’t say anything, and she thought perhaps she’d made him mad. Addie had done that once to one of her doctors, pissed him off so badly when he asked her what triggered her depression. She’d told him breathing. He’d told her she was combative and that if she had no desire to get through this, she might as well pull the trigger.

“He should be shot.” She lifted her head and looked down at Jarrett. “Yes, I can read your thoughts. I try not to. I find it a little intrusive, but I was trying to understand. And that asshole needs to be shot.”

“He said it was my fault. That not only did I not want to be cured, but I was making it up most of the time for sympathy. He said that I was a product of too much given to me and I felt that I should have more.” She watched his face, the moonlight from the window just enough that she could see him. “The next afternoon, I tried again…took all the pills he’d given me to calm my nerves.”

“They’ve drugged you instead of helping you.” She nodded. Her dad had said the same thing before he’d died. “I think you need help, but not in the form of drugs. I don’t know how to help you, but I do want to. I know that…I understand that there is not necessarily a cure for depression, but there are ways to make life easier.”

“I don’t want easier, Jarrett. I want it to end.” He shook his head. “I hear them…the thoughts of others. All the time. I feel their pain, their own depression. It’s like a never-ending loop of sorrow and sadness. There are times when someone is thinking thoughts that make me smile, but they’re buried deep inside all the rest. Not enough money to pay the mortgage. A child dying of cancer. Husbands and wives beating one another, sometimes to death. It’s forever with me. Not just when I touch them.”

“How can I help you?” She got out of the bed and went to the table. She wasn’t mad at him, but at the fact that there was nothing he could do to help her. He got up and pulled his pants on and handed her the comforter from the bed.

“I ran away when I should have stayed and dealt with my dad’s death. I was…they locked me up for a time, drugged me more, and had me talk in groups. It was a nightmare. There were so many there, too many people for me to think, to even breathe at times.” She looked out the window at the moon instead of at him. “The furniture was chained to the walls; the cabinets were bolted to the floor. There were plastic pads on the beds that made noises when I lay on them. When I get there, they took all my clothing, cut the strings off them. Check them for sharp items and drugs. My food was monitored, kept track of. When I went to the bathroom, things were measured and tested. A nurse stood outside my stall when I showered. It mattered little if I was shy or not. Towels were handed to me, then taken away when I was finished. My soaps and shampoos were done the same way. No jewelry or watches, no makeup, or even a comb. Everything and anything that could be used as a weapon was taken from me.”

“But it wasn’t any of that that bothered you. That you could have dealt with, right? It was the voices, the thoughts that kept you hurting.” She turned and looked at him, nodding at his statement. “It’s why you were traveling alone. Why you slept in the camper instead of hotels that you could afford. I bet you rarely ate out, but preferred to cook for yourself.”

“Your dad, he was the first person I’ve ever encountered that seemed to be genuinely happy. Not just happy but…he really seemed to enjoy life. The only time he was sad was when he thought of his daughter Slone out in the car he’d borrowed, and that she might get stranded.” Jarrett told her Slone was carrying his first grandchild. She smiled then. “Slone and Hunter are having a girl. They think it’s a boy, but she’s not.”

Jarrett sat beside her in the chair. If he was thinking of how to help her, she didn’t feel it. All she felt was his love for her, something that surprised her as much as it scared her. When he stood up and reached for his shirt, she realized that the sun had come up and it was getting late.

“I have to go to work for a little while. Why don’t you come with me?” She had work to do. Things to settle with Shawn before she spoke to Duncan. “No one but you and I will be there. Slone is coming by later with some information that she has on the place. You can bring your work with you. I have to figure out how to get parts delivered and supplies brought in.”

“Why?” She got up and went to the bathroom with him. He was standing in front of the sink trying to fix his hair. She reached into the shower and turned on the water. “I don’t even know what you do for a living.”

“I own a debunked computer store.” She stared at him. “Slone lends money to people to help startup businesses. There is a win-win thing in the contract for the person. They have to show a profit in the first five or so years. If they fail, she gets the business, and if it’s a purchase she makes, the building too.”

“So she took this person’s business when they failed?” He shook his head and told her what had happened. “Wow. Printing his own money. And a drop for the sheriff. This is a great town you live in.”

“You have no idea.” She stepped into the water and scrubbed her body. She was sore in places that made her wince, but she felt pretty good too. When she stepped out, she thought perhaps Jarrett would have left, but he was in the living room of her suite looking over the menu. “I thought we’d have a big breakfast, then go down. Oh, and your computer has been ringing. Nice set up you have there, by the way. Did you have it made?”

“Duncan…I don’t think I can trust him, so I had a guy set me up something that he wasn’t able to tap into.” Jarrett ordered her a large breakfast and himself one as well with a lot of juice. “Duncan is coming today and I have to meet with him.”

Jarrett nodded and picked up the phone, telling her he had to set up a meeting with Shawn as well. She went to the bedroom to get dressed and found that while her jeans and shirts were fine for travel, they really were worn out. When she came out of the room, he was sitting at her table but he wasn’t touching anything.

“I just want to look at it. Not what you’re doing, but…I’m an electronic junkie. A nerd if you will.” She nodded to it and sat down. She must have dozed off because Jarrett was waking her with a croissant under her nose and a glass of juice. Addie was both happy and confused about how…well, nice he was being to her. She decided to go to his shop if to only see what he did all day.

Chapter 7

Jarrett hung up the phone and put his head in his hands. No one would help him out. There were unpaid bills amounting to nearly seven figures, and most of those companies thought he should take care of them because he was related to Slone. He lifted his head when he heard voices. Taking a break right now seemed like a great idea.

“I was just telling Addie she was right about the baby. It is a girl.” Jarrett said nothing but put out his hand. Slone laughed. “Oh all right. Here she is.”

He put his hand on her belly and felt the baby—a girl, he knew now—kick him. As soon as he felt it, he reached for Addie’s hand and put it under his. Jarrett had never thought that she’d not want to feel her move, but did it anyway.

The look on her face scared him. He wanted to pull her way, feeling badly for what he’d done, when she put her other hand on her. When she looked at Slone, Jarrett felt his wolf move along his skin nervously.

“You have to do what I tell you.” Addie’s voice sounded so sure that Jarrett was sure she’d used compulsion. “Don’t try to be a hero. Don’t do anything but listen to me.”

The door to the shop opened and he looked at the man there. He didn’t know him, had no idea even how he’d gotten in, but he was ready to go and show him out when Addie grasped his arm. Her
don’t
made him step back.

“I was looking for a job.” Addie nodded and sort of guided-shoved Slone into Jarrett’s arms as the man, a boy really, approached the counter where they were. “I need some money.”

“He’s not open yet. You should come back in a couple of days. Then Mr. Emerson might be ready to talk to you.” The boy nodded at Addie when she answered him. “Jamie, this isn’t going to turn out well for you.”

The gun appeared in his hands before Jarrett could ask Addie how she knew the kid. Addie put her hand on Jamie’s arm and held it, not moving it away from it being pointed at Jarrett and Slone. Jamie looked at Addie, but the gun never moved.

“She needs to get an abortion. If she doesn’t, her dad will kill me and her too. I believe her because he already beats her around.” Addie nodded but didn’t loosen her grip on Jamie’s arm as he continued. “It’s all I want. Just enough to pay for it before he finds out.”

“What’s her name, Jamie? This girl. What’s her name and perhaps we can get her some help.” He told her Maybeth. “The little thing that works at the diner? The waitress?”

“Yes, ma’am. She has to work there because her dad is a drunk that needs her to supply him with money.” Addie shook her head, and he nodded back at her. “I’ve seen him. He’s a mean drunk.”

“Oh, I know that. But that’s not her dad, Jamie, that’s her husband. He does beat her, but because they’re scamming everyone.” He was shaking his head. “And there is no baby either. Not this time, or the other times she’s pulled this on young kids.”

“No. No, that’s not right. I saw the paper from the doctor. She’s five weeks gone. And I need the money.” Addie pulled her hand from his arm, and he looked at where she’d touched him. “What did you do to me?”

“I touched you. And I want to tell you that your suspicious are as true as what I’ve told you.” Jamie nodded and looked at him. Jarrett started to step to him, but Addie told him through their link to stay still. “I also want to tell you that if you use that gun like you’re still planning to do, that man over there will be killed and the woman behind him will lose her baby. It’s a little girl. She’s very excited about being born.”

“I don’t want to hurt anyone. I just need six hundred dollars for Maybeth to get fixed.” Jarrett moved in front of Slone when she tried to step around him. He reminded her that she promised to listen to Addie.

I hate this. He’s going to hurt her. And when he does, I’m going to tear him apart.
He told her not if he got to him first.
Oh well, there is that.

“Jamie, you set that gun on the counter for me and I’ll give you a job.” Jamie looked at him, then at Addie when she continued. “Or Mr. Emerson here can. He’s going to need good people to work for him when he opens.”

Jamie looked hesitant. Addie never moved and neither did he. Jamie kept looking at the gun like it was going to give him all the answers. When he lifted it up and put it on Addie’s forehead, Jarrett’s wolf nearly took him.

“If you kill me, you’re going to go to prison. And when you do, you’ll get fifteen years to life. But you’ll never make it past the second night.” He asked her why. “Because you’re going to hang yourself with your underwear. Your mom will visit you that day, and when she does she’s going to tell you everything I just told you about Maybeth. And how she’s consorting with Randy Sells, your best friend. And that she’s telling everybody that she lost your baby from all the stress, when we both know there wasn’t a child.”

The gun wavered, but he didn’t drop it completely. Jarrett had never been so afraid in his life as when Addie put her hands on the gun too.

“Are you going to shoot me, Jamie? I have news for you, no one will care much if you do. But they will when you’re gone. You support your mother. Do you want to know what happens to her when you’re gone? How about your sister? Do you think that Lisa will have an easy time of it? Who will she talk to about her homework? How will she feel if you’re dead?”

“I don’t want to die.” The gun lowered, and Jarrett wanted to grab it from him and hit him in the head for scaring him so badly. “I love my mom. She’d be…I have to have money to…will you really give me a job?”

“Put the gun on the counter and step back.” Jamie nodded and did what she told him. “Down on your knees, Jamie. I don’t want Jarrett here to hit you on the head with the butt of the gun. He’s pretty pissed at us both.”

Jamie moved to the floor and put his hands over his head. He didn’t move when Jarrett stepped forward and took the gun from the counter. He hoped it was unloaded, but when he took the clip out, his knees nearly buckled when the clip was full. Pulling back the slide, he wasn’t even surprised to find one in the chamber. Jarrett put the clip, round, and gun on the counter behind him and pulled Addie to him. Christ, the need to touch her was making him sick to his stomach.

“Hunter is coming. And he’s not happy.” The door flew back on the hinges hard enough to crack the glass front almost as soon as Slone spoke. He came across the room, picked Jamie up by his arms, and shook him hard before growling low at him.

“Hunter, everyone is all right. Put the boy down.” Jarrett tried to peel his brother’s hands from the kid’s arms, but he wasn’t letting go. “Hunter. You’re hurting him.”

“I fucking should kill his ass. You threatened my wife and child, you motherfucker.” Hunter shook him again. “And my brother and his wife. I should be able to tear you apart for what you’ve put us all through.”

“But he didn’t hurt us.” Everyone looked at Slone when she spoke. “He didn’t hurt any of us. And thanks to Addie, he’s going to have a job, a good start on life, and be around when his mom needs him.”

“You gave him a job?” Hunter roared this time, and Jarrett felt his wolf snarl at him. Hunter might be his alpha, but he was yelling at his mate. And Jarrett didn’t like it.

“I can fucking do what I want when I want, asshole.” Hunter dropped Jamie and stalked toward Addie. “Touch me and your wife will be a widow before your child takes her first breath.”

As far as threats went, it was a good one. But it was Addie’s delivery that had Jarrett pause in his move to go and protect her. It was low and hard. She didn’t give any indication at all that she was just bluffing. He watched Hunter as he stared at her.

“You could have been hurt, all of you.”

“But we weren’t,” Addie said.

“But you could have been.”

“Yes. We could be hurt standing in an alley and have a brick fall on our heads too; but today, we were not hurt.” Jarrett laughed. Hunter glared at him, but right then he didn’t care. The release of tension made him laugh again.

“She has a point.” Hunter growled, and Slone smacked him on the back of the head much like their dad did. “She does have a point. Not to say that I wasn’t terrified, but she saved us and the kid.”

Hunter looked at the kid in question. “My wife tells me that you think you knocked up Maybeth Harlan. I want you to know that the girl is no more pregnant than you are. I went to the diner and…talked to her. And that big guy you said was her daddy? He’s her husband all right. They came here about four years ago when the other town they’d pulled this shit in ran them out. I’m pretty sure that they’re not going to be welcome here much longer when Pete gets around to talking to them.”

“There’s no baby, for real?” Hunter shook his head, and Jamie dropped his head to the floor. He was crying when he lifted his head and looked at Addie. “I owe you. Everything. I mean, I will do whatever you want me to do for the rest of my…rest of my long and very smart life.”

Addie looked at him and he nodded. The kid had really dodged a bullet here and she wanted to help him. “You have a job working for Mr. Emerson here. But you’ll go to college and you’ll take care that your grades show that you are grateful for the gift you’ve been given today.”

“Mrs. Emerson, I would love to go to college, but my sister has a real talent and I’m saving my money so she can go; and I won’t touch that money for anything. It’s important to her. I want her to have the ability to be as great as I know she is.” Addie got down off the counter where she’d sat when Hunter yelled at her. She told Jamie to stand up.

“I’ll help you with your tuition. And put money in the bank for you to pay for books and things.” He was shaking his head, and she smacked him on the arm. “I don’t remember asking you for a damned thing. Listen up, buddy, I don’t make this sort of offer often. College and books. You’ll work, but only part time, and you’ll keep your grades up. Your mom will go and work for Mr. Cash Emerson. He’s opening an office up and will need her help. Do you know what will happen to you if you fuck this up?”

Jamie turned and looked at Jarrett, then at Hunter. His gaze lingered on Slone for a few seconds longer before he turned back and answered Addie. “First your husband will beat my ass, then the man over there. The woman…she’ll be the worst, I think, because I’ve heard about her. She’s scary.”

“You have no idea.” When Jamie left them, Jarrett leaned against the wall while Hunter checked out Slone. When she’d had enough of his fussing, she told him to take her home. When he and Addie were alone, he asked what had been on his mind.

“Do you really think that no one will care if you’re dead?” She looked at him strangely, as if she didn’t know what he was talking about. “You said that to Jamie when he put the gun to your head. You don’t really believe that. Do you?”

He didn’t think she’d answer when she went into his office and sat at his desk. Jarrett knew what she was seeing there. Unpaid bills to this shop, invoices that he’d made up to order that wouldn’t get filled, and a list of things he needed to do before he’d ever be able to open the doors. When she picked up the phone, he moved into the room and sat in the chair across from her.

“Hello, Duncan. I need for you to contact…Compute This.” She paused. “Yes, I know I do. Tell them to fill the order for….” She looked at Jarrett.

“Emerson Computers.” She repeated the name of his shop and told Duncan the names of a few other companies to take care of. When she hung up, he stared at her for a few minutes before she spoke.

“I own a lot of companies.” He nodded. “These, as a matter of fact. And I will look into why they are holding up orders for you when you aren’t the previous owner. According to Duncan, the insurance companies paid us off when this one went belly up. It’s just another thing to add to my list of things to talk to him about.”

“Thank you, but you didn’t answer my question.”

She nodded and leaned back in the chair before speaking again.

“I hurt, Jarrett. Every day, every hour.” He started to go to her, but she told him to wait. “When you touch me…when you’re even near me, I feel different. Like I can make things work out. The voices in my head…they sound less when I’m with you. I know it won’t last, but it feels good for a time.”

“It can last for as long as you need it too, Addie. I’m not leaving you.” She just stared at him and didn’t say anything. Jarrett got up and moved to the other side of the desk and took her hand into his. “You saved that boy’s life. Not just his, but I’m betting his mother’s as well. It was the truth, wasn’t it? All that stuff you told him about prison.”

“Yes. I can see enough into someone’s path to see when something is coming.” He nodded. “Are you freaked out? Do you want to go running and screaming away from me? I wouldn’t blame you.”

“No. I don’t want to run.” He pulled her from the chair. “I do want to get some lunch, and you have that meeting with Duncan. If you don’t mind, I’d like for my brother Luke to be there as well. I know that Shawn is, but Luke said he had a few questions for your lawyer.”

“I’d like that…and for you to be there if you want.” He felt as if she’d given him the key to a locked chest, and he had the only one. “It’s going to be boring, I think. I’ve not seen Duncan in five years, so I have a lot to catch up on. Not a great deal of it is going to be in his favor, I’m afraid.”

“I’d love to be there.” She nodded and they moved to the street. He locked the door this time and told her that he’d have to have Hunter fix the glass. She nodded but said nothing.