Wild Card (6 page)

“Shh…” He kissed her and pulled her upright, upending the world as he dragged her from the table. He sank back into a chair and settled her in his lap with her back tight against his chest. Strong hands curled around her thighs and coaxed her legs apart until she was straddling him.

Even with his rock hard cock rubbing against her ass, his movements were slow. Gentle. “Lift your arms,” he whispered, the words falling against her ears. “Put your hands behind my head.”

She did, the movement stretching her back and shoulders. Her toes brushed the floor, and she shuddered in the circle of his arms. “Like this?”

“Mmm.” Both hands shifted to span her stomach, his palms warm and a little rough against her skin. “You’re safe with me. Even from yourself. I wouldn’t let either of us hurt you, Ginny.”

He couldn’t stop that sort of thing, no matter how strong or determined he was. But she only said, “I know that. I trust you.” The admission made a thrill of panic well inside her, and she tamped it down.

“Trust me.” His lips closed on her earlobe and he ran one hand up her body to cup her breast while the other returned to stroke between her legs again. “Let go of everything.”

Need crashed in on her, and she bucked against his hand and whimpered. “Yes.”
Everything.

He didn’t bother to tease her this time, just rubbed at her clit in slow, firm circles that altered to match the rhythm of her bucking hips. Warm breath fell against her neck, and he bit her a moment later, overwhelming her with sensation when his fingers closed around her nipple at the same moment.

Ginny tensed and screamed as an orgasm flashed through her like fire, fast and unstoppable. She turned her face instinctively to Jack’s and kissed him fiercely as aftershocks of pleasure shook her. He groaned against her mouth, his fingers starting over. It twisted the trembling threads of fading pleasure into another growing swell.

He tore his mouth from hers and panted against her ear. “Come again. Come again, and then I want to be inside you. I want to feel you ride me, feel you come around my cock so hard I can’t do anything but follow you.”

His words made it impossible to hold back or deny him, and she growled as another dizzying wave broke over her. Her arms tightened around his neck, and she nearly bucked off his lap. “Jack! Jack, I need you --”

The world tilted again as he rose and lifted her hands again. For several breathless seconds he held her trapped, her hands high over her head and her body still shaking with pleasure. “Tell me. In my lap, or over the table.”

“Y-Your lap.” She needed to kiss him, feel his heart beating near hers.

The rasp of a zipper filled her ears, and he turned her and dragged her back into his lap, this time facing him. His cock was trapped between them, and he pressed one hand to the small of her back and ground against her with a hoarse moan. “God, you’re so damn hot, Ginny.”

“Shh.” She dropped her arms around his neck again and lifted her body until the head of his cock brushed her pussy. “I want to make you come, too. Let me make you come.”

His jaw tightened as he grasped her hips. “You can do whatever you damn well please to me.”

Ginny held her breath and slid down his shaft slowly, relishing the hard thrust of his body into hers. When every inch of him was buried inside her, she rocked gently. “What now?” she whispered and closed her teeth on his stubbled jaw. “Tell me.”

“Ride me, sweetheart. Like you did last night.”

“You feel so good.” She nestled her face into Jack’s neck and nipped at the warm skin there. Her hips rolled over his in a slow, torturous rhythm that sparked the tension inside her again. “You’re beautiful.”

He smoothed his fingers up her back and tangled them in her hair. “Kiss me. Kiss me and come with me.”

Ginny jerked his mouth to hers and drove her tongue past his lips as she moved faster. He needed her release just as she needed his, so she angled her hips so that her clit rubbed the base of his cock. She came suddenly, clenching around his cock, and Jack threw back his head and roared his release. It seemed to go on forever, and she moaned into the damp skin of his shoulder until the pulses of pleasure had mostly faded.

She didn’t dare meet his eyes. He kept pulling when she wanted to push, making her open up to him. No, that wasn’t fair. She
chose
to let him see the things he sought, but only because the damned man had somehow managed -- in less than a
day
-- to be something she didn’t want to lose.

A wise man knew when to retreat, and Jack had always fancied himself a wise man. The flare of panic in Ginny’s eyes drove him to the bathroom, where he could hide long enough to give her some space.

Some
space. He’d always known she’d be hard to hold, but now that he had his hands on her, he wasn’t letting go completely. So he took his time washing up and getting dressed, and only emerged when he heard Ginny moving about the kitchen again.

He found her at the stove, dressed and poking at his half-cooked, congealed omelet. “Guess I’m starting over,” she said ruefully, her voice light.

“Guess so.” He offered her a smile. “Want some help?”

“Could you fetch me a few more eggs from the larder while I chop more vegetables?”

“Sure, I could --” A noise tickled his ears, and he stopped and tilted his head as it resolved into hoof beats, approaching fast.

A moment later she heard it, too. “I’m expecting Roy,” she told him quickly. “He’s going to handle the chores while Ollie and I round up the strays.”

Jack tried to relax, but a night in Ginny’s bed had hardly predisposed him to feeling reasonable. He took a step back and tilted his head toward the door. “I’ll go and make sure.”

She slid the skillet off to one side of the stove eye and reached for the rifle by the back door. “I’ll come with you.”

The growl escaped him before he could stop it, but asking Ginny to hide in the kitchen while he protected her would be futile -- and probably piss her off.
And this is the reason you want her,
he reminded himself as he strode to the door with her close by his side.
Because she’s strong enough to help you protect the pack.

When they stepped out onto the front porch, it wasn’t Roy riding up. It was Hazel, on one of Lottie’s best bay mares. Ginny raised a hand in greeting, her cheeks turning pink.

Hazel raised a hand in return, but her eyes were all for Jack, as was, he suspected, that tiny, amused smile. “Well. This is a surprise.”

“Is it?” Ginny turned to Jack, a mischievous glint in her eyes. “Hey, maybe after breakfast Hazel could ride over to Ollie’s place with you. I’m sure she’d like that.”

Ginny’s blush had nothing on how pink Hazel’s cheeks could turn. Jack shot his new lover a quelling look before he stepped off the porch and strode forward to catch the mare’s bridle. “Why don’t you hop down and have breakfast with us, Hazel?”

The girl would be every bit as dominant as Ginny once she’d grown up a little, but for now she followed his suggestion, sliding easily from the horse’s saddle. She was tiny, the top of her head barely coming even with his shoulder, which was probably why he kept forgetting how old she was. “Here,” she said, holding out her hand. “I’ll put the horse in the stable and come along in a few minutes.”

Ginny had already gone back inside when he turned toward the porch. He found her in the kitchen, transferring an omelet to a stoneware plate. “Ready for breakfast?” she asked brightly.

Jack glared at her. “What in holy hell, woman? I am not dragging that girl over to Oliver’s ranch with me, for about five hundred reasons you can probably figure out.”

“I know.” She handed him a steaming mug of coffee and kissed him gently. “But she deserved it. Sit down and eat before it gets cold. I’m not making another batch.”

He set the mug on the table with a soft thud and reached out to grab her arm. He dragged her back against his chest with a growl that turned into a moan when his lips found hers. She was impossible… and he loved it.

She kissed him hard and bit his lip, then wiggled out of his arms with a wicked smile. “Breakfast now. More kissing later.”

“Fine.” He dropped into the chair as he heard Hazel’s footsteps on the porch. “Do me a favor, Ginny. Stick close to home and your rifle today, except when you’re out with Oliver. None of those assholes are going to risk pissing him off, but if some of them slip by me, I don’t want you getting hurt.”

She cracked an egg into a bowl and arched an eyebrow at him. “Fair warning, Jack. I’m shooting the first son of a bitch who tries to start something with me.”

He hadn’t expected anything less, but it wouldn’t help if they came at her as a group.
Which they would, the sorry bastards.
“That’d be great if they were going to line up and wait for you to shoot them.”

She waved her cheese grater at him. “Don’t start with that. I’m not some helpless little flower.”

“She’s not,” Hazel supplied not-at-all helpfully from the kitchen doorway. “She shoots pretty damn good, too.”

Jack ground his teeth. “How well she shoots is not the question, Hazel. It’s how many people she can stop.”

Ginny pointed to the table. “Omelet, Hazel.” Her gaze slid back to Jack. “Would it make you feel better if I got my stock settled and spent the rest of the day in town at Lottie’s?”

Even if Hazel hadn’t nearly tripped over her chair in shock, Jack would have recognized what a large concession she’d just made to his protective instincts. “That would make me feel considerably better.” And considering the conversation he was planning on having with Oliver… He shot Ginny a sly look. “Especially if you’d let Oliver accompany you and Hazel on your ride over.”

Her eyes twinkled, and she nodded solemnly. “I think that would be wise, Jack.”

In retrospect it was hard to understand how he’d never noticed Hazel’s crush before this. Her cheeks flushed again at the mere mention of Oliver’s name, and she dropped into her chair with a little annoyed noise. “You told him,” she accused Ginny. “That’s not very nice.”

She snorted. “He couldn’t figure why none of his and Lottie’s machinations could persuade you to fuck some nice little boy in town. Trust me, I did you a favor.”

The color in Hazel’s cheeks deepened and she scowled. “Who says I haven’t fucked some nice little boy in town?”

Jack froze, his gaze darting back to Ginny as his eyebrows climbed high enough he imagined they were about to collide with his hairline.

But Ginny ignored his stunned look as she passed Hazel a mug. “I’m not talking about some human you’re amusing yourself with, though I’d wager a year’s profits there haven’t been any of
those
, either.”

“There are some,” she retorted, but Jack could smell the lie. She knew it, too. She wrapped her fingers around the mug and sank lower in the chair. “There was one. I still don’t see what makes humans so different.”

There were plenty of reasons having sex with a human was nothing like sex with another werewolf, but Jack wasn’t sure he was up to listening to a recitation of them over breakfast. “This sounds like the sort of thing you ladies can talk about without me.”