Page 57 of A Bond Beyond Blood (The Butcher’s Daughter Trilogy #1)

G annon

Curiosity plucked at my mind as we made our way back to Vinny’s gym.

I couldn’t fathom why he’d instruct me to bring Jackie here instead of their place, especially when I’d commandeered her time for most of the day—or why he’d been so curt with me when he called—but I was happy to have a little more time with her before her guard dog was back in our midst.

Although, to be honest, I didn’t mind Vinny all that much anymore. He’d been cool as shit when he gave me a place to stay, and our training sessions had been epic, even if I still sucked compared to him in the ring.

Jackie’s hand squeezed mine as we neared the gym and I glanced over at her.

My beautiful girl.

I couldn’t deny that Vinny—a fucking Staten Island Ricci of all things—had played a role in getting me back into Jackie’s life again. Sure, I’d apologized and done my best to earn her forgiveness, but he’d been a solid dude and stepped aside.

I didn’t know many guys who’d be quite so open to their girl dating her ex-boyfriend. Although, that wasn’t to say he didn’t still piss on her leg any chance he got, claiming her in front of me with his words and intimate touches, or devouring kisses that made me want to throw punches into walls.

But then today happened, and what he’d orchestrated between the three of us... Jesus .

I owed the guy a favor.

Or five.

We paused at the entrance of the gym and I held open the door for her, but she stopped in front of me and pushed up onto her toes to press a tender kiss to my lips.

She started to pull back but I chased after her, slanting my mouth over hers and swallowing her little gasp of surprise.

She melted against me, the perfect curves of her body lining up with the hard edges of mine the way nature intended.

“Gannon.” When she pulled back to look at me, her voice was a sultry purr that shot a lightning bolt of need straight down to my cock. “Take me upstairs.” She pushed up onto her tiptoes to nip at my jaw, and her hand brushed the bulge in my jeans.

I sucked in a breath. “Baby girl.” I pulled her into my arms and maneuvered us inside. “This place is still packed. Don’t make me walk through the gym with a hard-on.”

“Better hurry up, then.” She wiggled her eyebrows, then spun in my arms and slipped out of my grasp, hurrying ahead of me.

At her increased speed, my fangs popped out and hunger tore up my throat.

“Jackie,” I growled, alarmed by the way something within me unfurled at the idea of hunting her. It stretched and yawned within me, a monster yearning for the chase. “Jackie, fuck.”

She stopped a few yards ahead, then turned slowly.

“Shit,” she whispered. “I’m not supposed to run.”

Her heart beat fast, a blinding rhythm that eclipsed everything else. Her fear was a delicious tickle on my tongue. My lungs expanded as I pulled the scent of her into my lungs, a mixture of her fear and... fuck me, she was absolutely wet with desire.

“Baby girl,” I growled as I lifted only my eyes.

Jackie’s body shook with a shiver that I wasn’t entirely sure had anything to do with fear. “Don’t hurt me,” she whispered.

“Don’t run .”

Jackie took three deep breaths, then gave a curt nod, and before she even turned on her heel, I knew what she’d decided. I roared as she ran, fighting the need to trap her and rip into her flesh.

I counted to three, then couldn’t fight the beast any longer.

My vision was red and zeroed in on where she’d just stood. My ears picked up the sound of her footsteps, the rhythmic thump of her heart.

My eyes closed as I pulled in the scent of her, then broke into a sprint.

She’d barely made it to the other side of the locker rooms when I was on her, yanking her into my arms. I fisted her hair and pulled her head back, snarling as I leaned forward—

Someone yelped nearby and I froze.

“Shit. Sorry.” I hid my fangs and crimson eyes against Jackie’s throat.

“Upstairs,” Jacqueline whispered breathlessly.

Panting from the force of my hunger, I threw her over my shoulder and ran through the gym, a streak of black and red from my girls’ plaid peacoat.

We crashed against the door of Vinny’s apartment and I lowered her to her feet so I could get us inside, but Jackie scrambled to wrap her arms around my neck, so I lifted her and she wrapped those strong legs around my waist, kissing me as if she was the hungry beast and I was simply her prey.

Each stroke of her tongue and roll of her hips brought the monster to heel, calming the savageness I’d felt before until it was a demanding roar of desire rather than bloodlust. I fumbled for the key and unlocked the door, then had her up against the opposite wall in a flash.

Her pants were no match for me; I ripped into them with my hands, then found the warmth of her cunt, dripping and wet for me. I shoved her panties aside and drove two fingers into her slick heat.

She let out a loud moan, tilting her head back.

“Jackie.” I groaned as I pulled my fingers free and tore at my slacks. “Baby, fuck, I need to be inside you.”

She rocked against me even as I struggled to free myself from my pants, so desperate for my cock that she couldn’t keep her body still. Her desperation barely scratched the surface of my own. I couldn’t wait to bury myself inside this girl again.

Goddamn it had been too long. Too fucking long and all my fault.

I had so much lost time to make up for, months of being inside her.

She was my first and she’d be my last.

I reached up with one hand and held her chin, pressing her head against the wall as I claimed her mouth, then I freed my cock, gripping it tightly as I guided myself to her entrance.

Before I could even think about taking my time, Jackie cried out in frustration and jerked her hips, pressing down onto me. I rocked my hips and sank deeper, responding to her wordless demands with firm, deep drives, filling my girl with what she wanted.

She could have it, every inch.

I’d never belonged to anyone else and never would again.

I fucked my girl fast and hard, slamming her body against the wall with every thrust, kissing her and swallowing each grunt and moan and sob until we came together in a violent explosion of lips and tongue and hands—

And her sweet, sweet pussy strangling my cock, milking me for every last drop because that belonged to her too.

All of it. All of me .

Hers.