Page 28

I found Jake, in of all places, the library.

It was one of those Pinterest libraries that you think are AI-generated but are actually real.

Two floors, the top more of a balcony circling the bottom, coffered ceiling, velvet draped windows, a fireplace large enough to roast the bodies of your enemies, and study tables in the center big enough to plan an invasion.

Yup, it was an adventurer's library. Or a king's.

There were some modern books there, but the entire upper floor had old ones—the kind with leather bindings and gilded titles.

I know this because Jake was tossing them over the railing when I walked in.

“What the?” I jumped back, out of the way of a falling book.

The assault paused.

I picked up the book. It was an old copy of Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales.

Old. As in hand-painted cover old. “Oh, fuck.” I inspected the book for damage and ran my hand over the cover.

A painting of Rapunzel was framed with elaborate gilding, her hair twined about her, and her expression bleak. Grim indeed.

“Is this a first edition?” I opened it and saw the publishing date. “1812. Fuck.” I cradled it to my chest and looked up to see Jake staring over the railing at me. “What the fuck is wrong with you?!”

“You said they were for children!”

“That doesn't mean you should torch them like a fucking Nazi!”

Jake stormed across the upper floor to a spiral staircase.

As he did, I put the book down on a table and rescued the others from the floor.

All were fairy tales. Not all Grimm's, but I got the picture.

Damn. Luckily, none were damaged. They just don't make things like they used to.

I was halfway through retrieving the scattered published projectiles when Jake grabbed my arm.

“Leave them,” he snarled. “What do you care about a bunch of children's books?”

“These aren't just books!” I jerked my arm out of his grip. “These are treasures. They're old.”

“I know how old they are. I bought them when they were new.”

“Then why are you tossing them over a second-floor railing like a savage?”

“Maybe I am a savage. That's what you think, isn't it? Jake, the grunting moron.”

I sighed and set a book on the table. “No, I don't think you're a savage or a moron. You've behaved badly is all. You've got my defenses up, and when I'm defensive, I can be . . .”

“A bitch?”

“Don't fucking call me a bitch! It's perfectly normal for a woman to react poorly to being abducted! This isn't a twisted romance novel. You're not Beast to my Beauty. And I'm not into—”

Jake grabbed me again, but this time, he hauled me against his solid, broad chest. The smack knocked the breath out of me and, to be perfectly honest, hurt my boobies a little.

Then, as I tried to catch my runaway breath, Jake lowered his face to mine.

His hot breath brushed my lips, as if taunting my aching lungs.

I gasped, my body taking over at last, and breathed him in.

Spicy-sweet, like crispy chili oil. Yup, Jake smelled like an exotic meal that would set my tongue on fire. Maybe even my belly. But it wasn't a food smell. That scent was all man, maybe a little god thrown in for good measure. And it was tempting enough that I didn't pull away when he kissed me.

I needed to know if he tasted as good as he smelled.

He did. Damn it. My mind shut down. Ace who? No one else existed. As corny as it sounds, the first touch of Jake's lips sent a shock wave through my body that had me undulating upward and clinging to his shoulders. I needed more. I opened. He entered. And I had my first kiss of this new life.

Yes, I know I had kissed other men with those lips.

Ace wasn't even the first. But it didn't feel like this.

This kiss made those kisses seem fake. They were plastic kisses with no flavor or feeling to them.

Practice kisses to prepare me for this one.

Later, Jake's kiss would haunt me. That's how incredible it was.

Soul deep. Fucking Earth-shaking. Hell, that kiss shook all the worlds.

Hades probably felt it. And that wasn't good.

Or it wouldn't be. Later, as I said. I'd pay for it later.

But at that moment, I gloried in the sensations I'd never felt before. I clasped them closer.

That's what physical life was—a string of sensations.

Physical sensations. Nerve endings firing.

Tingling. The rush of blood. Thrills running down my spine.

The clenching down low. The ache. That was all normal.

What I felt when I kissed Jake was so far beyond that.

It was the difference between a tap on the shoulder and a punch in the face.

Sorry for the violent comparison, but I think it applies.

Jake punched me in the face with his lips.

And I liked it.

Groaning and reeling from the slam of shivering that didn't just run over my skin, but also exploded everywhere, I clung to him.

Jake was a drug that caused instant addiction.

A man like that should come with a warning label.

No amount of kissing other men could have prepared me for him.

My nipples constricted as my breasts tingled with a desire that only the divine could impart, my lady bits went liquid with an orgasm that should have been impossible, and my mouth became a paradise.

Somewhere in the grasping, grinding, gravity-defying mess of it all, I sensed Jake's response.

It was hard not to, even with all those wonderful physical sensations bombarding me.

He was growling into my mouth, his hands curled into my ass cheeks to pull me closer.

The shove of that hard bulge in his pants came at the perfect moment and in the perfect spot, hitting my clit to grind me past the border of ecstasy.

And when I screamed into his mouth, he gobbled it up like the Big Bad Wolf himself, bending me backward until I landed on the table.

Then I was lying on that hard expanse, my skirt hiked up, and Jake pumping against my panties.

Incredible. Absolutely mind-blowing. I couldn't stop.

I pulled him on top of me and yanked his shirt out of his pants.

He fumbled between us. Magical! Sheer bliss.

I ground up, lifting my hips. I needed this.

I'd come close too many times and been denied.

I had a fully grown body that was a virgin. It just wasn't natural.

But then I felt the head of Jake's cock press into my panties. It was wet. So was I. Jake angled his hips forward, savage sounds coming from him, and that thick head pushed my silk underwear into me. Such a thin, fragile barrier, but it was enough.

My brain suddenly shrieked, He will own you after this!

And my brain was right. If I fucked some rando, it wasn't a big deal. But if I had sex with Jake, it would seal my fate. No escaping the hounds. And no returning to Ace.

Maybe that isn't so bad, my body argued.

Seriously?! my brain shouted. Are you going to let us fall into this trap and become some man's property again? This life was supposed to be different. We do this on our terms and with our timing!

I shoved at Jake's chest and broke away from our kiss.

Jake didn't try to hold me down. He instantly straightened and backed away.

Panting, I sat up and stared at him. I held his gaze, but I could still see his cock hanging out of his jeans in my peripheral vision.

He didn't reach down to put it away. Neither of us moved.

And then I jumped off the table and pulled down my skirt.

“Fuck,” I whispered. Then growled, “Damn it all!”

Jake tucked himself into his pants and then walked away. No protest, no questions, and no whining. He just left.

Still out of breath, I looked down at the table. The Big Bad Wolf grinned up at me from the page of an open book.

“Oh, fuck you,” I muttered and slammed the book shut.