Page 121 of From Hell

“Shhh.” A few rows in front, some random person shoots a hostile look over their shoulder.

Jaxon takes a handful of popcorn and tosses it into his mouth.Fuck him.I’m done with this. I get up to leave the cinema the opposite way Jaxon came in, but he grabs me and pulls me back down. “Wait,please, Laine.”

It’s not thepleasethat gets me, it’s the hushed way he says my name, the deep timbre of his voice low, soft, caressing my skin like velvet.

I wait, half turned away from him. My heart hammers in my chest, too loud to hear the movie over. I can’t look at him, though.

He sighs and pulls me back onto his chest, the beating of his heart matches the thumping of mine. It’s a wonder anyone can hear the damn movie.

“Why are you here?”

“Because I thought I could stay away, and I can’t. Leaving you is one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.” He pauses, and I can count the seconds before he speaks again on both hands. “I did it to protect you from me.”

“You mean from the Ripper?”

Jaxon sighs.

“But you don’t need to do that anymore?”

“No.”

“Why?”

In response, his lips graze my temple and then stay there.

I’m stiff at first, then slowly, everything starts to relax, starting with my neck and shoulders, then my chest, our breathing going in and out simultaneously. My stomach and thighs are next, then my legs down to my toes until I’m resting on him fully.

“Miles is going to freak when he comes back.”

“Miles isn’t coming back.”

My eyes widen, but I don’t make an effort to move. Maybe that shows how much I’ve changed when it comes to violence. “Is he dead?”

Jaxon chuckles softly and bites my ear. “No, he’s just a little tied up.”

I can accept that. For a few minutes, my eyes stray to the movie while Jaxon’s hands do sinful things to my body.I’m going to Hell,I think when his knuckles graze my exposed thighs.

I’m wearing one of Sage’s knit dresses with boots, she wouldn’t let me leave the house in anything less for a date. I’m unsure if I should be glad she insisted or annoyed Jaxon doesn’t have to do much to get me to roll over and spread for him.

He’s the worst addiction I’ve ever had.

He eases me onto his lap, I let him, shifting on top of him, feeling how hard he is beneath me. His other hand kneads my breast over the soft wool of the dress. “Fuck, I’ve been dreaming of this. I can’t wait to make you come on my cock, my beautiful girl,” he breathes into the shell of my ear.

I have no words to say back, only a porn star like mew that echoes throughout the cinema.

“Will you shut the hell up back there!” is the collective response.

I groan. “I’m not fucking you here.”Or anywhere.But I don’t say the last bit. Never say never.

He inclines his head, seeming to accept that, but his fingers slip inside my lace thong, dipping inside my wetness and drawing hot circles over my clit. “I’ve been thinking about what you said.”

“About what?” I pant softly.

“About hurting you.” Every nerve in my body is liquid fire. “All the bad things I’ve done to hurt others, to hurt you. I’m sorry.”

“You didn’t do all of them.”

“No, the Ripper did. And I didn’t stop him.”