I awoke naked in Jack's iron grip. As much fun it was, I didn't know what to do. Yeah it was fun but was it really something I had wanted? The venom was too much to bare, it broke me down to him. Does an intense pleasure filled night of my screaming make us a thing?
I had no idea he was so animalistic and dominant in the bedroom, or at least on my couch. My childhood friend had a darker side that I never knew, ten years can really change a person.
I looked up to see Jack's calm face, all the worry lines stripped away. He was handsome, but when he was calm, my heart clenched. I reached up and touched the scar near his eye, tracing it from top to bottom.
Jack's blue grey eyes flickered open. A small smile tipped the corners of his mouth up.
"You never told me the story." I said quietly.
"Bar brawl. It's from a broken beer bottle. Budweiser in fact." He whispered back. "Ly, last night was unforgettable." Jack addressed the elephant in the room.
"Yeah, it was." I lowered my eyes. I had to decide now what to do, while I lay naked in his arms. Dammit.
"We can try to make it work." I said I softly.
"What?" Jack was taken aback.
"Yeah, but not a lot of PDA, I am not that kind of girl." My speech was cut short from Jack's lips on mine. I melted into those soft safe lips.
I slipped out of his arms. "Jack, I didn't mean for last night to happen. I want to take things slow..." I trailed off.
"What do you mean?" Jack sat up from my bed. "Did I do something, did I hurt you?" His worried eyes scanned my body for any marks. Moving back a bit in the bed, I realized now how sore I was. My ass felt like it was bruised from where he spanked me so many times and then I felt it. I felt like my pubic bond was sore too. He really did a number on me last night.
"No, no, no. The incubi, Dimitri Tarasenko, he... Um... He bit me, his venom was sending my senses overboard, I think." I looked down at my painted toes.
"Oh my God. Delilah... I feel now like I took advantage of you." Jack hung his head in shame.
"No! No! Don't think of it like that! It was my fault. I should have not given in, I should have tried harder to tell you." I sighed. "Maybe it was fate trying to force my hand and make me give you a chance." I said in a small smile trying to smooth the situation over. I got out of the bed, going for a silken robe I had, I felt too exposed right now with this conversation and Jack.
Jack stood up and walked to me. His hands rested on my shoulders, as he searched my eyes. Lastly, he enveloped me in a tight hug. "Delilah, I will take care of you, every step of the way." His muffled voice whispered into my hair.
I looked up and captured his lips. Our kiss deepened, my hands in his hair. His hands on my waist and ass through the silk. Passionate to say the least, it was as if I could feel his love pouring into me. I felt something poke my bare abdomen.
A sudden knock on my door broke us apart. "Are we expecting anyone?" Jack said to me.
"No." I whispered. I shook off my rob and grabbed a tank top, a thong and shorts. I tucked a gun into the back of my shorts' waistband.
I closed my door, hiding Jack.
I opened the door to see a tall figure standing outside.
"Hello?" I asked smoothly.
"Are you the Huntress?" The tall man with a scar across his throat asked. His voice was deep and gravelly. He wore a long brown trench coat with a black fitted button down underneath.
Instantly, I pulled my gun and cocked the hammer back. "Who's asking?" I asked coldly.
Without a batting an eye or any sign of emotion from my action, he simply stated, "Huntress, I want you to take out someone for me."
He only wanted me as a hitman. I sighed inwardly. "How did you find me?"
"May I come in?" He asked back ignoring my question.
"No. Answer me." I held the gun tighter.
"As soon as your title floated around, I knew you could be the one. Taking out Dimitri was only the deciding factor to reach out to you. I have been tailing you since your presence surfaced, ma'am." He said smoothly.
I do not like his nonchalant attitude to me having a gun drawn on him. If it was this easy for him to me, who else could do the same?
"This was not easy, Huntress, please I need your help." He halfway pleaded.
"Come in."
He came in and sat on my barstool.
"Now Huntress, my job is not easy. My job, I want you to take down an Old One. Dimitri will seem like a sloppy beginner's work compared to this Old One."
"First off, what's an Old One?" I interrupted. I processed what he wanted.
"My, my. The girl owns the name Huntress but doesn't know her lore. Interesting." The man mused. "An Old One is the first of the vampires. Think of them as royalty along the vampire community, hell most of them were actual royalty when they took on the curse of immortality. This particular vampire has killed a dear friend of mine. She has killed many, but my friend, was going to far. The Old One's name is Celeste." His eyes were distant, he must be thinking of his fallen friend.
"How did you find me?" I was still processing how he found me.
"You see, Huntress, I am a finder not a killer. I can find any dirt on anyone you want but I don't do the trigger pulling. That's not me. I just choose to investigate."
I leaned back on my chair slightly. "How much?" Might as well entertain the idea, even though I have never heard of an 'Old One' or the name associated- Celeste. Such a pretty name for a ruthless woman, it sounded.
"Do you have a pen?"
I rolled a sharpie to him. Gun still drawn in my left hand. The man wrote a number on a napkin and handed it to my outstretched right hand.
$1,000,000.00
That much! I need to go into the work of being a hitman apparently.
"Deal." I held my hand out and lowered my gun. The man shook my hand, his hands were ice cold.
"Julian." He said solemnly. "The name is Julian."
"I'll stay with Huntress." I smirked.
"Okay, Delilah." Julian smirked back. Of course he found out my real name. He is an investigator for Christ's sake, I should've known better to think I was so sly.
"First, I don't want you to take out Celeste now. I want to know if you are up to it. I want you to take out some other people similar to Dimitri. Bad people, you know."
"So we are on the same side?" I arched an eyebrow.
"Yes, I am one who prefers the good in life. If I could be a Hunter, I would. But I have a different calling, it appears."
"So I can trust you?" I was still skeptical of Julian.
"Huntress, I could have different assassins kill you weeks ago. If anything I will protect you with my life. My connections will protect you as well. Anyone aligned with me will cause you no harm." His cold lips kissed the back side of my hand. "I promise."
"Okay. Thank you for the um.. protection I guess. What about these tests or something?" I withdrew my hand from his cold grasp. I still did not trust him. For all I knew, he could be a larger player in the supernatural world and he's using naive me to take out his adversaries and little problems, moving himself up that political power ladder.
"I will give you targets, each potentially harder than the one before. The targets are all similar to Dimitri, horrible people- creatures. As you progress, I hope you can build the endurance and the knowledge to defeat Celeste."
"She isn't doing anything alone, though." Jack closed my bedroom door, fully clothed. He walked up to Julian and eyed him.
"Ah, the significant other, I presume of course, emerges. I was wondering if you'd ever come out, the scent was too strong for you not to still be here." Julian mused. "And no, I feel team work may be key on this one. Seeing as you two work well together to begin already, it is a swell idea."
Jack eyed him and looked back to me. I took in his comment of smelling Jack in my studio, so that may be one clue as to who or what he is. "I am not going to let you get hurt. If you do this, I want in."
"Bounty stays the same." Julian broke Jack and I's stare.
"Bounty?" Jack's eyebrow arched at me.
"Yes, Jack. There's a bounty for this Celeste vampire. Don't worry, the split will be fair and worth it." I reassured him.
"I must leave now, but I will keep you interested in these targets, I promise, Huntress." Julian nodded and walked to the door.
"How? How will you keep me, I mean us, in the know?" I rested a hand on my popped out hip.
Julian just smiled and closed the door behind him. Just a smirk and he was gone. I looked at the counter at the napkin with the number on it. There was a burner phone resting on top of the napkin.
I chuckled slightly.
"What?" Jack asked.
"He left a burner for us." I handed Jack the napkin as well as showing off the phone.
Jack's eyes got wide and his brows arched. "Seriousl-"
"Yes." I cut him off. "Whoever this Celeste is, she royally pissed off a very wealthy man."