Page 47 of A Spark in the Ash

The bed jostles,ripping me from sleep. My hand darts under my pillow, my fingers wrapping around a gun I grabbed from Jaxon’s bathroom yesterday. In one quick movement, I whip around, and press the barrel beneath a sharp jaw line.

“Shit, Serena, it’s just me,” Jaxon hisses in the dark.

I blink twice, clearing the sleep from my eyes. The adrenaline burning through my blood rages hot and strong.

I take a breath and withdraw the gun.

Jaxon kneels on the bed wearing nothing but a pair of boxers. His hair is wet, and he looks exhausted. I never heard the door, nor did I hear the shower.

“Everything go okay?” I ask as I tuck the gun back under my pillow.

Jaxon’s lips thin, but he nods.

I wait for him to say more about it. I’m dying to know details. Where they tracked him down to. Why it took so long. How involved was Jaxon? Who did the killing?

I can’t imagine it ended any other way than a death, considering this is the Gray family, and AJ is dead.

But he doesn’t offer any more details.

Maybe I don’t really want to know. Maybe that’s better.

“One of your siblings is possessed too, aren’t they?” I ask, moving on to the next topic.

Jaxon crawls up into the bed fully and collapses back onto a pillow. “Aaron,” he says as he rests an arm above his head.

That makes sense, I guess. Jaxon was trying to track him down the night we met, it’s what actually ended our first night together. Jaxon said he had “a bad habit of sex, drugs, and rock and roll, if you know what I mean.”

“He hasn’t embraced it, though,” Jaxon says, and he sounds relieved.

“Did…did you exorcise him?” I ask. What I want to add is:is that why this took so long tonight?

Jaxon shakes his head. “I couldn’t. The whole family was together all night. But I asked Aaron to grab breakfast with me in the morning. Surprisingly, he agreed to it. I’ll do it then.”

I roll over, propping myself above him on one elbow. I trace one finger down the middle of his chest. “You’re exceptional, you know,” I say quietly in the dark. “Not just because you’re the gatekeeper. I wouldn’t be able to fight the urge with two possessed around me. None of us darklings could, and we’ve been around for a really long time.”

I lay my hand flat over his chest, feeling the toned muscle and the heat of his body. Slowly, I let it rise, over the side of his neck. “I know you were frustrated with yourself because it took you a little longer to get your human form back. But Jaxon,” I whisper as my eyes rise to meet his and my hand slides up the back of his head to take hold of his hair. “You are stronger than any of us.”

He studies my face, and I know that he cannot see me as well as I can see him in the dark. I can make out every contour of his nose, his cheekbones. I can pick out every eyebrow hair and eyelash.

He’s so damn beautiful.

It takes my breath away.

“I don’t know that I feel all that strong, Serena,” he whispers in the dark. “Not after today. Not after nearly burning this place down. Not after hunting a man down.”

I shift my weight, throwing one leg over his body until I’m straddling him. I lean down, tracing my nose up between his pectorals and then sliding to one side. My lips brush over his neck. “You are, Jaxon. You’re strong and brave and loyal and powerful. You’re everything I’ve ever wanted.”

He tips his head back, giving me unlimited access to his neck. A sigh escapes over his lips. His hands come to my hips, gripping me tight.

I let my lips brush lightly over his skin. Greedily, my tongue searches for a taste. He smells amazing. My hands slide down to his chest, and they show their appreciation for his hard work in diet and exercise.

The temperature of his body increases. Slowly, and then all at once. My shadows curl out of me, poised to protect me against my mortal enemy. I see black streaks stretch over Jaxon wherever they touch him. I can already tell there are black handprints on my hips.

Jaxon reaches up and fists his hand into my hair. In one movement, he rolls us over, pinning me on my back to the bed. Through the dark, he stares down at me. “I love you, Serena. And it has to be enough.”

There is so much meaning to those words. He’d said them so desperately as he was manifesting, and our future was uncertain. And now, where there is so much out of our control, when the lines are so blurry, it has to be enough.

“It is enough,” I confirm, nodding my head. I pull his face back down to mine.

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