Page 20 of Jager's Prey
“Their loss.” I told him. “Goodnight.”
“Wha—”
I hurried into my room and closed the door. Shocked at what I’d done earlier and what I just said, I pressed my back to the hard surface and closed my eyes tightly, trying to calm my racing heart. For some reason, I’d been brave with Mack.
Sure, I made smart-ass comments to Kujo and Swede, even hit on Montana, but that was because they made me feel comfortable. That was because there wasn’t a snowballs chance in hell any of those men would be remotely interested in me.
Aside from the fact that they all had women they loved, I was so far out of their league, I might as well be on Jupiter.
But there was something about Mack that stole my shyness. There was something about him that made me say things, think things, dream things that were so entirely inappropriate, I could barely breathe thinking about them.
As I knelt in front of him, I wondered what it would be like for him to take me by the throat. What would it be like for him to wrap my braids around his arm to tug my neck back so he could feast on the flesh at my throat.
Just the thought of it then sent me rushing through the room and into the bathroom. I stripped down and climbed under the cold shower, waiting for my body to cool down enough that I might try getting some sleep.
Mack Salazaar
The next daywe couldn’t leave. My leg was a little more swollen than it had been the night before. Though I wanted to help Jager with security, she relegated me to bed and had my food and the like brought up to me. The only time I was allowed out of bed was to use the bathroom.
It had me grumpy all day, day but a part of me enjoyed having her and Cage take care of me—especially her.
At one point she walked in with a bowl of cold water with ice in it and a small towel. She sat on the bed and used the cold towel to wipe down my leg, hoping it would help with the swelling.
“You know you don’t have to take care of me, right?” I asked her.
“I know.” She replied, sliding the cold rag down my swollen leg. “Don’t ask me why.”
I smiled and watched her.
“You’re staring.” Her voice was soft.
“Serious question,” I said.
I waited until she dunked the cloth into the cold water, winced while wringing the water out.
“Has no man ever looked at you and told you that you were beautiful?”
“No.”
“That’s hard to believe.”
She laughed softly, a warm, throaty sound that made me hard. “Military—I spent most of my time kicking their asses—not conducive to starting a relationship.”
“Those are little boys.” I told her. “Just FYI.”
She looked up at me for a moment, our eyes meeting. I held her gaze, loving the way it made me feel. This woman was taking care of me—never once complained, never showed disgust. It was hard to believe.
Jager winked at me then went back to what she was doing.
“It’s nice to have a personal nurse.” I told her.
She glanced at me then averted her eyes.
“Wait—is the Huntress blushing?” I teased. “Didn’t you just wink at me?”
She smacked me in the gut playfully. “Cut that out.”
I moaned and closed my eyes, enjoying her hands on me. When this was over and she went her way, I’d have this memory to put with all the others I had kept over the years. When she touched the side of my face, I looked up into her eyes and offered her a smile.
