Under a Rogue Moon

Chapter 8

Chapter 8Her back was to the door when she heard Jason return from his shower. “There’s a stack keeping warm,” Flanna said, gesturing with her spatula toward the built-in oven. She blew upward in an attempt to dislodge the hair that was stuck to her sweaty brow. “You know where everything else is.”

The oven door opened and closed, followed quickly by Jason’s deep, satisfied inhalation. “I am never going to be able to make myself pancakes again.”

Flanna hid a small smile by ducking her head. She watched the air bubbles start to appear in the batter, nudging the firming edges to loosen them from the bottom of the pan. It was nice to be appreciated, even if it was only for putting food in his stomach.

“Did your father say anything to you before he went to bed?” Jason asked.

She didn’t expect him to sound so near. Glancing over her shoulder, Flanna nearly dropped her spatula when she saw him leaning casually against the counter just a foot away, eating a pancake with his fingers. He hadn’t completely dressed after his shower. All he wore was a pair of low-slung faded jeans, leaving his muscled chest deliciously bare. Even his hair was damp and slightly mussed, as if he didn’t want to waste time getting back to the kitchen.

Or it was all a deliberate effect. Knowing Jason, that was a definite possibility.

Averting her eyes again, Flanna said, “Just that I needed to talk to you.”

“You kept saying, ‘Dad said,’ out in the barn, but you never actually told me what it was.”

Her face burned from more than just the stove’s heat. “It wasn’t important.”

“You tried telling me twice.” His words were slightly garbled and she realized he was probably talking with his mouth full. “Sounds important to me.”

“He just said…” She waited to time it with flipping over the pancakes, hoping the batter hitting the sizzling oil would be enough to hide what she admitted, “…you were worried about me.”

The silence was palpable behind her. Gratitude almost made her sigh in relief.

“I am,” Jason said. His voice was closer now, and she froze as his hand reached past her body to take the spatula away, turning the flame down on the pan so that the pancakes could cook with less of her attention. “Look at me.”

She had no choice but to turn when he tugged at her shoulders. His eyes were uncharacteristically dark, flickering over her flushed face, and her breath caught when he reached up and brushed aside the lock of hair that had been stuck to her forehead. Only the tips of his fingers touched her skin, but it was enough to make her shiver.

“That thing you killed tonight…” His voice was low and modulated, while he searched for the words he wanted, “…there was a second when I walked into the house, and I saw it jumping at you, and I…I wasn’t convinced you were going to take care of it in time to save yourself. I could see it ripping into you like it had with Mrs. Lange, and the thought of you getting that hurt…”

“But I’m fine,” Flanna assured him. So this was what her father had meant. It was somehow larger than she’d imagined. “I’ve been fighting since I was small. I know how to take care of myself.”

“You still got hurt.”

“A scratch.”

“A scratch is still too much.” His fingers curled around her wrist, turning her arm to expose the long red line that slithered from the inside of her elbow into her palm. “I promised myself nobody would get hurt at all,” he said, tracing his fingers along the cut. He spoke so quietly, it was almost as if he was talking to himself.

“Nobody will.” Tentatively, she lifted her other hand and pressed it to his chest, nearly losing her nerve when he finally looked up at her again. “Mrs. Lange would be dead right now if it wasn’t for you. Don’t forget that. And we’re warned now. We won’t be surprised again.”

The corner of his mouth lifted. “I think you’ll always be surprising,” he murmured.

His chest felt hot beneath her palm, and the fingers he had wrapped around her wrist had started to caress the tender skin there. “What is this?” Flanna blurted. “Am I just some sort of diversion for you while you wait to kill Romm?”

Something shuttered behind his eyes, though he didn’t pull away. “Is that what you think of me?”

“I don’t know what to think. Do you realize just how little I know about you? I don’t even know why it is you’re so eager to get Romm. Every time you start to get serious about things, you either get angry, tell a joke, or walk away. You think I’m frustrating?” She poked him in the chest. “You’re infuriating.”

“And your pancakes are starting to burn.”

He released his hold on her as she whipped around, scrambling to turn off the gas before the rest of the pancakes were ruined. He’d avoided her questions again, though perhaps this time his interruption was merited.

“Ask me anything you want,” Jason said behind her. “I’ll answer it.”

“No, you won’t.” Flanna grabbed his plate before he could pick it up and piled the rest of the pancakes on top, not caring when the stack grew crooked with her increasing agitation. “You’re just like my father. You think I can’t take care of myself, that I’ll crack at the first sign of honesty.” She gestured with the spatula as she spoke. “I’m a big girl, and I just so happen to be bloody good at what I do. I took out both of Romm’s brothers on my own, didn’t I? There’s absolutely nothing wrong with two out of three. So, if you think you need to protect me, think again. I’ve been doing this all my life.”

“I’m not here to protect you. I’m here to help. That doesn’t mean I can’t kick myself for not being able to stop you from getting hurt, though.”

His even manner smoothed some of the edges of her temper, and she set down the spatula as she took a deep, steadying breath. “Why did you kiss me?” she asked in a rush.

When she dared to look at him, he’d resumed leaning against the counter with a smile back on his face. “I seem to remember somebody kissing me back,” Jason replied, more than a hint of a laugh in his voice.

“See?” She had the uncontrollable urge to stamp her foot in frustration. “There you go doing it again!”

“Doing what?”

“Avoiding answering my question.”

“That’s because it’s a stupid question.” He grabbed her arm as she tried to flounce past, pulling her against him so that her back was cradled against his bare chest. One arm snaked around her waist to hold her firmly in place, while the other began toying with her hair. “You already know the answer to that one, Flanna.”

She could barely hear him over the roaring in her blood. “No, I don’t.”

His hand slid beneath her top, fingers splaying across her abdomen to push her back against his hips. Flanna’s eyes widened. There was no denying the erection now pressed into her bottom, or the soft stroking of his fingers across her stomach, the tips dipping dangerously low and under her waistband. Her hand fluttered down to where he held her, intent on making him stop, but instead it settled across his powerful fingers, following the simple motions with ever-growing excitement.

“You’re so beautiful,” Jason murmured. His lips found the line of her shoulder, nipping at the sinew through the thin cotton of her t-shirt. “You’re smart, and you’re strong, and when I see you running in the moonlight, you look like the most perfect creature ever created. I’d be a fool for not wanting to kiss you. Hell, if anything, I’m a fool for waiting so long.”

The trembling had started before he’d bitten her shoulder, but hearing his words, whispered with such reverence and such passion, made the world dip and sway around Flanna so that she had to close her eyes in order to keep her balance. Men only told her these kinds of things before they got to know what she really was; she couldn’t remember a single instance where they’d been uttered afterward. Jason seemed to like her more because of it all. It was almost too good to be true.

“You can have any woman you want,” Flanna said, her voice much stronger than she thought she could have mustered under the circumstances.

With his mouth so close to her ear, his chuckle reverberated along her skin. “It’s nice to know you think so much of me,” he teased. “But whether that’s true or not, what does it matter? I want you.”

She gasped when his tongue traced a path around the sensitive skin beneath her ear, ending with Jason capturing her lobe between his teeth. Her head tilted automatically to allow him clearer access, and she swallowed convulsively as the hand on her stomach reversed direction to begin skating upward, still beneath her shirt. It tickled across her ribs, and when he brushed the underside of her bare breast with a single knuckle, Flanna moaned out loud.

“Ssshhh…” His breath was hot against her ear. “Keep that up and your father will be out here with one of his guns to see who’s attacking his precious daughter. We wouldn’t want that, would we?”

The reminder of her father in the next room was a dash of cold water on Flanna’s raging flesh. Stiffening in Jason’s arms, she grabbed his wrist and this time pulled it free from her clothing, twisting in his embrace so that she could see his face. His cheeks were as flushed as she felt, his eyes nearly black with desire. She had to fight not to reach up and touch him, to see if his reaction was real.

“Please tell me I didn’t just spoil everything by bringing up your father,” Jason said. “My seduction skills must be seriously out of practice.”

“We have to discuss what our next step regarding Romm is going to be,” she said, managing to make her voice calm.

Her attempts to gracefully extricate herself from his arms were thwarted when he clasped his hands together at the small of her back. “You’re the one who brought up kissing.”

“Only because—”

“You wanted to do it some more?”

She took the twinkle in his eye for what it was worth and quelled the retort that sprang automatically to her lips. “Romm?” she prompted.

For a moment, he regarded her, his head tilting in that puppy dog way he had. His erection was still firmly against her pelvis, and he still had that delicious fresh smell from coming out of the shower, but Flanna kept her gaze as cool as she could. One inch of capitulation on her part and any chances of talking about the potential danger would go out the window.

Jason sighed melodramatically. “Fine,” he said, letting her go. “But only because I know this isn’t over.” His gaze strayed to the plate at his side. “And because my pancakes are getting cold.”

She bustled with putting on a pot of tea while Jason settled at the table with his food. In the absence of maple syrup, he’d settled on the lemon juice and sugar combination she’d suggested, digging into the pancakes like he hadn’t had a square meal in weeks. Flanna couldn’t help but wonder if it was one passion’s energy being diverted into another and bit back a smile. However, by the time she sat down to join him, they were both more composed.

“Your father recognized the demon you killed when I described it to him,” Jason said, taking one of the steaming cups of tea she offered. “They’re mercenaries. They don’t even feed on human flesh unless they’re paid to. Normally, they scavenge sweetmeats from smaller prey.”

Flanna tried not to grimace. “So do you think Romm paid it to attack Mrs. Lange?” she asked. When he nodded, she added, “But why? That doesn’t make any sense at all.”

“To let you know he’s here.” He paused. “To let you know nobody’s safe.”

Nobody’s safe. Her blood chilled in her veins, any remaining vestiges of the pleasure she’d felt in Jason’s arms vanishing with the sudden panic for her family. The demon could have attacked her house while she was out; her father or her grandmother could’ve been the body outside the front gate. That just wasn’t acceptable.

“We have to get my family out of here,” Flanna said. She was oblivious to how tightly she was holding her teacup until Jason reached across the table and gently unfolded her white-knuckled fingers from around the ceramic.

“Your father and I were talking about that.”

His voice was gentle, as if he’d known she would react this way. Of course he knew, she chided. He’s been ahead of me every step of the way so far.

“Romm won’t attack during the day,” Jason continued. “He’s still human and he’s not going to want to risk possible exposure to the police.”

“That doesn’t stop him from hiring more of these mercenaries.”

“No, you’re right there. But we don’t think he’ll try that trick again any time soon. By morning, he’s going to know we’re on to him—”

“We?”

Jason sipped at his tea, his eyes somber. “My scent’s all over the Lange place,” he said. “There’s no way Romm won’t know I’m here. It’s pointless to pretend we’re not full-fledged partners on this any more.”

Flanna chewed at her lip. She was no nearer to knowing what Jason’s motive was in going after Romm, but frankly, right then, she couldn’t be bothered to find out. All that mattered was keeping her family safe; the more help she had with that, the happier she was going to be.

“The full moon is less than two weeks away,” she said. “He’ll be at his strongest then.”

“That means we have to act before that happens.” Pushing aside his empty plate, Jason leaned closer, stroking the hand of hers he’d never let go. “We’ll get him, Flanna. There is no way I’m going to let him hurt you or your family. Not while I’m here.”

She believed him.

That didn’t mean she worried any less.

“I’m not going to be able to sleep tonight,” she said, pulling her hands away to rise to her feet. Carrying her empty cup to the counter, she poured out more tea, swallowing it down before it had time to cool. The scalding on her tongue made her eyes sting, but the pain was welcome. It would help to keep her focused in the hours to come.

“I know you want to protect your family.” Jason was suddenly behind her, hands on either side of her body to pin her in place at the counter. She hadn’t even heard him stand up, and the fear that she would miss something else that night began to gnaw at her gut. “But I’m going to be up anyway. I’ll stand guard. You get some sleep.”

Flanna shook her head. Blindly, she turned and wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his neck. “I’m glad you’re here,” she whispered. There was more she wished she could admit to him, but for now, that would do.

He didn’t hesitate to return the embrace. “Me, too,” Jason replied, brushing his lips across her temple. His arms were warm and powerful, holding her strong when she felt she might falter. Without even having to be asked, he’d offered everything he had to her, and she suspected that if there was more he could give, he would do so. Nobody had ever done that for her before.

She squeezed a little tighter. In spite of whatever muddle he made of her head, Jason was going to leave a hole in her life when this nightmare was over. Because he would leave. She had no doubt about that. Once Romm was dead, there would be no more reason for him to stick around.