because of some sense of guilty loyalty, then I gotta tell you, I think this Heathcliff would be disappointed in you.”
I snort. “Because you know him so well?”
Jericho lifts a shoulder. “He loves you. Seems to me he’d want you to be happy, since he did a lot of work to get you free. Besides, I think he’d like me.”
A choked laugh escapes my throat, and I give him an incredulous look. “Why?”
“Aside from the fact that I’m helping to keep his girlfriend safe and occupied, he’d like me because I’m awesome. Obviously,” he answers cockily. I shake my head at him, but he just steps forward and wraps his arms around me, making me go stiff. “He might have your heart, but I think there’s room for both of us in there,” he says, scratchy jaw against my ear.
I try to lift my head away from his chest, but he’s holding me so tightly that it’s a problem. “Are you fucking hugging me right now?”
“Yep,” he replies jovially before patting me on the ass. “Just let it happen.”
I groan against his shirt. “God, you’re the worst.”
“I’m growing on you.”
He is, but I won’t ever admit it.
“Like a fungus,” I shoot back. “Now let go before I start feeling punchy again.”
Jericho’s sexy chuckle comes out for a second before he lets me go. I dust off my arms, like I’m getting rid of his touch, which only serves to make him laugh more. “Yep, we’re gonna work things out just fine, Jet Plane.”
His hope is contagious, but I’m trying not to catch it. I don’t think I can handle the disappointment of him and me imploding. Not on top of everything else I’m already dealing with.
“You’re such an arrogant bastard.”
“Yep. Now strip.”
I gape at him. “The fuck you say?”
His hands move to his jeans, and to my horror, he pops the button free, his smoldering eyes watching me with mirth. “You heard me, Jet. Strip. I told you we were going for a run, and I meant it. It’s time we let our animals out to play.”
16
Jericho
Jetta just stares at me.
If it’s possible, her pale skin has gone even paler. Except for her knuckles. Those are still a little pink from all the punches she landed on me. And damn, did she land them. I feel like I got chucked over a hill and some boulders caught me.
I knew it was a prick move to taunt her about Heathcliff in that moment. I’m not even entirely sure why I brought him up. Maybe I just wanted to push her. To get her to open up about him, to get her to open up about where that left me. I didn’t expect her to snap the way she did, but I can’t say I didn’t deserve it.
But damn. I knew when she let some of that anger out of her that it would be a sight to see, and I was right. She was spectacularly vicious. It was a rampage of calculated skill with all the grace of a dancer. I would have applauded her if, you know, she hadn’t been kicking my ass.
Some people might look down on her for it. But I wasn’t lying when I said I understood her. Because even though she’s an enigma, and even though I’ve only been around her for a few weeks, I do get her. It’s just inherent and automatic.
So I understood that the rage needed to come out, and I’d been taunting her, testing the waters—like a kid holding a pin to a balloon. It was just a matter of time before I pressed too much, and she would pop.
I saw her face when she finally snapped out of her rampage though. She looked so damn horrified. She thought I was going to be mad or hell, even scared, but I wasn’t. I’m not. It was my own damn fault for sparking flint near a piece of dynamite just to see if she’d blow.
And boy did she blow. Hottest fucking explosion ever.
Even though she was taking all that fury out on me, she was a vision. I know her skill set is due to a sordid childhood and a fucked up master, but Jetta’s prowess is unmatched. She moves like a warrior goddess sent straight from the heavens to battle the world. I’d worship her in a heartbeat.
“I’m not shifting with you,” she finally says, answering my previous question and cutting off my fantasies of a battle goddess in tight leather