The Uprising (The Julianna Rae Chronicles) (9 page)

She shook her head.

‘He’s your watcher and he’s an asshole, don’t
you forget.’ He yawned again and rolled over, starting his snore from where he left off.

Her lips pursed together. Daniel yawned one more t
ime as she opened the door he’d pointed to. It creaked loudly, Daniel was right, if the dead haven’t woken already…and she closed the door tight behind her.

A window of rotting wood and peeling paint was open fo
r a breeze, or it didn’t close – she wasn’t sure. With the noise she had already made, she didn’t dare pull it down. Candles flickered on an old table beneath it, and she circled around a double bed sitting center of the room. The blanket Caden had carried in was lying tidy on its mattress. For the abandoned long forgotten farm house, the quality of the room was admirable. The dust was minimal and it was clean, dry and warm. In the New World Order, a perfect world finally graced her fingertips.

The door closed quietly.

‘I was kidding about the floor,’ she said, not looking back. She felt his gaze.

He unlaced his boots next to the door, kicking them away gently. ‘I know. Too tired to play anyway.’

He collapsed into the center of the bed. His hands rested behind his head and he watched her. ‘Unless, you wanna’ play.’

Is that what he called it?

She blew two of the three candles out. ‘We’re safe here, right?’

Caden ushered for
her. She crawled along the bed to a grasp that pulled her tight against his body. He closed his eyes as they lay motionless together and she took in the stillness of the night. Their breathing synched, and slowly she closed her eyes against the room, feeling his arm move around her shoulders to pull her even closer.

‘I’m first watch,’ a sigh escaped him. ‘Nothing out there, I’ve already done patrols, so yes we are safe. You okay?’ he whispered.

His head turned on the dusty mattress to see her face in the dull light.

She didn’t answer.

‘Tough girl,’ he said quietly.

‘Sometimes you need to be,’ she felt his head turn back and she rested her hand on his chest.

He agreed. ‘Sometimes.’

Her eyes flicked open
to see him studying the ceiling. She felt exposed resting on her side with her leg hanging loosely over him, but she didn’t want to leave his safe embrace
.
Maybe he was reading her and that prompted his questions. She hoped not. She lifted her hand to stretch and he returned it gently to rest on his stomach.

‘I’d rather think of other things, pretend this week never happened.’

‘When you’re done pretending, I’m here,’ he rubbed his eyes.
‘
When Taris knifed you – the dream you had last night…’ He raised the hand resting on his stomach to his forehead.

The knife wielding into her belly invaded her mind.
The memory permanently embed. Her stomach ached at the thought as she watched the knife slam down in slow motion – over, and over, and over, again. The fever had stolen any chance to think about it, until now. Now it sunk into her mind, and she could relive the nightmare.

His eyes drew her attention
and he touched her side gently. ‘I can try healing you again.’

She shook her head. The scar beneath her singlet was caressed with his finger. It didn’t hurt like that, all the healing in the world wouldn’t take away the memory that looped in her mind. His words just brought it back.

His fingers stroked the skin gently. ‘Still a scar, can feel it.’

‘Doesn’t matter,’ she said. His hand continued to trace the outline. ‘Plenty more to follow, I’m sure.’

His touch along her waist became more intentional, his eyes changed. She’d only ever had Taris, but the dark eyes, the concentration that came with it all; she knew the game they were playing.

His lips nipped hers playfully.

A dangerous game. His instincts—

His hand ran across her flat stomach, lingering with each push of his mouth until she was under him, and he was on top. She felt his tongue taking her over with every moment they shared, until he pulled away to study her.

She responded to his stare with her own. The smile he gave reached his eyes. His quick wink caught her breath while he tugged at her belt, playfully pulling her pants tightly between her thighs. He knew how to please, and the dizzying pleasure made her draw closer. He kissed her again.

Just for a moment, no longer.

His breathing rushed. ‘You want me to stop?’ he moved his lips down the nape of her neck and she stretched it, eager for his caress.

He won’t be able to stop.

‘Jay,’ he whispered, nudging at her lips again. ‘I’ll stop,’ he pulled away.

‘No,’ she took his open shirt firmly. ‘I didn’t mean it.’

But he was from the Old Council; he’s my Watcher.

‘Don’t be scared of who I am.’

His hands ran beneath her singlet, feeling her delicate skin, slowly taking in the softness of her belly, before stretching the material over her head carefully. He bent down to kiss the center of her naked stomach.

You know what I am
, Julianna.

She knew.

He knelt and loosened his belt. The buckle dropped loosely on his touch, resting against his left leg while he unzipped and pushed the waist of his pants down until they left him. They landed heavily beside the bed.

He leaned over her again.

Another kiss.

Another touch from the tips of his fingers.

A noise from outside.

They both sat on the bed, exchanging glances, daring not to move in case they missed the next sound. Julianna held her breath. His pupils expanded into his eyes,
abducting all color for darkness.

It moved again.

Caden extended his hand. She wasn’t aware of his Glock in the room, but it flew into his grasp on his command. He ejected the magazine clip to check its rounds. She saw the two bullets left as he slapped it into position. He cocked the action and leapt from the bed, peering cautiously through the window where the curtains billowed around him.

‘The prisoner?’ she whispered.

He shook his head. ‘Still there, I can’t see anything else,’ his large eyes looked back and they reminded her of the owl from her dreams.

She reached for his pants. He caugh
t her throw and gave her a pout and his eyes settled into their lighter brown shade.

‘You’re first watch remember, Commander?’ she teased and rolled onto her stomach to rest. She gave him a flippant wave but inside her heart was pounding.

He grinned and slipped one leg into his pants and then the other. The belt he didn’t bother about. ‘Just stay here where it’s safe,’ he ordered. ‘Please.’

‘Don’t need a watcher to keep me safe,’ she muttered

‘Just one to fuck,’ his eyes narrowed playfully in the doorway. ‘Ahhh…push me, shove you, sweetheart. Just remember that.’

The door closed as quickly as it opened.
             

She could see through the window if she knelt high enough on the bed. The prisoner was unconscious, or asleep. Either way, he didn’t move as Caden glided past him, bent low and in stealth mode with his gun ready.

When he left her view, she pulled her knees to her chest as the breeze from the open window brushed around her shoulders. The fresh vulnerability overwhelmed her. It was his pull, his charm.

Daniel warned me, he did
.
Warned me from the second we met until the second he slept.

She felt like a kid all over again, sitting in the estate waiting for the car to take her away, for initiation. Would she go with them or run? She chose to run back then.
Look at the mess it got you
. His kiss opened her to a world she had pushed away.

Now what dummy? You’ve bagged yourself a watcher.

Her thoughts faltered while she waited for his company. She felt safe with him, wholly safe. Was this Daniel’s warning – the one that her mother spoke about before she left? There’s nothing safe about a preternatural – and a watcher was king of their dark world. Commanding who they wished, taking what they liked from the ignorant. Why would she have anything to fear if Caden was on her side?

Her thoughts raced a million miles.

He’s
my watcher.

The door opened for his return.
Her mind emptied.

Goose bumps traced along his chest and arms. The Glock slid along the old dresser, leaving his grip to rest beside the last flickering candle, which he extinguished between his thumb and finger.

‘It’s ok to be a little scared,’ he said quietly. ‘I’m used to it.’

‘A little scared get
s a lot killed.’ She rested her chin on her knees and he crouched in front of her. All the doubting, nagging thoughts moved away from her mind with the touch of his hands on her thighs.

He creased his brow. ‘Julianna Rae, clingy?’ he lowered her legs over the bed’s edge. ‘I d
on’t believe that for a moment – just a deer, too. Nothing else out there.’ He reached for the button on her pants. ‘Now, I have the perfect way to make you relax.’

His hand slipped the waist loose and he tugged for her to stand. When they stood together they fell over her ankles. She kicked them to the corner of the room.
His shirt followed her pants.

‘He’ll flip. Should not be doing this at all.’ his whisper was low.

He ran his hands along her shoulders, down her arms, to her sides He continued his touch, stroking her gently as he gazed and studied her with a contemplation that took some time.

She felt his gentle push and she was sitting on the bed again. With a raise of his hand his levitation ability flipped her onto her stomach. A small giggle escaped at his throw and it made him smile as he knelt over her thighs.

His thumbs pressed along the tight consigns of her back where it hurt most. She let herself sink into the thin mattress, giving into his strong hands. He unclasped her bra and bent to linger his lips along the line in her skin that it left. She felt the bumps rise and her hairs stand on end. Her eyes closed, a sigh escaped and it was his turn to laugh quietly.

His movements behind her
were rushed. It was his underwear. She felt his nakedness in entirety as he lowered himself, kissing the nape of her neck, resting his arms beside her head, careful in keeping his full weight from her tiny frame. He left her again, to work his hands over her back, slowly moving down to tug playfully at her knickers.

‘Still scared?’ he whispered.

She gave her head a barely there shake. ‘No.’

‘Did you mean what you said in the cell?’ he said.

‘What did I say?’

‘That you liked it rough,’ he said quietly.

He ripped her knickers down, to rest around her ankles. He left them there. His hands reached around her waist as he returned for another kiss along her shoulders.

‘You remember that?’ she wanted to turn around and experience his expression. 

His hands tightened around her waist, lifting her to rest on her knees. He leaned her until her already tight stomach stretched flat, and her shoulders pulled against his chest. He nipped at her neck.

‘I remember everything.’ His hands caressed her naked body.

‘You do?’ she replied. Her voice was barely there. 

His hands ran down her sides, slowly taking in every inch until they stretched out her thighs. She looked down, a small murmur escaped her barely parted lips and he kissed her neck again while his hands stroked her folded legs.

‘You crave me.’ he whispered. His fingers ran along the insides of her thighs, along the crease, against her belly and down again. She could feel her body surrender under his enticement.

She leaned farther into him. The gestures he placed along her body and his touch were illicit. The guilt she felt at his pleasure, swallowed her whole
– yet he barely touched her.

Down there.

He nipped her neck again. His teeth pinched her skin, sending shivers through her. His fingers went lower while her neck bled and the taste of her drove him insane. She closed her eyes to the bloodletting that she had experienced once before with Taris; and then she never got rid of him after it.

‘Say it,’ he whispered again, moving his head from one side of her face to the other. ‘Give me permission. Tell me I’m the only one who can hurt you.’

Another kiss to the neck, another slide of the hands along her thighs, and her waist, back to her belly, and down between her thighs again.

So close.

‘Ask me, and I’ll teach you,’ his fingers curled. She closed her eyes and when she leaned her head back, his wet lips touched hers. His fingers curled more. ‘I’ll give it to you if you just say.’

‘I need
you,’ she whispered.

He rested his chin on her shoulder. ‘Didn’t hear you,’ he teased. His fingers returned.

She could feel the familiar rise within her. It’d been so long – so many opportunities at the club with so many beautiful men—