Jack In The Box novel Chapter 13

“Love the witch outfit.” Jackson said over the loud music. “Some tricks you got up your sleeves?”

“What are you doing here, Jackson?” I asked, practically screaming over the loud music. Now that I knew it was him beneath all that skeletal makeup, I wondered how I hadn’t recognized him before.

“Following you of course.” He joked.

The way he said it, I suspected if he really did follow me here. How had he known I was here? Or was it perhaps a coincidence?

“You need to come back to the asylum, re-admit yourself.” I said.

“Do you miss me that much?” He pulled on his cocky grin. “I love how you’re bossy the second you see me.”

I rolled my eyes.

“I didn’t escape to go back to that hellhole again.” He got hold of my wrist and started dragging me away from the dance floor.

“Where are you trying to take me?” I said, resisting his grip on my wrist.

He let it go at once. “Just want to talk, nothing else. The music is too loud here, let’s go underground.”

I folded my arms across my chest. “You’re stupid if you think I’m going anywhere with you.”

The DJ changed the song to a slower one. Ed Sheeran’s Thinking Out Loud. Jackson grinned. “Looks like the DJ can read my mind.” He slid his arm around my waist and pulled me taut against his chest, bringing his mouth close to my ear, he whispered. “Dance with me.”

My body moved along with his in a slow dance. It was just a dance nothing else. He wouldn’t try anything in public. Right?

Unless he was desperate to go to prison again. I didn’t even carry a weapon with me that I could use should the time arise.

I felt his nose bury in my hair, my head fitting perfectly in the crook of his neck. He smelled different, not like the hospital soap or the detergent. He smelled musky and male. I moved with the flow of the slow beats, at this point I wondered if all the logic had left my body.

I tried to pull away from him, but his grip tightened around my waist. “A little while longer, Riley, please.” His voice was husky and pure silk.

If the devil was a human, he’d look just like Jackson.

I let him waltz me around for a while. “Is Dr. Shaw truly pissed with the prospect of his pet nurse teaming up with the enemy?”

I gave out a laugh. “You have no idea.”

“Well, I can only imagine.” He said.

I had a ball of rage bubbling inside me ready to surface. I tried to get out of his grasp. “Let me go!” I let out a frustrated yelp that only he could hear over the music.

To the onlookers we probably looked like a couple having a small argument.

That only made Jackson dig his fingers deeper into my waist, possessively. “Ouch!”

I placed my palms on his chest and tried to push away from him but he wouldn’t budge. He was smiling, that smug smile again, and his eyes were blazing with something that I wasn’t aware of. “Fight me, sweetheart. Fight me all you want.”

“You threatened to kill my brother. I almost lost my job because of you! Aaron won’t even look at me now.” I said with gritted teeth. “It’s your entire fault, Jackson!” And then the tears began falling without me even realizing.

Jackson’s stare turned daunting, and if I wasn’t terrified before, I was now. “Why does it even matter to you if Aaron looks at you or not?” He caught my jaw in his fingers. “Do you have some feelings for him, Riley? Why is it always Aaron this, Aaron that!" He loosened his grip on my chin. And I thought I saw hurt flash in his toffee-colored eyes, like I was a cheating girlfriend.

“Are you jealous, Jackson?”

Why was he acting like a jealous boyfriend all of a sudden? Did he ever ask me out in a different dimension and I possibly said yes because I’d lost my mind?

“Jealous?” He laughed. “I’d be jealous if there was any reason to be. I’ll never be threatened by the likes of Shaw or Bennet or anyone for that matter.”

“Don’t you think you’re too full of yourself? Besides, why do you think I would have feelings for a killer?”

“You’re drawn to the bad guys, Cotton-Candy. You may try to find someone like Shaw, always the sweet, helping doctor that the nurses adore, the type of guy who would give flowers. But deep down, you seek the darkness. You don’t need flowers; all you need is a man who’d kill for you. Isn’t that right, Riley?”

I was rendered speechless. It frightened me how Jackson saw right through my mind. He voiced the thought that I was too ashamed to admit.

A few minutes later I said, “Aaron is my mentor. He’s like a brother to me and you have a sick mind, Jack!” I said trying to turn away from him but Jackson was faster, he brought his lips crashing against mine, it was a slow kiss at first and then it got deeper. His tongue seeking entrance, I parted my mouth just a little and his tongue delved into the contours of my mouth. I moaned as the sparks of pleasure went down to my toes. Without being conscious of my actions, my fingers bunched up in his fine dark hair.

He broke the kiss to trail his tongue down my jaw and neck. Sensual and sloppy kisses. My heart stopped beating for a minute and I froze when he reached my collar bone. I pulled away from him and as if he could read my mind, he whispered. “I would never hurt you. Believe me.”

“I don’t trust you.” I said and started walking away.

He seized my hand. “Come with me.”

I spun around to face him, confused by what he’d just said. He repeated. “Come with me, Riley.”

“Where?” I asked.

“Wherever that I’m going.” He pauses and continued a beat later. “Just come with me.” He insisted as I stared at him in disbelief. He traced my lower lip with her thumb. “I will protect you, Cotton-Candy. I promise. I won’t let anyone lay a finger on you.” He touched his forehead to mine. “It would just be us. Together. Forever.”

“I don’t want to go anywhere with you.” I snapped, pulling my hand out of his grasp for the hundredth time tonight.

“Why not?”

“Because you’re crazy Jack, and I’d rather be away from you than with you.”