Page 34 of Jackal's Pride

Jackal hit me with a smothering, electric stare before he grinned. Holy fuck—that was the sexiest gaze I’d ever seen. And I’d seen a lot. Where did he learn to do that? Was he even aware what that expression could get him? How many females he could have? Suddenly, I didn’t want him to know. I didn’t want him to discover anything more about it, especially if it meant trying it with some poor innocent soul. She’d fall for him in a heartbeat.

“Don’t smile like that,” I warned him.

His brows furrowed in the middle. “Like what?”

“The one you just did, with the intensity behind it. I hate it.”

“Hate it?” He scowled, lifting a brow. “You don’t.”

“Yes, I do,” I fibbed. “You hate my smell. Well, I hate that smolder.”

He tensed. “I don’t hate your smell.”

“But you…” Just remembering the awful sneer he had while complaining about my smell was like a punch to the gut. My heart fell to my stomach—it was that shitty.

“You smell like…” His words drifted off.

“I smell like what?” I took the bait and stepped forward, full of impatience.

His heated gaze strengthened and glimmered over me slowly. “I’ll tell you. Soon.”

The sear of his eyes and words lit a match in my chest—a warm, fuzzy sensation floated around with his voice abuzz in my head. Something about the intensity and fire in his smolder made me think it wasn’t a bad thing he would tell me. I snapped out of whatever was happening and placed my hands on my hips. “I already know.”

“You do?” he said doubtfully, gem-colored eyes hardening on me.

I started to tell him he wanted to fuck me like the rest of the male population but that sounded lame and boastful. It was outrageous, but I wanted to bask in Jackal’s attention. My attraction to him was very strong. It was so strong that I’d reconsider sex with him if he wanted it.

But not unlesshecaved first. That was the way it had to be. So that I could say I had won.

I knew I was broken, brain and body operated under a curse, and there was nothing I could do about it.

I closed my mouth and materialized some food on the coffee table. “You’re hungry, right?” The big guy wasted no time in shoving it into his mouth. He sure didn’t take long to come around to eating. I smirked as Jackal lifted his head.

“This doesn’t taste like the food from yesterday.” He peered down at his plate.

“Tough luck. Yesterday’s meal was a rare delicacy. You won’t taste that again.”

He studied me like a lion watching a mouse trapped beneath his paw. His snarls were becoming something new—cocky, sure of himself. The way he revealed his teeth with all that heat behind it threw me for a loop. My fingers itched to materialize Ben and Jerry and hold them to his neck until he told me what he was planning.

Finally, he said, “You cooked for me.”

“Only because I felt a little bad using you and your powers the way I did.” I pinched my fingers together to demonstrate how little.

“But you’ll do it again.”

I shrugged. “Yeah. Well, it’s a job only you can do.”

He stood. “How many cities are we going to today?”

“As many as you can handle.”

It may not have been much, but in a matter of days, Jackal had prevented more outbreaks from spreading. This action extended the time before the apocalypse. If he continued, we might rid the human world of this problem. I don’t think Jackal knew the trust extent of what he was doing. He was saving thousands from dying every day.

For the first time since our encounter with Harvest, there seemed to be a light at the end of the tunnel.

Who knew it would have ended up coming from another of the Devil’s creations?

Chapter 11