Page 36 of Jackal's Pride

He pulled the blanket away and sat down. The mattress dipped, and my hips bumped his waist. His body radiated heat like a furnace and all of it seeped through me. Jackal’s proximity ignited a fire in me and goose bumps covered my body.

“Play along, Maureen. Soon the tables will turn.” I shivered from his words and hoped he didn’t notice.

I sighed. “So confident and here I am being a good owner and all. Look at you sitting on my bed like you have the right.” I turned onto my side. “How about you get up now before I make you?” He didn’t move like I expected. To be honest, my threat wasn’t very strong. I exhaled again. “I want to save the world, not only for the humans and all the animals within it but for myself. I still have a lot I want to do. There… Are you happy?”

“No,” he replied immediately. “It’s not enough. I want to know more.”

“Too bad,” I murmured as I tried to shut my eyes. He moved closer. “I plan to keep making you go into the human world. Again and again. As many times as it takes until the last of the plague is gone. And I’m not sorry for that.”

Actually, I was sorry, but I only apologized to family. When I did, I was never direct with it. Sometimes I said the opposite of what I meant.

“That I already knew.”

I shrugged. “Guess that was obvious.”

“You forgot to add in the part where this collar snaps.”

“It’s not breaking any time soon,” I told him.

“Oh?”

The jovial, heated purr of his voice put me on edge. I was deathly still as I waited.

“Check and see for yourself.”

I sat up and sought out his neck, making sure it was still there. I saw the band, but I still slipped my fingers beneath it. “Seems fine to me.”

“Rub your hand across it,” he whispered raspy. “Look closer and you’ll see.”

I did as he said, scooting closer and rubbing my palm over the metal groove. My thumb caught on the jagged pieces. I moved my head until I saw what I touched with my fingers—a crack across the collar. Not just one but all over it. My blood turned to ice. The collar was never meant to hold someone as powerful as an entity. It was only a matter of time…

His nose rubbed across my neck, and I realized his head was down. Then he inhaled. Chills took over my body. Was it fear or something more primal disrupting my body? I couldn’t be sure. There was a thin line between us, and I’d never once bothered to be careful.

I couldn’t move. I couldn’t call him out on it either. I let my hand tighten around the collar as I closed my eyes. The entity was not at all giving into his situation, no I realized now that the monster I’d collared was simply biding his time until everything fell into the palm of his hands.

I should seek out my family’s help. But my body relaxed as Jackal continued exploring me with his nose.

He rubbed it over my collarbone, breathing me in like I was a necessity. I tilted my head to the side and listened to my erratic breathing and heartbeat. For a fleeting moment, I thought about running my hand over his chest, but I never got the chance. My eyes popped open as sharp canines pressed into me. Then my phone beeped.

I jerked away. Cupping the side of my neck, I stared at him. He barely nipped my skin. There wasn’t a puncture wound, but alarm snaked through me. Jackal’s eyes—an image of smoking embers—locked onto mine. “Were you about to bite me?”

I leaned over to grab my phone off the stand. Effortlessly, he blocked me. His green eyes were glowing bright now—something wicked,possessivein them. His clenched jaws and furrowed brows told me he wasn’t happy I moved away, nor was he happy about the phone going off.

“What are you doing?”

He didn’t reply. Instead, one hand went to my waist, the other to my shoulder as he moved over the top of me, and pushed me down.

“Stop!” I growled.The collar didn’t react.I didn’t even get a chance to decipher why that was. “I said stop!”

“This is your fault.” His heated breath tickled my ear. “You keep beckoning me, and now I know why.”

I tried to push him away, but he was solid like a wall. He wasn’t going anywhere. I wasn’t in control. I wasn’t even sure what was happening. My nerves were all over the place yet one thing was certain. Pride wasn’t fighting back. At all. She surrendered to no one. At least that’s what I thought. What was truly scary was the sweet ache of submission coursing through me, dampening my panties.

“Beckoning?” I whispered.

He breathed in. “Yeah. From the moment I laid eyes on you, you’ve been calling to me with your scent. I thought the reason I couldn’t go back to sleep in the cave was because of this collar but it’s not.” He tugged roughly against my hair until I hissed. “It’s you. The one calling to me. Not letting me fall back into my slumber.”

“You’re crazy.” I tried feebly to shove him away again. Something had come over me. I didn’t recognize myself anymore. Where had pride gone?