Chapter 439

Today, since I’m feeling a bit better, I ride in front of Jackson on the ATV, leaning back against his chest as he steers the vehicle with an arm on either side of me. Well, not that there’s much steering to do – it’s mostly a straight shot across the desert and prairie that creates a border between Atalaxia and Moon Valley.

“How do you know where we’re going?” I murmur, snuggling back against my mate, more comfortable than I thought that I’d be.

He presses a kiss to my hair, his wolf hearing making him perfectly able to hear me. “It took longer getting here because I had to figure out where things were. But now that I have a mental map, it’s a pretty straight shot to the closest border town.”

I sigh happily. “You’re so smart and capable. And good with directions.”

“Yeah, you just sit there and look pretty, Princess,” he murmurs, laughing. I laugh too because we both know that I’m capable of so much more than that, even though we have learned that – as Faiza thought - it’s a very good disguise.

I snuggle back against Jacks, letting my mind wander as the miles pass, letting my eyes slip over the scenery. It really is beautiful out here – and a part of the country which I haven’t explored before. The tensions with Atalaxia had always made it too dangerous for a camping trip or any hiking when we were younger. But now that the war is hopefully ending, a little hope for the future rushes through me.

The end of a war. It opens just…so many possibilities to better the lives of so many people. All that energy that went towards destruction and defense – now it can be turned towards building and learning. I buzz a bit with energy as the possibilities whirl through my mind.

The only thing that puts a dampener on it is the memory that Juniper is still gone and in trouble – or at least, she was as far as I know. I sigh, wondering what she’s up to, worrying for her. Junie – she’s so tough and strong, but she’s got a very tender heart beneath it all.

Even if she is a grumpy little thunder cloud sometimes, she’s still my sister. I love her a lot and want her to be okay.

“What’s wrong?” Jackson murmurs in my ear, sensing my change in mood.

“Just thinking about Junie,” I reply, distracted, staring off into the distance as Jackson keeps us moving steadily towards the horizon.

“Oh, don’t worry about June,” he says absently. “She’s fine.”

I go a bit still, half turning in the seat to look at my mate. “How do you –“

“Face forward,” he growls, taking one hand from the handlebars and wrapping it tight around my waist to keep me from flying off.

I laugh and do as I’m bid, turning back and settling back against him, pressing my ass back perhaps a little tighter against him than it needs to be. He snarls a bit in my ear, keeping that arm tight around my waist.

“How do you know she’s fine?” I ask, not letting myself get distracted from the topic.

“Jesse says she is,” he says, quite simple.

Shocked, I start to turn again but Jackson tightens his arm and snarls. Still, I turn my head as far as it can go, doing my best to stare at him in shock.

“How does Jesse know!?”

“Because,” Jackson says, glancing down at me. “He visited her there, in the Underworld. With Midnight. He says she’s in a world of mess – got herself caught up in some kind of competition to marry some Prince of Death – but that she’s also got them all wrapped around her finger –“

“What!?” I shriek, appalled not only by the news but by the fact that my stupid mate knew all of this – has apparently known it all – and didn’t bother to tell me! “Jackson! Why didn’t you fill me in on this!?”

“Oh, um,” he says, glancing down at me, a bit guilty. “I wasn’t supposed to tell you. Jesse said…well. Just pretend I didn’t tell you, okay?”

I shriek again, appalled, and he laughs, tightening the arm around me.

“Would you stop doing that? I’m trying to drive.”

“Why doesn’t Jesse want me to know!?”

“He says there’s a surprise and he doesn’t want anyone to tell you. Because you’re going to flip. So everyone is sworn to secrecy – not just me.”

“Jackson,” snarl, tense and livid. “You’d better tell me. Right now.”

“No,” he murmurs, pressing a loving kiss to the side of my head in apology.

“Jacks!”

“I promised!”

“You promised Jesse – a promise Jesse doesn’t matter! Your allegiance to me takes priority!”

“No, he said you’d say that, and he told me to remind you that he’s my best friend.”

I shout now in appalled horror at how Jesse has constructed this. Jackson just laughs, holding me close.

“Is it a good surprise or a bad one?” I hiss.

“A good one,” Jacks says. “You’ll like it, I promise. I almost cried when he told me.”

“What!?”

Jackson hums in confirmation and my mind whirls with possibilities. But I can’t think of anything – anything at all – that would fit this situation. A surprised related to stupid Juniper in the Underworld that almost made Jackson cry!?

What the hell!?

“Tell me.” I command.

A single growl rumbling in his chest signals Jackson’s refusal.

I take a different tack, pressing my ass backwards against him, arching my back a little. “Please tell me, Jackson,” I beg, my voice softer now.

He goes still behind me and I smile, pleased.

“Please, Jackson,” I beg, my voice softer and breathier now as I snake a hand backward, letting it slip up the side of his neck, my fingers tangling in his hair. “Please, I’ll give you anything you want in return.”

The entire time I speak I let my ass wriggle against him. I smile, devilish, when a stiffening in Jackson’s pants let me know that my efforts are working.

“Stop,” he growls.

“Please, Jacks,” I whisper, tilting my head back, letting a little moan slip from my lips. “Tell me. I won’t tell anyone you spilled – I’ll play along!”

He snarls, his arm tightening around my waist and I grin, thinking that I’ve got him. I press my ass back hard, rubbing it all along the thick length of his cock.

But suddenly I gasp when Jackson cuts the power to the ATV and we come skidding to a stop, because not half a second later my mate is pulling me with him off the vehicle and dragging me down into the dirt, setting me before him on my knees as he kneels behind me, my back flat to his chest.

It only takes a moment to figure out what’s going on as my snarling mate uses one hand to turn my face up to him, claiming my mouth as his other hand dips low and makes fast work of his belt, shoving his pants down.

I groan, wanting him already – falling to my hands and yanking hard at my stupid Atalaxian skirts, wanting them up and out of the way as Jackson takes my hips firmly in his broad hands and pulls me sharply back against him.

A cry breaks from me as Jackson’s cock presses into me in one fluid motion, my pussy wet and ready for him in an absurdly short amount of time. A heady moan falls from me as I press my hips back, wanting more of him, as much as fucking possible as Jackson, snarling, begins to pound himself into me at a steady, harsh pace. His hands pull me back and back as my mate fucks me almost furiously, completely lost to his lust, the want of me that swept over him – over both of us – in almost an instant.

And me? I want him just as bad, my mouth hanging open as huffing gasps break from my lips at every stroke, as my eyes go hazy with how fucking good it feels – Jackson’s thick, veiny cock, pounding into me again and again. Half of it is sheer physical pleasure, but my mind is also drunk on the knowledge that I drove him to this. That all it took was the press of my ass against him and he had to throw me down in the dirt –

God, fuck but we’re in trouble. Jacks – I want him in me all the time. I pant, going to my elbows to get a deeper angle, feeling the round head of his cock hitting that point so deep within me that makes my eyes roll back.

He doesn’t last long, not at this furious pace, and I bite my lap as my mate roars, bending over my back as he comes, hot and thick. The feel of it, sticky and wet and filling me up, sends me over too and I pulse and shudder, my arms giving out under my weight as my orgasm shakes through me.

Jacks collapses along with me, pulling me into his arms as he falls to the side, and we both pant and work hard to catch our breath as we lay in the prairie grass, me wrapped loosely in my mate’s arms with my back pressed again to his chest, his cock slowly going soft inside of me.

“Fuck,” Jackson whispers, soft, still catching himself.

I laugh, shaking against him. “We’re in so much trouble, Jacks,” I whisper.

“Why?” he murmurs, cuddling me close, pressing kisses to my neck and hair.

“Because,” I groan, turning, moaning a little as the action makes his cock slip from my tender flesh. He gasps too, a long and steady shudder passing through him, making me smile. I laugh a little again and cup his cheek in my palm, looking up at him. “I think we’re both going to have a little trouble controlling ourselves. And with family and paparazzi around...”

“Whatever,” he mutters, snuggling me close, his eyes closed. “You’re mine now. Everyone can just…deal with it.”

I laugh, resting my head happily on his chest, thinking…well, at this rate, that it might take us a little longer to get home than we thought.

“Okay, now tell me,” I whisper. “What’s the secret you’re keeping about the surprise in the underworld?”

“Not a chance, Princess,” he says with a laugh, shaking his head. “You’re going to have to try a lot harder than that to get it out of me.”

A little tingle rushes through me and I smile, looking forward to the challenge.