Chapter Twenty-Six – Jack

“It makes me sad,” Eva said, rolling onto her stomach and looking at Jack, her head on his chest.

“What does?” Jack asked lazily. They had spent a couple of lazy days roaming the forest, while his brothers took care of business. With Locke’s help. The man worked himself to exhaustion every day, barely slept, and then got up to start again the next morning. It was his way of dealing with his inner turmoil. Jack hoped it wasn’t going to kill him, but Helena assured the brothers it was what he needed, and so they let him.

“How much sorrow it must have taken for a dragon to shed something as powerful as the Dragon’s Tear.”

Jack stroked her arm, feeling her warm body against his. “I can’t even begin to imagine how hard it must be to watch your mate die.” He sighed. “And I don’t want to. One day the Tear will be returned to the dragon. If we ever discover where he is.”

“Do you believe the Grimmwold when he said he didn’t know? That parchment my mom took looked authentic. But it turned out to be blank.”

“Are you saying the Grimmwold was withholding information?” Jack asked.

“I don’t know. He doesn’t want the last dragon to be found. Or at least doesn’t want the information to be common knowledge. He said he had bound himself, remember.”

“Yes. I do.” Jack turned over, facing his mate. “I’m just glad it’s over. For us. For now. Let someone else deal with it. I have more important things to concern myself over.”

“Like what?” Eva asked.

“Like how hot it is.” Jack began unbuttoning his shirt. “I feel the need to strip my clothes off.”

“I’m not going to complain,” Eva said, sitting up and watching Jack as he stood up and removed his shirt, and then dropped his pants so that he stood naked in front of her. “Very primal.”

“Primal?” He looked down at his naked body. “That makes me sound like a caveman.”

“I don’t think cavemen were quite so well … endowed.”

“Endowed,” he chuckled. “That does not make me feel sexy.”

“Maybe this will.” She peeled her sweater and her T-shirt off over her head, and then wriggled out of her jeans. “I might need some help with the rest of my clothes.”

“Always here to help.” He knelt down beside her, and unclasped her bra. Then he gasped, as Eva curled her hand around his cock, and stroked it, up and down.

“Am I helping?” she asked.

“Oh, yeah.” He closed his eyes and enjoyed the sensation, before lifting her up and placing her on his lap so she straddled him. Pulling her panties to one side, he lifted her before lowering her down on his cock. “That helps so much.”

Eva moved her hips, circling them. With each rotation, she took more of him inside her. Inch by inch he filled her, until she was completely impaled on his hard shaft. Resting her arms on his shoulders, she began to ride him, up and down, and round and round. It was so good, being out here in the forest, the sounds of nature all around them and his mate impaled on his cock.

Oh, yeah, so good.

Jack cupped her left breast with his right hand and lowered his head to suck her nipple into his mouth. He rolled his tongue around the taut bud in a rhythm which matched Eva’s hips. Each time he nipped the sensitive bud, her hips bucked, sending shockwaves through her body, and her inner muscles clamped down on his hardness.

Eva lifted his chin, and he released her nipple. “Kiss me.”

Jack fisted her hair, and their lips met, his tongue probing for entrance to her mouth. Their tongues entwined, just as their bodies entwined, joining together, two mates who had found each other and pledged their lives to each other under the full moon.

There had been a hand-fasting ceremony, with Helena having the honor of joining them together forever.

Eva gasped, breaking their kiss as she came. She clung to him, her nails digging into his back as the shockwaves hit her. A chain reaction brought him to the brink of pleasure and then threw him over the edge, his seed filling her. Their first child was already growing in her womb, and he wished for many more. But for now, they planned to enjoy each other’s bodies at every opportunity.

And it was joy that they made, as well as love.

Eva straddled him, stroking his hair back from his cheek, and planting soft kisses over his face. “We can have a perfect life,” she said. “You and me, and our children.”

“We can,” he agreed. “We will. The two of us, our children. We’ll be a family forever.”

She looked away, a sadness in her eyes. “Do you think Lucas will lead the Council one day?”

“I think he has a shot now. He showed himself to be strong and willing to take action when the Night Hunters attacked. It was Lucas who took the doors down. If he hadn’t, we would have had to kill every Night Hunter and that would have started a war.”

“The image his mom saw when she was scrying will come true, then?”

“It might.” He turned her to face him. “Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?”

“It’s silly.” She took a long shuddering breath. “She told me something…”

“Damn it.” Jack’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He reached for his jeans and pulled it out.

“Council business.”

“A call-out for the squad?” she asked excitedly.

“Yes.”

“Let’s go, then,” Eva said, sliding off his lap and gathering her clothes.

“We could stay here, they could manage.”

“Are you backing out of our deal?” Eva asked.

“I want you to be safe. You have our child in your belly.” He put his hand on the place where her belly swelled.

“You said I could go with you on the next call-out. I have control of my bear, and I have to learn to fight. So that I can teach our children.”

“I’ll teach them.”

“And what if you aren’t here?” She stopped, her jeans halfway up her legs.

“Eva.” Jack did his belt up and went to her. “I’m always going to be here. I said I’d never leave you.”

“I know.” She pulled her jeans up and then dragged her T-shirt over her head.

“What did Sophia say to you? You were going to tell me.”

Eva brushed her hair back from her face. “Only that we were going to have lots of children.”

“And that’s good, right?” Jack asked.

“Yes.” She looked down at the ground, and wiped away a tear that she didn’t want him to see.

“Eva, what’s wrong?” he asked.

“Hormones.” She sniffed. “I’m scared I won’t be a good mother.” She smiled weakly, not convincing him.

“That all?” he asked.

“Yes.” She nodded and pulled on her sweater. “OK. Race you back to the house. They will wait for us, right?”

“I’m squad leader, of course they’ll wait.”

Eva shifted before his eyes, a sight he still had not gotten used to. Not as big as his bear: that did not stop her from being strong, and fast. Eva’s bear could beat him easily in a flat-out race. She turned to him, gave a roar, and then dug her claws into the mud, launching herself into the forest.

Jack shifted, and followed his mate. Just as he would follow her anywhere, through space and time. He understood Eva struggled with insecurities, her fear of being abandoned was real. Knowing her past, Jack couldn’t blame Eva for those beliefs, but he would spend his life proving to her that she could trust him, when he promised would never leave her. He knew he never could, she was his mate. His pregnant mate.

And nothing was more important to Jack than family.