The sound was so sharp and distinct in the silence that they both jumped a little.
"Jesus, fucking-" Jack cursed, and he turned over to his other side, reached to the nightstand where the damn thing was vibrating almost all the way off the surface.
Jack slid his thumb over the glass and put the phone to his ear. "What?" he snapped.
There was only a slight pause. "What the hell climbed up your craw?"
Jessica. Fuck.
"Nothing. You just caught me at a bad time," Jack said, and he rolled onto his back and rubbed his face.
He looked over at Cindy, and her eyes were wide with shock, probably at the realization that he would actually answer the phone at a time like this. She also looked like she wanted to punch him in the face.
Maybe he shouldn't have answered the phone.
"Oh," Jessica said. "Did the collectors come to pick her up?"
"No, she's still here," Jack said, looking back at Cindy..
Cindy didn't have to know exactly who he was speaking with to know it was someone who knew she was here.
"So why is it a bad time?" Jessica asked. "Is she somewhere safe?"
Cindy rolled on top of Jack and straddled him. She had to hold her mass of red hair behind her head as she leaned in and kissed Jack's chest, sliding her tongue over one of his nipples.
Jack hissed in a breath as his cock swelled and pulsed, and he had to bite down on his lower lip to keep from making too much noise.
"Jack? Are you okay?"
Cindy moved her lips and tongue lower on Jack's body.
"She's wearing a charmed shackle. It's fine. Where's Ethan?" Jack asked, changing the subject quickly.
"He's chasing down a lead. In the same city where you picked up your pyro. Apparently this guy's been causing a lot of power shortages lately"
"Must be recent because I never heard about it."
"And I know you just tried to change the subject on me. What's going on?"
Part of him wanted to admit to her that he was having second thoughts about turning Cindy in, but even if Cindy wasn't sliding her tongue up and down the hard and throbbing length of his cock, he knew he shouldn't.
As much of a friend as Jessica was, she was still a hunter, just like Jack was, and just like her brother. Telling her would just make her feel obligated to do whatever she could to get Cindy out of his care as fast as humanly possible, and that was the last thing Jack wanted.
For now.
"I didn't change the subject," Jack said, and it took serious rock solid control just to keep himself from groaning, or hissing, or moaning, or letting out any of the pent-up pleasure that was building within him. "Just wanted to know where he was. If he was going to come over and help me out with this. Ah!" Jack said sharply when Cindy's fingernails dug into the flesh of his thigh.
She shot him a nasty look while Jack tried to tell her that he wasn't planning on passing her around to his hunter friends, all without speaking.
"What happened?" Jessica asked.
"Nothing, I stubbed my toe. Listen, I'll call you back."
Jessica hesitated before she replied. "All right. I'll call you later to check up. Actually, I'll get Ethan to give you a call. You need some friends to give you a hand."
She knows.
Jack had no proof of that. He only had this feeling that scraped its teeth and claws against the inside of his stomach, but it was there, and he trusted it, the same way Jessica trusted her instincts.
"Sure, he and I need to catch up," Jack said, and despite how every single little thing felt like it was in turmoil, Cindy continued on what she was doing. She wet her lips and pressed kisses down the column of his hard cock, which was throbbing for so much more of her attention.
"Yeah," Jessica said, and Jack was so glad this wasn't a video call, otherwise it would've been even more awkward than it already was.
When Jessica hung up the phone, Jack sighed and tossed it away. "Thank God," he said, giving Cindy all of his focus now as he watched her mouth stretch over his cock.
She went down once, nearly deep-throating him before she came back up and let Jack's dick pop free from her mouth. She smiled sweetly at him, the root of Jack's darkly colored shaft still in her hand.
"Who was that?" she asked.
Jack's pulse immediately raced, and it had nothing to do with how amazing it felt to have his cock stroked like that. It was more to do with the predatory gleam in Cindy's eyes.
He made a judgment call to not lie to her. At least if this was all garbage, a trick to get his sympathy, then he could still look himself in the mirror and be happy with the fact that at least he had made an honest effort.
"Jessica Frost, she's a licensed hunter and she knows you're here."
"I figured as much," Cindy replied, tightening the grip of her hand and twisting her fist just a bit.
Jack groaned, thrusting his hips forward, and his head fell back for just a second before he was looking back down into Cindy's eyes.
He was stunned with the fire he saw in her eyes. Literally, he could see burning flames behind that gorgeous purple color, and it was as beautiful as it was scary. Even with the shackles on her, her powers were still there, just under the surface, begging to be let out.
She was irritated about something. About Jessica?
"You sounded like you were close. Do you know her well?" Cindy asked, and she twisted her fist again, making Jack hiss and bit down on his lips.
He suddenly didn't think it was such a great thing for her to be handling his cock and balls while looking so dangerous, but if she was counting on him being afraid and clucking out a scared excuse, then he was going to disappoint her. In fact, he wanted to know what her reaction would be.
"We're ex lovers," he said, letting it out as bluntly as he could.
Cindy's hand stopped, and the gleam in her eyes was replaced with something a little more wary, and curious.
She sat up and brushed a lock of her curly red hair behind her ear. It didn't stay in place for very long. "Does she know about me?"
Considering Cindy had overheard Jack telling Jessica that Cindy was still here, he knew what she was really asking. "I told her you and I were together, and what happened after we broke up."
Broke up wasn't exactly the correct way of putting it, since they never officially broke up at all, but it was better, and kinder, than mentioning the suspicions he had involving the fire.
Cindy looked down at her hands, which were on Jack's stomach. "So, she thinks I murdered your family then," she said, not really asking.
"I'm still trying to figure that out myself."
Cindy turned her eyes up sharply. "What? After everything I told you...you still don't believe me?"
Fuck, but it was hard to not believe her when she looked at him like that, it really was.
Either way, it was clear they were both done fooling around. There was no way Jack wanted to have sex considering all the things they were talking about now, and Cindy apparently felt the same way as she didn't put up a fight when Jack sat up, put his hands on her hips, and gently lifted her off of him.
He sat on the side of his bed and stared down at his hands. He contemplated leaving the room, just so he could pace around, or maybe punch a wall, anything to get rid of this buildup of energy.
In truth, he was trying to avoid that "kicked kitten" look on Cindy's face.
Cindy wouldn't be ignored, however, and she grabbed onto his arm tightly. "Jack! Answer me! You can't tell me that you don't believe me! Not after that!"
Jack got to his feet. "You can sleep in the bed if you want. I'll take the couch."
"Jack!" Cindy called, and she got off the bed as Jack reached for his phone and his keys, but he was out of the room before she could grab onto him again. He locked her inside, and he sighed when she began pounding her fists against the door, calling out his name and trying desperately to get his attention.
Jack leaned his back against the wall and he shut his eyes, listening as she called out to him, but he never answered her.
She'd be fine in there by herself for the rest of the night. His placed was locked down. There were bars on every window in his house, which was standard for the times when hunters brought their catch home with them, regardless of whether or not they had boxes to keep them in.
It was better this way, better that they both have some time alone to clear their heads. No sex to confuse everything: no talking, just thinking.
Jack sighed and rubbed his face. He wanted to believe her, he so wanted to believe her, but this could easily be a manipulative trick on her part. Hell, it most likely was a manipulative trick. He had to keep that in mind instead of looking at her with increasingly thick rose-colored glasses.
She'd been pregnant? Held hostage the night of the fire? And then they'd been separated because he believed a drastically different version of the events had taken place?
Shit like that only happened in the movies.
As much as he wanted to believe her, allowing his to feelings cloud his judgment so he could let her go would make him the biggest idiot in the history of time.