“Do you ever sleep?”
“Not in the last week, no.”
“Since the earthquakes started again?”
He turned to face her for a second, grabbing her hand to pull it to his lips. After he kissed her knuckles, he responded, “Not since Fate decided it was time for the three of us to mate,” he whispered.
She shuddered. Her experience had been the same. Sleepless nights during which she woke up frequently, restlessness controlling her body. No matter what she did, she was unable to relax fully. “Yeah.” She sighed, wondering how Jackson had fared in the last week. Had he experienced the same things? Probably.
She hated that he was alone somewhere, trying to work things out in his mind that weren’t explainable by modern science. Until he grasped that and let go of his need to live the life he thought he was meant to lead, they were all doomed.
Chapter Thirteen
Jackson stepped from the shower and grabbed a towel off the hook with shaky hands. He felt as though he’d had ten cups of coffee during the night. In reality, he’d done no such thing. He’d tossed and turned in bed for hours, getting up every so often to pace instead.
His brain wouldn’t slow down. Too much information fired from every synapse to distract him.
And his dick hurt. It went from fully erect to partially erect as if on a roller coaster, never reaching the necessary flaccid state that would allow him to sit still. He’d taken himself in his own hand three times, and each time he came, he found himself hornier than before.
Insanity.
He wrapped the towel around himself as his stomach growled. He hadn’t eaten since Sharon’s lasagna last night, and after all the physical and mental stress of staying up all night, he was starving.
As he shrugged into a pair of his favorite jeans, he cringed. The zipper and the button were stifling. Dammit.
A knock at the door startled him, and he hurried toward the front of his small apartment, wondering who the hell was at the door at this hour of the morning. The sun was barely up.
Would Cooper or Sharon show up at his place unannounced?
Nope. A peek in the small hole on the front door made him smile. He opened the door to Jazmine. “Why am I not surprised?” he asked as he let her in and shut the door.
She held up a tray. “Coffee? Thought you might need it.”
His hand shook as he wiggled one of the cups from the cardboard drink holder. “Do I look like I need coffee?”
She chuckled. “Not really. No.”
“Who called you?” he asked, assuming she was privy to every detail of his evening.
“Laurie.”
“Remind me who Laurie is,” he said as he took a seat on the sofa and nodded for Jazmine to do the same.
“Laurie is one of Mary’s best friends. She’s mated to Zachary Masters and Corbin Archers. They have one kid so far, Miriam.”
He ignored the way she said “mated.” “Corbin Archers… Isn’t he a deputy on the reservation?”
“Yes.”
“Are any of the three of them…uh…human?”
She grinned. “No.”
He ducked his head and stared at the floor, setting his steaming cup on the coffee table.
“I bet you have a million questions.”
“Why didn’t you tell me all this?”
“Wasn’t my place. It’s only because I’m in a committed relationship with Mary that I’m even considered peripherally involved enough to be brought into the fold.” She leaned forward. “Jackson, these are good people. All of them. Trust me.”
He lifted his face. “I don’t want to get involved with them. I told you that before. Why did you push me to do this?” He lifted his hands. He loved Jazmine. They’d always been close, especially as they grew more and more estranged from their parents.
“Because it’s not something you can control, Jackson.”
He widened his eyes. “Really? You don’t think I have free will, either? You sound like Sharon.”
“Not where this is concerned, no.” She shook her head. “I’ve seen it myself. They aren’t kidding. There truly is a hand from above that guides the shifters and puts them in the right place at the right time to fulfill their destinies.”
“Great. First of all, do you not realize how ludicrous that sounds? And second of all, I am. Not. A. Shifter.”
She inhaled slowly. “You’re fated to be with them, nevertheless. And you can’t change that.”
“Seriously, Jaz. Would you listen to yourself?” He straightened his spine. “We’re human beings. We have free will to love who we want. We make choices. We don’t have to marry someone just because it feels good.”