He’s covered in little black marks. They stretch up over his chest. They’re all over his back.
Last night, I may have left a few scorch marks when we both lost a little bit of control. But neither one of us slowed down. We both took it all, accepting that this was us.
“Can you imagine the aftermath if we were to take it all the way?” Jaxon asks with a thick voice as we both look at ourselves in the mirror.
I just chuckle and shake my head.
We’re a mess.
“Pick your clothes wisely,” I say as I raise an eyebrow at myself.
We get dressed, knowing we have a lot to accomplish today. We head down the hall and find Davorian in his office with the door open. Inside, there are two other agents.
"Serena, you remember Sybil and Azrael," Davorian says as he indicates the two of them. Sybil is a tiny woman with darker skin and jet-black hair. Azrael is so blond his hair almost looks white. "They are going to accompany the two of you into the city. Keep your distance," he says as he looks to the two other agents. "We don't need to let Jaxon's family know the two of you are tailing them. But I don't want to get into any sticky situations."
"Yes, commander," Azrael says. He stands ramrod straight, with his hands clasped behind his back. He looks every bit the dutiful soldier. Sybil doesn't say anything, she simply nods.
"I don't know how long we’ll be gone for," Jaxon says. "My mother…just… Who knows."
Davorian nods, understanding since I explained things to him as best I could. "Be careful out there. Try not to be gone too long, we need you touching the gate as often as possible."
Jaxon grunts in acknowledgement. And without the need for any further conversation, we all turn, and our group exits the office.
It kind of feels like we’re going off to a small war with this posse. We've been preparing to fight. We have backup here. Yet all we are supposed to be doing is showing our faces for a simple family get-together.
Too bad nothing is ever simple when it comes to the Gray family.
We reach the end of the tunnel and I shift. Jaxon doesn't even look frightened anymore when he leans into me, allowing me to grab him. He isn’t even heavy as I lift him, and we begin scaling the tunnel. I set him down when we reach the surface and shift mid-step.
"Was it really less than four weeks ago when we bought this car and drove like a bat out of hell back to this place?" Jaxon asks as he walks toward said car.
"Seriously," I say with a chuckle. "That feels like it was six months ago. But, I was thinking we could take the bike. And then when we come back here, you can bring your bike back, as well."
From the smile on his face, I can tell that Jaxon likes this idea.
I turn back to the other two agents. "You can follow us. Jaxon's family lives in a casino on the Strip."
Even though they both nod, there's no way they're still familiar with the area. When they lived here, there were only a few settlers around. They flew into the city, but I'm sure they only drove through it quickly before they got here to the compound.
I have a short internal debate. I love driving my motorcycle. I bought it for a reason. But, I also like every excuse I can get to touch Jaxon.
So, in the end, I reach into my pocket and I toss the keys to him. From the look on his face, I think he's pleased by my decision.
He climbs onto the bike and I settle onto the seat behind him, resting my feet on the pegs. Jaxon inserts the key and roars the engine to life. We pull on our helmets, and I wrap my arms around his waist.
Without a moment’s hesitation, he hits the throttle, and we take off into the desert.
It feels like a miracle to me as I lay my head between his shoulder blades and tighten my grip around his waist. Just a few days ago, Jaxon couldn't get even one second of control. He'd been burning and burning for more than two weeks. I had been so scared that he would never be able to control it, that I’d never get moments like this again.
But, I think maybe I appreciate that time. It’s taught me to never take him for granted. I will appreciate every moment we get together.
Soon, we hit the dirt road and Jaxon picks up the pace over more level ground. I glance back just once, and see Azrael and Sybil following behind us in one of the cars. When we hit the main highway, Jaxon throttles the motorcycle even faster.
I think I'm nervous. Something is fluttering in my stomach. Maybe some of my shadows have escaped my control, and that's where they've chosen to settle. What we’re about to do is a big deal. We have to play this just right, to somehow gain Jaxon his freedom. We can't continue to do this over and over again, being at Vivian's beck and call every couple of days. It's what she expects, I have no doubt about that.
Maybe we just need to fake our deaths. We can cobble together another funeral, something like AJ's. It can be done and over in a matter of a few hours.
But there is still that bond. There is still that hesitation. Jaxon knows how his mother is, but still, she is his mother.
It's going to be what it's going to be.
Forty minutes later, we turn down the Strip and make our way toward the casino. Only, it isn't his casino that he pulls into first. He stops at one half a mile before it. He pulls into the parking garage and kills the engine. Sybil and Azrael park in the stall next to us.
"What are we doing here?" I ask as I pull my helmet off.
Jaxon climbs off the motorcycle and removes his own helmet. "There's still one important part missing, remember?" he says with a smirk. He reaches forward and grabs my left hand. He raises it to his lips and presses them to my ring finger. "I have some connections here."
"Are you kidding me?" I say with a look. "This is for show, remember? Don't you dare go and buy me something real."
Jaxon chuckles. "Oh, you don't know my family well enough yet. Diamonds are definitely part of the business. Every one of my family members will be able to tell if it's fake."
I swallow once. I don't like this. The relationship is fake, but it's not fake. The ring is for show only, but this? This involves real money.
Jaxon can obviously see my pouting. He takes both of my hands in his and leans forward, pressing a kiss to my lips. "You're being awfully sensitive about this, baby. They’re just diamonds."
I scoff as I look up at him. "Just diamonds. Only a Gray could say it like that."
Jaxon smirks at that. He brushes his finger under my chin, pressing one more quick kiss to my lips. "Come on, you can go shopping or something while I'm doing this."
I fold my arms over my chest, still pouting. "No thanks, I'll stay here."
"Have it your way," Jaxon says. He just smiles as he walks away, heading to the doors that let him into the casino. Azrael follows after him.
I climb off the bike and pace impatiently back and forth in the parking garage.
"I don't know how you can do it," Sybil says. She rolls her window down and stares out at me. "We've had a century and a half of training, but I've never had to touch one after they’ve manifested. I've definitely never wanted to kiss one of them. I don't know how the two of you don't rip each other’s skin off every time you look at each other."
I smile, because I definitely do want to tear his skin off, but not in the way that she thinks. "Trust me, it isn't easy."