Twenty minutes later, the vet came out and told them the swan had died, but the ducklings hadn’t been harmed.
“If I hadn’t been watching television, I would have heard who did it,” Penni said later as Jackal drove them back to her house.
“Babe, whoever did that was fucked up. You could have been the one hurt for trying to confront someone with that kind of anger. Whoever did that was in a killing rage, using the ducks to make them feel better.”
“That’s sick.”
“Yeah.”
“The police are taking the video tapes. I hope they catch whoever did it.”
“Me, too.”
Jackal parked her car in the driveway then walked her to her door. He opened the door to her condo, expecting her to tell him to leave, but she didn’t. Instead, she went into her kitchen to make coffee.
Jackal leaned against the refrigerator. “If you drink that, you’ll be awake all night.”
She turned off the coffee, staring down at the coffee pot. “Let me have my key back.”
Jackal turned and opened the refrigerator, taking out two waters. “No.”
“I don’t want to argue with you tonight.” Her voice broke.
“Tonight was the first time I’ve seen you cry. The last thing I want is to make your night worse, but I’m not giving the key back. I need it.”
She slammed her hands into his chest, pushing him back against the refrigerator. “You didn’t care that you fucked Raci instead of me, so why do you care about a stupid key?”
“I didn’t fuck her—”
“You touched her. I saw you. Your dick was hanging out. I might have interrupted her, but you were a second away from screwing her.”
“No, I wasn’t. If you saw my dick, you’d know I wasn’t.”
She stared him in confusion, her hands dropping from his chest.
“I couldn’t have fucked anyone with that limp dick. The only reason Raci didn’t notice was because she was trying to get information out of me.”
Penni backed up until the counter stopped her. “You touched her …” He saw the pain in her eyes.
“Yes, I touched her, knowing you would probably find out and hate me. I hated myself, but I gave an oath as a Predator, and I kept it, even though it was going to fuck up things between us. An oath isn’t easy to keep. Men have died for generations to keep them. Should I have let Ice or Max been the one to do it? Grace is dealing with her mother’s death, and Max has only been married less than a year.”
Her aghast expression answered his question.
“Using one of The Last Riders wasn’t an option,” he continued. “It was a setup to find out who was betraying the club. Should I have let Stump do it? He would have fucked her and told her what we had planned. Hennessy would have been suspicious. Cruz would have beaten it out of her. Cade could have, but Fat Louise is pregnant. Stud could have, but if that bitch of a wife of his found out, she would’ve—”
“Jeez.” Penni shook her head, stopping him. “So you’re the go-to guy when the Predators need a dirty job done?”
“Yes.”
Penni raised her hands in the air. “What do you want me to do? Accept that you’re going to fuck a woman if Ice orders you to?”
“No. I told him I won’t do it again.” Jackal gave her a twisted smile, hiding how painful it had hurt him to make that ultimatum. “I told him no, that even if it meant I’d have to walk away from the Predators, I would.”
Penni gave him a trembling smile. “You said that?”
“Yes.”
“You said that even though you didn’t know if I would take you back?”
“Babe, there was never any doubt that you were going to take me back.”
Penni started walking around the kitchen huffily, and Jackal braced his hands on the counter.
“You’re my soul mate,” he told her.
“You think you can convince me that you believe in something I know damn well you don’t?”
“What makes you think I don’t? Who else do you think would put up with your crazy ass? You almost shot me! When haven’t I been there when you needed me? Who else were you ready to jump into bed with? Who else would I walk away from the Predators for? Not … one … woman … but you. Only you.”
Penni walked back over to him and laid her head on his chest. “I don’t know what to do.”
Jackal placed his hand on the nape of her neck, tilting her face up to his. “That’s a start. I can deal with that. What I can’t deal with is not being a part of your life.” He kissed her as he had never kissed her before. “I couldn’t fuck another woman when the only one I want to fuck is you.”
He stroked her tongue with his, pressing his flush against hers. His dick was so hard he shuddered when he ground his cock into her pussy. If she were wearing anything other than her tight jeans, Jackal didn’t think he would have been able to stop from releasing his dick to fuck her right there.