Black Holes - The Mors Mortis Trilogy Book 3

Chapter Thirty Nine

The moment they left Brenton, Leah knew Jared needed to vent. She could see it in the line of his shoulders, the short, sharp lilt to his words. It was the way he'd always sounded when he'd found her in the world of the dead: a hurt, reactive, volatile explosion waiting to happen.

So, she'd followed him upstairs, knowing he needed someone to yell at.

But she hadn't expected this.

The moment their lips met, Jared's arms curled around her waist, pulling her close, and she bit back a gasp of surprise. None of the desperation she was used to hovered behind his movements. His lips were gentle, peppering sweet kisses across hers, and his hands slow, curling up underneath her shirt and brushing along the small of her back.

It was languid, almost lazy, and Leah's body thrilled at it.

When she'd started pushing him, she'd felt a familiar routine playing out. One she was slightly, worryingly, addicted to. Jared would get mad, they'd get close, things would become heated and rough.

But this was different.

Jared's tongue flicked into her mouth, moving as if he had all the time in the world, and Leah felt a slower, deeper heat curl through her stomach. Her hands came up to his hair, bunching in the soft strands, and Jared pressed her further back against the wall.

She could feel how much he wanted her, could feel the pressure building, but he kept his movements controlled, patient, and for the first time ever, she felt like she was the only one losing it.

His hands travelled round to her sides, tiptoeing up to her ribcage and under her bra, and Leah tilted her head back, a gasp leaving her lips. Jared's fingers became even more teasing, tracing burning patterns across her skin, and his lips came to her neck.

Leah felt like she was frozen and on fire all at the same time; desperate to move, but terrified to do anything that might stop the sensations swimming through her body.

"Jared..."

She cut off as he bit down on her neck, just rough enough to make pain flash through her, before his tongue came out, soothing it.

"Oh my god," she breathed, and then her hands were at the bottom of his shirt, pulling up. Before she could even get it half way though, his hands left her chest, retreating quick to grip her wrists and stop her movements.

"What are you doing?" she asked, the words whiney enough they'd embarrass her later. But Jared just smirked and brought his lips back to hers.

"There are a lot of people in this house," he murmured between kisses. "They'll become suspicious if we're gone too long."

He pulled back slightly, looking at her, his gaze heated and his lips swollen, and disappointed flooded her.

"But—"

"I don't want that," he said gently, one of his hands releasing her wrist and creeping back up under her shirt again, slipping under her bra. His eyes followed it, watching his fingers circle from beneath the fabric, mesmerised, and just the sight of that made Leah's body throb. "I want to be able to take my time."

Leah couldn't decipher one emotion from another. The things his hands were doing made her want to explode. The things he was saying made her want to scream in frustration.

She had just decided to execute the second option when he dropped to his knees, his hands falling to her hips.

Leah's eyes widened.

"What are you doing?" she asked, her voice wobbly, but he just kissed her stomach. Leah's hips bucked, unable to help herself.

She gaped at him. "You said—"

"Can you be quiet?"

He looked up at her from beneath his lashes, lust swirling through his eyes and Leah swallowed and nodded.

"Good," he said, a smile curling up the corner of his mouth. "Then I think we have time for this."

And then he brought his mouth back to her again, his kisses travelling lower.

...

"What are we going to do? Do you think we should trust Brenton and try get back to the portal?"

Leah glanced around the room at Cassandra's question.

She and Jared hadn't been gone very long at all in the end, a fact that'd made Jared far too smug, and when they got back to the living room, everyones eyes flicked to them — quick and then away again. No one said anything, but Leah knew they'd noticed the smirk on his face, the flush of her cheeks.

It sobered her enough that she'd planned to spend this conversation standing covertly in the corner, attracting minimal attention, but no one was answering Cassandra's question.

Zarah's head was down, teeth gnawing on her bottom lip, and Alice was no better, her eyes flicking around the room, waiting for someone else to offer their opinion first. Leah glanced at Jared, hoping he'd have something to say, but he was just looking at her in a way that made her flush, that reminded her of what he'd just been doing, and she jerked her head away again, clearing her throat.

"I think we have to," she said. "We don't have anything else to go on. But I don't know how we'll get there without Riley to open a portal."

Leah said Riley's name without thinking, the words coming out in a rush, but the moment it left her lips, grief flooded her, leaving her frozen for a moment.

Jared shifted beside her, and just from the way his arm pressed against hers, she knew the smirk had fallen from his face, that the mature, understanding side of him she'd only recently been exposed to was resurfacing.

"Maybe we don't have to get to the live world to reach it," Cassandra said. "Portals cut through worlds, right? Part of it must be here. We'd just need to get to where you died."

Leah glanced at Jared to find the memory clouding his features.

"She died at my house," he said, the words sharp, unhappy. "In Sydney."

"But that's miles away," Zarah said. "How are we all going to get there?"

"I'll drive us," Alice said, clearly grateful there was something helpful she could do. "I haven't used the car since all of this started happening, so I have a full tank. We could be there in a few hours."

"Do you only have one?" Cassandra asked, craning her neck to look out the driveway, checking even as she asked.

"Yes, just one," Alice said, and Cassandra frowned. "We won't all fit, I know. But even if we could, I don't think Danny would be up for the trip. Or..."

Her eyes flicked to the wall behind Cassandra, the one both halves of Brenton sat behind, and Cassandra's lip curled in distaste.

"You're right," Cassandra said. "I wouldn't want to bring him anyway. Who know what shit he might try and pull."

The room fell silent for a moment, hushed by the violence in Cassandra's voice.

"So who goes, then?" Zarah asked eventually. "I'm happy to stay here if I'm not needed."

Jared nodded. "Leah's the one who has to go. It's her portal. I can go with her and you and Cassandra can stay here."

Leah glanced at Cassandra, unsure if she'd accept any plan that involved her remaining near Brenton, but Cassandra just nodded, her face hard, and suddenly, Leah wasn't so sure it was safe for Brenton to be left with Cassandra, rather than the other way around.

"Okay," Alice said, turning to Leah and Jared. "That settles it. Go wash up and get your things. We leave in five minutes."

...

Next chapter out in two weeks!

- Skylar xx