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Jacks awoke when he felt Evangeline untangle herself from his limbs. He heard the little patter of her feet as she stumbled out of the room and then into the hall, though he wasn't conscious enough even to realize it was happening.
In fact, did she even leave at all? Because his head was spinning, and suddenly he saw her again in the doorway, but this time she was dressed in that damned slip dress from Chaos' underground castle.
He vividly remembered the perfect image of her sprawled on the bed in that slip, her fangs lengthening as they had made eye contact through the bars of that giant metal cage. It was the same slip she wore when she had replied to his taunting comment.
"Careful," Jacks had drawled, "You're not looking at me as if you hate me right now."
"I do," she had replied, hoarse and breathless.
The memory sent a shiver up his spine.
Somehow, he focused his attention back on Evangeline in his doorway.
Except now, she was even closer, standing at the edge of the bed, and he was sitting up on the edge of the sheets, legs dangling over the side of the mattress and arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her close.
It all happened so fast like he wasn't even sure he was in control of the movement. Her hands raked through his hair, sending tingles straight to his neck and down to his stomach. She smelled floral and sweet and straight up addicting.
Evangeline was pulling his face to her chest, and Jacks was pulling on her waist, and then before his mind could keep up, they were against the back headboard, and she was in his lap.
She was straddling him, knees split around his hips as she hotly gazed into his eyes.
He felt dizzy.
How could this be real?
Then, she spoke. And it took everything in him not to fall apart right there.
"Jacks," she said it like she'd never before. Not just breathless this time but unforgiving, too. Like she put all of her emotion into that one word. Like she was giving all of herself to him with just the tone of her voice.
Their noses brushed.
His eyes felt heavy, and he felt like he was high on her. He wanted to give her what he was feeling right now. He wanted to take everything she was giving him and spit it right back out to bathe her in it.
"Evangeline," Jacks muttered. And he was looking at her lips.
Her lips.
All he wanted was her lips. And he hadn't realized how desperately he needed them against his until he was staring right at them. Sure, he had thought about it before, more than he would ever admit. But this was different. This was a need.
He stared longingly at her soft pink bottom lip. He knew it would be a lie to tell himself that just a taste would satisfy him. But he wanted it nonetheless.
Jacks let out a shaky, breathless sigh.
But he couldn't. Because if there was anything he needed more than Evangeline's lips, it was for her to stay alive. And he knew deep in the core of his rapidly beating heart, that it wasn't because of any magic stones or a locked arch.
He looked back up from her mouth, and they locked eyes.
Jacks made himself a promise. He would not kiss her.
He swallowed and lowered his gaze to her clavicle.
At least, not on her lips...
He latched onto her neck as if the vampire venom had made a ghostly return back into his veins.
Evangeline gasped.
And then he was really gone.
She tugged at his hair again, saying his name, but somehow with even more power than the last time.
Jacks swiftly gripped his two hands on both sides of her waist, his whole entire hands encompassing her sides, and slid her forward against him, slotting their hips together under her slip. Her thin undergarment and the fabric of his pants were the only things keeping them apart. Then, he leaned forward, making her lean back as their chests pressed together and her arms wrapped around his back. He worked tirelessly at leaving a mark on her neck as he pulled down on her hips in an effort to somehow be even closer together.
Evangeline rocked her hips against his and moaned.
At first, it stunned him, but as soon as he heard it, he was so struck with pure heat and desire that he released her neck and raised his head to meet her gaze once more.
"Do that again." He'd meant it to come out more firm and commanding, but instead, the phrase slipped out of his lips like he was begging for her to so.
Evangeline's mouth dropped open to let out another soft moan as she ground down very, very low on his abdomen.
Pleasure flew up from his groin straight into his head. His eyes fluttered, and he pulled both himself and Evangeline upwards so that he could lean back against the headboard.
And then she kept going.
Jacks had done... many things before, but this felt like nothing he'd ever experienced. There was something so intimate about this. It wasn't like when he'd let a random girl at a party tear off his clothes because he was bored. It wasn't like a hurried half-kiss or two where he just pretended like he hadn't doomed the receiver for a little fun. It wasn't even like when he'd been human. This was entirely new.
His self-control walked a fine line. A guttural noise escaped his lips as he thrust his hips upwards, creating even more friction between their hot bodies as he matched her movements.
The air was only heavy breathing and heat. Jacks felt the tightness in his pants, and he could only imagine Evangeline could as well.
The heat in between their hips shot pleasure into every nerve Jacks thought he had in his body, and he hoped it was the same for his precious little fox.
Almost as if she could read his mind, she locked her gaze with his.
Then he remembered that with him thinking this loud, she probably could.
You feel incredible, Jacks. She thought to him.
He almost cursed, panting aloud and rolling himself against her. Their parted lips grew dangerously close as their foreheads pressed together.
They rocked against each other in unison.
He hooked a finger in her mouth, gripping onto her lower jaw as if in hopes of putting some sort of barrier between their lips. But Evangeline just wrapped her mouth around it, sucking with half-lidded eyes and a lewd expression on her face.
Fuck. He thought at her.
His abdomen tightened, and his other hand squeezed tighter onto her hip, guiding her movements as they changed in rhythm.
Please. Her reply echoed in his mind, desperate and needy.
"I want to consume you," Jacks growled.
"Have me," Evangeline whispered back.
He wished he could kiss her. He just wanted to be hers. He just wanted...
...It not so be so bright. Why was it so bright in here? He just wanted-
He opened his eyes.
A direct line of sun was streaming through the window, straight into his vision. He winced and blinked, beyond disoriented. It took him only a few seconds to understand what had just happened, but once it did, he was numb.
He'd been dreaming.
He tried to shake off the distress his body was in at realizing the past... however long it was, was not a reality. A pit formed in his stomach.
Where was Evangeline?
Was her slipping out of bed this morning part of his dream, or had she been gone for much longer than that? Perhaps she left after he'd fallen asleep last night. Maybe he'd scared her off. Maybe she-
He took a deep breath and succeeded in masking his face with a calm, sleepy expression. The sleep part wasn't difficult to fake.
Jacks stood, deciding to find out for himself where she had gone.
Images of his painfully vivid dream flashed in his mind as he stalked towards the door. Evangeline in that slip. Her hands in his hair. His mouth on her neck. Her hips on his groin.
He winced at a pain spiking deep in his chest. Its rude interruption to his thoughts reminded him that though he was a fate, he was still slightly achy from his injury.
Jacks made his way down the hall, secretly holding the images from his dream in his mind, but not allowing them to show on his expression. He thought he heard Evangeline to the left, so he quietly walked up, just before the room where he believed the sound was coming from.
He had been correct, as he caught the last swipe of her scraping some lemon curd onto a piece of bread. But she couldn't bring it to her lips.
Jacks waited before the doorway, watching her as she sat paused with a little dragon that buried its face in a cast iron pot full of a thick, chocolatey substance.
A troubled expression came across Evangeline's face. Jacks felt the pull to know what could be causing her distress in a place as perfect as this, but he was careful to keep this emotion inside as he stepped into the Tavern.
Seeing her there immediately brought about the scenes from his dream again, clouding his mind with emotion, and in effect, the air turned charged as if sparks had taken the place of half the oxygen.
"Hello," Jacks softly smiled as he said it, quiet and slightly shy. He was still recovering from his wild imagination as he made his way over to her.
She was beautiful as always. There was no denying it, but seeing her now after the whirlwind that he'd slept through just made him more guarded as if something could go wrong.
"Hi," she replied shyly as well.
He couldn't help but smile at the way she had just looked him over. A pang hit his chest.
"You didn't have to sneak out of bed," he said.
"I didn't sneak."
"Then why didn't you stay?"
Invisible strings attempted to pull at Jacks's heart, but he pretended like they weren't there. He casually slid into the seat beside her and turned to her with his most devilishly charming grin.
She stared for a moment, but he couldn't read her expression.
He wished he could get lost in her forever. He wished his dream could come true. But deep down, he knew it never could. And it pained him so to admit it. But for now, perhaps blissful avoidance could be enough.
"Tomorrow, I won't let you leave so easily," and he stole a bit of her lemon curd toast.
She blinked and watched him chew the bite. He knew she was caught up thinking up in that pretty little head of hers.
"I... thought you said it was just one night?" Evangeline said.
"I thought you never believed what I said," he shook his head reproachfully and tugged her onto his lap. Images of her there from his sleep plastered themselves to the inside of his brain, but he kept his face the same.
"Jacks," Evangeline put a hand against his chest.
Jacks could feel his heart pounding under her palm, but he forced a solid, relaxed appearance. Nearness wracked his hands as he held onto her more desperately than she might ever know.
Evangeline wrapped her arms around his neck, and she held tight. For a second, Jacks's heart skipped a beat. Maybe it could be possible. He didn't know why and he didn't know how, but he wanted it so bad. To have her. To be hers.
Then, she let him go.
She shoved off his lap with shaky arms and unstable legs that stumbled as she tried to step back.
And Jacks's heart tumbled off a cliff.
"Evangeline, what's wrong?" He creased his brows.
"This isn't real, Jacks. You and I, we're under the influence of the mirth stone."
And then his heart hit the ground, smashing into a million pieces. He had told himself it could never be like this. He just so badly wanted to be wrong.
"You think you would only feel this way about me because of a rock."
Jacks clamped his mouth shut. He was upset, and the fact that he even was made him even more upset. How had he let her in like that? How had he believed it could be different when he knew all along this would happen? He knew it wouldn't last. And he felt that in his rapidly beating heart as his control slipped and his hurt seeped into his eyes.
Then she spoke, "I don't think, I know."
It felt like an arrow through his chest.
She picked up the empty cast iron jar of chocolate, along with the lid.
"I found the mirth stone this morning. It's in the clock in the hall."
No. Jacks thought.
"Evangeline," he jumped up from his seat.
She didn't turn around as she started to run down the hall.
Jacks heart wrenched.
"Wait," He grabbed her hand and spun her away from the clock. His face was pale and his eyes were glassy with red.
"Whatever it is, Jacks, you won't feel the same in a minute."
It couldn't be true. He didn't want what he was feeling to be an influence of stone. And somehow, he knew that it wasn't, which made it so much worse because, for her, it probably was.
Jacks swallowed hard and clenched his jaw, "You have no idea what I'm feeling now."
He looked at her lips. Losing all control, he let a devastatingly tortured look wash over his face.
He wanted her so bad. It consumed him at that moment. Occupying his every thought and crossing over every emotion he was able to carry. He would do anything for this girl. And that thought terrified him.
The same electricity returned from when he had entered the Tavern earlier, and the little bolts of energy bounced back and forth at light speed in the space between them.
Everything was tense. Jacks wanted to wrap his arms around her and hold her to his chest. He wanted to hold her chin and bring her face to his. He again wished he could kiss her.
"This isn't real, Jacks," Evangeline spoke.
Each word was like a twist of the arrow of her voice in his chest.
"This place," she began again, "it's the enchantment of a fairy tale without any of the curses, or the monsters. But there are still curses and monsters out there. Apollo is still out there."
"Apollo is fine." Jacks cut in, angry at saying her husband's name. "Chaos found him, and I saw him when I was away. Apollo is comfortably locked away in Chaos' castle, where no one else can hurt him, and he can't hurt you."
"But he also can't live like that. And we can't live like this."
She ripped her hand out of his grasp.
It felt like someone had ripped out the arrow.
Before he could stop her, she was at the clock, opening the door to the pendulums. She snatched the mirth stone and shoved it into the iron jar.
And the most agonizing part about it was that even after the stone was sealed inside and he looked distastefully at her triumphant expression, he still wanted her.