Jax

by Cristin Harber

  "The gentleman at the end of the bar did."

  "Jax?" She rolled her eyes. "Handsome, Italian-looking dude? Dark hair? Looks like he wants to kill everybody?"

  "Perfect description." The bartender laughed. "Surly beast."

  A beast? Ugh. She wasn't close enough to see his face well in the mirrored bar wall, but Jax was watching her. "Tell him no thanks. You can have it. "

  "I'm not going to—"

  "Then give it to me, and I'll pour it on the floor."

  "Can't have that." He took the shot.

  "Was it a tasty one, or did he order me something that tasted like death?"

  "It was lovely." The bartender winked. "Or I would've let you throw it on the floor."

  "What should I send back?"

  He laughed. "You two are going to be interesting, aren't you?"

  "I don't know yet," Seven said, more to herself than him. "Send him a shot from me. But don't make it look as pretty."

  "Would you like him to remember his name after he takes it?"

  "Let's not be mean, but a little playful."

  "Americans." The bartender chuckled then transitioned into Spanish with the businessmen before making Jax's shot.

  Seven watched him offer it to Jax. Jax refused the shot but then took the small glass back from the bartender.

  What was he doing?

  Jax flung the shot glass down the mahogany bar, past the businessmen, and it came to a slow stop in front of Seven. Her heart jumped, and she would have been lying if she said that wasn't impressive. Seven gave him a slow clap, and he returned with a small nod. Seven picked up the shot, raised the glass, and downed the liquor.

  Their bartender tittered. "What are you, a couple in the middle of a fight?"

  The businessmen threw down a few bills to pay their tab before getting up from the bar. Empty space stretched between her and Jax again. He stared her way, holding her in place as her heart drummed and her cheeks warmed. All of her rushed with a warmth that made her blood race, and far out of her flirting element, Seven tore her eyes away but could tell he didn't stop looking at her.

  Jax pushed off his barstool, and the sparkle of anticipation shivered across her skin. Was he leaving? Coming closer? Her breezy breaths seemed too shallow when he stopped short, allowing one barstool between them as he took a seat.

  "Scared?" Because she was terrified. Her reaction to him made her almost light-headed, but she was drawn to him despite that fear.

  "Man." Jax's head dropped with a chuckle, then he glanced over. "You don't stop, do you?"

  "I should."

  "Nah." He moved off the barstool and leaned against her back, resting his arms on the bar. Caging her. "Why screw up a good thing?"

  He was a sheet of muscle, and he let his chin rest next to her ear as she watched in the mirrored wall.

  "Nothing to say?" His scratchy chin burrowed next to her ear, and the dark-whiskered scruff grated her into heaven. "Seven, how much have you had to drink tonight?"

  Suddenly, the tingles were gone. "Not much, why?"

  Was he trying to get her drunk? Tacky! That didn't seem like his MO, but what did she know? Maybe he liked to get plastered and…

  Jax pulled back and spun her around. "Hang on."

  Her level of distrust should've been much higher. "Why?"

  "Because I want to make bad decisions with you, and I want to make sure you're in a good place to agree."

  "Meaning you don't want me drunk?"

  He winked. "Not at all. What do you say?"

  Still, she hesitated. "Why is it a bad decision?" Then she blushed as she waited for him to list a Kama Sutra on steroids or a policy of no strings attached means never talking again.

  "Because I always know what I'm getting into, and anytime I'm around you, I don't know, and I don't care." Jax backed up and extended his hand.

  She couldn't have slapped him if she'd wanted to. She wasn't a one-night stand kind of girl, and Jax had made it clear at the wedding that he was only a one-night stand kind of guy. Chemistry didn't care what either of them said, and Seven placed her hand in his.

  "Why's your name Seven?" He helped her off the barstool and threw down some cash for their tabs.

  "I was supposed to be lucky."

  Jax grinned. "Lucky number Seven. I like it." He took her by the hand and walked them out. "Come on, beautiful. Get into trouble with me tonight."

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  With every passing step, Seven grew more confident in her decision to do bad things with the man running his thumb over her knuckles as they moved to the reception desk to the hotel lobby, room keys in hand, with minimal awkwardness.

  Even after a night of dive bars and swank hotel bars, Jax smelled fresh and sexy, and she wanted to nuzzle her nose into his collar and breathe deeply. They waited for the elevator, and she decided her first bad decision of the night was to wrap herself around his rock-hard torso and pay a ridiculous amount of attention to his cut muscles.

  The elevator dinged, and Jax walked them into the car with her still pressed against his chest, moving until her back met the wall and his cheek was next to hers. "You went from coy to not messing around at Mach speed."

  "Do you want me to go to the other side of the elevator and keep my hands by my sides?"

  He didn't answer but kept her pinned, only reaching away to press his floor number. Then his forehead touched hers, and he toyed with her hair.

  When the elevator slowed, Jax slid both hands into her hair, gluing his eyes to hers. He ran his palms to the back of her skull and gave a careful tug that made her moan and shake.

  Then his fingers softened. "Ready?"

  She had no idea. "Absolutely."

  Jax led them to his room then flicked the lights on. Whoa.

  "Wow, Jax. This is… swank."

  "It's what they had available." He tossed the keycard on the small table in the hallway, and they walked into a sunken living room. To one side was a kitchenette and dining area. To the other was a beautiful bedroom suite. It might've been the nicest hotel room she'd ever stayed in.

  Suddenly, nerves bubbled. She didn't know what to do in this kind of place. She was an MC princess, but this was reserved for real royalty.

  The life she led was simple—middle America, single mom, full-time job. And this was… a fairy tale.

  "Why'd you leave your buddies?" Jax asked, pulling her from the unnerving thoughts.

  Seven wandered around the living room, letting her fingers trail over the back of a leather couch as she stared out at the skyline of the city fast asleep. "I needed alone time."

  "Hmm."

  She pivoted, toying with her tongue stud nervously. "Hmm?"

  "Alone?" He crossed his thick muscled arms. "You wanted to be alone?"

  "I do." She took a breath, trying to be discreet but needing to calm her anxiety more than she needed to save face. "With you."

  His jaw flexed. Jax didn't smile, but he reacted in a way that made her stomach flip. Something about how he made her body jump merely by a muscle twitch was intense. Maybe that was because he was very much a man, and she was used to boys. The age difference between them was impossible not to notice. God, she was so out of her league. What was she doing there?

  Seven turned back to the window and refused to give away that she didn't have anywhere near the experience he likely did. Sure, she'd dated, and she'd been with Johnny forever. And sometimes piercings seemed like bells and whistles that were far beyond the experiences that Mr. Navy SEAL had had, but never had she thought it possible that a man could look down a bar and make her wet like Jax had done.

  She glanced over her shoulder. "What's our first bad decision?"

  "Depends." His wicked smile did dangerous things to her insides.

  "On?"

  "How many do we get?"

  She laughed, rolling her eyes. Seven walked one way, Jax the other, and they kept the same distance, circling the room and each other.

  He leaned against th
e glass. "Do you stalk all your prey?"

  "I don't know. I don't do things like this." Seven sucked in her cheeks. "Present company excluded."

  He didn't respond, and well, hell, so much for honesty. She'd said too much.

  "Seven, come here."

  Anticipation swirled in her stomach. Her nerves trembled while she stilled, mesmerized by the brilliance of his intensity, overshadowed as though she were a hotel caught in the brilliance of Vegas lights.

  He took a smooth step closer, still leaving a mountain of space between them. "Did you change your mind?"

  "No."

  A sweet flicker of a smile came and went. "Are you nervous?"

  Seven flushed. A snarky, defensive protest of the truth was needed, but the words wouldn't come. Jax gently shook his head, holding her gaze like a lion guarding a lamb.

  She swallowed the lie before it could be told. "Why would I be nervous?"

  His chest expanded on a slow, deep breath. Letting it out just as deliberately, he eased another step closer. "Are you attracted to me, Seven?"

  Blood pounded in her chest, lighting a smoldering heat that spread like wildfire, licking its way up her neck. "What's with twenty questions?"

  "If our… bad decisions are raw and honest, this"—he pointed between them—"could be killer."

  A waterfall of reactions cascaded through her senses.

  "Or we hold back." Jax's jaw flexed, displeased with the possibility. "We'll have decent sex. Come hard. Earn a round of applause, and walk away without a memorable detail."

  "What makes killer sex?"

  His eyes narrowed. "Asking for what you want. Getting what you need. Giving because it's good."

  "That doesn't sound like any bad decision I've ever heard of."

  He tore his shirt over his head. "Come here, Seven."

  The air evaporated from the room. Oh God, a shirtless Jax in real life was superior to any passing fantasy. Her nipples beaded as she drank in the visual of his tan skin and dark eyes, gaping as if she'd not seen a half-naked man before. Perfection didn't exist, and Jax was living proof of that with an old scar on his stomach and short, wider ones above his chest. Dark, close-clipped hair colored his pecs, and a smattering of hair led a path down his toned stomach. There were more stories torn, stitched, sliced, and healed into his body than she might ever know.

  Seven moved closer as Jax matched her steps.

  "I would've gone to you, even if you kept your shirt on."

  Inches separated them. "Sometimes it's better to hedge bets."

  A reddening laughter broke her enthralled trance. "I'm not sure what to think of that."

  "Don't think anything. Just close your eyes."

  Seven took a deep breath and obeyed. Jax moved behind her, tucking her hair from one side to the other shoulder, and goosebumps jumped at his touch. She sucked a quick breath, muscles tightening.

  "Relax." His fingertips drifted from her shoulders down her arms. The fine hairs on her skin reacted, standing upright in the wake of his touch. "That happened at the wedding."

  Eyes still closed, Seven shivered at the memory and loosened under his exploring touch. "I remember."

  "Do you like when I touch you?" He traced over her skin until every hair stood erect and her unsteady breaths bordered on quiet pants.

  "Yes."

  "Simple answer," he teased quietly, now scratching close-clipped nails on her biceps.

  Meaning? Raw honesty. Seven could feel the tremor of need build deep in her body, pulsing to her pussy and beading her breasts. "I liked holding on to you. Hiding under your jacket. Your back is…" With her eyes closed, it was like she could feel her fingers playing with his dress shirt at Victoria's wedding. "Muscular."

  Jax squeezed her shoulders, massaging back to her arms. "Was that so hard?"

  "Maybe."

  The warm fullness of his lips connected with hers, and Seven's eyelashes fluttered, so lost in the memory of their time at the wedding, she hadn't realized he might kiss her. If there was ever a nerve, a concern, ever a single worry that Jax wasn't a god made to be with, those crazy thoughts disappeared as she wrapped her arms around his powerful neck.

  His tongue teased her lips apart, and he took her weight, tipping her head for more. Seven hadn't been kissed like this in her lifetime, and as he teased her, stroking her tongue, testing her lips with nips and licks, she clung to him, moaning for more.

  Then he placed a sweet kiss on her lips after the torrid ones. "Hell, this is all a good decision."

  Not wanting to let go, she wondered how much of this was good chemistry and how much of this was her needing the attention of a man.

  "Don't move." Jax ambled away and returned with an arm full of sheets, kicking pillows to the living room. He turned down a few lights to soften the room.

  "What's all this?" she asked, uneasy about how he tossed the sheets but realizing she didn't give a hoot.

  "Room to spread out." Jax laid the blankets and sheets on the ground then tossed the pillows to the side next to the couch. He turned around after appraising his work, eyes darkened with arousal and licking his bottom lip.

  But her nerves came back. Was this what he did? One-night stands on hotel room floors?

  "What's up?"

  Wow, he could read her. "Is this your thing? Do you bring girls to hotel rooms to screw on the floor?"

  "Do you worry that the way Mayhem treats women has you assuming that you're one of many?"

  "You mentioned the tag chasers. Not me."

  "I didn't say I checked into ritzy hotels and asked for their honesty."

  True. She didn't know how to do this. Have a one-night stand, just sex, and not become attached. She would have to make ground rules up as she went but—

  "Seven, I'll walk you home." He tilted his head. "No worry. Come on, babe."

  "Wait. I have no idea what I'm doing," she admitted, cringing with her eyes closed. "I don't want to leave. I'd kick my butt a thousand times. It's hard for me to let go sometimes."

  He took her cheeks in his hands, and her eyes fluttered open. "So long as you always give me that honesty, this is going to be killer." His thumbs brushed her cheeks. "Your call either way. No harm, no foul."

  Would she have ever believed his softness when she needed it most? Seven stepped back, taking a sobering breath, then pulled her shirt over her head and unbuttoned her pants. She thumbed the sides down her hips and triumphed as she kicked them over her heels. It would've been easier to take them off and put her high heels back on, but now, as she stood in her bra and underwear, everything about his stare made her feel empowered.

  Approval flared in his eyes. "Is it wrong that I prayed your nipples were pierced?"

  "Well…" She bobbed her eyebrows, teasing him. "I have two piercings on my clit too. A small ring and a slender bar."

  His lips parted for the moment he took in her revelation, then Jax tilted his head back. "The power of prayer."

  "You're going to hell. You know that?"

  "Wouldn't be the first time I've been told."

  "So shocked."

  A playful faux-grimace marred Jax's face, and she wanted to move beyond the sarcasm. Seven unfastened the bra and let it fall then slid down her panties and stepped free. Once again, under his hungry eyes, she stood as he studied, this time only in her heels. She had never felt stronger. Sexier. More like a woman who also happened to be the many other things that she was. Mom. Business owner. Motorcycle mascot at times…

  Jax retook her mouth with a deep kiss as he cupped her bottom, squeezing until she groaned. He released the intense hold, and she wanted it again, swaying her butt against his soothing hands.

  Seven drifted into a delirious dreamland, where she explored his chest and followed the curves of his muscled arms while he let his tongue and fingers test her body.

  "Touch me," she murmured against his lips.

  Jax smiled under her next kiss, his hands traveling around her hips to tease her sex. "Getting there."
>
  A delicious eternity passed before silky strokes made Seven pant. She tried not to move her hips and succeeded until his talented fingers played with her clit ring.

  "Jax…" Her breaths came heavy, hard. Pleasure reached deep inside her as she had only dreamed possible. He strummed the pads of his fingers against the pierced bar, propelling her toward a blinding pinnacle. This was more than she could do herself and better than she could remember from intercourse.

  His tongue flicked over an erect nipple, toying with the small bar as he tugged and sucked. "Arms around me," he whispered, switching to the other breast, then lowering them down until he lay on his back.

  "You need to be naked," Seven gasped, rolling away from him.

  His hands were on his jeans, and she didn't care if he thought she was a madman. Seven brushed them away, wanting to unclasp his pants faster than he was going. As she kneeled next to his side, she slid him free until his engorged cock lay against his stomach after Jax finished kicking off his clothes. She slowed to appreciate the view of a sculpted, scarred warrior.

  Looks were fleeting, and she didn't think herself vain or only in search of a hot, toned man. But everything about him, from old scars to his carved muscles seemed designed to make her eyes wander.

  "Fuck, babe. If you're going to look at me like that…" Jax leaned over, grabbed her by the waist, and yanked her to straddle high on his chest. His forearm urged her from behind, propelling her higher, and he tipped his chin forward, pushing her knees above him as she relied on his arms to keep her balance.

  "Ohhh!" The uncertainty vanished when his tongue licked her folds and strong lips kissed her pussy. "Jax…"

  What was he doing? This was too much! Too intimate!

  His tongue slid along the vertical bar, and she cried out in a wonderful sensation overload. His hands gripped her sides, controlling the unfamiliar position. Uncertainty battled with how she relished the sparkling fire such closeness created. But what was she supposed to do? Stay still and let her body soar? "Jax?"

  The man gave nothing but tongue and kisses, and she fought the quivering urge in her thighs.

  He wrapped an arm around her waist, and his chin nuzzled side to side. God, she couldn't breathe. Her body began shaking… no, convulsing. She could combust. She was too inexperienced for this man, and "help" should've come out of her mouth instead of his name.