Natural Attraction

by C L Green

  “Wait!” She yells as she takes off out to the pergola.

  She is not gone long before she returns, swaying slightly, looking pleased with herself.

  “Here,” she says shoving an open can of diet Coke in my hand. “One for the road.”

  “Um, thanks?” I smile brightly at her thinking it is very thoughtful of her to bring me a Coke for the trip home. After four bourbons I probably will be thirsty on the trip. This said, a bottle of water would have been just as welcome.

  “You. Are. Welcome.” She states a little drunkenly. “I. Like. You.”

  She beams up at Jax as Luke moves to her side to wrap an arm around her waist. I’m sure he has noticed she is swaying slightly.

  I look back around the table at everyone staring at me, all with bright smiles on their faces.

  Seemingly they like me too?

  Chapter Ten

  No funny business

  After a round of cuddling we make a quick stopover in the family room. It is here that I am shocked to receive good-bye cuddles from all the children. This includes one that goes on a bit too long from Christopher. One that causes Jax to growl at his nephew to make him me let go.

  We are then back in Jax’s truck and headed home.

  We have only just made it out the front gate when I realize I am starting to feel a bit thirsty so I take a big swig out of my can of Coke.

  What the fuck?

  The burn of bourbon tears down the back of my throat and I start to splutter.

  Worrying that I will spray Coke all through Jax’s truck, I slam my hand across my mouth and swallow. Tears come to my eyes as I feel a lump ball up in my throat as I try to swallow something that doesn’t want to go down.

  She laced my Coke?

  I see Jax smiling as he holds his hand out for my Coke can. He holds it up to his nose and sniffs. He then starts laughing loudly.

  “She’s a shocker,” he says with amusement. He hands it back to me grinning, his eyes sparkling with humor.

  “I think your family was trying to get me drunk.” I state with what I can now hear is a slight slur in my voice as I sniff the can myself. “How am I am going to get home?”

  He flicks me a glance and I see the faint hint of a dimple popping as he says, “We are going straight there now. Mum and Dad’s house is about halfway to your place. I figure if we go straight there now, we’ll be back at my place in about two hours. That means we’ll get home just in time to feed the horses.”

  How drunk am I? Did he just say we were going to my place and then back to his again? That’s back to front. Or is that inside out?

  That’s wrong.

  “Um… Why would I be going to back to your place afterwards? Just taking me home is fine, although I am then carless and Maverickless,” I ask.

  I look down at my can as I drunkenly start to plot how I am going to get Jen to help me to get back to Jax’s house sometime tomorrow to get my car and my horse.

  In among my plotting I realize that I am now headed home, I’m already drunk and I have a strong can of bourbon in my hand.

  Bottom’s up, may as well finish it.

  I take another swig and enjoy the strong burn as it slides down my throat.

  As I feel the effects of my latest swig lighten my body even more, I start to think that perhaps I was just imagining him saying what I thought he just said. There is no way we are going back to his place again. It was probably just drunken, wishful thinking on my behalf.

  I peek at him driving out of the corner of my eye while continuing to pretend to focus on my can.

  God he’s gorgeous.

  The way he leans back casually in his seat, one hand gently flopping over the steering wheel is out-and-out sexy. I can see the veins in his hands and forearm bulging out. Lustful thoughts of leaning over and running my tongue along each one of them leap into my mind.

  I feel a tingle in my belly and my body starts to warm. A dull ache between my legs reminds me I haven’t had sex in a while and I’m sitting next to a man God.

  Shit.

  I need a distraction before I decide to drunkenly unbuckle myself and launch on the poor guy from the passenger seat.

  “Wanna play a game?” I ask.

  “Sure.”

  “Truth or truth. Since you’re driving you can’t do dares so we’ll mix it up a bit. If you don’t want to answer the question, you have to give a truthful statement about yourself. How does that sound?”

  He looks across at me smiling, nods slowly and then returns his eyes to the road. “Sure, this should be interesting.”

  This is going to be so cool, I love truth games. You always find out the oddest things about people. I slide down a bit in my seat and lean back into its leathery comfort. “I’ll go first. What’s your middle name?”

  “Straight for the heavy stuff then?” He says as he grins and keeps his focus on the road. “Tyler.”

  “J. T. Go figure,” I mumble and muse to myself as I take another small swig of my can.

  “My turn,” he chuckles, “What’s your address?”

  Good point.

  “33 Chesters Lane, Smythes Creek.”

  He leans over to pluck his IPhone out of its dock in the dashboard. He fiddles around with it for a minute or so. He then gently places it back into the dock and resumes his concentration on the road.

  “It’s dangerous to fiddle with phones while driving,” I offer informatively. My tongue is definitely looser with those last few mouthfuls of bourbon.

  “We could crash and die and then no one would be going home to feed our horses. On top of that, I’d rather not die today. This is because I have not yet written up my will and made arrangements for my golden girls, or Maverick. Jen does not yet realize she is going to inherit my golden girls and I’ve recently decided you will inherit Maverick. What’s your favorite color? ”

  He turns to look at me. I can sense him staring hard into my eyes behind his sunglasses. He appears amused but responds to my question without hesitation.

  “It recently became green.”

  He starts gently tapping his fingers against the steering wheel. It would appear he is now inpatient.

  Interesting.

  “What was it before that?” I ask.

  “One question little girl, one answer. My turn. Do you have any paid leave available to take from your work?”

  What sort of a question is that?

  Who cares?

  “Why?” I blurt and swing my full attention to him.

  “Truth or truth, your game. Answer the question.”

  He says this blandly still concentrating on the road. His long fingers continue their inpatient tapping against the steering wheel. I start to get distracted by his fingers and naughty thoughts about what his fingers could do slip into my mind. I really am drunk.

  “Yes I do. I have months and months of recreation leave. Pretty much the only leave I ever take is sick leave. This would be because I keep falling off my horses. Sadly, by the time I get better and return to work I feel bad about being away unexpectedly so decide not to take any holidays. I love my job and I love my boss. I always feel bad when I leave her in the lurch taking unplanned sick leave.”

  Yes I am a workaholic but what does that matter to you?

  “You don’t plan sick leave,” he laughs and stops tapping his fingers. “Who the hell plans sick leave? Actually don’t answer that, I don’t want to waste a question. It’s your turn anyway.”

  “That it is. I have to ask again. Why do you need to know if I have any leave?”

  I narrow my eyes at him and give him my best impression of a stern, interrogation look.

  He glances across me and smiles and my stern face. Turning back to the road he casually explains why.

  “I need to know ‘cause you will be taking the next two weeks off to stay at my house and work with Maverick.”

  “What the fuck!” I yell loudly, suddenly sobering a good deal. “When did you come up with that?”
/>   I watch his body start to gently shake as I realize he’s trying not to laugh at me. This is not funny. I’m sure he’s a weirdo now. All hopes of marrying him are now gone because he is clearly mad. There is no way I am going to spend the rest of my life attached to a madman. Stupid people and mad people, stay the fuck away. So far this has proved to be an excellent motto in life for me and I have no plans to change it now.

  I decide that I need to get away from him. The sooner I do this, the better. Mad people are untrustworthy and do mad things.

  Like kidnap people.

  I start darting my eyes around me as I take in my surroundings to work out whether we are actually headed towards my place. I need to be sure he is not taking me into a state forest somewhere to rape and kill me.

  Perhaps he is going to dump my body down an abandoned mineshaft? The forests around here are littered with deep shafts from the old gold mining days. Being dumped in a mine shaft is the preferred method of body disposal for people in this state.

  I quickly decide we are indeed on a major highway and headed towards my local area so perhaps I’m okay for a while. As long as he sticks to his current course, I can probably hold off on my escape. This will ensure I am at least close to home and know where I am.

  The moment he takes a turn up a road I don’t know, I need to think about jumping out of this truck.

  Fuck.

  That’s probably gunna hurt way more than stacking off a horse.

  Perhaps I can do it at an intersection? I should probably also turn my phone to silent so he forgets I’ve got one. That way I might be able to use it at some stage to call 000.

  Fuck.

  Where is my phone?

  Fuck!

  Maybe he’s a vampire?

  Maybe they are a family of vampires? That would explain why his family all liked me so much. Maybe I’m dinner? Maybe that’s why they have been feeding me up and getting me drunk?

  Holy shit.

  I’ve walked into a ‘Twilight’ feast and I’m the main course.

  Jax breaks into my thoughts by asking another question.

  “One question at a time. It’s my turn again. And stop looking at me like I’m planning a murder. I’ve already told you I won’t let you get hurt. I keep telling you I want to keep you safe. Now quit fucking around in your head with whatever shit you got rolling and listen to what I am saying.

  You and Maverick have progressed heaps this weekend and I think it would be in both your best interests to continue to work together every day. If you go home now, it’s going to be another full week at least before we can get back together. Having seen the way you and Maverick can both lose it when you’re not listening to each other, I don’t think you should be working with him on your own.

  On top of this, last night was the best nights’ sleep I’ve had in three years. I liked having you in my bed and I liked having you in my home. I’m not ready for you to go home yet. You’ve got heaps of leave, I’ve got heaps of time and I want to spend it with you. I’ve also got facilities and a lot more animals to take care of so the alternative of me coming to your place is out.

  I know you have three dogs. We’ll bring ‘em back with us too.

  Understanding that, my next question is; do you think you can contact your boss this afternoon and organise to take two weeks off starting tomorrow?”

  Um okay, that doesn’t sound rape and murderish does it?

  “I thought you were going to kill me and dump my body,” I mumble as I realise I have once again gone and got carried away.

  Jax starts laughing again.

  “You’re fucking crazy you know? Where do you get this shit from? Don’t you think that if I were planning on killing you I’d get you to ring and ask your boss for all your leave. Wouldn’t that give me more time to cover my tracks before someone came looking for you? And what about your friend, don’t you think she already knows you are with me? Can that fucking shit and just answer my question about asking your boss for time off.”

  Valid points I suppose.

  Let’s chalk that one up to me being drunk - again.

  But seriously, what the hell? Who is this guy and why does he keep acting so damned bossy? I’m not sure if I really, really like it, or I whether I really, really hate it.

  Considering I’ve just met him and I’m drinking, perhaps it’s in my own best interests to take the latter option and defend myself. I’m not sure that I should be letting him get away with all this bossy shit. Next thing you know he will probably be pulling that BDSM business on me and I’ll be the ‘sub’.

  Fuck him, I’m sick of being told what to do. It’s time to show him who’s boss.

  I start to yell and spit my words at him. “Well, yes I can text my boss and yes, I do believe she will say yes. She constantly hounds me to take recreation leave as it is. That aside, don’t you think it’s a bit rude that you are telling me I am staying at your house for two weeks? Oh, and don’t take that as a question because the fucking game is over. I am not enjoying the game anywhere near as much as I normally do because you are taking it too seriously. You are using it to manipulate me instead of making it fun. What if I don’t want to spend the next two weeks with you? Had you even thought about that?”

  I hear Jax sigh and feel the truck start to slow as he slaps the indicator on and pulls over on to the side of the road.

  Shit, oh dear, I don’t think he liked me yelling at him.

  He leaves the engine idling and puts the truck in neutral. He takes his feet off the pedals and swings his body slowly towards me. I see him take his sunglasses off and place them gently on the dashboard.

  I then watch as one of his hands quickly flicks forward to unlock my seat belt buckle while the other snakes out and around my head, dragging my face towards his.

  It takes me a millisecond to realize what is going on and my body launches to respond. My heart rate spikes to its maximum and my breath hitches in my throat. Moisture floods to my mouth as I feel his lips slam against mine.

  I start to say, “Wha…” and before the word finishes he makes use of my parted lips to slide his tongue straight through my lips and deep into my mouth.

  I feel my body start to tremble as I respond to what is happening and melt towards him.

  Why was I angry again?

  My mind blanks out as I feel his tongue gently withdrawing to taste my lips.

  I respond by running my tongue around his bottom lip too. I lightly grab his soft bottom lip between my teeth and nip.

  I hear him hiss as his tongue plunges back into my mouth forcing me to let go of his lip. I drown in sensations as our tongues wrap together and I feel a flood of heat between my legs as I feel a moan slip from the back of my throat.

  Jesus this man can kiss.

  He abruptly stops, withdrawing his face from mine and he stares into my eyes.

  “Ash, do you want to spend the next two weeks with me?”

  “Yes.”

  Of course I do.

  I watch a smirk develop on his face as he leans back in and blisters me with another panty flooding kiss. He then lets me go as he turns back around and puts his sunglasses back on.

  “Good, let’s go get your dogs and your stuff.”

  He puts the truck back in gear and pulls back onto the road.

  I stare at him for a while, considering what has just happened and how good it felt. I take another small swig of my can, reluctant to wash the taste of Jax out of my mouth.

  “So, who's your favorite band?” I ask.

  He grins.

  “Nickelback.”

  “Same, do I need to grab any of my albums?”

  “That sounds like a second question. No, you don’t, I’ve got every single one. What do you think of Creed?”

  “Love them too.”

  *****

  My girls are not happy with me.

  They had at first been very pleased to see me and then they had been ecstatic at us offering a ride in the back of Jax’s
truck. Now that they are tied up in various places around his backyard, they are no longer pleased to see me. They are miserable.

  Swinging through stages of laying staring at the back door quietly or sitting up yelping unhappily, my girls are less than impressed at their imposed restraints. Not that I can blame them. This really will not do.

  Golden retrievers are family dogs and they either need to be inside with you, or if outside, need to have space to run around and enjoy themselves. They are not the sort of dogs that you tie up.

  Jax and I had agreed the dogs would not be coming inside. This agreement was made before we both realized that my girls couldn’t be relied on to hang around when there were so many exciting things to do and see at Jax’s place.

  After our umpteenth bout of calling them back from the paddocks, I’d had enough and tied them up. Unfortunately they could not resist the urge to run off to chase rabbits, jump in dams and make general whoopee. It was getting close to dark and the risk of me going to bed and waking to find them gone was too high.

  My dogs being so miserable is also making me miserable and I can see that Jax is hesitant with how to handle me. We are both standing at his kitchen window looking out into his backyard, watching my miserable girls.

  “This isn’t gunna to work for you is it?” He says softly. I can see he understands this is a huge issue for me and he is treading lightly.

  “What do we need to do?” He asks.

  “I think I need to go home,” I say flatly.

  Surprisingly I have spent the last few hours excited about spending two weeks with Jax. So excited that I have madly packed half of my closet and bathroom into suitcases and they are now sitting in Jax’s spare room.

  I’ve rung Jen to let her know what is happening and she almost flipped out with excitement for me. My boss has responded with a text that says:

  Absolutely – take a month if you need it! Enjoy, you’ve earned it :)

  It has all been a bit too easy I suppose.

  I should have known it couldn’t be that simple to just pick up my life and bring it to a strangers’ house purely for my own selfish benefit. My poor girls. Once again, I’m a bad parent.