“Now hold up a second.”
The clapping stopped as Milo took control of the room and pulled Aggie away from Brutus’ side. Not wanting any darkness on this day above all others, Lena was ready to challenge him when Milo pressed a single finger to her lips.
“I want to give his one everything she has coming her way.”
If this were Eric, somehow allowing her to link her life to Jax’s, this was the moment when the other shoe was bound to fall, when the Big Boss would take his turn before the groom had a proper chance. It wasn’t Milo, it couldn’t be. But Lena still quivered as he pulled her close to his chest.
“Isn’t every old lady who goes through the wringer like that.”
Even Aggie nodded as Milo continued.
“So I’m saying thank you. And here.”
He wound his jacket around her shoulders, and Lena smiled widely at the feel of the leather covering her skin.
“And you have my word that no one will ever mess with you again.”
Lena smiled and flung her arms around Milo’s neck.
“I’ll say thanks, too,” she said. “But someone else need to…”
She eased her husband, the word bubbling in her brain as she took Jax’s arm, and turned his face to Milo’s.
“Tell him you’re grateful,” she whispered.
Jax tensed, and she could feel his need to fight and lay claim in spite of the ring on his finger. The last thing she wanted was for him was for him to scrape for some side of the mountain that Milo was sure to keep safe, and she reached for his ringed hand as Jax stepped from his side and stared into Milo’s dark eyes.
“Any time things get hairy,” Jax promised. “I’ll have no problem if you need me.”
“When, Kid,” Milo said as he slapped his back. “Might even call on both of you one day.”
Hands clapped again, and Lena thanked Milo with a small smile as she pulled Jax into her arms.
“But not tonight,” she said. “I want you all to myself.”
Easier said than done when the room danced around them and the music hummed. Lena let Jax waltz her into a corner, and he took her face in his hands.
“Did you mean it?” he asked.
“Mean what?”
“Do you just want me?”
“Jax…”
She had only wanted him from the moment she saw them, when they were children. His heroics in a stinking bathroom only turned her heart softer, and recent days put the point on it.
“I want you,” she said. “I want to…”
Lena teetered on the verge of an explosion and started to kiss him when she pulled back and shook her head.
“Come with me”
Probably the height of bad manners to leave a party in her honor, but Lena still abandoned the clubhouse. She smiled as the soles of her shoes pounded against the pavement, and looked up at him with a sly smile.
“Jax, I---”
“Jesus Christ. Just let me kiss you.”
She offered no protest and moaned under his mouth, his lips only parting from hers so he could touch her veil.
“It’s in the way,” Lena insisted. “Let me.”
Pulling it from her hair like it was nothing of consequence, Lena fell into his kiss.
“Better?” she asked.
“I like seeing more of you.”
His hands surrounded her breasts, and Lena moved to meet more of his touch when she suddenly pulled back and spied the bike over Jax’s shoulder.
“Can we go for a ride?” she asked.
“Now?”
“You going to deny your wife her wish?”
Kissing him again, she heard the party going on without them. No way she would let that linger indefinitely. But first she had to show him….
“Come on, Jax. Let me hold you like this.”
Jax kissed her at the edge of his bike and started to pull her back towards the party when she pressed her palms to his chest and shook her head.
“Let’s ride. I want that almost more than anything.”
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
“In that dress?”
Lena smiled shyly as she hiked of the tulle skirt and rested her fingers to his wrist.
“Call it a jump start on the wedding night,” she teased. “I have to tell you something.”
Jax glanced back at the reception, his shoulders starting to sag even as he took her into his arms.
“We can’t just leave them like this,” he said. “After all this trouble---”
“We’ll come back,” she promised as she kissed his neck and cuddled close to his chest. “Pretty sure Artie wants to slip the garter off my leg.”
“After you toss the flowers to Viv.”
Lena smiled as she nodded her head. Seemed logical that they would be next, and the way Milo looked at him at them put the point on the fact that the pair had their blessing. Artie would have to spend the rest of his life treading lightly, but to be with Viv almost made it a fair trade. Maybe Aggie and Brutus would fall into place next. Anything was possible.
“I wouldn’t miss that,” she promised. “But right now…please?”
Jax honored her request and lifted her onto his bike. As soon as he mounted before her, Lena winded her fingers against his chest, clasping him close as she sighed into his neck.
“Take me away, Jax.”
He pumped the pedals and took off towards the falling sun as Lena threw her head back and started to unwind the braid surrounding her crown. One lock after another hit the wind, and Lena drank in the air flashing across her face. Deerfield looked different now. No longer small and stifling, a place that she was desperate to break free of at the first chance. Mac Arnold’s joint seemed as good a place as any to grab a cup of coffee, and she dreamed of their children stepping into the high school without a care in the world. Would have been nice for them. But there was no way to turn back time.
“This the spot?”
And it was the time to move forward.
As soon as the creek came into view, Lena let Jax lift her off the bike, and she melted into his arms. Before her heeled feet hit the ground, he brought her close for a kiss and twirled her hair around his fingers.
“Did I tell you looked beautiful?” he asked.
“I think so. But you can say it again.”
He responded with a kiss, and Lena kicked off her shoes, sighing at the feel of her feet hitting the smooth grass as she rested her ear to his heart.
“This works, too,” she said. “Come with me.”
“I’m okay right here, Lena.”
His hand reached under her skirt, and she smiled when he touched the silk between her legs.
“I like it more when there’s nothing here,” he muttered.
“Then tear it away,” Lena said. “I won’t mind.”
Jax honored her request with the deed, and she savored the soft breeze running up her legs as the heat from his fingers rivaled he pulse of her pussy and the need to have him inside her.
“Jax…”
She was ready to fall to the grass and spread her legs, eager to accept all of him and feel his smile mirroring hers on the cusp of a kiss. But she had to bite back her desire, if only for a few more moments.
“Soon, Jax,” she promised. “But first…”
“Don’t tease me, Lena. We’re married now. I can do whatever I want with you.”
He seemed so sure, and Lena pushed back as she narrowed her eyes.
“So that’s it?” she asked. “A few vows, and I’m you’re property?”
Not that she minded the idea so much if he was the one holding the soft chains, but she still thought… hoped that he---
“No. I’m your slave.”
Lena was stunned when he slipped to his knees and took hold of her hands. Kissing around her new ring, Jax eased her to his body and looked up at her with wonder in his eyes.
“I’m in charge then, Jax?”
“So you are. Come closer, Lena.”
Their
mouths met, and Lena cradled the back of his head as she drank in the sweet sigh of his kiss. He moaned around each curl of her lips, and when he had to come up for air, Jax clasped her body closer and whispered into her hair.
“I’ll take it now,” he said. “You really gonna make me wait?”
She shook her head and pushed his fingers farther up her skirt, sighing when his touch lingered around her stomach.
“It’s almost enough,” he said with a small laugh.
“I think it’s more,” she said. “Jax, you’re not just touching me.”
His eyes squinted in confusion, and she pressed her lips close to his ear.
“This is your son, Jax,” she crooned.
Jax’s amazed eyes were given voice by the gasp leaving his parted lips, and she kissed him hard and moaned at the feel of his arms tightening around her body.
“A baby? A boy? But you’re…I can’t even tell.”
“Oh he’s in there,” she promised. “Forgive me for finding out on my own. But I…”
Lena kissed him again and laughed as his lips met hers.
“I wanted to tell you like this. Just us. Jax?”
Her throat tightened as he stared at her belly like something he was too terrified to touch.
“Not because I wanted you to look at us like this,” she assured him. “I just---”
“It’s a boy, Lena?”
She nodded as she stroked his cheek.
“And it’s ours?”
“You know I haven’t been with anyone else.”
The truth still seemed to take some time to work its way around him mind, and Lena held his hand as he caressed her tummy and sighed softly.
“I don’t even know what to say.”
“Say that you’re happy.”
He nodded at the suggestion, and she cuddled closer to his chest as her fingers moved down his cheeks.
“Happy? Lena…”
He kissed her lips, and Lena moved for more when Jax suddenly held back and pushed his hands behind his back.
“Jax? I thought you’d be---?”
She crawled across the ground, paying no mind to the grass staining and smearing her dress when she finally met his face and rubbed her hands down his stunned face.
“I am so happy, Lena,” he said. “But what if I can’t keep you…”
At the sight of him starting to break down, Lena gathered him in her arms and kissed his hair as she sighed against his skin.
“We’re safe now, Jax,” she promised him. “All of us.”
He pulled her close as he peered up into her eyes.
“Just that… even with the ring. Sometimes I still don’t think that I’m worthy of you.”
“Because they said that you were white trash in leather?”
“You said it, too, Lena.”
“When I was mad. I’m not mad now, Jax.”
They fell to the ground, and she stroked his cheeks with a soft moan.
“We’re worthy of each other,” she promised him. “And I’m proud to be your wife.”
Jax hesitated as she peered into his eyes, but Lena kissed him again and slowly started to loosen his tie.
“A son and a wife in the space of one day,” he said. “Like to see how you’re going to top that.”
Her eyes sparkled as she kissed up his chest and rested her lips just beyond his.
“I think we should call him Nathan,” she said. “High time your true dad had a namesake.”
Jax smiled through the tears that he struggled to fight back, and Lena squealed as her lifted her off the ground and twirled her around in his arms.
“Don’t want to name him after me?” he asked.
Lena kissed his cheeks and shook her head.
“No. You’re one of a kind, Jax.”
He seemed to like the sound of that and gently lowered her back to the grass. Jax found her thighs and moaned his delight when she brought his hand back to her cunt.
“It’ll be different,” he warned her. “Sure that you’re ready?”
“I went through fire and back for you, Jax. This’ll be a breeze.”
Jax held her to the grass, kissing every bit of her exposed flesh. His lips paused close to her breasts, and he propped his body up on his elbow as he stared down at her.
“I’m happy you came home, Lena.”
This was home. The way it was supposed to be. Milo would call on him; there would always be a kind of danger. But it didn’t matter when he looked at her like this. Nothing else did.
“Me, too, Jax. And know this: I – we – always have your back.”
THE END
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THEY DESTROYED MY LIFE THAT NIGHT, BUT THE REAL NIGHTMARE CAME AFTER.
QUINN
I prayed for a way out, but all I got was Arsen.
I didn’t know if I was trading one hell for another.
He’s no hero, and I’m no princess in a tower.
But when he holds me in his strong arms.
I can forget the pain.
Forget the fear—and believe those words he whispers in my ear:
“You’re mine. Now and forever.”
ARSEN
We picked her up wandering the highway.
Something about her made me stop.
Made me take a second look.
When I found out what happened to her, something inside of me snapped.
I didn’t need Quinn turning my life upside down.
But I’m in too deep and I won’t stop.
She’s mine, and I aim to keep it that way.
Even if it means doing the unthinkable
Even if it means starting a goddamn war.
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ALEJANDRO – EVELYN GLASS
CHAPTER ONE
I've been a good girl all my life. For eighteen years I've done what everyone expects of me--Mama, Daddy, my teachers, my friends, my coach. I kept a near-perfect GPA all through high school, even with cheerleading and volunteer work. Tonight I walked across that stage with the road to my future paved and shining, just waiting for me to show up and drive.
But I just had to go off-roading.
Alejandro Rojas has wanted me since ninth grade biology. Cristina, my best friend, is also his cousin. She's been trying to keep me away from him for four years, but I was curious about him. So we've been talking, just a bit, in secret. He's like no one I've ever known. Alejandro is so smart, so talented, so interesting to talk to. He's also tall and gorgeous and just wrong enough to make me feel like I'm doing something bad without really breaking the rules. He got into Magnet with us because he's supposed to be some kind of math genius, and he played football all four years, but Mama would have a fit if I brought him around. He's not really one of us.
Which suits me just fine tonight.
We made plans to meet up at this party, so I made sure he saw me when he walked in. I pretended not to notice the way he stared, but his eyes burned me up. There are girls here tonight who've wanted a piece of Alejandro all year. There are even some girls here tonight who've had him, but no one's kept him.
I don't want to keep him, either. I don't want a boyfriend, not with my freedom so close I can taste it. In two and a half months and I'll be in College Station meeting hot, smart guys from all over the country. All I want tonight is to keep looking into those velvet eyes and letting him kiss me again. I want him to keep whispering sweet words as he touches me. If he goes too far I'll pretend I want him to stop, but what I really want is to wrap myself around that perfect body and touch him everywhere. I want to drive him crazy and I want to let myself be carried away.
I want to be reckless.
His breath is sweet and his lips on mine are gentle. I didn't expect his kisses to make me feel like my whole body might explode. "Ali," he whispers against my lips, "You're so beautiful." And I feel beautiful in a way I've never felt. I feel raw and p
owerful, as if I hold the key to some secret in the universe. I fit perfectly in his arms and I know if I ever let him make love to me that would be perfect, too.
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