Moving my hands, I still her hips while pulling my mouth away from hers, groaning, “We have to stop.”
Seeing the heat in her eyes makes it harder to stay firm, when all I want to do is strip her down so I can explore her body. Shaking my head, I tuck hers under my chin while my heart beats rapidly in my chest.
“Are you okay?” she asks quietly, and I feel her hands on my shirt, running her fingers over the material.
“Yeah, baby.” Kissing her head, I tilt her chin up. “You feel like watching TV with me for a bit?”
“Sure,” she agrees, and her eyes drop to my mouth, making me smile.
“Just TV, my gluttonous girl,” I chide her playfully.
Turning red, she ducks her head again, mumbling, “Sorry.”
“Slow, remember?” I ask, running my finger over her lips, gaining her attention once more.
“Slow,” she agrees, moving to sit on the other side of the couch. Wrapping an arm around her waist, I yank her back, settling her against my side before picking up the remote and turning on the TV.
Opening my eyes, I see the cable box has powered off, leaving on the blue screen that has cast a glow around the room. I feel Ellie’s weight against my side, her arm over my waist and her warm breath against my shirt. Smiling, I lean my head back then hear a little voice whisper, “Ax.”
Turning my head to look over my shoulder, I see Hope standing in the doorway to the living room, wearing her sleep shirt and pants with the snowman on the front of them. Her long brown hair is down in a mass of wild waves, and her face is soft and sleepy.
“Hey, sweetheart,” I whisper as she walks toward the couch. “Are you okay?”
“I had to potty,” she whispers loudly, making me smile, then looks at her mom, who’s asleep on my side. “Mommy’s sleeping,” she points out, climbing up on my lap.
“She’s tired,” I say, watching while she studies me.
“Me too,” she says in a whisper, pulling my hand from the arm of the couch and wrapping it around her waist. She then tucks herself into a ball against my chest while her tiny fingers play with mine for a moment until they still. Tipping my chin downward, I find her asleep as well.
At a loss, I kiss the top of her head, letting my lips rest against her hair as I pull in a breath then let it out slowly as I feel my chest crack open, as if they just ripped my heart out and split it amongst themselves. Listening to them breathe, I close my eyes, holding each of them a little tighter, understanding exactly what my mom meant. I would protect these girls with my life. I would die for them. And I will never let anyone take them from me.
Sliding out from under Ellie, I carefully adjust her until she’s lying down as I hold Hope against my chest.
“Ax?”
“Shhhh, sweetheart, I’m going to tuck you back into bed,” I tell her gently, carrying her up the stairs. Opening her door, I lay her on the bed, tuck the covers up around her, and then kiss her hair again before moving to the door and closing it halfway.
Going back downstairs, I pick up a still sleeping Ellie from the couch and carry her up to her room.
“Jax?” she whispers, clinging to me.
“I’m putting you in bed, baby,” I tell her, kissing her forehead as I use my shoulder to open her door. Carrying her across the dark room, I lay her down on the bed, wanting so badly to follow and climb in behind her. Instead, I whisper, “Slow,” against her ear when her arms tighten around my neck letting me know she wants the same thing.
Kissing her once more, I pull her arms from me and move to the door before I can’t force myself to leave.
“’Night, Jax.”
Looking over my shoulder at my beautiful woman, I whisper back, “’Night, baby,” closing the door halfway behind me.
It’s going to be a test of my willpower having Ellie down the hall from me, especially having seen the way she goes wild once I touch her. Going to my room, I leave the door open, that way I can hear if I’m needed, and then strip down to my boxers and get into bed.
Walking into the kitchen the next morning, I’m glad to see Ellie alone, and am surprised my sister didn’t stay when she came to pick up Hope.
Grinding my teeth. I know men have to hit on Ellie all the time. Fuck, if she was on the opposite side of the street from me, I’d walk to the other side and see if I could get her number. Today, her hair is down in big waves. Her long-sleeved black shirt is tight, with a scoop-neck, making her breasts look even fuller. The jeans she has on are ripped and baggy, with the bottom cuffed, showing off a pair of black boots with high chunky heels that make her ass look phenomenal and her legs look long.
“Morning, baby,” I greet her, placing a kiss on her neck as I lift my arm over her head to reach for a coffee cup.
“Morning.” She smiles then her head ducks away, but I still catch the blush that has risen on her cheeks.
“We need to talk about something,” I tell her, watching her face pale.
“What?”
“Here, up you go,” I say, placing her on the counter then pushing her legs open so I can stand between them.
“Jax, what is it?”
“Your mom was arrested yesterday,” I explain, watching as her bottom lip goes between her teeth. “My uncle will be calling you today, explaining to you what is going on and when or if you will need to be in court.”
“I have to see her?” she whispers worriedly.
“Most likely.” I nod, rubbing her thighs.
“My mom is—”
“Your mom has nothing to do with your life now,” I say, placing a soft kiss on her lips. “And I’m here with you. You’re not alone.”
“I’m not, am I?” she asks softly, studying me as her fingers move along my jaw then over my bottom lip.
“Never again, Ellie,” I tell her, and her forehead comes to rest against my chin. She and Hope have not only me, but also all of my family. They will never be alone again.
Chapter 6
Ellie
Walking down the hall to Jax’s office, I stop at the threshold, nibbling my bottom lip while leaning against the doorjamb so I don’t fall over.
Jax is sitting at his desk shirtless. His hair is messy, and he has a pair of black-framed glasses on I have never seen him wear before. As I watch him, he lifts his hand and runs his fingers through his hair, causing the muscles of his arms to flex, along with his pecs and abs.
“Hey,” I mumble, feeling my cheeks get hot when his eyes come to me and do a head-to-toe sweep.
“Hey, baby.” He smiles, motioning for me to come to him.
Shaking my head, I take a step back. I don’t trust myself. I know if I get close to him, I’m going to want to kiss him, and then I’m going to want to make out with him. I don’t have time to do that and go for a run before I have to get ready for work. And I really need to go for a run since the whole diet thing went down in a burning ball of fire.
“I’m going for a run,” I explain hastily, when he gets up from his chair and I notice he has on his nylon shorts that outline a very large erection.
“So come kiss me goodbye.”
“I can’t.” I shake my head frantically, watching him smile.
“You can,” he assures me, pressing his knuckles into the desk, making his arms and abs flex.
“I can’t. I know I can’t,” I tell him, taking another step backward into the hall. Then, without thinking, I run for the front door, hearing him run behind me as I swing the door open, and bolt down the steps to the sidewalk.
“Ellie,” Jax growls as I jog across the front yard.
“I’ll be back,” I yell over my shoulder, running faster. Getting to the end of the block, I turn right and spot the park at the end of the street, where I take Hope to play. As soon as I reach the large grassy field, I fall down on my back, panting heavy.
“I’m dying,” I wheeze, trying to catch my breath. I have no energy to run again. Really, I have no idea what I was thinking when I said I wanted to start running to
begin with. Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I press dial when I reach July’s number in my call log.
“Hey, what are you doing? Are you okay? You sound out of breath,” she answers.
“I’m pretty sure I just died,” I tell her through deep breaths.
“Did you decide to finally start running?” she asks on a snort.
“Yes, and I made it two blocks before I had to rest. Now, I’m lying in the grass at the park, talking to you on the phone, killing time before I have to head back to the house and face Jax,” I say through pants while listening to her laugh.
“I don’t think Jax will care that you don’t run,” she mutters.
“I know, but have you seen your cousin? He is—”
“Stop. I don’t want to know.”
“That’s not fair. I don’t have any friends who aren’t related to Jax. Who am I supposed to talk to about him?”
“You can tell me anything about him except if it has to do with sex, his body, and specifically, his penis.”
“That’s all the good stuff,” I point out, making her laugh.
“Well then, you’re going to have to make a new friend.”
“Fine,” I mutter then say quietly, “I told Hope that me and Jax are dating.”
“How did that go?” she asks curiously. She knows how worried I’ve been about this. I told her the last time we spoke that I was concerned about Hope and explained she had never been around anyone besides family before, and Jax wasn’t exactly making it easy for me to keep us a secret from her. When I told her my concerns, she told me I should just be honest with her about us.
I’m still not sure what to think, so even though it’s awkward as hell, I talked to Lilly about it, and she said Hope talks about Jax and me all the time. In Hope’s eyes, we have become a family of sorts, and even though things are new and she’s young, she should know what’s happening, because in the long run, it’s something that will affect her. After Lilly said that, I told her more about how Hope came to be in my care. Hope knows about her mom and dad, but she has no memories of them. To her, they are just pictures and stories. I don’t know what I was expecting, but I didn’t expect Lilly to have the reaction she did. Instead of making me feel like less of a mom, she made me feel like I was the best mom in the world for Hope.
“Earth to Ellie,” July breaks into my thoughts.
“Sorry.”
“It’s okay. So what did she say?”
“She asked if she can have a sister, so I think it went okay.” I smile at the memory and hear July laugh in my ear. “I told her no, and then she asked if she could get a dog instead.”
“Well, you’ve obviously raised a smart girl if she’s already negotiating.” She laughs again.
“She’s too smart. Are you at work?” I ask, hearing a dog bark.
“Yeah. Oh, now that I’m on the phone with you, I can ask you myself if you’re coming to the compound tonight. We’re having a get-together. I know Ashlyn was going to try and convince you to come hang out.”
“Probably not. I have Hope—”
“You know my mom or any of my aunts would love to watch her.”
“I don’t know. I hate asking people to watch her. I mean, every time I bring up paying anyone, they ignore me, which makes me feel guilty.”
“We’re family, girl,” she says softly.
“I’ll see about it, but I can’t make any promises,” I tell her after a long moment of watching the clouds go blurry through my tears. It’s weird knowing I have this whole group of people to count on, and even stranger that I actually trust them.
“Let me know,” she replies just as quietly.
“I will; talk to you later,” I say before hanging up and tucking my phone back in my pocket.
Pulling in a deep breath, I let it out then stand up, dust my bottom off, and start walking back to the house. When I reach the corner before the house, I start to jog again so it looks like I was jogging the entire time then head up the driveway, up the front walk, and then push the door open.
“What are you doing?” I squeak as a shirtless Jax pulls me fully into the house, slams the door, and pushes me up against the wall. He drops to his knees, covering my sex with his mouth through the material of my workout pants, pulling so hard my head falls back and my clit pulses against his tongue.
“Jax,” I whimper, feeling his hands slide around my hips, pulling my core closer to his mouth. “Wh…what are you doing?” I ask, forcing my eyes to open. Seeing him on his knees, his mouth open over me, causes something deep inside me to start to unravel.
Letting out a loud moan, my hands fist in his hair and my head falls back against the wall with a loud thud.
“Ellie,” he groans, pulling me down to straddle his lap. One of his hands wraps around my ponytail. The other trails under my shirt then down over the skin of my belly and under the material of my pants, where one finger slides through my folds, causing my hips to jerk forward.
Placing my hands on his shoulders, our eyes connect, and my heartbeat picks up as the reality of what we’re doing hits me. “You’re safe with me, baby,” he says, reading the look on my face as I feel two fingers circle my clit over and over. Biting my lower lip, I swallow then start rocking my hips forward in sync with his fingers.
“Give me your mouth, Ellie,” he growls, nipping at my chin. Tipping my face forward, I kiss him timidly then bite his lip as I feel one finger enter me then two, which causes my breath to catch. “You’re tight, baby, so fucking tight and wet,” he groans, pulling his mouth from mine while his fingers move ruthlessly inside me. My nails dig into his shoulders and my head drops back again as I cry out, feeling the muscles of my lower body getting tighter and tighter. Then his mouth is on my breast through my shirt and his teeth clamp down on my nipple. My hips buck as the tension building in my core detonates, sending me over the edge, blinding me with white light.
Absently, I hear him whisper, “Shhh, I got you,” against my ear as he adjusts me in his lap on the floor. Burying my face in his neck, my body is shaking uncontrollably and tears have filled my eyes. I have never experienced anything like that before. It was like I came out of my skin for a few seconds. Clinging tighter to him, he rocks me against his chest while kissing my hair. Lifting my eyes to his, I swallow, trying to think of what to say.
I mean, do you say thank you for something like that?
“How are you feeling?” he asks softly, tucking some of my hair behind my ear.
“Um…”
“I didn’t hurt you, did I?” He searches my face and eyes.
“No, no…it was good.”
“Good?” he asks with a smile that looks a little too cocky. “You were convulsing and screaming. Baby, if that was good, I wonder what great is like for you.”
“It was good.” I roll my eyes. I mean, for all I know, it was mediocre, seeing how it was my first orgasm. There could be better, though I doubt that’s true. I know the ladies at the salon I worked at were constantly bitching about their husbands and lack of orgasms they received, and it seems to me Jax knows exactly what to do.
“We’re going to have to work on that then,” he says, nuzzling my neck.
“I have to get ready for work,” I breathe, tilting my head back then rolling it so he can kiss up the under side of my jaw.
“Me too,” he groans, sounding disappointed.
“I didn’t know you wear glasses,” I say, opening my eyes and lifting my hand, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
“I need them for the computer.” He smiles. “Do you like them?”
“They’re okay.” I shrug.
“Just okay?” he asks as his hands move up my sides like he’s going to tickle me.
“How can you fit in your car or through doors with your giant head?”
“You haven’t even seen how big my head is, baby.” He smiles, raising his hips, which causes the large head of his cock to brush against my side, sending goose bumps over my skin.
/> “You’re so cocky,” I mutter then press my lips together when I realize how it sounded. “I didn’t mean like that.” I shake my head when he begins to laugh.
“If we didn’t have to work, I’d show you how cocky I am.”
“You’re cheesy too,” I say, fighting back a smile.
“And you’re beautiful when you come,” he says, getting onto his knees and pushing me back until I’m lying on the hardwood floor with him over me, his hands holding mine above me against the wood.
“Jax,” I whisper as his knees slide between mine.
“I love when you say my name like that, out of breath, like you’re begging me to kiss and touch you,” he says before his mouth lowers over mine, kissing me thoroughly then moving down my cheek to my ear, where he growls, “I’m taking you out tonight, and you need to wear a dress.”
“July asked me to go to the shop tonight,” I say breathlessly as his mouth moves down my jaw then neck, where he nips me hard enough to sting.
“We’ll go there after we have dinner.”
“Hope,” I whimper as his hands move up my side, under my shirt.
“Mom and Dad’ll watch her,” he says as his mouth nips my earlobe.
“I hate leaving her,” I tell him truthfully.
His face moves to hover over me and his eyes search mine. I see something there that gives me pause and makes me feel warm all over. “You can have a night, baby. We’ll pick her up early tomorrow morning.”
“Over night?” I whisper, feeling my heart begin to pound against my ribs.
“Over night, but remember we’re taking this slow. It’s a date then hanging out with friends, and maybe some snuggling if you’re nice to me,” he says with a peck.
Pressing my lips together to keep from smiling, I mutter, “If they don’t mind watching her, then okay.” I wrap my legs around his waist while moving my hands over the skin of his back. “But the snuggling is negotiable.”
Smiling, he rocks against me, causing his length to rub against me through the material of my pants and a moan to climb up my throat.
Until Jax Page 10