by Paula Cox
“I want to feel you,” he moaned. “Forever.”
“Let’s just start with this night. We have so many to make up for, Jax.”
Grasping her sides, Jax lifted her body closer to his. Rocking against her hips, Lena held her breath and arched her body in perfect rhythm with his moves as he fondled her breasts, his kiss always returning to her lips.
“What happens now?” she asked as he fell to her back and he brushed the fallen hair from her eyes.
“I make you mine,” he purred. “And no one else ever touches you again.”
“I like the sound of that.”
“Then you’ll love this.” Holding her in place, no trace of his hands doing anything against her will, Lena moaned as he pushed inside her, his cock stretching towards her soul as her pussy seemed to cry her approval, her desire to know him better. Her hands were at his back as she delighted in the feel of his body brimming against hers, and as their lips met again, she started to speak into his mouth when Jax’s thrusts grew harder. Lena’s eyes started to roll back her in head, but Jax kept her in his line of sight as he shook his head.
“Don’t look away from me,” he begged. “I need your eyes, my Lena. Please stay with me.”
Contented and even thrilled to honor his request, Lena stayed in his stare and bit down on her lip. Panting into her flushed face, she kissed him again, her focus never wavering as she saw a stray tear trickle down his cheek.
“Tell me that’s because you’re finally happy now, too?” she pleaded.
“I always was with you.”
He released inside her, and her moan hit the night air, as she had no choice but to look away. She felt faint under the force of his lust, and he held her tight before she could swoon. His muscles calmed her, claimed her, and her head came to rest on his shoulder as his embrace tightened. As he settled inside her and came to a stop, Lena continued to relish his presence as he spooned her in his arms. Their bodies mingled against the grass and, as she struggled to meet his eyes again, she thought she saw a pair of stray headlights moving though the crook of his arm. The idea that someone might stop and see them caused her to tremble, but Jax’s kiss brought her back to no other world but the green of his eyes, and she smiled when she felt his hand running down her arms.
“First time,” he murmured. “Our first time. It’s the only one that counts.”
“Yes,” she agreed. “Now everything is as it should be.”
Their limbs still entangled, Lena whimpered when he slipped out of her body. But his hands were still everywhere, stroking her sides and fondling her back as his lips dotted her hair and met her eyes.
“I’m glad I came home,” Lena said. “That’s what you feel like, Jax, like every bad thing melting me away.”
“And they won’t come back,” he said as he kissed her again, and she rested her head on his shoulder. Lena stroked his hair and kissed his arms before meeting his gaze again.
“I believe you,” Lena said. “I always believed you.”
“And I always loved…”
Lena started up as his voice caught in his throat, and her heart swelled as he blushed under the light of the moon and tried to bite the words back. Staring down at him, she wondered if truly meant it. Or was he just high on the feel of taking her for his own?
“You don’t have to say it,” she murmured. “I don’t need to---”
“But I do.” Clasping her face in his hands, Lena had no way and no hope to turn away as he lightly kissed her lips and spoke softly. “I loved you when you were a little thing with skinny legs and those crazy pigtails.”
She had to laugh. “You actually remember those?”
“Of course I do,” he continued. “I loved you when you let me stand by your side and keep you safe.” His voice cracked around the last word, and Lena was quick to touch his cheek and assure him that Eric’s actions were not his fault.
“Just keep saying it,” she said. “I like hearing it.”
Jax folded her close to his chest, and she craned her neck to meet every bit of green that was his eyes.
“I loved you every day that you were gone. And I love you right now like I’ve never loved any other thing in my entire life.”
Lena smiled through her tears as she cradled his chin kissed his cheek.
“I don’t if I can top that,” she admitted. “Always knew that you were sweet. But this is---”
“Just say it, too,” he said. “Tell me that you feel it, too.”
He didn’t have to ask. The words had been buried in her soul for so long. And now, now with the chance to give them voice, her heart hesitated, terrified at the idea that he still might be a mirage capable of disintegrating into dust if she blinked too hard. But even as her eyelids fluttered, Jax stayed at her side, and Lena found the courage to speak. “I love you, too, Jax. I’ve always loved you.”
Chapter Twelve
When they finished in the grass, they dressed each other slowly. Jax’s hands seemed to memorize every curve of her fine flesh. Not that there was any need. Now, after all this time, she was finally his. But she was with him. She wanted his body burned into her brain. Any dark day that might lie ahead would be sustained if they had the image to fall back on, to fantasize about until they knew each other again. And that would be soon enough.
“I’m taking you home,” he said as he walked her towards his bike.
“Just like that?”
Jax was quick to take her back into his arms as he moaned against her neck. “So you’ll be warm and safe while you wait for me,” he promised.
“Oh!”
“Not letting you go a second time,” Jax said. “I’m with you now. We can stay here. Or I can take you back to school.”
“Told you that’s not really an option right now,” she reminded him.
“Then we’ll go wherever you want,” he continued. “Want a preview right now?”
“I’ll go anywhere with you.”
His bike enticed her to a place where she wanted nothing more than to feel the wind whipping through her hair as she clasped him close and nuzzled his neck.
“Let’s ride,” she said.
Curling close to his body, the motor revved under their legs, and Jax pushed away from the creek as he turned back slowly to kiss her lips.
“Shouldn’t you keep your eyes on the road?” she asked.
“Know every corner of this town,” he said. “And I’d much rather look at you.”
She playfully slapped the back of his head and forced his stare front as she fell into his back. Hearing his heart as they moved through the streets, Lena hoped he would come to a stop and stay at her side. Uncle Tom had to be out cold, and it would be nothing to creep up the stairs to her room and take him again in a warm, concealed place. The feel of his cock still lingered in her pussy, and she wanted to get back to him, inside him, and feel him slipping under a sheet as he promised to stay and have no need to see to anything else.
“Let me help you off,” he said. Like always, he walked her to the door. This time he kissed her hard and swirled his arms around her waist.
Lena stretched up to kiss him deeper and hold his neck under her arms. “Stay,” she pleaded. “Or let’s go together right now. I can pack a few things, and we’ll head out.”
“You would really do it, wouldn’t you?”
Lena nodded fast, and she kissed him again as he held her closer and moaned into her hair.
“Tell me you’re not scared anymore.”
Peering deeply into his eyes, Lena smiled and stroked his cheeks. “No,” she said. “Never again. But if you go…”
“My Lena.” Jax took her back into his arms and kissed her brow. “Not going anywhere else without you. He started to pull away when Lena held him close. She smiled into his neck and sighed at the feel of his hands on her back when he gently pushed her back and lowered his head. “Cutting old ties right now,” he said. “Would like to kill him.”
Lena shuddered and clasped him cl
oser. “Please don’t risk that,” she said. “I can’t lose you again.”
“Same goes for me, my Lena.”
My Lena. His Lena. “That’s all I ever wanted to be,” she said.
“And here I thought that you just liked having lunch with me,” he teased. “We’ll do breakfast when I get back.”
Kissing her slowly, his lips lingering, Lena held him tight and kissed his face, stopping at his ears as her voice trembled in a low murmur. “And you will come back?” she asked.
Jax patted her face and smiled into her eyes. “Nothing can stop us now,” he said. “Will you wait?”
Lena kissed his neck and clasped him close. The feeling of his heart pounding against her ear made her never want to let him go, but she reluctantly released him, Jax’s hand still in hers as started off the porch. “I’ll wait,” she promised. “But you better come back.”
He laughed as he stretched forward to kiss her again. As his lips left her mouth, he shot her a smile and winked. “Before you know it,” he said. “Because I love you, Lena.”
Her heart still buzzed at the sound of those words, and smiled into his eyes. “I love you more.”
Watching him ride off with a wave of his hand over his shoulder, Lena held herself her close, her body buzzing under her own touch. He loved her now. He always had. And she trusted his word when he said that he would come back.
Chapter Thirteen
“Hold up, kid.”
Jax brought his bike to a stop when he saw Eric waiting for him with his chopper between his legs. Mitch was at his back, and as the men leered, Jax dismounted and tried to keep it cool. Maybe he had glared at his stepfather.
“She told me the truth,” Jax said. “And if you ever so much as look at her again, you’ll have to answer to me.”
Jax felt sure of himself on the back of Lena’s love, and his lips almost curled into a smirk when Eric pulled a gun from his side and aimed it between his eyes. “You’ll answer to this,” Eric said. “So how about you just watch yourself.”
Tensing at the sight of the gun, Jax took as single step back even as he kept his fists in the air. “You really gonna shoot me?” Jax said. “Time was you cared about my mom. You gonna do that to her?”
“That slit gone and run off,” Eric said. “Or can’t you recall? Think she left you here with me.”
Jax’s heart stopped. If Aggie were here right now, he would blast her for leaving him in this man’s hands. Pushing the memoires of his mother aside, Jax still stepped forward, keeping his glare hard with each step. “Leave Lena alone,” he hissed.
“Don’t know about that. Thinking it over, feel pretty sure that Old Sully is good for the squeeze.”
But Lena had paid now and before. And then some. What more did he want from her?
“Son.”
Jax cringed at the feel of Eric’s hand on his shoulder, but he managed to look into his eyes as Eric laughed.
“Saw your little show down by the water,” Eric said. “Care to pass the cunt around?”
Feeling as if he could kill him with his bare hands, Jax lurched forward when Eric clicked the trigger. “Let’s say you bring her around first thing tomorrow,” he said. “I could do with some more fun.”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“Might be fun to see if you taught her something. Time to share the spoils, Jax.”
As they climbed back to their bikes and laughed, Jax felt sure that this had nothing to do with Sully and his vices. Lena had paid his debt, but she had him check for the moment. Eric just wanted to scare him into bringing her back to his side like a prize for his perverse pleasure. Jax twitched and managed a nod. Let them think he would sell her out, the last thing that he would ever do to her, and as soon as their bikes disappeared around the road, he was back on his chopper and racing towards her house.
Chapter Fourteen
Lena couldn’t sleep. But it wasn’t because of the shadows creeping across her ceiling. Jax was hers. Her eyes were at her window as she anticipated his return. Her hands were at her neck as she remembered the feel of his lips and the swirl of his arms. They had turned back time. Eric’s touch was nothing when Jax pulled her into his arms, when he kissed her softly. Her heart skipped as her eyes moved towards the window, and as soon as she saw lights poking through her window, Lena rushed down the stairs and hurried towards him for what she hoped would be a joyous reunion. After so much time apart, even these last few hours without him felt like more than she could bear. Now he was back, and she flung the door open wide, her arms open and outstretched as she made a mad dash to get back to his side.
“Jax! I---”
Stopping just short of touching him, Lena instantly took note of the worry lines drifting towards his emerald stare, and she held her breath as he slowly took her the hand.
“Did you mean it when you said you would go anywhere with me?” he asked.
As Lena nodded, she felt a sharp shiver rush up her spine, and she clutched his hand tighter. “What’s wrong?” Lena asked. “Why?”
“Hope you didn’t take too much time to unpack,” he said as he pulled her back to the porch. Moving together through the open door, Lena turned in his hold, her hands resting on his chest as she moved for his face and cupped her chin in his hands.
“Jax? What’s going on?”
“No time now,” he whispered even as he took a second to lay a light kiss on her brow. “Get your gear and I’ll explain on the way.”
He motioned for her move fast, but Lena kept her feet planted on the ground as she slowly shook her head from side to side. “Tell me first,” Lena pleaded. “You said you were going to cut ties.”
“Believe me, they’re shredded,” he insisted, seething as he spoke. “The man, the whole club – mean nothing to me now.”
“But this is about more than what Eric did, isn’t it?”
“Lena we need to---”
“Is he going to do something to my uncle?” she asked. “I can’t just leave him if it means that he---”
“Damn it, Lena! The asshole wants to put his hands on you again!”
Her body broke as she slumped to the steps. Jax was there to collect in her arms, and he held her as she trembled against his chest. “No way that’s ever happening,” he promised as he smoothed his hands down her back. “We’ll run right now and---”
“And keep running?” Lena asked as tears started to form in her eyes. “What happens when he finds us? What if he does something to hurt you, Jax?”
“I’m not worried about me. You’re the one who has to stay safe.”
After all that they had just shared, it was the same difference, and Lena wavered between agreeing to his terms or trying to find some other way out. But was there even a way to reason with the devil as he wore Eric Stiles’ face?
“What’s going on here?”
Lena and Jax pushed apart as Sully appeared from the other room. Not knowing how to breach the subject with him, Jax took charge and wrapped his arm around Lena’s shoulder, his jaw fixed in a straight line as he spoke.
“You have to let me take Lena now,” Jax started. Not a request or a suggestion, but a demand that her uncle might be wise to follow.
“What’s with the rush?” Sully asked. “Girl just got back.”
“To clean up your messes,” Jax accused. “Like the last time.”
“What last---?”
“Jax, don’t!” Lena implored him. “He doesn’t have to know.”
“Doesn’t have to know that you sacrificed body and soul to keep him out of real trouble?” Jax spat. “High time the man knew what it cost you.”
Sully tilted his head to the side, his gaze shifting towards Lena as he touched her arm and asked her for the rest of the story.
“It’s nothing that I ever wanted you to know.”
“But it’s why you really left,” Sully said sadly. “Why the light left your eyes. And it’s my fault.”
Jax scoffed as the man started to crumble. Len
a chided him to keep still, and she grabbed Sully’s hands. “I’d do it again,” she said. “You always looked after me.”
“No,” Sully lamented as he left her hands and stared hard at Jax. “Take her then,” he said. “Look after her. Don’t let anyone touch her.”
Jax was stiff as Sully extended his hand, but Jax still shook his head back to hers.
“We need to go now,” Jax said.
“But I can’t just leave him!”
“You have to,” Sully said as he patted her arm. “I’ll be fine. Now you be fine, too.”