by Paula Cox
“Sweetheart, you’re gonna have to come up with a way better endorsement if you think that we’re just---”
“We all want the same thing, boys.”
“Lena, no!”
As soon as the other bikers surrounded Artie’s chopper, she had taken care to push Jax’s gun between her legs and prayed that it would not backfire as she was pulled into a strange new fate. It was luck and nothing else that kept these men from finding her out. No. More than luck. Maybe it was something that they hadn’t pushed their hands up her skirt at the first chance. Definitely not the move that Eric Stiles would have made, but there was still Jax’s battered face and the feel of Artie shuddering under her hands.
“Lena!”
Aiming the gun squarely at the scarred man’s head, Lena inched to her feet as Artie clung to her ankles.
“I’m sorry, Jax,” he said. “I tried to make her---”
“But I’m not leaving you.” Lena’s words were only for Jax as she stepped to his side and narrowed her eyes on the strange man’s scars. “Eric Stiles raped me,” she said, surprised at the strength in her voice on account of the audience surrounding her. Lena swallowed hard as she continued. “And he needs to be stopped,” she said. “So you guys want to help us or what?”
Suddenly feeling as if she was born with a gun in her hand, Lena turned her body around the crowd and looked each man square in the eyes. She stopped short at the sight of a chiseled jaw with light brown hair, and the stranger stoked his chin. He was obviously on the hook, and Lena licked her lips as she waited for an answer when a softer voice crashed through the air.
“Think this is someone we need to listen to, Milo.”
Lena saw a tall woman with gray hair, speckled with dabs of orange stepping out of the shadows. She held her breath as the woman waved the scarred man away and pointed to his boot.
“Put it away, Chief.”
He obeyed her order, and Lena kept the gun in her hands as the woman strode towards her. She left Lena’s sign of sight and glanced down at Artie’s fallen form. “Long time no see, cue ball,” she said.
Artie smiled weakly and shook his head. “Wasn’t my idea, Aggie,” he said. “None of it.”
Lena could kick him for showing weakness when so much was at stake, but, before she could make the move, long fingers surrounded her hands. She tried to keep the gun in check when it was whipped away from her grasp.
“Mom, stop!” Jax cried.
“I know, little man,” she said. “Just have to get a look at her up close.”
So this was his mother. Seeing the resemblance, wanting to blast her for abandoning him, she clenched her fists to her side. I’ll fight her if I have to. Her thoughts came to a crashing halt when the woman touched her cheek and met her gaze.
“So you’ve been keeping my little man’s heart in check?” Lena tried to look to Jax again when Aggie’s fingers turned her eyes back to hers. “Are you the reason that he did this damned fool thing?”
Was she beaten? Did Artie have it right? Lena muttered the truth and expected a bullet crashing into her brain before she knew what else was happening when Aggie suddenly pulled her into a warm embrace.
“Then you’re a better woman than me, Lena.”
Stunned by the warmth in her hold, Lena accepted her arms and blinked through her tears. Pushing away, Aggie smiled and patted her cheek as she brought her back to Jax’s side. “We heard what he did to you,” Aggie said. “But you were still strong enough to come after him.”
Jax was close enough to touch, and Lena started to grab his face when Milo stepped between them and scanned her carefully. “Would you have really smoked us, honey?” he asked.
Was it a test? And would she pass? But when she looked into Jax’s eyes, she couldn’t lie, and she fell to her knees as she presented her bare hands. “Only if you keep hurting Jax,” she said. “I’m telling you we’re on your side.”
Milo continued to hesitate when Aggie snapped her fingers. “This one’s words are good enough for me,” she said. “And she’s already been through enough.”
Lena was about to take the opening, wanting to feel his face in her hands when Brutus pulled Aggie away and pressed his finger into her arms.
“Could still be a trap,” he said.
“You heard what Eric---”
“And I know what he did to you!” Brutus said. “What if this just brings it all back home?” Brutus kissed Aggie’s brow and took her hand. “I swore I’d kill any man that tried to hurt you,” he said.
Aggie’s face softened as she stroked his skin, but when she looked to them again, she pinched Brutus’ cheek and left his side. Taking hold of Jax’s hand first and then Lena’s, she pushed their palms together and smiled softly. “But these ain’t those people,” she said, her voice sure as she spoke. “My little man found himself a fighter, and I think it’s high time we leant them a helping hand.”
Lena’s heart thudded at the thought that they were on the verge of a new kind of sanctuary, one with ample backup, when Milo whistled his crew to attention and stepped to the center of his club. Lena took note of his swagger as he stared each man down, and the fact that they all waited for and hung on his next word made her nervous. If he were anything like Eric, she might find her body dragged into a back room and violated all over again. A quick glance at Artie suggested his plan was the right one all along. But now there was no turning back, and she squared her shoulders and looked to Milo.
“She’s right,” Lena said. “I ain’t those people. I’m Lena Sullivan. And I’ll do whatever I have to do to take a certain bastard down.”
Milo chucked, and he scooped the fallen gun from the ground and pressed it back into her hands. “Would you lay waste to all of us if I gave you the chance?”
Lena felt as if she was back at the creek, moaning into Jax’s broad chest as he stroked her sides. In the present moment, their eyes locked, and Lena sighed into face and nodded her head. “I’ll do anything for him.”
Jax smiled as he worked his way to her side. As soon as she was back in his arms, Lena told herself that everything would be alright. She just needed to be near him. Nothing else mattered.
“Milo?” The man in charge still seemed unconvinced when Aggie took his hand. “At least let me talk to you,” she said. “Let them sleep it off.”
Milo nodded at her suggestion, and Lena felt them pushed together up a creaking staircase through a swinging door. A woman appeared with short dark hair and violet eyes, and she smiled at Lena as she brought them towards a closed door.
“I cleaned the room up,” she said. “Your room. Sort of looks like two are sticking around for a while.”
Jax flinched under her arms, and Lena moved fast to smooth the tension from his back as she sat him down on a freshly made bed. The room was dark, but at least they were together and close. She started to kiss his bruises when she heard the sound of Aggie’s voice commiserating with Artie.
“So you took care of his girl?” Aggie asked.
“Not like I had a hell of a lot of choice. Lady knows her own mind.”
Aggie peeked through the open door, and Lena kept Jax in her arms as his mother nodded. “Good match then,” she said.
She stepped into the room and took her son’s hand. “Not a fairy story,” she said. “This looks like the real deal.” Jax nodded and made no other move as Aggie patted Lena’s cheek. “And I can trust you to look after him?”
“It’s why I’m here.”
Smiling through her wrinkles, Aggie slapped her boy’s back and called out into the open space. “How about we get you a drink, cue ball.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
“Let me see.”
Jax seemed shy as he turned towards her eyes, but Lena’s fingers studied the tracks of his shattered flesh as she stroked him softly.
“Looks like it hurts,” she said.
“It’s nothing now,” he said. “Now that you’re here.”
The lure of his lips was more than she coul
d resist, and she kissed him hard as he wrapped her arms around his neck. “But what if I hadn’t come?” she whispered into his ear. “Would they have hurt you?”
“I don’t think so,” he said as he kissed her hair and curled her closer to his chest. “My mom is here.”
And was that alone supposed to put her mind at ease? “So can you tell me you guys worked everything out?”
“She was cutting for me before you came,” he said. “And she told me the whole story.”
Jax’s head fell into his chest, and Lena felt his tears running through her fingers. Hating to see him so sad, she raised his face to hers and peered into his eyes. “Tell me, Jax,” she said. “What don’t I know?”
He took her hand and sighed heavily. “It was always Eric,” he said. “Bastard had my father killed. So he could get his hands on the crew.”
The confession in and of itself did not shock her. But Lena’s mind turned to his mother, and she gripped his hands tightly. “Then how the hell could she just leave you?” she asked.
“Because I was next, Lena. Guess now I kind of still am.”
Her heart shattered in her chest, and Lena pulled him into her arms and kissed his cheeks. “No. Not as long as I’m here.” She held him and whispered into his ear. “I didn’t force Artie to do everything that he never wanted to only to lose you again.”
She started to kiss him when Jax leaned back and curled his fingers under her chin. “He sure seemed scared,” Jax said. “How in hell did you manage it?”
“Wouldn’t take no for an answer,” Lena said. “And that still applies now, Jax.” She claimed his mouth, and he offered no resistance as she lowered his body back to the bed and winded her fingers through his hair. “I’m in this with you.” She lightly touched his bruises, and she spied a damp rag and tried to bring it close to his cheeks. “What the hell is this?” she asked as she sniffed a foul scent.
“Careful,” he cautioned. “Don’t want you conking out on me.”
She flung the cloth aside and returned to his side. Sighing into his shoulder, she held him close and peered into his eyes. “They tried to put you down?” she asked,
Jax nodded, and Lena pressed him closer, wanting only to take him back into the night and run when he steadied his hand under her chin and kissed her hair.
“But I spoke fast,” he said. “And then you showed up.”
He started to kiss her lips when Lena held back and grabbed his face. “Artie said that I shouldn’t have,” she said. “But I couldn’t leave you, Jax.” Kissing his bruises, she stroked his bare chest.
“Lena?”
“But how could I even think about doing that?” she muttered. “I’m always coming back to you.”
His arms tightened around her body, and she moaned into his neck as he ran his fingers up and down her face, his touch stopping at her eyes as their gazes met. “And I’ll come back to you, Lena,” he promised. “Took me some time to get it right. But I…. shit!”
When he winced, Lena rushed into action. Peeling his jeans from his body, she saw his skinned knees and his bruised limbs. She was on the verge of calling for ice when she thought they were better off hidden away, and she started to kiss his limbs as she pressed her palms to his waist.
“Thank God for you, Lena,” he moaned. “I’d rather they killed me if I never had the chance to touch you again.”
Lena sighed as he ripped her clothes away. As soon as her body was bare at his side, she spread her legs, ready to take his cock into her cunt, when Jax wrapped his legs around hers and kissed her cheeks.
“But you came back,” Jax said. “Not sure if you should have, but I’m so---”
“I should have,” she said. “I’m myself when I’m with you.” She kissed her way through his protests and steadied his face in her hands. “I can be brave, Jax,” she whispered.
“Never doubted that.”
Again their mouths met, and Lena sighed at the feel of their limbs entwining. Despite his injuries, his cock moved between her legs, and as soon as he hit her pussy, Lena clung to his back and kissed his neck. Her teeth poked through her lips, and Lena drew him closer as she pushed his face to hers.
“And I never doubted you,” she said. “Even when Eric---”
“Don’t,” he said as he fell to his back and curled her closer to his chest. “I had dreams about what he might do to you.”
“Same here,” she said. “It’s a hard thing to shake off.”
Jax left the bed and held her wrists as he peered into her eyes. “Can’t come true,” he said. “Not again.”
Even as Lena battled through her own memories, she focused on his eyes and patted his cheek. “It won’t,” Lena whispered. “Because we’re all on the same side now. Let me show you. Let me just make you feel better.”
Kissing his bruises, Jax winced under the feel of her lips, and when Lena started to ask if she was hurting him, Jax shook his head and twirled her to her back. “Help me, Lena,” he purred. “I need you here.”
“I need you, too.”
His cock surrounded her cunt, and she arched her hips to take all of him in. The sight of his bruises saddened her soul, and Lena pulled him closer to her breasts as he kissed up her arms. He stopped at her hands and suckled her fingers. She moaned at the feel of his lips meeting hers and only pulled away from the taste of to enjoy the feel of his hands searching her flesh.
“Should I get you some ice?” she asked as she stroked his cheeks.
“Just come here, Lena.” He held her tight and filled her body with a single thrust. Lena cried out and gripped his back as he pounded her pussy and kissed her hair. “I’ll do anything for you,” he swore. “Everything.”
Lena smiled at the sound of that, and he rested her head to his he released inside her. Savoring the flow of his lust, Lena held her breath until she couldn’t think of anything but the safety of his arms. Falling into his embrace, she soaked in the feel of his arms and kept him tight between her thighs as she touched his injured cheek.
“I hate to see you hurt, Jax.”
“Then just look at me now,” he said. “Because there’s no pain with you, Lena.”
He kissed her quickly, and she pressed her fingers to his back as she gazed into his eyes. “But this isn’t game over,” she said. “Even though I’m here, there could still---”
“Can’t stand to think about that right now.”
Jax kissed her lips, and his cock hardened in her cunt. She could live like this, on this, and her body arched off the bed to feel him deeper when Jax shifted to his back and held her body to his chest.
“I won’t run again, Lena.”
She smiled as she played with his hair. “Thank you,” she murmured. “Safe house was no fun without you.”
“Now it’s all coming out. And I don’t know what comes next.”
“We’re safe now, Jax,” she said. “Because we’re together.”
He rested against her body, and she rubbed his back as she kissed the top of his head. “If Eric finds us, he will hurt you, Lena.”
She sensed the sadness in his eyes. “You’ve been imagining it.”
“But you lived it. And I can’t help wanting to be there.”
She kissed him hard as she looked into his eyes. “So just be here now,” she said. “Let me hold you, Jax.”
His body slipped into the space of her embrace, and as she tightened her grip, she silently swore she would never be separated from him again. She would do nothing but keep him close and hold his back.
“So this is where we landed,” she said. “And you found your mother.”
“Looks like,” Jax said. “And now I know why she left.”
Lena wanted the whole truth, but she let Jax rest as she kissed his bruises. “Tell me tomorrow,” she said. “Let’s just rest now.”
He obliged without another word, and Lena relaxed at his side. She had no idea what waited beyond the closed door, but she had him back, and she moved to kiss his swollen li
ps when the door pushed open.
“What do you want?” Jax kept her in his arms as the scarred man spoke.
“Let’s see if we can really make this work,” Brutus said. “Enough rest.”
He closed the door behind him, and Jax brought Lena to her feet. “Tell me you’re ready for this,” he said. “Because I can’t do it without you.”
She felt the same, and she wrapped her arms around his neck as she moaned into his ear. “Let’s see what happens, Jax. And let’s do it together.”
They were hand in hand. He had already lived through one loss when it came to a woman he loved. And there was no way in hell she was going to let that happen to him ever again.