by Taylor Lee
The slight flush on Enrique’s cheeks confirmed that Jax’s arrow had hit the bull’s eye. “I concede, Chief Hughes, although I’d like to think that the press is interested in the issues that Viviana and I share.”
At Enrique’s familiar use of her first name, Jax’s lips curved in a thin smile. His granite-hard eyes underscored his cool response. “I haven’t seen enough of your platform, Mr. Vega, to comment. In contrast, Sergeant Moreau’s passionate interest in the issues she has dedicated her life to is well documented and admired.”
Viviana was relieved when their obvious dick contest was interrupted by none other than Jax’s young companion. Carrie Reynolds broke in breathlessly, her eyes shining with excitement. Gazing at Viviana, she was embarrassingly fervent. “I want to tell you how much I admire you, Sergeant Moreau. All of my college friends and I have followed you for years, and I’m just so excited to actually meet you. But tell me, how did you get the nickname Enchantress?”
Whether it was the lovely young woman’s unabashed hero worship, Greg Bannon’s stealthy grin that matched Nicolas’s, or the jockeying match between Enrique and Jax, Viviana had enough. Rising slightly, she pushed her chair back and faced the young woman. With a dismissive nod, she said, “Perhaps because, like me, the Enchantress is the baddest badass of the Marvel heroines.” Ignoring Carrie’s wide-eyed gasp, she rose to her feet and turned a fierce glare on Jax. “And no doubt because, like the Enchantress, no man has ever been able to control me.”
Shoving away from the table, Viviana marched toward the exit. As she passed by him, Jax rose to his feet. Dragging his gaze over her outrageous dress, he murmured softly, “That’s three, Viviana.”
Chapter 24
Jax carefully folded his linen napkin and dropped it on the table. Assuming an enigmatic smile, he nodded to the startled group staring at him. Arching an ironic brow, he said, “Ladies and gentlemen, if you’ll excuse me, please. It appears I have a pressing enforcement issue to address.” Turning on his heel, he quickly wove his way through the crowded ballroom, following the blonde-haired dynamo who was mere feet away from the exit.
As the surprised crowd parted to let her through, Viviana felt rather than heard him behind her. Glancing over her shoulder, she was horrified to see Jax closing in on her. She didn’t need his steel-hard gaze or sardonic smile to know his intent. Frantically looking for a way to escape him, she darted into the hallway.
“Where do you think you are going, Viviana?” His voice, now inches away, was low and riddled with danger.
When he grabbed her arm and yanked her toward him, she broke his grip and sped off. Conscious of the people watching them wide-eyed, she hissed over her shoulder, “As far away from you as I can get.”
He was on her in seconds. Pulling her up next to him, he drawled, “Uh-uh, sweetheart, you’re not going anywhere that I don’t take you.”
As he hauled her through the side door to the patio, she spit out a chorus of angry recriminations. “What are you doing, Jax? How dare you assault me like this? Damn you! Let go of me!”
His voice was soft, taunting, as he pulled her behind a hedge and shoved her up against the wall. “Sorry you can’t have that wish, Little Bear . . . ”
Unable to release herself from his iron grip and knowing she sounded like an idiot, Viviana was unable to stop the inane words flying from her mouth. “Speaking of children’s books, why don’t you go back and assault the little girl heiress who was hanging on your arm?”
Jax frowned as if not understanding, then a salacious smile spread across his face. “Oh, honey, the only little girl I’m going to assault is the very naughty one I’m holding in my arms.”
Viviana reared up at his provocative taunt. Determined to fight him off and forcing herself to ignore the unwanted sensations flooding her core at his incendiary threat, she sputtered, “How dare you, Jax? Chase me down like this? Embarrass me in front of all of these people?”
He snorted as he pressed her against the retaining wall to the outdoor garden. “How dare I? That’s something you of all people should know, Viviana. Why else would you repeatedly defy me?”
“Defy you? You arrogant asshole! What am I, Jax? A child who needs to be obedient? Do as you tell her to?”
He pressed his finger against her lips, stopping her outraged tirade. “Don’t exaggerate, sweetheart. We both know I don’t require absolute obedience. In fact, I like when my little minx occasionally acts up. Gives me a reason to correct her disobedience.” Twisting her arm behind her back to better restrain her angry struggles, he turned her face against the wall and said with a low growl, “But this time, Viviana, you have gone well beyond the limits of my tolerance.”
Not believing what he was clearly intending to do, Viviana cried out, “Jesus, Jax! Are you crazy? There are people all around us. I demand that you let me go or, so help me, I will scream and embarrass you like you’re embarrassing me.”
His voice tightened appreciably, underscoring his latent anger. “Let’s be clear, Viviana. I’m well aware that there are people close by, but ‘frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn.’ As for you screaming, I fully intend that to be exactly what you will do.” He added with a derisive snort, “In addition to begging me for more.”
“Damn you, Jax. If you think I will let you make a laughing stock of me, you’re wrong.” Her whisper was harsh, full of banked fury. “Do you hear me? I’m telling you, Jax, I refuse to allow you to make a fool of me. I insist that you let me go. Now!” Writhing against him, she sputtered, “You are an arrogant—”
Jax laughed and pressed his hand across her mouth, shutting off the angry verbal assault he knew was coming. “Arrogant what, Viviana? An arrogant man who is going to show you what happens to naughty girls who think they can insult their lover and not face the consequences? That you can flagrantly blow me off and I won’t call you on it? That I won’t make it clear, first by spanking your ass and then fucking the hell out of you, that you have gone a universe too far? Challenged me way beyond what I will allow?” He grunted, a low threatening sound. “Uh-uh, baby, we’re agreed. You’ve done it now. Accomplished what you intended.”
Twisting against him, she said angrily, “Let go of me!”
In response, he pressed her harder against the wall. “Hell, honey, given the way your body is responding to my ‘assault,’ I might think you’re asking me to step in.” Giving a mirthless laugh, he added, “If I thought that you genuinely wanted me to let you go, Viviana, I might. Instead, I’ll let your body speak for you. It’s so much more honest than your words. But first, darlin’, as I think we both agree, it’s time I take you in hand.”
With that, he dragged her dress up to her waist and smacked one cheek. At her outraged cry, he ripped off her thong, baring her ass, and muttered, “There, that’s better. I need to get this remarkable canvas completely bare before I begin to work on my masterpiece.” Smacking the other curvy cheek, he began to list her infractions. “You asked me how dare I ‘assault’ you. Oh, sweetheart, let me count the ways. Let’s start with how you blithely blew off your job and me to go on a three-day jaunt with that motherfucking asshole!”
Horrified that her bottom was bare to the world, Viviana did her best to shove him away, but he was too strong.
Ignoring her attempts to free herself, he continued. “But that wasn’t enough, was it, Viviana? Hell no, not for my wayward little brat. Instead, you upped the ante, declaring that we need time apart and that you would be moving back into your condominium.” Cracking her stinging bottom, he muttered incredulously, “You really thought that I would let you dismiss me like that? That you could calmly assert that you will no longer live with me? As if that is your choice? Or I would allow it?”
As his voice thickened and his smacks became harder, to her horror, Viviana felt the undeniable surges of arousal threatening to weaken her resistance to his egregious assault. Determined not to give in to him, she fought against him, then pleaded, “Jax, stop. You’re hurting
me.”
Jax heard her plea but knew that he was only beginning. He’d heard the rising desire in her frantic appeal, felt it in her quivering body. It didn’t help that his damned cock was throbbing in anticipation, literally champing at the bit to enter her. But he held back, knowing that aggressive offensive would have to wait. First, he needed her to understand how angry he was . . . if he had to turn her alabaster bottom bright red to do so. Fighting against his need to take her, he rubbed the reddened handprints on her ass, allowing the full force of his rage to escape. Yanking at her dress, he ground out his words. “Finally, Viviana, you dared to arrive tonight knowing that I would be here, wearing this dress? You thought you could parade toward me on the arm of that supercilious asshole, wearing this dress?”
At her sob, he forced himself to pull back. As angry as Jax was, he couldn’t bear to truly hurt her. Staring at her gorgeous red ass, he was overcome by desire. It didn’t help that the telltale scent of arousal was rising from her heated body. Slipping his fingers between her thighs, he was gratified to feel the moisture pooling there. He tried to quell his fearsome cock, acknowledging that there was a mere retaining wall between them and possible interlopers. If anything, the danger was exhilarating. It made his daring assault and her passionate response even more provocative.
Intent on slowing his pace, Jax reached in front of her, easing his searching fingers inside the top of her dress. Pressing his cock up between her legs, he began to fondle her luscious breasts. His heartfelt groan and her responding cry confirmed the error of his ways.
Acknowledging his mistake, Jax gave in to the certainty that nothing could stop them now. Her whispered pleas and berry-hard nipples confirmed that his sexy lover was as aroused as he was. He didn’t know who was more rapacious, him or her. He laughed softly when she begged him to stop, insisting that people would hear or see them. “Ah yeah, sexy woman, as if either one of us could stop now.”
Keeping her dress above her waist, he turned her toward him. Her flushed face and rosy chest urged him on. But it was the musky scent emanating from her glorious pussy that captured him. Sinking to his knees, Jax spread her legs apart with his shoulders and buried his mouth against her succulent folds. Her deep shudder and soft cry was his reward. Dragging his tongue across her swollen lips, he reveled in the taste of her fragrant dew. Knowing from her trembling response that she would likely fall if he didn’t hold her, he rose to his feet and murmured, “Kiss me, baby. Taste yourself on my lips.”
Pressing his mouth against hers, he ran his tongue across the seam of her lips, forcing them to open. He crooned gruffly, “That’s the way, darlin’. Open to me. Show me that you want me as much as I want you.” When she pressed up against him with a sobbing whimper, he responded with a groan, “Oh yeah. Taste me, sweetheart. Hell, taste you!”
In seconds, their tongues and teeth clashed in a furious battle to confirm who was the hungriest, the most eager. Jax did his best to send a cautionary note to his raging libido but knew there was no way either one of them could or would stop. But he needed to warn her, tell her what he was going to do.
“I’m going to take you, Viviana. As hard as I ever have. Do you understand, baby?” At her passionate sob, he made the gritty decision to take her against the wall. Picking her up, he wrapped her legs around his waist. In response, Viviana threw her arms around his neck and buried her face against his chest, smothering her lusty cry. Constraining her against the wall, Jax undid his belt, then opened his zipper. His hard cock sprang forward, an irresistible force that nothing or no one could stop—least of all him. He pressed his lips against the erotically sensitive place on her neck and murmured a warning. His voice was harsh with need. “I’m going to come inside of you, baby, as high and hard as I can. I’m going to show you, goddammit, that you are my woman, my only woman. And God help you, Viviana, I am your only man.”
At her sobbing agreement, Jax separated her intimate lips with his eager fingers and pressed the head of his potent staff against her weeping entrance. Letting his banked fury unfurl, he began to drive into her. With one fierce thrust after another, he made good on his promise to take her harder than he ever had. The only thing more compelling than his furious assault was her stunning climax. It was as powerful and voracious as his.
Jax didn’t know how long he held her against the wall. He murmured passionate words, doing his best to contain her trembling body and his shaky legs. He knew that he should be embarrassed at the ferocious way he had taken her. Assaulted wasn’t too strong a word. Thank God, her fanatical response confirmed that her desire was as fierce as his. Whispering to her, he said over and over how much he loved her and that he would never let her go.
As if from a distance and through the cacophonic din in his ears, Jax heard a rustling sound. Horrified that someone had come upon them, Jax wrapped her tighter in his arms, using his body to shelter her.
Greg Bannon’s voice was thick, apologetic. “Jesus God, Jax, Viviana, in a thousand years I wouldn’t interrupt this, but I had to.” He hesitated, then added softly, “We need you, Jax.”
Fighting to catch his breath, Jax unwound Viviana’s legs from his waist and stood her on the ground. Doing his best to shield her, he yanked her dress over her naked thighs and managed to tuck himself in before he surreptitiously fastened his trousers. Jax knew that Greg would never intrude on them unless it was necessary. Holding Viviana tight against him, he turned and met his abashed lieutenant’s embarrassed gaze. His voice was crisp. “What it is it?”
“Raphael Torres.” Greg put up his hands in defeat. “He’s dead, Jax. Killed execution style along with three of his top men. Carlos Mendes also took a bullet but he survived.”
“The Padrones?”
Greg nodded. “Yeah. They struck first. The war is on.”
Jax breathed a hard sigh. “So it would appear.”
Chapter 25
Where are they?”
Greg replied stoically, “The bodies are still in the street. The squads have them surrounded, including Mendes and the others. Carlos has a bullet in his shoulder and is coming in and out of consciousness. He is irate, declaring that there won’t be a Padrone alive in the morning.”
Viviana leaned against Jax, then looked up and met his hard gaze. After pressing her lips together, she said firmly, “I need to go with you, Jax.”
Not releasing her, Jax shook his head. “Sorry, Sergeant Moreau, You’re on sabbatical, remember?”
Obviously seeing her crushed expression, Greg demurred. “She’s on the team, Jax. She knows the gangs better than any of us.” Acknowledging Jax’s steely gaze, he offered, “She can ride with me and O’Reilly.”
Jax frowned and declared in a harsh voice, “She rides with me.” He stripped off his suit coat and put it on her. “Let’s go, Commander Bannon. Call out the rest of the VCU. I’m assuming you’ve notified Commissioner McElroy and his team?”
At Bannon’s agreement, Jax wrapped a proprietary arm around Viviana’s shoulders and strode to the exit, holding her next to him. Ordering Bannon to call for their cars, he looked up to see Mick O’Reilly running toward them, concern darkening his ruddy expression.
“Jesus, Jax, Commander Bannon told me to get my ass over here.” As if seeing Viviana for the first time, his eyes widened in surprise. Staring at her, he whistled. “Damn, sweet cheeks, what the hell happened to you? You look like you’ve been rode hard and put up wet.”
Not commenting on the irony of his irreverent assertion, Jax pulled Viviana closer and glared at Mick. “Detective, I’ve called for Sergeant Moreau’s car. After we retrieve her go-bag from the trunk, I want you to drive it to the crime scene. The sergeant’s riding with me.”
Looking from Viviana to Jax, Mick’s expression morphed from concern to covert delight. Shooting Greg a knowing wink, he nodded to Jax. “I’ll get right on that, sir.”
As Jax led Viviana toward the valet stand, a clearly agitated Enrique Vega, followed by Nicolas Garza and Sonia Vega, ca
me out of the hotel. Striding toward them, Enrique glanced from Jax to Viviana. Not couching his surprise at the sight of Viviana wearing Jax’s suit coat, he asked, “Is everything all right, Viviana? We were told that there was a crisis.”
Jax stepped forward, blocking his approach. Glaring at Vega, he said curtly, “It’s a police issue. None of your concern, Counselor.”
Vega stepped back, then apparently decided to press. “Actually, Chief Hughes, it is my concern. Crime and police issues are at the heart of my campaign. I’m also concerned about Sergeant Moreau. She was my guest tonight, and I’d planned to see her home.”
Jax’s response was cordial, but a blind man with a cane could have seen the anger blazing in his slate-hard eyes. “Sergeant Moreau is on duty, Counselor. Unfortunately, given the severity of the crisis we are facing, none of us will be getting much sleep tonight.” Pulling Viviana closer to him, he added, “As for seeing the sergeant home, that won’t be necessary tonight or any night, for that matter. I’ve got her covered.”
A dark flush crept across Vega’s cheeks as he put up his hands in seeming acquiescence. “But of course. I was merely trying to ensure that Sergeant Moreau was taken care of. She left the dinner in a rush tonight, which concerned all of us.” Moving to the side, he faced Viviana directly. “I know you planned to join us at the Comstock rally tomorrow morning, Viviana. I will certainly understand if the crisis you and your fellow officers are dealing with makes that impossible.”
Viviana shook her head and turned away, her lips pressed together in a hard, white line. She was furious at Jax’s arrogant response to Enrique and almost as angry with Enrique for his clear provocation. Dear God, talk about a cockfight. She was deciding which of the arrogant men she despised more when Nicolas, being the brazen instigator that he was, apparently decided to enter the fray. Assuming an ersatz look of concern and not hiding the twinkle in his dark eyes, he gazed at her unusual garb and asked casually, “Are you cold, Sergeant?”