Jackson's Sub [The Doms of Club Mystique 2] (Siren Publishing Allure)

by Mardi Maxwell

  “My, god, what did you do? Look them up and talk to them?”

  “Of course. How else am I going to learn what was going on, uh, I mean where to shop?”

  “Cade has no idea what he’s getting himself into does he?” Dropping down onto the couch, Jenna grabbed a pillow and hugged it to her chest. “Now, tell me, how is going to Club Mystique going to help you teach Jackson and Cade a lesson?”

  “Well, remember that show we watched about snow leopards and how elusive they are and you said they couldn’t possibly be more elusive than a Ramsey? I think we need to study Cade and Jackson in their own environment. You know, the way those animal people study animals in the wild.”

  Jenna laughed until tears tracked down her face. “Addison, they’re not animals. We could just observe them at the dinner table.”

  “No. That wouldn’t work as well. Aren’t you curious to see what Jackson is like at a club when he’s in Dom mode?”

  “I don’t care what Jackson is like at a club.”

  “Well, I do. Cade refuses to take me to Club Mystique even though I’ve begged and begged. So Saturday as soon as we arrive the security people will call him and tell him I’m there. He’ll be there in a flash to get me and then I can tell him I suspect that he and Jackson wrote the brochure and that we’re teaching them a lesson.” Smiling, she sent Jenna a wink. “Then he can make it up to me by taking me to one of the private rooms and playing a really naughty game with me. Cade’s games are really amazing. It’ll be fun.”

  “First, TMI. Second, Addison, he’s going to beat your ass. Probably with a riding crop or maybe even a cane. You’re not going to be able to sit down for a week or longer. Are you sure about this?”

  “Mmm-hmm.” Idly picking up a chip, Addison chewed it while she stared at Jenna.

  “Addison, I don’t like the look on your face. What are you planning?”

  Giving Jenna a wide, toothy smile, Addison jumped up from the couch. “Trust me. Everything will work out just fine.”

  “I hate when you say that,” Jenna grumbled. “Things always go wrong when you say that.”

  “Don’t be silly. Let’s take your things to your room and I’ll help you unpack. Then we can go swimming.”

  * * * *

  Jackson was walking back from the stables when he heard Jenna’s scream followed by a splash. Breaking into a run, he cleared the corner of the house and saw Jenna holding her hand up and waving. Thinking she was in trouble, he forced his legs to move faster until he was near enough to leap in her direction, his hat flying from his head and landing on the concrete surround as he hit the water.

  Jenna screamed and tried to move out of Jackson’s way as she saw him flying toward her. Realizing she wasn’t going to be fast enough, she took a deep breath as his body slammed into her, pushing her to the bottom of the pool. Annoyed, she planted her feet in his stomach and kicked off, gliding through the water until she was able to stand up and wade toward the stairs.

  “What the hell are you doing in this pool?” Jackson yelled as he waded through the water behind her.

  Slapping his hands away from her, she slicked her ear-length hair back from her face and stepped onto the lowest step then turned to face him. “Well, you see, Jackson”—she made her voice as sarcastic as she could, putting special emphasis on his name—“you get in the water and then you move your arms and legs and before you know it you’re swimming. It’s what people do in pools, Jackson.”

  “Watch your tone, angel.” He reached her as he wiped the water from his face, his eyes hard, looking more golden than green in the sunlight.

  “Or, what? You’ll jump on me and drown me?” Smirking, she started to turn away from him when he grabbed her and twisted her back toward him.

  “Lower your eyes now.” He grasped her hands and placed them on his wide leather belt. “Unbuckle it.”

  Jerking her hands away, she glared at him. “You have no right to touch me. Or to tell me what to do. You gave up that right when you told me all we had was a night of fucking and then you walked away.”

  “And I told you then that everything on this ranch with my brand on it belongs to me. Are you telling me you’ve had that tattoo removed?”

  “That’s none of your damn business,” she told him as she moved up the steps with him one step behind her. She grabbed a towel and ran it over her platinum hair then down her body. Glancing at Addison, she caught her watching the two of them, a strange expression on her face as she chewed on her bottom lip. “You’re scaring Addison so stop it.”

  Jackson shot Addison a quick look and recognized the expression on her face for what it was…pure, unadulterated lust. “This isn’t over, angel.”

  “Oh, yes, it is, Jackson. I’m with someone else now.” Tossing the towel on a lounger, she smoothed her hair, completely missing the narrowing of Jackson’s eyes as she looked at Addison. “You okay, Addison?”

  Nodding, Addison glanced at Jenna then at Jackson then back at Jenna and licked her lips. She wiggled then glanced at the house.

  “Addison, are you okay?” Jackson stood over her, his clothes saturated and dripping pool water to the concrete surround.

  Nodding, she slid past him as she stood up. “I need to see Cade about, uh, some, stuff.” Hurrying away, Addison missed Jenna stomping her foot and pointing her finger in Jackson’s direction. “Look what you’ve done. You have to be careful around Addison. She’s new to all this—” Waving her hand, she tried to get her point across without actually coming out and saying what she meant.

  “Dominance and submission are the words you’re looking for, angel, and Addison understands a lot more than you realize. Cade isn’t the kind of man to go easy on his woman. Especially when he waited so long for her.”

  Waited, she thought, pissed off as she planted her hands on her bare hips, feeling the sun-warmed flesh beneath her palms. “Really. You Ramsey men call screwing every woman who crosses your path while someone like Addison pines for you waiting?” Glaring at him, she told him, “Let me assure you, Jackson, I haven’t been waiting”—she made air quotes in the air—“for you.”

  “Watch yourself, angel.”

  Snorting, she picked up her lacy wrap, slung it around her waist, and tied a knot on her left hip as she walked away from him. Seeing his hat lying on the ground, she deliberately stepped on it, smiling when she heard him curse. “Oops.”

  “That’s five more, angel.”

  “I’ll be sure to tell my Dom you said so.”

  “I’ll make sure he allows me to deliver them.”

  “In your dreams,” she told him as she opened one of the patio doors and stepped into the family room. As Jackson entered behind her, they both heard Addison’s high-pitched scream of pleasure followed by Cade’s deep chuckle. Freezing in place, her face heating with an unexpected blush, Jenna locked her eyes on the closed den door.

  Jackson stepped around her, crowding her back against the wall, his chest against her barely covered breasts. “You let another man touch you while you wear my brand and you’re on my land and I’ll take my belt to your ass and not in a way you’d enjoy.” He pushed his crushed hat onto her head then pulled his wet belt from his waist and hung it over her shoulder as he toed off his boots. “I want these fixed and delivered back to me by dinner or I’ll add another five to the count.”

  “Why are you doing this? You don’t even want me.”

  Walking away from her, Jackson smiled then said, “My land, my brand, my rules.”

  Chapter Five

  Jenna straightened the crown of Jackson’s hat then cursed when it caved in again. Throwing it on the bed next to the wet belt, she mumbled another “dammit” then asked herself why she was even bothering. He was just messing with her. He wouldn’t really do anything to her. It had been a year since they had even spoken to each other, and as far as she was concerned it could be another year before they spoke again.

  Hearing a familiar knock on her bedroom door, she stomped to
the door and threw it open, finding Addison on the other side. “You’re a shameless hussy, Addison Matthews.”

  Grinning, Addison entered the room carrying a tray with two glasses and a pitcher of sweet tea on it. “It’s your fault. Watching you and Jackson together was really hot.” Pushing aside a stack of books, she set the tray down on the table by the window then poured two glasses. She handed one to Jenna before dropping into one of the chairs on either side of the table and arranging her bare legs over the arm. “Woo! Don’t remind me or I’ll have to interrupt Cade again and the big ole’ meanie said if I knocked on his door again today I would be really, really sorry.” Giggling, she took a sip of tea then lifted her legs and wiggled her toes. “Jane’s baking an apple pie. As soon as it’s out of the oven I’m taking him a slice. I can hardly wait.”

  Jenna sniffed at the tea to see if Addison had put anything in it then took a small sip and sighed with relief as she realized it was just plain sweet tea. Moving to the bed, she shoved Jackson’s hat aside as she sat down. “Cade’s turned you into a sex fiend.”

  “Yeah, isn’t it great? He says I’m coming along nicely, pun intended, and someday I’m going to be his lovely little pervert.” Addison threw her head back, laughing. “I can hardly wait until Saturday night. I want to see if it’s just watching you and Jackson that stirs me up or if it happens when I watch someone else.”

  Jenna laughed. She couldn’t help it. She had always wondered what Addison would be like once she’d had sex for the first time and now she knew.

  “Cade said no threesomes, though. Wonder what that would be like, hmm? Being the filling in a lickalicious man sandwich.”

  Setting the glass down on the floor, Jenna tried to hide the shiver that swept through her as she picked up Jackson’s hat and frowned as she tried to fix it. A threesome with Jackson, and another man he chose to touch her, was one of her major fantasies.

  “Is that Jackson’s favorite hat?

  “His favorite?” Grimacing, Jenna held her breath as she thought to herself, please, please, please, say no.

  “Yeah. Jackson collects cowboy hats and that one belonged to his dad. He doesn’t wear it very often.”

  “Oh, shit.” Tears formed in Jenna’s eyes and began tracking down her cheeks. “He pissed me off so I deliberately stepped on it.”

  “Well, Jane will know how to fix it. It’s not the first time that hat’s been stepped on. Diablo stepped on it once,” Addison told her, mentioning the stallion she had bought from Cade’s father when she was twelve. Getting up, she moved to the bed and took the hat from Jenna. “See this little crease right here? That’s the one Diablo made. You should have heard Jackson’s curses. Even back then he was really creative with the cursing combinations. I learned a lot from him. Not that I’m ever allowed to use any of them.”

  Sniffing, Jenna took the hat and ran her fingers around the brim. “I’ll give it to Jane then and she can return it to him.”

  Surprised at Jenna’s tears and the defeated tone of her voice, Addison asked, “You want to talk about it?”

  Hesitating for a moment, Jenna sipped her tea then set it down again. “He confuses me. He says he doesn’t want me but then he turns around and threatens me.” Her panties grew wetter as she remembered the sound of his voice as he had told her what he would do to her and how much she had wanted to challenge him until he carried through on the threat.

  “What did he say?”

  “You remember the tattoo I got that week we snuck off to Florida for Spring break?”

  “When we told Cade we were going to the Future Wives of America retreat to learn how to be obedient wives? Or the time we told him we were going to the Future Mothers of America retreat to learn how to be good moms? Or the time we told him we were going to the Future Cooks of America retre—”

  “I can’t believe he fell for your crap so many times. But I’m talking about the Future Cooks one.”

  Grinning, Addison told her, “That was the best one. So, Jackson’s seen the tattoo?”

  “He saw it last year. You know the night we spent together.” Rubbing her hands up and down her arms, she stared at the floor. “Today he said that as long as I was on his land with a tattoo of his brand on my body I’d be sorry if I let another man touch me.”

  “That makes sense,” Addison mumbled. “Everyone knows how possessive the Ramsey men are with the things they love. Jackson also has a hair trigger temper when one of the things he loves is threatened. That’s why he went to the Marines. He figured if he was so fierce then he might as well use it to serve his country.”

  “He’s such an idiot. He may be a tough guy but Jackson wouldn’t ever deliberately hurt someone.” Then realizing how stupid that sounded considering he had spent twelve years of his life as a Marine sniper, she added, “Unless they were bad guys.”

  Addison laughed. “I think being a Dom has helped him control that part of himself, plus it gives him some really great sex at the same time. I think Cade, or someone, should tell him the truth about his parents. Jackson isn’t mean. He’s just a little bit of a sadist.” Standing up, Addison winked at Jenna then slapped her own ass. “Some lucky sub with a masochistic tendency is going to get all that controlled passion.” Giggling, she sniffed the air. “Jane’s taken the pie out of the oven.”

  “Has Cade seen your tattoo?”

  Winding a long strand of hair around her finger, Addison leaned against the doorframe, propping a bare foot against an ankle. “Well, see, I sort of didn’t get a tattoo?”

  “What? But, it was your idea and you said it really hurt.”

  “Well, watching you get that tattoo really hurt me and it sobered me up real quick. That’s why I chickened out. Sorry.”

  Sending Addison a narrow-eyed, sweet little smile, Jenna reached down and picked up Jackson’s wet boots. “That’s okay, girlfriend. I totally understand.”

  Stiffening, Addison planted both feet on the floor. “Why don’t I like what you’re thinking?”

  Shrugging, Jenna stood up, tucked Jackson’s boots under her arm and picked up his hat and belt. “I’m taking these to Jane, and you have a slice of pie to deliver.”

  Addison chased Jenna down the hallway and then the stairs. “Remember, even when things go wrong, I was really just trying to help.”

  “Everyone knows that. Just like everyone knows Cade is one of the most difficult men on the face of the earth to deal with and he has a temper that matches Jackson’s. But, let’s see, Cade’s been a Dom since before he went to the military, sooo.” Jenna turned at the bottom of the steps and smiled up at Addison. “Oops, being a Dom doesn’t seem to have turned him into a big old sweetheart of a guy. Gosh, I wonder what he’d do if he ever found out about all those bogus retreats in Florida?”

  Addison smiled. “Okay, I get it, and I promise somehow I’ll make it up to you.”

  “Great, you can start by loaning me those new Jimmy Choo heels you just bought.”

  Before Addison could agree, Cade yelled her name. She and Jenna screamed and jumped then grabbed onto each other as Jenna dropped Jackson’s hat. It flew through the air and landed at Cade’s feet. Jackson stood next to him, frowning.

  “Angel, get over here and pick this up.” Jackson pointed to the hat.

  Jenna stepped off the last stair and walked toward him with Addison close on her heels.

  “I was just going to get you some pie, Cade,” Addison said.

  Cade glared at her as he stepped back and pointed to the open door of his den. “Now, Addison.”

  “What did I do?” Addison asked.

  “You tell me,” Cade said.

  Shaking her head, Addison said, “You tell me first.”

  Cade huffed out a sign then looked at Jackson. “This is going to take a while. I’ll see you at dinner, Jackson, and we’ll finish that discussion about the new office.”

  Jenna heard the den door click shut as she bent over and picked up Jackson’s hat then ran the brim through her finge
rs.

  “Relax, angel. He’s playing a game with her.” Taking the hat from her hands, he frowned at the crease in the crown.

  “How do you know he’s playing a game?”

  “My brother loves pie. He wouldn’t turn it down unless he had plans to eat some other sweet treat.” Holding the hat out to her, he chuckled when she blushed. “You’ve only got three hours left to fix that before dinner. Better get busy.”

  Taking the hat, she lowered her eyes. “I’m sorry I stepped on your dad’s hat, Jackson.”

  “I know you are, but I’m still going to enjoy whipping your ass. As much as you’re going to enjoy having me do it.”

  She didn’t bother to deny it. Glancing at him, seeing the desire in his eyes, she stepped back, protecting herself by putting some distance between them. “I’m going to fix this and give it back to you. Then what will you do?”

  “Angel, haven’t you figured it out yet? With us there’s always going to be a next time.”

  “I don’t know what you mean by that. We’re not together and there is no next time for us. Not now. Not ever again.”

  “I’ve got work to do. I’ll see you at dinner.”

  “You can’t just walk away, Jackson. You can’t just ignore the fact that I’m with someone else now.”

  “I’ll believe that when I meet this mythical Dom you keep mentioning.”

  “He’s not a myth. I’m only here until the wedding, and then I’ll be gone.”

  “We’ll see.”

  Jenna watched as he left through the front door. Looking at the hat in her hands, she turned and moved toward the kitchen. Hopefully, Jane could help her fix it.

  * * * *

  When Jackson entered the dining room his hat was on the table next to his plate, his boots were on the floor, and his belt was draped over the back of his chair. Jenna sat to his right with Logan next to her. Zane sat on his left with Luc next to him, which of course put Luc directly across the table from Logan. Addison sat on Cade’s lap at the other end of the table. Jenna had a satisfied curve on her lips until he walked around the table, saw the slacks she wore, and pulled her chair back from the table with her in it.