by Taylor Lee
Viviana was struck how easily Jax took over the room simply by entering it. God, it was no wonder that everyone stepped back in the face of his power; he was that imposing of a man. Coming up beside her, Jax reached for her arm, then leaned down and brushed his lips across her cheek. Not able to hide her startled response or the flush she felt heat her face, Viviana tried to pull away. His almost imperceptible frown as he tightened his grip on her arm confirmed that she wasn’t going anywhere he didn’t want her to. To make the point more clearly, he said, “I hope I’m not interrupting. I wanted to see if a certain blonde bombshell would like to have lunch with me.”
Jerking free of his restraint, Viviana said, “Sorry, Jax. Commander Bannon and I are planning to have lunch. We have some VCU business to catch up on.”
Jax’s grin hardened slightly, but he didn’t lose his cool in the face of her rejection. Instead he settled onto the chair beside her, then turned it at an angle where he could make eye contact with both her and Greg. Viviana had seen him do this before and begrudgingly admitted how accomplished he was. With that simple rearranging of the chairs, he now controlled the conversation, muting Greg’s position of authority from behind the desk.
Greg quickly responded, apparently seeing the tension between her and Jax. “Hey, Chief Hughes, you are more than welcome to join us, although the sergeant and I were planning to do a long-overdue debrief.”
Jax pressed his lips together in a thin line and shrugged. “I don’t want to interrupt that important conversation, Commander. Pinning down this elusive sergeant is an onerous task. If you can get her to sit still long enough to have lunch with you, I’m impressed.”
Greg held up his hands. “No, Jax, please. If it’s all right with Sergeant Moreau, I would like to have you join us. You can help me better understand the implications of the sergeant’s cases. For example, I was surprised to learn that in Sergeant Moreau’s latest venture, she has Annabelle Simpson in her sights.”
Viviana pulled back in her chair, prepared for Jax’s quick response. She needn’t have worried. He pinned a narrow gaze on her and said, “Jesus, Viviana, you have another society woman in your sights? Now you’re after the mayor’s wife?” Turning to Greg, he said, “I don’t know if you’re aware, but ‘dethroning the Dominatrix Diva’ was the name her adoring press gave to Viviana’s latest coup.”
Turning back to her, Jax didn’t hide his annoyance. “You after more divas, Viviana? I’m not surprised. You were front-page news with the last one, which has to have been intoxicating as hell.”
Viviana drew back, startled. His cutting put-down shocked her and sparked her ever-ready anger. “Oh that’s right, Jax, I forgot. You don’t believe that important, cultured women can be involved in nefarious things. Or is it just the important society women you’re fucking? I remember when you refused to believe that Deidre Cummings wasn’t anything but an easy lay.”
Knowing that he’d tripped a wire for them both, Jax sought to recover. “Whoa, Sergeant. My apologies. My remark was uncalled for. Every glowing bit of press you received in the Diva case you deserved and more.” He shook his head with a questioning frown. “Dammit, Viviana, I agree that Annabelle Simpson can be annoying—mostly because she is such a neophyte in the power circles she’s been forced to occupy. But, hell, innocent Annabelle is as different from Deidre Cummings as a python is from a pussycat. Which begs the question. What could the mayor’s wife possibly have done to put a bug up your classy butt?”
Viviana leapt to her feet. “Sorry, Commander Bannon, I’ve decided I’m not hungry. If you don’t mind, I’ll take a rain check on our lunch.” Ignoring Jax’s deep frown as he rose from his chair, she backed through the doorway. “I’ve decided I need to run more than I need to eat.” Before Jax could stop her, she’d made a beeline for the squad room exit.
Jax slammed his eyes closed and sucked in a deep breath. Dammit, he should have known that he and Viviana were treading through a minefield. It was hard enough to maintain a professional stance when they were in sync. Apparently it was impossible to do when they were angry with each other. Turning to Greg, he raised his hands in defeat. “Sorry, buddy, I didn’t mean for that to happen. I truly did intend to invite Viviana to have lunch with me. We parted on less than satisfactory terms last night, and I wanted to try to repair the damage.”
While Greg’s frowning silence embarrassed him, as it should, Jax couldn’t help turning on his friend. “In addition to apologizing for interrupting your overdue briefing with Sergeant Moreau, you wanna tell me what the hell she is on to with the mayor’s wife?”
Greg gave an exasperated snort. “Damned if I know, Jax.” Not realizing he was pouring gasoline on a smoldering fire, he said with a shrug, “Remember, I’m just her commander.”
Jax managed to stifle his angry retort but didn’t try to mask the threat in his careful response. “I suggest you find out, Commander Bannon.” He added over his shoulder as he headed to the door, “And when you do, I want a detailed report on what the woman you are supposed to be supervising is doing. You remember, Commander. The woman you told me who I needed to back off of and let her be her?”
Chapter 16
Spotting the flash of her blonde ponytail in the distance, Jax speeded up. Damn, she was amazing. It had to have taken her as long to change into running gear as it did him, but she was already at the five-mile marker on the steep trail. Determined to catch up with her, he powered his long muscular legs into high gear. As he drew closer, he groaned in lustful admiration. Her abbreviated booty shorts showcased her tight ass and long, toned legs. Both were incentive enough to make following his renegade lover a treat in and of itself. But voyeurism, as seductive as it was, wasn’t on his agenda. Jax knew that the only remedy to quiet the red-hot anger strafing his body, not to mention the thrumming lust, was fucking the hell out of his prickly princess. Something he fully intended to do as soon as he caught up with her.
Seeing her earphones firmly in place, Jax knew that as usual, she was unaware of her surroundings. Hell, for all the attention she paid, he could have been a lunging lion, not merely an irate lover closing in on her. In addition to infuriating him, her arrogant disregard for her personal safety ratcheted up his protective streak. Made him more determined to take her down. When he was several strides behind, he reached for her, gratified by her startled shriek. Proving that her well-honed fighting skills were easily rebuffed by a stronger, intent aggressor, he jerked her into his arms.
Holding her thrashing body tight against him and ignoring her expletive-laden tirade, he murmured in her ear, “Dammit, Viviana, what will it take to drill a smidgen of caution into your aloof brain? Christ, I’ve been on your tail for at least three miles, and you didn’t even fucking know I was there.”
At her irate shriek, he said in a low voice, “Forget your careless disregard for your safety. I have a more important question for you, Sergeant Moreau. Who gave you permission to leave our meeting?” When she shoved at him, trying to break his firm hold, he said with a sardonic grin, “In case you don’t know, Sergeant Moreau, blowing off this particular chief of police is not a wise decision. In fact, according to my rule book, it is a punishable offense.” At her outraged yelp, he added menacingly, “Oh yeah, naughty girl, there’s no question that you need to be punished. Just as there’s no question that I’m the man to do it. The only question is whether I’ll spank your bare ass before or after I fuck you.”
Twisting out of his grip, Viviana whirled on him, her striking blue eyes flashing dark with anger. “How dare you, Jax? Follow me? Chase me up the mountain? Threaten me?”
Jax yanked her back into his arms and pressed his lips against the tender place on her neck. His voice was cool but had a discernable undercurrent of anger. “Uh-uh, Sergeant, this is far from a threat. It’s a promise. It’s what happens to naughty girls who think they can waltz out of an important meeting, drag on their booty shorts, and head for a mountain.” He smacked her hard on one ass cheek. Ignoring h
er angry protest, he cracked the other cheek, eliciting a surprised shriek from his shocked captive. Spotting a sequestered refuge in a ravine several yards off the trail, he hauled her over to the forested haven and pressed her up against a tall pine. Her startled reaction confirmed that she saw his intent.
“Jesus God, Jax. What are you doing? Are you crazy? Damn you, let me go!”
Grabbing both of her hands in one of his big hands, he secured them above her head against the tree. Ignoring her outraged cry, he shoved his hard thigh between her legs, ensuring that his fearsome erection was riding up against her crotch. Licking the tender skin beneath her ear, he bit down, then blew on the ravished skin.
Gratified by her body-shaking shiver, he murmured, “Yeah, baby, in answer to your question, I am crazy. But not as crazy as I was last night when I let you turn me away. Admit it, Viviana, you wanted me as much as I wanted you. But like an idiot, I allowed you to push me away, kick me to the curb.” His voice was ominously threatening. “Just so we are clear, sweetheart, that ain’t ever gonna happen again. From now on, when I want you, I will take you. I don’t care if it’s on my office desk, the hood of a car in the parking lot at Flemings, or on the side of a mountain in broad daylight. If I want to fuck you, I will fuck you.” He added with a low growl, “And no matter how much you pretend that you don’t want me, you will revel in every minute of it.”
Stunned at the torrent of sensations flooding her aroused body, Viviana tried to shove him away, but he was too strong, too determined. His voice was harsh in her ear.
“Oh no you don’t, baby. You don’t get to push me away.” His throaty laugh was anything but humorous. When she fought to get free, he tugged her up against him and growled in her ear. “The fact that you continue to fight me settles it, sweetheart. Clearly you need to be spanked and spanked hard.”
Dragging her over to a tree stump, he sat down and yanked her across his knees. To her horror, he pulled down her shorts, shoving them to her ankles. Snapping the miniscule thong riding up the crevice of her ass, he tore it free, baring her bottom. Before she could scream at him to stop, he landed a hard smack on one bare cheek and then the other. Ignoring her outraged protests, Jax proceeded to spank her, not holding back on the painful smacks. Unable to free herself, Viviana was horrified to feel the moisture building between her legs. Praying that Jax didn’t know how her wayward body was reacting to his egregious assault, she squeezed her legs together and fought to get free.
His taunting laugh underscored how helpless she was to hide her problematic reaction. Shoving his fingers inside her swollen folds, he crowed, “Ah yes, sexy woman. I’d almost forgotten how much you like to be spanked.”
Shrieking in outrage, Viviana struggled against him, but his grip was fierce. “Uh-uh, little girl, your body doesn’t lie. You like having a rosy red ass as much as I like giving it to you. I have to remember that. I don’t spank you nearly often enough, Viviana. An oversight that I am more than prepared to remedy.”
At her sobbing appeal that he stop, that he was hurting her, Jax resoundingly smacked each cheek one more time, then stood her up beside him. Rising to his full height, he picked her up in his arms and strode deeper into the wooded enclave. Preparing to lay her on the ground, he remembered how in Belize he’d started to take her on a running trail but was interrupted by cartel members. Determined that nothing would stop him now, he growled, a low male sound. “Jesus, baby. I almost took you like this in Belize. Do you know what drove me crazy?” He stroked the space between her breasts, which were straining against her stretchy halter. His voice was low, thick with desire. “It was this . . . the sweat between your breasts. I thought I might go crazy if I didn’t lick it off. That was how bad I needed to taste you.”
He squeezed one taut nipple, eliciting a sharp cry, then thrusting two fingers between her swollen folds, he reveled in the cream coating them. “God, Viviana, look at what your body is doing. Honey, you are drenched, soaking wet.” Pressing his fingers against her mouth, he ordered, “Taste this, Viviana, suck on my fingers and then tell me, darlin’, have you ever tasted anything sexier than this?” Overcome by a ferocious need to be inside of her, he dropped her to her hands and knees and came up behind her. Opening her legs, he pressed his strong thighs up between them, spreading her wider, baring her luscious folds and bare ass to his greedy gaze. Yanking down his running shorts, he freed his prodigious prick and pressed the swollen head against her weeping cunt. He almost didn’t recognize his voice, his commands were so gruff, so insistent. “I’ve got to take you, baby. Like this. Hard and deep from behind. When I’ve fucked the hell out of you, I’m going to turn you over and fuck you again. As many times as I need to until you are begging for mercy.”
Viviana’s tortured cry confirmed that she was as hot as he was. “Oh God, Jax. Yes, please, take me. Promise me you won’t stop! Promise?”
“Damn darlin’, the last thing I would ever do is stop. Never, Viviana. I will never stop loving you like this, ever. You are my woman, Viviana Moreau, and God help you, I am your man.”
***
Much later Jax stood beside her in her doorway. When she started to talk, he pressed his finger against her lips. “Uh-uh, darlin’. Let’s allow today to just be what it was.”
Viviana quirked a shy grin. “What was it, Jax?”
He laughed softly and stroked her cheek with a calloused fingertip. “I think we are both a little too verbal, sweetheart. Today, we let our bodies speak for us.” He pinched her cheek and added, “I, for one, liked what they had to say. A hell of a lot.”
Feeling the moisture building in her eyes, Viviana swallowed past the lump in her throat and managed to say, “Me too.”
His voice was soft, serious. “I love you, Viviana. More than I knew it was possible to love a woman.”
She nodded. “I love you, Jax. So very much.”
He held her tight up against him and murmured in her ear, “I’m flying to DC early tomorrow morning. I’ll be gone for a couple of days.”
Viviana frowned, then said, “I . . . I’ll miss you, Jax.”
He nodded in agreement. “Me too.” Tipping up her chin, he held her gaze. “Be good, tiger.”
She lifted her chin saucily. “I’m always good, Jax.”
He guffawed and smacked her hard on her ass. “Yeah, you are that, sweetheart. But this time how about you be extra good?” When she nodded, he said with a grin, “Oh and, tiger, that’s an order.”
Chapter 17
Please come in, Sergeant Moreau, have a seat.”
Greg Bannon rose from behind his desk and gestured to the chair across from him. “I’m glad you were able to free up your calendar, Sergeant.” He laughed as he sank onto his chair, but Viviana didn’t miss the fact that his usually casual, open demeanor was somewhat strained. Viviana couldn’t blame him. It had now been three days since Bannon took command of the VCU, and this was their first face-to-face meeting. Even she didn’t count the abbreviated session when she and Mick met with him, the meeting that she’d abruptly left before it started. And then there was their scheduled luncheon date shot to hell by Jax’s arrival and their subsequent argument. If there was any doubt that the new commander was through being put off by her, he made it clear when he pinned her with a firm gaze and said, “You are a difficult woman to shanghai, Viviana, but you know that, don’t you?”
Viviana sighed and said with a contrite smile, “I’m sorry, Greg. I truly am. I know I have been difficult to ‘shanghai,’ much less meet with you. I hope you don’t think that my absence has anything to do with how I feel about you taking over the command of the VCU!” She added firmly, “Believe me, I may be the happiest person on your squad that you are now our commander.” Seeing the slight frown creasing his brow, Viviana decided to address the issue between them head on. “I know that Jax—Chief Hughes—and I have put you in a difficult position, and I apologize for that.” She didn’t hold back a slightly teasing grin. “I promise, Greg, that from now on
we will be on our best behavior. You have enough to deal with without Jax and me adding to the drama.”
Greg returned her smile, but again Viviana noted that his usual bonhomie was decidedly absent. If anything, her new commander looked uncharacteristically serious. “You’re right, Sergeant. You and my boss have certainly made the introduction to my new position interesting, if not loaded. But I’m hopeful that we’ve turned a corner. Let’s face it, Sergeant. You are the acknowledged star of this unit, and yet you and I haven’t had a single conversation regarding what the hell you are doing.” He allowed a grin to soften his expression. “In contrast, I know what Lieutenant Jensen is doing essentially every minute of the day and night, but I don’t have clue what you’re up to, Sergeant.” Before she could interrupt, he added, “Not that I want a blow-by-blow of your life, Sergeant Moreau. Indeed, I know more than I should about your private life, at least as it involves our chief of police. But as to the cases you are working on, what you are doing, and with whom, frankly, Sergeant, I am clueless.”
Viviana managed to squash her annoyance. She knew, at least in part, Greg was responding to Jax’s insistence that he get control of her. But she had to admit he was right. She hadn’t been in his office since she rushed out to respond to Francis’s alert about Ariel, which she compounded by blowing off their luncheon meeting in her fury at Jax. While she had no intention of bringing him into the leads that she and Francis were chasing, she knew she needed to throw him a bone. But before she could manufacture a reasonably possible scenario of what she was working on, Greg caught her off guard.
“You indicated yesterday that you had reason to believe that Mayor Simpson’s wife was involved in something you were working on. Want to tell me about that, Sergeant? I have to agree with Jax. On the surface, Annabelle Simpson doesn’t fit the profile of anyone who would interest you—at least in terms of a case. But regardless, please edify me.”