[06] Slade

by Teresa Gabelman

  Slade crossed his arms to keep from grabbing her, which is what he wanted to do, but not to harm, unless it was a bare ass spanking. A pissed-off Jill was sexy as hell. Her skin flushed, her eyes bright with anger, chest heaving as she shouted out; her quick wit turned him on like nothing else ever had. He wondered how far he could actually push the little wildcat.

  “Listen, baby…” It looked like the fires of hell flamed her eyes, answering the question of how far he could push her. Not very far apparently.

  Jill threw out her hand, the force pushing Slade toward the door. “Do not call me baby!” She gave a hard push with her hand, her eyes still on fire with anger.

  Digging his heels in, he fought against her power. Slowly, he lifted his hand, pushing with his power against hers. “Don’t forget, I’ve got the same power and I know how to use it.”

  Frowning as her feet moved backward on the bed, Jill visibly tried to push back harder, but it was no use; she was moving quickly toward the wall. Slade followed by stepping up on her bed as if it was just a small step. She struggled with everything she had, but it was no use. He had her plastered against the wall, both hands up above her head without him even touching her, only his power kept her prisoner.

  “What are you going to do now, badass?” Slade tilted his head, looking down at her. When she struggled to move, he smiled. “The things I could do to you right now.”

  A fire of a different kind lit her eyes, before a smirk curved her lips. “Go for it, Warrior.” Her voice lowered in a sexy timbre. “Then you can run out when you’re finished.” Her voice changed to sarcastic in a flash.

  “One of these days, I’m going to smack that sweet ass of yours.” The smile never left his lips and his eyes promised he would do just that.

  “Promises… Promises,” Jill responded as if she couldn’t care less, but her harsh breathing told him otherwise.

  “Listen, and listen good, Jillian.” He bent so his mouth was close to her ear, but his eyes still stared into hers. “Once your initiation is over, you are mine. Make no mistake, I will have you again and again, but for now, you focus on getting through initiation.”

  She sucked in her breath, biting her lower lip.

  “If you’d keep that mouth of yours closed and listen, this whole situation would be different.” He breathed in deeply, inhaling her scent; his cock hardened painfully in his jeans. “But then again, that mouth of yours has its benefits because without it, I wouldn’t have you exactly where I want you.”

  “And where…” her voice cracked, causing her to clear it, “where’s that?”

  “Plastered against the wall under my total control.” He moved his head around, their lips brushing against each other as he made his way slowly to her other ear. “And that…baby…makes me hard.” He pushed into her, showing her exactly how hard he was. The flare in her eyes let him know she liked being in his control, which made it that much sweeter.

  He could feel her body tremble, could smell her need and wanted nothing more than to fulfill that need, but she was going to have to learn to listen and not automatically think he only wanted one thing from her. Oh, he wanted nothing more in the world at that moment than to sink deep into her tight warmth, but Slade wanted her and he was done hiding it, but she was going to finish the program before anything more happened between them.

  “But—” Jill’s voice was harsh with need.

  “There are no buts, Jill. I’m your trainer. That is most important right now,” Slade replied before she could even finish her sentence. “This is the way it is and the way it will be. Finish the program and then we will see where we go from there.”

  Their faces were inches apart, breath mingling and Slade had control…until her wet, pink tongue snaked out to moisten her lips. Pushing away from her, he released his power, turned stepping off the bed, heading for the door. Jill followed him.

  “So that’s it?” Jill stood on the end of the bed. “You’re leaving…again?”

  Slade turned enough to look at her over his shoulder. “You heard what I said, Jill. Finish the program.” His eyes ran over her body; his mind, as well as his hard cock, demanding he walk back and take her, ease his misery and hers, but he was stronger than that. He meant what he said. He would not be the reason she failed or got killed. He was her trainer first and foremost, and at that moment, he hated his fucking job.

  Walking out of the room was probably the hardest thing he had ever done. Before he could take a step, something big hit the door behind him. He smiled, shaking his head. Yeah, he was going to pay for this stunt, but their focus needed to be on her training and nothing more. Taking a step, he groaned, looking down, but first he needed to take care of his need. Damn that woman was going to kill him or drive him insane. His mind quickly wondered how she would ease her need. “Fuck!” He shook the thoughts from his head, and walked faster to his room. Yeah, he was going to go insane.

  ******

  Walking into a weight gym, Jax realized he had been right. The guy was a muscle head. “You see him anywhere?” Jax asked Sid, looking around.

  “No.” Sid walked over to the counter where a cute girl with a preppy ponytail and tight workout clothes stood at a computer. “Hello.”

  She looked up, her eyes widening at Sid, then shooting for Jax. “Hi.” She smiled, putting on her best sales face. “You guys interested in a membership?”

  “Hell, no,” Jax grumbled.

  “Actually, I am.” Sid laughed loudly, rolling his eyes. “And I’m trying to talk my buddy into joining with me, but he’s being a hard-ass thinking he don’t need it.”

  The girl’s eyes ran up and down Jax, and from her expression she agreed; he didn’t need it. Then her sales’ face returned. “You are in great shape.” The girl nodded at Jax. “But this is a great gym with all the state-of-the-art equipment to help you stay in great shape.”

  “That’s what I told him,” Sid sighed, shaking his head before looking back at her with his biggest smile. “So, can we take a look around before making the decision?”

  “Sure!” Her excitement at a possible bump in salary by signing two new memberships had her grabbing papers. “I’ll get everything together on this end. You guys go check it out. I know you won’t be disappointed. Plus, we are the only twenty-four hour gym in the area.”

  “Thank you.” Sid smiled down at her, making her blush. “I’m sure we won’t be disappointed in what we find at all.”

  Jax had already taken off. It was pretty empty since it was two o’clock in the morning. The place was big, and as Jax was about to give up finding the bastard, Sid chuckled, pointing toward the back corner.

  “He really is a douchebag,” Sid smirked. “He’s going to be so happy to see me.”

  Looking to where Sid was pointing, Jax spotted the man immediately, standing in front of a mirror that covered the whole wall while pumping weights and looking at himself before flexing. “He’s mine,” Jax reminded Sid.

  “Just got your back, brother.” Sid nodded, looking slightly disappointed as they made their way toward the iron-pumping asshole.

  Rod was too busy looking down at his muscle to notice two figures behind him in the mirror, but once he looked up, it was a photo moment because the look of shock on his face was classic. Sid with his crooked ‘you’re getting your ass beat’ smile and Jax’s ‘I’m the one beating your ass’ glare couldn’t be misconstrued.

  Dropping the weights, Rod tried to make a run for it, but had nowhere to go. Jax grabbed him by the back of the neck, forcing him down on a weight bench.

  “What do you want?” Rod’s voice didn’t fit his body image. He sounded like a scared girl, his voice high with fright. “I didn’t do anything to Lana.” His eyes shot to Sid.

  “And you’re very lucky for that,” Sid growled down at him.

  “You like hitting women?” Jax smacked him on the back of the head, hard. “Does it make you feel like a man, you piece of shit?”

  “No, it was an acciden
t.” Rod’s lie pissed Jax off even more, making him smack the back of his head harder.

  “Try again, motherfucker,” Jax sneered down at him. “Do you know what my tribe did back in the day to men who abused their women?”

  “No.” Rod’s voice shook almost as bad as his body. “And I didn’t abuse Caroline.”

  Jax grabbed Rod by the throat, getting in his face. “You’re not even fit to say her name.”

  “Ah, Jax.” Sid tilted his head, watching Rod’s face change colors. “I was hoping to prolong his suffering for a while; it’s more entertaining that way.”

  With one last squeeze, Jax shoved his neck away. “A woman should be honored, not beat on by little pricks like you.” Jax knelt down in front of Rod so the bastard could see the truth behind his words.

  “So what did your tribe use to do?” Sid sat down on a weight bench next to Rod. “I’d really like to hear the story.”

  Jax’s smile turned evil as his fist clenched tightly; his piercing black eyes never left Rod’s. “First, after the bastard was found, he was tied to a tree. The elders allowed all the women to inflict punishment, but not kill. When the women were finished, the woman who had been abused had her turn, and it wasn’t pretty. Indian women could be more ruthless than the men.”

  “Go on.” Sid leaned closer as if really getting into the story, which was fucking with Rod’s head.

  “Once she was finished, the women would go back to their daily routines while the men took over.” Jax’s face took on a menacing look. “If it was rape, his cock was cut with expertise off his body. The shaman would sew him back up to make sure he would live so every day he could see his rotting raping cock hanging from the woman’s camp.”

  “Holy shit. Can someone really live without their dick?” Sid leaned back, really thinking about that. “Then again, who the fuck would want to?”

  “If it’s done right, they can, and believe me, our shaman had it down to an art and even showed men in the tribe how it was done so the punishment would live on after he was gone.” Jax watched the sweat roll down Rod’s terrified face, a primal satisfaction filling his body.

  “Let me guess.” Sid snapped his fingers and pointed at Jax. “You were one of those men the shaman taught.”

  “I didn’t rape her. Is that what that bitch said? She’s fucking lying.” Rod went to stand up, but was slammed back down.

  “Shut the fuck up and listen,” Jax warned, his eyes black as night.

  “Yeah, I want to hear the rest, Rod.” Sid’s face indicated he was loving every fucking minute of this.

  “In my tribe, the punishment reflected the abuse,” Jax continued. “If a man hit a woman, his hands were removed. If he bit a woman, his teeth were removed, and not in a pleasant way. Everything was done so that the bastard would live with his punishment and disgrace, every day.”

  “So what if they called her a bitch?” Sid asked, using his head to point at Rod.

  “Then the nearest male would punch him in the mouth.” Jax did just that before pushing Rod all the way back on the weight’s bench. “This is your only warning. If you ever come near Caroline or her family again, I will hunt you down, and believe me, you don’t want me hunting you down because once I find you, and I will find you, I will relive my roots and deal out every punishment I’ve ever learned. It will be painful and you will be hideous, but you will live. You understand me, motherfucker?”

  Rod nodded, tears rolling out of the side of each eye. He tried to answer, but choked on the blood from his mouth. “Yes,” he finally muttered past his broken teeth and swelling lips.

  Sid walked over with a bench lift bar loaded down with weights, setting it down across Rod’s chest. “I’m kind of impressed, Rod. If I was you, I’d be scared enough to piss myself.” Sid let go of the bar so all the weight kept Rod immobile, before he looked at Jax. “Hey, didn’t you guys scalp people also?”

  “Yes.” Was all Jax said as he pulled out a butterfly knife, opening it with flare. “Our knives were a little bigger, but this would do.”

  Sid nodded, and then looked down at Rod’s crotch as his red shorts became darker with piss. “And there it is,” Sid grinned. “Figured that would do it.”

  Jax leaned over Rod. “Remember, you cannot hide from me.”

  Rod nodded and squeezed his eyes shut, a low keening coming from his throat.

  As Jax and Sid walked toward the exit, Sid grinned. “Now that was fun.”

  Jax mumbled, still in his rage-mode.

  “So what tribe were you with?” Sid glanced at him sideways.

  “The one you didn’t want to fuck with, white man.” Jax pushed his way out the door.

  “Point taken.” Sid nodded with raised eyebrows, and then smiled. “I’m going to like you, Chief. Now let’s go home and I’ll fix you up some grub.”

  “That’s cowboy slang, dumbass.” Jax turned his head away so Sid couldn’t see his half smile. This fucker was nuts, but funny as hell.

  Chapter 13

  After hours of lying awake, Jill headed to the kitchen, grumpy and sexually frustrated. She had thought of many nasty, painful ways to torture Slade. After a cold shower, which didn’t help her one bit and proved the belief that cold showers helped a sexually frustrated individual was total bullshit, her ways of torture turned even more evil.

  “Well, hello, sunshine.” Steve smiled at her from the table.

  Ignoring him, other than a growl, Jill headed for coffee. Grabbing the biggest cup she could find, she poured and poured, dumped half a bowl of sugar in and took a long drink, loving the burn going down her throat. Bringing the cup down, she sighed then looked around at everyone staring at her.

  “What?” she glared, not in the mood.

  “You want some food with your cup of sugar?” Sid eyed her closely.

  Shaking her head, she poured more coffee and sugar into her cup and walked to the table to sit down across from Steve. Jax sat on one end drinking coffee. Adam had just walked over with food falling off the edges of his plate and sat down.

  “So when do your stripping lessons start?” Adam dug into his food, waiting for her to answer.

  Pulling the hood up around her head, Jill frowned. “Tessa texted me this morning. I have to meet them around noon at the bar.”

  “Good.” Sloan had walked in on the conversation, followed by Jared and Slade. “That will give you plenty of time to practice your driving. Congrats on passing the written. Monday you test for your driving permit and you better be ready. I had to pull in a few favors to get you in before your required time.”

  Well, that sure as hell didn’t add any pressure. What she really wanted to say was ‘can’t I even drink a full cup of coffee before you’re on my ass about something’,’ but instead, responded with, “Yes, sir.” Seriously, she wanted to live, but was just having a minute to relax too freaking much to ask?

  “Who’s free this morning to go with her so she can practice driving?” Sloan looked around.

  “Ah, well, I ah…” Adam about choked on his egg when Sloan’s eyes fell on him.

  Jill glared at him, the ass. God forbid, he let her drive his precious piece of crap.

  “I’ll do it,” Jax said, surprising everyone. Draining the rest of his coffee, he stood, looking at Jill. “Let’s go.”

  “Dun Dun Duuuuunnnnn,” Steve mumbled before taking a bite of food.

  Jill snatched a sausage link off Adam’s plate, hitting Steve between the eyes with it before standing up and taking her cup to the sink.

  “Hey!” Steve frowned, before looking at the sausage and taking a bite.

  Jill rolled her eyes when she turned around to see Steve eating the sausage she threw at him. Passing Sloan and Slade, she nodded, but kept her eyes off Slade, because suddenly, all the torture techniques popped into her head again. Yeah, she needed to get out of there.

  Heading outside, she saw Jax walking toward a cherry red Mustang GT. Holy shit, if she wrecked that car, she would be a dead woman. Sh
e wondered briefly if stress could actually kill a half-breed. “Hey, if that’s a stick, I can’t drive it.”

  Jax laughed without turning around. “There is no way in hell I would let you drive this car.” He popped the trunk, getting something out. “We’re taking one of the other cars.”

  Okay, that settled her stomach a little bit. Still, it rolled and pitched thinking about getting behind the wheel while the person who hated her and wanted her to quit the program sat next to her. This was going to be a total fail.

  They went to one of the old cars, a Nissan, the Warriors used for different occasions. He threw the keys to her. Jill got in, put her seatbelt on, started the car and sat there staring out the window.

  Finally, Jax glanced over at her. “Please tell me you know how to put the car in gear.”

  Jill nodded. “I just don’t want you to start yelling because that’s just going to make me more nervous.”

  “Don’t give me a reason to yell and I won’t yell.” Jax’s response was pretty much to the point, but didn’t help. Jill gave him a sideways glance. “Okay, I will only yell if you are about to plow someone down. Better?”

  Again, Jill nodded as she put the car in reverse. Pulling out fast, and then slamming on the brakes, Jill watched out of the corner of her eye as Jax’s upper body flew forward and then slammed back against the seat. She waited…ready.

  Slowly, he turned to look at her. “And the reason for that was?” He cocked his eyebrow at her.

  “Just wanted to make sure you weren’t going to yell before I actually got out on the road,” Jill shrugged.

  Jax nodded slowly, still eyeing her. “Well since we have that cleared up, are you ready to stop fucking around and get this over with?”

  “Yep.” This time, Jill pulled out carefully and headed for the exit of the compound driveway. Flicking on her blinker, she looked for traffic and pulled out, smiling at herself for getting that far without killing them. As they travelled down the road, Jill kept a death grip on the wheel, her eyes going all over the place looking for obstacles she could murder with the car.