OUR UNLIKELY BABY

by Paula Cox

  “Look at me,” he said. “Don’t leave my eyes.”

  Lena kept her stare fixed on his as he held her tight and moved deeper. As his cock expanded under her skin, she dug her nails into his back and found his ear.

  “Don’t you run off again,” she whispered. When he was slow to answer, Lena gripped his face and spoke fast. “Jax, I---”

  “Not yet,” he said. “Be with me now. Lena…”

  Jax’s thrust moved into her bloodstream, and Lena’s head fell back as he held her waist under the weight of her screams. She came quicker this time and pictured a place where she would climax under nothing but the feel of his fingers against her cheek. But there was his cock planted between her legs, his body draining its lust and causing her to moan when he eased her ass to the edge of the tub. His cock stayed inside her as he kissed her cheeks and stroked her damp hair.

  “Thank you,” he said. “I’ll live off of that.”

  “For how long?” Lena managed to ask.

  He was silent as he carried her from the tub and snatched a towel from the rack. As soon as they were back before the bed, Jax dried her down, his lips mirroring his strokes as he kissed his way up her legs and settled his fingers under his chin. “Not long,” he whispered. “I’m going to make this work. And then…” Jax’s voice stilled, and he kissed her again, leaving her lips only to fold her into his arms and push his nose to her neck.

  “Jax?”

  “And then we’ll be safe,” he promised her. “It’ll be everything we ever wanted.”

  Just like the better parts of her dream, the moments before Eric reared his hideous head and sent a fresh wave of shame over her soul. Shaking the idea of him off, Lena took Jax’s hands and pressed her lips to his ear. “The let’s go now, Jax. There has to be all kinds of place where no one even knows us.”

  “Sure enough,” he said. “But I can’t…”

  He tied a towel over her breasts and started to leave the room when she reached for his hand and turned him back to her side. “What can’t you do?” she asked.

  Jax hung his head and spoke slowly. “Can’t stand the thought that you’ll ever be in any kind of trouble.”

  Lena continued to object when he stilled her voice with a fresh kiss and grazed her cheek.

  “You should cover up,” he said. “I’ll fix us something to eat.”

  Lena spied her clothes resting on the floor, but she stayed naked as she walked back to the bathroom and retrieved he discarded tee. She wanted his scent clinging to her skin, and when she entered the kitchen, she saw him in his jeans, his back bare as he boiled pot of water and stirred some oatmeal into the mix.

  “That the look you’re going with?” he asked.

  “Is it okay?”

  “My clothes kind of look good on you.”

  And they felt even better.

  When the oats were soft, he spooned out two dishes. Passing one to her place, he sat by her side with two spoons and kissed the top of her head. “Eat up, Lena.”

  She tried to choke the porridge down, but she gagged on the mealy substance and set her bowl aside. “What’s really going to happen, Jax?” she asked. “We can’t hide here forever.”

  “No,” he slowly admitted. “But I’m going to get us help. If nothing else, Aggie owes me something.”

  Lena considered the wisdom of the plan. “But what if she’s not there?” Lena asked. “Or if she doesn’t want to see you?”

  She hated the sound of the words as soon as they left her lips, but she couldn’t take them back as he pushed away from the table and grabbed his jacket. ”I’ll just have to make her see that she has no choice in the matter.”

  He started to exit the house when he suddenly stopped in his tracks and turned back to face her. “You need to stay scarce,” he said. “You can do that for me, right?” Fighting off the urge to hold him, Lena nodded into her chest, and a light whimper left her lips as he strode back to her side, his fingers pushing into her cheeks as he tilted her face towards his. “Lena? Answer me on this.”

  Somehow she nodded, but even as she made the move, she bit back the tears bubbling in her throat and struggled to keep from crying as he took her into his arms. As soon as his hold was tight around her body, Lena sank into his chest and moaned into his bare flesh as his shirt and his singular perfume clung to her body. “I can do it,” she assured him, kissing him hard and fast as she wrapped her arms around his neck, stroking his face as she smiled softly. “But I….”

  “You know I have to do this, Lena,” he reminded her. “It’s the only way out for us.”

  It still seemed like a slim chance at best, but Lena was in no position to argue as she let her fingers fall down his arm and seize his hand. Basking in the warmth of his palm, Lena started to lean into his body when she spied his gun protruding from its holster. “Have to admit that I’d feel a hell of a lot better if you and your firearm were staying closer to home.”

  Jax started to speak, probably to protest and explain again, when he held her hand tighter and lead her out of the house.

  “What are you---?”

  “Just follow me.”

  At the edge of the shed, Jax kissed her fingers quickly before bringing his bike back into view. Kneeling down for his saddlebag, she watched him with wide eyes as he pulled another pistol from the pack and pushed it into her hand. “Ever hold one of these before?”

  She shook her head even as her eyes lingered around the hard metal, her hand becoming acquainted with the slick surface as her finger neared the trigger. The idea of making the fatal move sent a shiver up her spine. But a part of her wanted to feel the bullet leaving the chamber, tearing into Eric if he dared to chance upon the safe house and try to stop them now.

  “Well it’s high time you learned what to do,” he said. “I mean…if you have to.”

  Her bare toes grazed the soft grass under her feet, and his arm was snug around her shoulders as he guided her to the back of the house. Jax fished a couple of empty cans from the ground and lined them up against the edge of a rickety fence. “Come here.”

  Jax settled her against his chest, his arms swirling around hers as they aimed the gun together. The intended target suddenly seemed so real, but she still wondered if she had the strength to follow through with her darker desires.

  “Jax, I---”

  “You are safe here,” he promised her. “But you should still know what to do.”

  Lena drew a deep breath and focused on the center can even as the other two sparkled out of the corners of her eyes. All she had to do was keep her aim true and pull the trigger, and she could bring any enemy down with one flick of her finger. And this was just a can. No harm, no foul if she got it wrong. Lena gritted her teeth and aimed the gun, but as soon as the crash started to hit her ears, she lost her poise and let the gun fall to the ground. The bullet still fled the chamber, but it bounced off the foot of the fence and sparked into the open air.

  “Shit, I’m---”

  “Get down, Lena!” Jax followed his words with quick action, and he folded her into the grass as he surrounded her with his body, the bullet whizzing over their mingling shoulders and crashing into the glass of one of the shed’s darkened windows. Lena whimpered as the shards fell close to their side, and as soon as Jax checked the perimeter and seemed to surmise that the danger had passed, he peered into her eyes. “Too fast too soon?” he asked.

  “I’m sorry, Jax. I really thought I could do it.”

  “Hold up.”

  Lifting her body to her feet, Lena felt his hands searching down her sides, and as she tilted her head, she grabbed his chin and forced him to look at her. “What are doing?” she asked.

  “Have to make sure that you weren’t hit,” he said.

  “Jax, the bullet is all the way over---”

  “But a piece of glass,” he insisted. “Just takes one push to make the blood flow.”

  Again she tried to tell him she was fine, but the feel of his hands racing up her fl
esh brought a warm tingle to her cunt, and Lena made no move as he pushed his fingers up her shirt and finally sighed when he found she was unharmed.

  “Maybe I shouldn’t leave you,” he sighed. “Won’t help my cause if I think you might blow your head off.”

  Lena looked into his eyes and entertained the notion of playing the damsel in distress, falling into him with tears streaming down her face, anything and everything to keep him close. But as she started to make the suggestion, she saw his eyes grow dark. Because if he couldn’t make his case, they would be dead in the water. And if that happened while she was at his side, he might truly know what it was to see her harmed. Lena wanted anything but that for him as she folded her arms around her neck and peered into his face. “But we can’t have you worrying about me while you try to get on your mom’s good side.”

  He started to nod, and she stilled her fingers against his chin as he hissed sharply. “But what will you do if you’re in danger?” he asked. “I won’t have you making like your own target.”

  “Now you hold up.”

  Scooping the gun from the grass, Jax tried to pry it from her fingers when she waved the gun before his face and watched his hands slip to the air as he licked his lips.

  “Don’t be mad at me,” he whispered. “I didn’t do---”

  “No. No you didn’t.” Turning away from him, she allowed herself to picture Eric Stiles’ leer and the horror that was being under his power. Remembering the pain, she recalled his delight when he saw her watering eyes as she struggled and screamed, and every can became his face. That’s all she needed to do: picture Eric and shoot to kill. And control her aim. Firing sharply, she obliterated all three cans with a series of shots, and as soon the shattered aluminum fell to the ground, Lena turned back to Jax, the smoking gun still in her hands as she smiled proudly. “I can take care of myself,” she said. “Do you see that now?”

  Jax answered her question with a soft sigh, and he rested his hand around the gun as he patted her wrist. “How did you manage that?”

  “Just had to think of you stepfather, and bingo.” Lena meant it to be a moment of triumph, but Jax hung his head and bit down on his lip.

  “You shouldn’t have to think about it,” he muttered. “It shouldn’t have happened in the first place.”

  “But it did, Jax.”

  Under any other man’s eyes, she might feel shamed and want to hide. But Jax grunted softly and pulled her back to his chest as he peered down at her. “Then use it,” he whispered. “If you have to.” The gun was at her thighs as he dragged her deeper into her arms and moaned into her hair. “But let’s hope that it’s a non-starter,” he said. “That I can get you to the other side safely.”

  Jax’s tee still clung to her shivering flesh, and she reached for his lips and kissed him. His mouth was light and sweet, and Lena clasped him close. “I hope so, too,” she said. “I just want to be alone with you again.”

  He brought his bike fully into the light, stopping for all of a second beside the safe house’s open front door, and Lena thought he might be ready to bring her back to the bed when he patted her head with a smile.

  “We’ll get to that,” he said. “Unending when it’s all said and done.”

  Jax kissed her cheek and started to mount, ready to head off for parts unknown when Lena charged to his side and gripped his neck. “Lena, I---”

  “I’m not telling you not to go,” she said. “I get why you think you have to.”

  “It’s a chance, Lena,” he confessed. “But it could be everything.”

  And she got that, too; she was almost on the verge of letting him go on his way when she held him closer and kissed his cheeks. “But just promise me that you’ll come back,” she pleaded. “No matter what.”

  “I already---”

  “Then say it again,” she asked. “I just like hearing it.”

  Jax sighed and held her fast as he his fingers stoked her cheek and he kissed her eyes. “I’ll come back to you,” he said. “One way or the other, I’m going to be at your side.”

  Lena couldn’t help but fix her hopes on that suggestion, but she knew it would never work if he stayed hidden. At some point, he had to face them, and Lena brushed her hands down his back and rested his brow to hers. “Of course you will,” she whispered. “And I’ll use the gun if I have to.”

  “You made a quick study,” he said proudly. “Sort of puts my mind at ease.”

  “I can help with that, too.”

  She found his lips and kissed him hard. Jax’s arms swirled around her back, and he pulled her closer as one hand grazed the gun at her side, his free fingers brushing the fallen hair from her face.

  “You believe me?” he asked.

  “Jax,” she murmured. “You always were kind of a badass.”

  “For you, Lena,” he said. “Only for you.”

  He seemed to hesitate but she pushed him to his bike and sighed softly. “Go then,” she said.

  “I’ll sort it out,” he promised. “And tell me you’ll be all right?”

  Just the thought of being away from him how brought tears to her eyes, but she bit her weeping back and tapped her finger to the trigger. “I promise, Jax,” she said. “And I can take care of myself.”

  “I know that, Lena.” He kissed her and started to leave when Lena kept his fingers in hers as she swirled close to his side. “Lena, I have to---”

  “And you take care of yourself,” she said. “Tell me this won’t be the last time.”

  Jax laughed as he cocked his head and stroked her cheeks. “Not by a long shot,” he said. “Wait here for me.”

  She nodded as she watched him mount his bike, and the chopper buzzed under his thighs as he turned his eyes over his shoulder.

  “I’ll be back soon,” he promised. “And…” Jax’s gaze settled on the gun still in her hand. “Only if you have to, Lena,” he said. “Only if you’re really scared.” She wordlessly nodded, and Jax started to pull away when he flashed her a sly grin. “This is going to work,” he assured her. “And I’ll be back before you know it.”

  Her mind clung to that idea and Lena pressed the gun to her legs with a sigh. “You better be, Jax.”

  He rode away with a smile and a sharp wave to the air. Lena sighed as she watched him depart, but she still had the gun and the promise of his return. “I’ll be here, Jax,” she muttered under her breath. “But please be quick about it.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Whooshing away from the safe house, Jax imagined he was already on his way back, bearing good news and ready to lift Lena onto his bike and take her somewhere safer still, a place where they might be able to look ahead to more than the next moment. The memory of her hands, the feel of her breath against his neck, the way her eyelids fluttered when he claimed her mouth… All of these things flooded his mind and became the sweat bursting through his pores, and when the safe house was still in view but little more than a dot on the horizon, Jax suddenly hit his brakes and turned his head over his shoulder. He thought he heard gunshots, and they nearly sent him back the same way that he had come. But maybe she was just practicing. Nothing dark about knowing how to hold a gun. Someone had told him that so long ago.

  What if it’s the wrong call? Last thing I want is to lead her into danger. But what if I can’t get back? What if that was the last time I ever get to be with her?

  The thought cut into his soul like a dull knife, and a burning ache raced up his throat, coming out in the whisper of her name into the wind.

  “Lena…”

  Better to go back? Take her with him and keep her close? Why had he even left her in the first place after so much time apart? Jax was ready to make the move. He could almost hear his voice ordering her to really get dressed and not ask any more questions. To just trust him. But as the motor buzzed between his legs again, he shook his head hard. It was no good. He had no idea what he was riding into, and he had to keep his eye on the prize. If she were near, if there were the c
hance that something awful could happen to her…

  Let her stay where she is. I’ll make it back. And then we’ll have all the time in the world.

  Heading again in the direction of the sun as it continued to lift higher and higher into the sky, somehow Jax managed to push Lena from his thoughts.

  And just as quickly, the image of another woman flooded his mind: his mother.

  Time was when he thought she was as strong as his father. Maybe even more so. His earliest memory was the sight of her sitting on their stoop, cleaning a handgun as he watched from the confines of a playpen. Just the idea of a woman holding a firearm so close to her toddler would no doubt set all kinds of red flags flying in the little minds that didn’t understand the golden rule: Gun is no danger to anyone if a body knows how to handle it. No one but the fool who tries to take what isn’t is.