"With what?" Her brain struggled to focus under his full assault.
Jax pressed her against the sink. "This." His lips came down on hers, his actions greedy as he lifted her to the vanity.
Waverly moaned. Gods, she'd needed him so badly for so long now. What he'd done on the transport hadn't come close to fulfilling her. She grabbed hunks of his hair in both her hands, not letting him ease the pressure of his lips. Capturing him, she wrapped her legs around his waist to bring his erection to her core.
His hands were at the top of her pants, unzipping, but she couldn't feel anything except his lips and the pressure of his cock. His smell wrapped around her like a warm blanket, both calming and heightening her desire. His tongue stroked deep into her mouth, as she ground her hips into his.
Wrenching away from her grasp all at once, Jax pulled her pants to her boots. Waverly caught the blaster as it fell, dropping it onto the vanity while he dragged everything off, throwing her clothes behind him.
He framed her chin in his hands. "I want to love you slowly. Pull your clothing off piece by piece and run my mouth over every curve." He kissed her cheek, running his tongue to the shell over her ear. "But we don't have time, Waverly love." He stared down at her with something deep and wonderful in his eyes, before he pulled her to her feet and turned her around to the mirror. "Instead I'm going to take you as hard and as fast as I can, because I'd rather have that then nothing at all."
Waverly gazed at him standing behind her, his white-blond hair mussed, green eyes heavy with passion, scarred hands cupping her breasts. His thumbs brushed her nipples, making her shiver with need. She wanted this man. Not just now, but forever. Maybe. No. She shook her head at her own reflection and was honest with herself--forever.
He bent her forward and widened her legs.
"Look at me." It was a request, a plea, an order all in one.
Waverly met his eyes in the mirror. His fingers massaged her clit before he ground his shaft into her. She closed her eyes as he filled her up.
"Look at me," he whispered.
"It feels so good." She opened her eyes to meet his gaze. His face twisted in the agony of desire.
"I've wanted you so badly for days. Days, Waverly." He moved with strong, forceful stabs. "I thought I would come when you did on the ship this morning."
The tension of orgasm built inside her. She clutched at the vanity, holding on tight to keep still under his assault.
Jax leaned down on one arm, his chin resting on her shoulder, his gaze still set to hers in the mirror.
"Come now," he said, his fingers turning quick and tight on her clit. "Come with me." He gritted his teeth, obviously trying to hold out longer.
"Yes," she said, unable to keep her eyes open a second more.
Then the tension burst like water through a dam and overwhelmed her with a wonderful release, gushing through her veins and tearing through her body.
Jax groaned with his own peak, coming with such power, it caused another orgasm to shake through her.
"Gods, I could come another twenty times," he murmured, giving her shoulder a mildly painful nip. "But we need to get out of here." He pulled his cock out with obvious reluctance, then propped her back up on the vanity. "Thank you." He kissed her swollen lips. "I promise I'll love you better once we're done here."
Waverly smiled, already feeling her pulse quicken at the thought. "I'm not sure you can do much better, Jax."
"Oh, I don't know." He wet a towel and slowly cleaned between her legs, making her gasp as the cloth passed over her still sensitive clitoris. "I think loving you in an actual bed might be a nice change."
He helped her down, then cleaned himself off while Waverly reclaimed her clothes from the heap across the room. She quickly dressed and turned to find him watching her.
"What?" she asked. He'd shaved off the dark stubble that had covered his jaw, revealing once more the harsh planes of his face, making her think again how starkly handsome he was. Standing with one shoulder casually propped against the wall, he was a picture of muscle and grace. But she wondered what he was thinking.
"You're beautiful, Waverly." He stepped away to lean down for a kiss. "Let's go."
When they walked out of bathroom, a passing employee gave them an odd glance. Waverly pushed down the urge to laugh. "You're coming out of the female washroom," she whispered.
"I'll tell them I was fixing the plumbing." Jax slid his hand down her cheek, neck, shoulder, arm, then his fingers curled around hers.
"Stop." She closed her eyes, her body tingling where he had touched, already wanting him again.
"Believe me, I'm trying," Jax said, his voice filled with amusement and lust.
"Are you ready?" Caelen asked from a doorway down the hall. "Your father will see you now."
When Jax took a step forward, pulling Waverly with him, Caelen added, "He will only see you, Jaxon."
Jax stopped, the look on his face mild, but Waverly felt a tremor of anger slide though him. "We come as a package, I'm afraid. He won't get one without the other."
Obviously torn, Caelen opened and closed his mouth several times before he finally nodded. "Follow me."
They went into a waiting room, much like the lobby on a smaller scale. Waverly allowed Jax to pull her along while she studied the heavy oil paintings on the walls. They were all of men who had the same strong jaw and deep green eyes of her lover. But their expressions were different from any she had seen Jax wear.
These men's faces showed power, arrogance, and even ruthlessness. She wondered if Jax's face would have turned out the same if he hadn't been banished for seven years. When she looked at him, strength, power, intelligence and his own brand of honor gleamed out at her. And lust. He often looked at her with complete attention and desire. It made heat lance through her, and she had to fight the urge to touch him, fight to control her need to run her mouth along his skin.
Caelen knocked twice and opened the double doors to an imposing office. A man rose to welcome them.
Steel colored hair and age-lines made him into an older version of Jax. They were so similar it took Waverly's breath away.
CHAPTER FOUR CONFRONTING THE PAST
"Jaxon." His father's gravel voice rang through the room with authority. "You've finally come back."
Jax dropped Waverly's hand and stepped towards his father. The head of Romely Corporation stood behind his desk, not bothering to come around to greet his son. Tension kept his father standing ramrod straight, his face full of disapproval.
Some of the hope inside Jax faded at the cool reception.
"Seven years is seven years. I couldn't have come any sooner."
A brief wince passed quickly across his father's face before he clasped Jax's hand as custom dictated. For a moment, they each squeezed tight.
The contact might be formal but Jax had missed his father badly, even as he hated him for his betrayal. It was a constant cycle of pain he had endured for seven years. Still, Jax enjoyed the warm strength of his father's hand around his own for a second longer, before he broke away to turn to the man standing beside the desk.
"Del," he said, offering his hand.
"Brother." Del's grip was cold and half-hearted.
Jax remembered the day Del and his mother Babbet arrived at Three Bridges to live with them. Jax had been so excited to have a new brother, so happy his father had found someone to take away the loneliness he'd felt since Jax's mother had died. But Del had never claimed him as a brother.
Until now.
It seemed a strange time to go from friendship to family. It puzzled him, but he couldn't ask any of the questions circling in his head.
Jax turned to Waverly, who stood in obvious confusion beside him. Her eyes widened as she saw his intention to introduce her, and she gave a small shake of her head.
The ice in his veins thawed with her presence. He should have warned her that his reception might have gone this way. But secretly, he had hoped it wouldn't.
"This is my mate, Waverly." Jax held out his hand, palm up. His eyes told her to follow his lead.
Waverly opened her mouth and he braced himself for what she was about to say. "Cwek-cwek safer, boyo. Should rail it outta here."
Jax tried to control his surprise at the fast-spoken Sector 12 slang rolling out of his mate's mouth. Then he stuffed down the hoot of laughter that bubbled up at her likening his family to a desert lizard found in abundance on Sector 12. Its skin was so poisonous, one touch would eat through your fingers to the bones.
"My gods! She doesn't speak the One Language?" Del asked, his tone full of disgust. He had actually taken a step back when she spoke.
Jax cleared the laughter out of his throat. "Way," he shortened her name. "No Cwek-cwek. Them's Eaters, double-crossin'. Can't rail. Sunbake."
Jax had never perfected the slang, preferring to keep to himself during his exile, and he wondered if anyone actually used the word rail for leave. Sunbake meant standing for hours in the sun. Sector 12 had many slang terms for heat, sun, sand, all the things found on the desert.
He felt a flash of guilt at likening his family to the Junkeaters, but facts were facts--they had let him go to jail for a crime he didn't commit. He couldn't trust them now.
For a moment, Waverly stood there, her gaze locked to his. Then she stepped forward until she was close enough for Jax to put his hand on her shoulder. He hadn't doubted that she would stand by him, but he wasn't shocked that she wanted to leave either. Waverly was at her best behind the controls of speeding vehicles.
"That's impossible," his father said, choosing to ignore their indecipherable banter. "You cannot be mated." Leaning closer, he studied Waverly as if she were an animal in a cage. "And she's Alterian! You've taken a mate from another planet."
"It looks as if I did," Jax said, his voice casual, though a hint of a warning leaked out.
"So you think you're his mate, do you?" The older man's voice filled with aggression as he gazed at Waverly, eyes narrowed.
"No," she said, her voice now filled with the strains of high-brow Alterian. "I don't."
Her tone was rich, like honeyed wine and it curled around his insides. Jax stuffed down the desire to wrap her close to him. Waverly made him forget everything but her. He struggled to concentrate on the conversation.
The three other men stood in shocked silence at her spunky reply. Jax fought the urge to grin. Her strength was his favorite of her qualities.
"You don't what?" his father asked, his tone incredulous at Waverly's statement.
"I think your son is wrong, that I'm not his mate."
His father looked at Jax for an explanation, throwing his hands up. "She doesn't believe you are mated?" For Jimlee couples, there was never any doubt.
"We're working on her misconception."
Jax nodded once when he met her gaze. He approved of her candor and wanted her to know it, even if she was ultimately wrong. There was no doubt they were mates.
"She's Alterian," his father said, pointing to her telltale blue-on-blue eyes. "I've never heard of a match between the two worlds."
"Her heritage is mixed." Jax's fingers captured hers. He couldn't help but touch her.
"Alterians do not mate for life. I've explained that to him several times." Waverly squeezed his fingers in appreciation, as his thumb softly caressed the back of her hand.
The contact made him want to curl around her, touch as much of her body as he could.
"You'll know for sure when the mating ritual hits you," Jax's father informed him, obviously growing tired of what would seem to him like a ludicrous conversation.
"It already has. It ended three days ago."
"So you either found fulfillment or you did not. It is as simple as that."
"Well, there you have it," Jax said, staring down at Waverly, trying to contain the amusement dancing inside him, only letting a small, half-smile show. "The word from on-high."
Waverly's eyes widened as she caught Jax's blatant slam on his father. But Jax knew the head of Romely Corporation wouldn't notice. It would never occur to him anyone would question his judgment. His father's arrogance had never been one of his more endearing traits.
"You missed your training ritual. Perhaps you are mistaken," his brother said, his voice smooth and convincing.
Del wore his black hair pulled back into a ponytail now. Jax thought it made his new-brother's face look too feminine, showing off eyes that looked like black holes from across the room. Yet he stood with a new confidence, an aura of power wrapping around him, which hadn't been there seven years ago.
Out of the corner of his vision, Caelen frowned and lowered his brows in disapproval of Jax's mate. Jax ignored him.
"I'm not mistaken. There is no doubt that I found fulfillment." Jax shifted, pulling Waverly a little closer. "I only came back for answers."
"Answers to what?" his brother asked, watching them closely. He seemed to study the way their bodies touched, his eyes narrowing in irritation. Why would Del care if he was mated? It shouldn't matter one way or the other to him, and yet Jax could tell it did.
He knew the precise moment Del decided they were indeed mated. His face tightened and a frown creased his brow, while he stared at their clasped hands.
"I came to find out who framed me seven years ago," Jax said.
Del's gaze snapped to Jax. "Framed you?" He barked a laugh. "You did it!"
"Actually, I didn't, but thanks for your support and trust in me, brother." Anger and frustration radiated through Jax's body. He had never been a liar. Why didn't they believe him? He had turned the question over so many times in his mind, but he never had an answer.
Waverly's hand tightened, calming him almost instantly.
"You ran guns here, just like you did on Sector 12."
"I figured there was a certain irony to doing what I'd been accused of but did not do." Jax put emphasis on the last words. He hadn't defended himself before but he wouldn't make that mistake again.
Jax's father cleared his throat and tipped his head to one side. "Are you telling me you were innocent?"
For the first time, Jax could see his father consider that he might have been convicted of something he did not do. Jax reined in the need to shout his reply. The surprise and consideration on his father's face should have been there seven years ago.
"That's what I'm telling you, father. And I'm going to find out who set me up." With a step forward, he dropped Waverly's hand. "I spent seven years in hell, and I'm not going to rest until I find out who was responsible."
Jax needed to leave before he lost the fragile control he had over his emotions, and beat his fist on the desk.
Turning, he started for the door, catching Waverly's arm on the way out.
"I suppose we're leaving," Waverly whispered.
"Jaxon." His father stopped him, but he didn't turn around. "You will stay with us at the house."
"If you wish it." Jax wasn't surprised. Jimlee culture dictated that he would stay with his family.
"I do."
"Fine." Jax yanked open the door and pushed Waverly through. "We'll go there now."
"Your mother is already expecting you."
Checking the urge to deny that Babbet was his mother, Jax pulled the door closed, the latch snicking in place with only a whisper of sound.
CHAPTER FIVE THREE BRIDGES
"Well, that seemed to go well," Waverly said, as Jax hauled her out of the Romely Corporation.
She had spent the whole time wanting desperately to leave. If she had been gone for seven years and her family were still alive, they would have celebrated her return for weeks with gatherings, parties and dances. But the air in the room had been tinged with disapproval and an uncomfortable stiffness.
She felt like she'd fallen into a nest of vipers.
Her heart turned over for Jax as he stared straight ahead, grinding his back teeth together, his face twisted into bleak lines.
"It's about to get worse," he i
nformed her with grim certainty.
A sleek Motoride stood at the curb, its costly engine purring. Without pausing, he opened the door and whisked her inside. The Motoride took off, the uniformed driver not bothering to ask where Jax wanted to go. Waverly assumed it belonged to his father.
She stared at Jax, questioning him silently. He didn't answer, turning instead to watch the city disappear, and rolling green hills pass outside the window.
Waverly turned to study the landscape, while Jax wrestled with his inner demons. Since the driver was in the Ride with them, she hesitated to ask him what was wrong. Instead, she took stock of her life.
Five days ago, she had been alone, set afloat in a universe that didn't appreciate her as a pilot, a virgin who had only felt disgust when men touched her. But Alexander had changed all that when he sold her to Jax for a fortune in decodreams. The minute she'd woken in Jax's bed, she had burned for him. And she hadn't stopped burning. It had only been four days, but already she wondered if she would ever stop wanting him this badly. And, in claiming her as his mate, he had given her a priceless gift--she was no longer alone.
Waverly studied his reflection in the window, the stiff way he held his body telling her that he sat deep in thought. For a second, she studied his chest. He settled, getting more comfortable on the seat. Her stomach flip-flopped with desire at the graceful flow of rippling muscles. Muscles she could feel under her hands even now, the skin warm beneath her fingertips, a light sprinkling of hair whispering by. Gods, she wanted to slide down the seat and put image into action.
But he needed to think. And she did too.
It was becoming rapidly apparent to her that she might indeed be his mate. She had realized in the washroom that her period of heat had ended, but she still burned for him as if it still raged inside her. The red on his hands had faded days ago, but Jax still wanted her badly enough to risk loving her in the middle of his father's business. And it wasn't just sexual. He provided her with a closeness she hadn't thought she would ever have again when her family had died.
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