In Heat

by Leigh Wyndfield

  "I'm sorry to hear that, Delco. I had thought we were."

  "We weren't and don't think you'll come back here and run Romely. It's too late for you. I've been President now for five years, Jax. Five. Years." Del's fists clenched at his sides. "I won't be stepping down, just because you decided to come home."

  "I don't think that's up to you, Del. My father makes those decisions."

  Waverly hissed in a breath at Jax's deliberate taunt.

  Del grabbed onto the banister post, gripping it with white fingers. "You think just because you show up here with a mate that you and your children will take over?" Venom poured out of his mouth. "I think you'll find you have something else coming altogether."

  Jax knew he should take the opportunity to confront his new-brother, but Del had done enough to them today. He wouldn't spoil Jax's plans for rounds of slow lovemaking with his mate.

  "I'm hard to kill, Del, if that's what you're threatening. One day soon, I'll be coming after you." Jax smiled, a slow, predatory widening of his lips. Waverly shivered in his arms. "Be afraid, Del. Be very afraid."

  Jax turned and began climbing the steps again, leaving Del sputtering at them below.

  * * * *

  Jax forced himself to climb the stairs without betraying his rage. So that was what this was all about--Romely. He should have known, should have at least anticipated that this would be the driving force behind Del's feelings. But traditionally, the CEO position had been a hereditary one, passed from father to son. Jax just hadn't considered that Del would want to change that.

  He tightened his hold on Waverly, who looked up at him with concern.

  Did he even want to be CEO anymore? Did he want to sentence them both to this house? He had money of his own. His grandmother had passed it down to him, and now that he had turned twenty-five, he had access to it.

  He found it odd that the whole time he was on Sector 12, he longed for home--but now that he was here, he wanted to leave. Everything had changed when Waverly came into his life.

  "Jax, where are we going?" she asked, when he turned in the opposite direction from their room.

  "Up to the third floor. We need a place where we can hole up and not have people listening in." He pushed a hidden panel and a door popped open, revealing stairs. "I came up here when I was a child to get away from everyone." He started up the steps, feeling the slow burn start in his groin. Burning for Waverly had become his focus these days.

  "This is going to sound strange, but when we got to the top of the stairs, I thought I saw something move in the shadows by the hall clock. I could almost swear I saw your father stepping out of view."

  Jax paused for a second for a long, lip crushing kiss. "I can't think about Del, or my father, or assassins, or anything but making love to you."

  At the top of the stairs, he crossed to a room down the hall. The door opened with a creak from lack of use. He set Waverly down, jammed the lock home, and carefully peeled back the dusty top cover on the bed.

  "Sorry about the accommodations." He threw the cover into the corner.

  "We've made love in worse places." She took off her high heels, kicking them to the side. Then she turned so he could unzip her dress.

  Jax ran his hand along her bare back after lowering it, unclipping her bra on his sweep down. The dress dropped to the floor, pooling at her feet, the silver fabric shimmering in the light of the moon flooding through the window.

  She turned to him wearing nothing but hose and panties. Working her hands under his shirt, she helped him pull it over his head. Jax touched his chest to hers and dipped his head to run his lips along hers.

  The contact lit a fire in his body, her soft breasts tempting him to touch them. He stroked her nipples lightly, deepening the kiss, sweeping her tongue with his. The peaks below his fingers tightened, and he brushed the tips as softly as he could, liking the gasp she made at the contact.

  He circled her nipples and they constricted even more. Jax struggled to balance the kiss with loving her breasts. Needing to focus, he pulled back and watched her face as he squeezed a nipple between his thumb and forefinger. Waverly's eyes closed and she hummed her pleasure.

  The sound filled him with excitement and need. Her pleasure was so important to him. He burned to please her, dropping to his knees so he could lick first one nipple, then the other. Alternating between them, Jax kept up his assault. After what she had done to him at dinner, he owed her this.

  Slipping one pebbled nipple into his mouth, he sucked strongly. Cinnamon filled the air, clouding his head. He would never get enough of her scent in his lungs. His hands dropped to her hips, fingers sliding beneath her underwear to brush the hair between her thighs.

  He switched to suckle the other breast, licking it first before drawing it tightly into his mouth. Waverly's hands ran along his shoulders, her fingers squeezing with each burst of pleasure she felt.

  Working his fingers along the elastic of her panties, he forced her legs to widen. She was soaking wet. Jax had to force himself not to leave her breasts. The front of his pants was so tight, he released his cock from the painful confines before coming back to stroke between her legs.

  Licking softly on the underneath side of her breasts, he worked a finger inside her.

  "Jax," she whispered.

  "I'm here," he said. "I owe you after what you did for me at dinner."

  He licked across her panties before nuzzling his tongue in between her lower lips to find her clitoris.

  "Please," Waverly murmured.

  Increasing the pressure of his tongue, the lace of her underwear scraped back and forth, adding to what she was feeling.

  Jax inserted another finger inside her. Waverly twisted her hands in his hair, her breathing coming in gasps now.

  Working his way under her clitoris, Jax began to move upwards with quick, strong stokes. The scent of cinnamon filled his head as she climbed towards orgasm.

  "Oh, Jax."

  She was almost there. Jax increased the depth of his fingers, speeding up his tongue. With a scream, he felt her release, her muscles clamping tightly on his fingers, while her body fell backwards.

  Jax couldn't catch her but managed to cushion her fall. They lay entangled there on the dusty rug for a moment as she struggled to catch her breath, his fingers still deep inside her.

  Easing them out, he lifted Waverly to her feet and pushed her back on the bed.

  "I keep promising a bed but we never seem to make it there."

  Jax stretched out beside her, his fingers stroking across her flat stomach. Leaning down, he brushed his lips across hers, aware that she tasted her own desire.

  "I want you slow this time. Slow as we can make it."

  Lifting her hips so he could pull down her panties, Waverly nodded her agreement, her face still flushed from his earlier attention. Shedding his own remaining clothes, Jax knelt between her legs.

  "You smell like heaven, Waverly."

  She stroked his cock with loving hands. "I can't wait to have you again." A confused look passed her face. "Do you think this will ever go away?"

  "I hope not." He pushed at the folds of her sex, his erection straining as his control slipped another notch. "What we have comes once in a thousand lifetimes." He pushed in the head of his cock. "We're lucky, Waverly." Stretching out, he tangled his fingers in hers and pulled her arms above her head. "I had nothing and now I feel like I have it all."

  Waverly moaned as he drove into her with one thrust. Closing his eyes, Jax told himself to go slow. He wanted to race. It felt so good. Instead, he moved slowly up and down.

  "I love you," she whispered.

  Opening his eyes, he met her gaze and continued the motion, grinding into her clit with his body every time he came down. She wrapped her legs around his to hold him closer. The old bed made sounds of protest with each movement they made.

  Tension built, and Jax could feel them climbing higher. He needed this, needed to come at the exact moment she did. The link
between them strengthened, causing them both to moan in pleasure.

  Almost.

  There.

  A shiver ran though her, pulling him over the edge.

  He collapsed with a moan, staying deep inside, unable to move. Her body still tightened and released around his cock in rolling aftershocks of orgasm. When they finally subsided, he rolled off, cradling her body next to his.

  Contentment ran through him as he stroked down her skin.

  Moonlight washed over the dingy room, making it seem magical. Waverly captured his hand in hers, giving it a squeeze.

  "What are our plans, Jax?"

  He forced himself to snap out of his lethargy. "I don't know. Part of me wants to keep Del from making the sale of those two Mock125s."

  Waverly sat up quickly, knocking her head into his.

  "Ouch." He rubbed his chin.

  "Sorry, but I just had a thought."

  "Uh oh."

  She ignored his teasing. "If you really want to stop the sale, we could steal the Mocks. He can't sell what he doesn't have in his possession." She bounced on the bed with excitement. "I can fly them."

  "Have you been trained, or will this turn into another flight like the Alphabird?"

  "There was nothing wrong with that flight!"

  He raised his eyebrows at her.

  "I got us to Alexander's strip, didn't I?"

  Jax didn't say anything.

  "They can easily replace the landing gear and the Bird will be as good as new!" Waverly stuck her tongue out at him. "Anyway, I have trained on the Mock."

  "The Mock125?" Jax was learning to clarify with her. There were different Mock models out there.

  "Yes."

  "Hmmm..." Jax sat and ran a hand across her shoulder blade. "Nice tattoo."

  She craned her head to look at it, as if she had forgotten it was there. "It isn't really. In a moment of insanity, I let them put that thing on me."

  "When did you complete Cronus' flight school?"

  "Right before I came to Sector 12."

  He asked the question that burned at him. "Why?"

  Waverly didn't pretend to misunderstand him. "Because it's the best school in all the universes. The hardest to graduate from. I wanted to prove to myself that I could finish."

  "Didn't your family protest?" Jax wouldn't let her take such a risk again without a fight. It wasn't uncommon for people to die in crashes during their training.

  "Yes, but I went anyway. I was going to do it whether they wanted me to or not. I forced them into supporting me." She pulled her legs up to her chest and played with her toes. "They died when I was taking my final exams."

  "Who died?"

  "My family."

  "Your mother?"

  "All of them. Aunts, Uncles, Mother, Grandmother. They all died. It was a freak accident. The transport they were on blew up when a spark ignited the fuel source. Or at least that's what the Council representative told me happened." She touched her big toes together twice. "They were coming to my graduation." She looked up slowly, her eyes filled with pain. "They were going to surprise me."

  Silence stretched between them.

  "Waverly," he whispered, his heart aching for her. He captured one of her hands in his and gave it a tight squeeze.

  "But now I have you Jax. So I'm not alone anymore."

  "No. You're not alone."

  She sat up, physically giving herself a shake. "So what are we doing with the Mocks?"

  "You think you can fly them?"

  "Oh I know I can fly them." She grinned, her confidence returning in a snap.

  "Well, Frisco said they were being stored in the old Summer House. Maybe we should do some reconnaissance to see the layout of their operation." He sat up, too. "Just to check things out."

  Waverly's whole face lit up in the moonlight, her anticipation making Jax suddenly afraid.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN OVER THE RIVER AND THROUGH THE WOODS

  Waverly raced behind Jax, her underwear balled in her fist. There was no need to put them on when they would be back in their room in a few moments and she could get fresh ones.

  Now that they had decided to look for the Mocks, she was elated. Action always invigorated her. She couldn't wait to put on a pair of pants and tall boots. She'd abandoned the heels in the third floor room and held her skirt up out of her way with the hand not holding her panties.

  Jax stopped outside their room and turned to her. "Remember, they're listening," he whispered.

  "I didn't think our trip to the third floor was for our health," she whispered, shaking dust out of her hair for emphasis.

  He opened his mouth to say something sarcastic, she could tell, but he didn't get the chance. A crash sounded in their room, and Jax pulled her into the passageway they had just left.

  "Looks like we've got visitors."

  Waverly nodded sadly. She had a sinking feeling that she was going to be stuck in the dress for a while longer.

  "Stay here. I'm going back to take a look."

  She caught his arm before he could escape. "Jax, if Del's henchmen are here, shouldn't we go to the Summer House?"

  "I want to see if it's them."

  "Who else would it be?" She used his arm to balance herself, and lifted a leg.

  "I don't know. That's why I want to go see. What are you doing?"

  "Putting on my underwear. I'm not running around outside without them on, even if they are kind of damp." She slid into her panties, aware that Jax watched with interest as she pulled them up.

  She snapped her fingers. "Hey! Show's over now. You can reengage your brain now." She resisted the urge to laugh. "I vote we leave for the Summer House now." She looked down the stairwell.

  "Fine. We'll go to the Summer House."

  "Where does this lead?"

  He started down the stairs. "This will dump us outside the house, but we'll have to walk a bit before we'll get there. Are you sure you want to go barefoot in that dress?"

  Her thoughts completely on the possibility of flying a Mock again, she flippantly told him that she would be fine.

  He hadn't been exaggerating, Waverly thought, stepping in a puddle a little while later. They had been walking at a brisk pace now for ten minutes.

  "I wonder whose dress this is," she said, breaking the silence for the first time.

  "I assumed it was Babbet's, but I could be wrong."

  Jax led her over the third bridge. The famous three bridges of Three Bridges. Waverly snorted at the internal joke and gave up trying to stay dry, joyously squishing mud between her toes.

  "Um, Waverly?" Jax said, the concern in his tone evident.

  She realized he had seen her laugh, and her little jig.

  "Babbet's going to love the way this dress comes back to her." She held up the filthy hem for his perusal. "Lovely, isn't it?"

  "Nice."

  "It's almost as dirty as we were when we landed on Jimlee." She skipped ahead of him to the top of a slight rise, and jumped onto a stone bench there. "This garden's beautiful, Jax."

  "It's some sort of Jimlee national treasure."

  Waverly's good mood came crashing down. "Do you love it here?" Spreading her hands, she waved around the gardens and at the house.

  She held her breath as he looked at a nearby bed of flowers dancing in the moonlight. "It's okay, I guess. I've always liked the woods better, though."

  For a second, Waverly didn't understand what he was talking about. He would rather live on a forested planet? Then she realized that he thought she asked if he liked the gardens. She huffed out a breath in exasperation.

  "No, Jaxon," she said, using his full name for the first time. "I mean Three Bridges. Do you love living here at Three Bridges?"

  She held perfectly still, and crossed her fingers behind her back for luck.

  "Not really." He gazed at the house. "I was going to talk to you about that, but I don't think this is the time." He turned to her, taking in her dirty dress, bare feet and her location on top of the
bench. "You don't seem to be acting like this is a serious situation."

  He seemed annoyed. Waverly blew out a breath again and opened her mouth to tell him their relationship happened to be the most important thing in her life, thank you very much, but he had already turned and walked away.

  "Well, doesn't that just fire my rockets," she huffed to herself, as she hopped off the bench to follow him. "I'm barefoot, pregnant, and wearing wet underwear--and he says that to me." She curled her lip and deepened her voice to match his. "You don't seem to be acting like this is a serious situation." She stamped her foot in frustration, bruising her toe in the process. "Great! Just great!" She hopped on one foot for a second, clutching the other in both her hands. "Ungrateful man!"

  "Waverly!" Jax whispered sharply from down the path. "Be quiet!"

  She mimicked him silently, and tested her weight on her hurt foot.

  * * * *

  Jax peered at the Summer House, and for the tenth time considered telling Waverly to go back to the main house. The problem with that idea was that Frisco and his friend were probably still in his room.

  He glanced over to where she leaned against a tree, rubbing one foot. Her lips moved silently, and Jax wondered if she was talking to herself.

  He didn't think that was a great sign.

  Maybe she was cracking under pressure. He dismissed the thought as soon as it came to him. The problem seemed to be that she wasn't feeling any pressure at all.

  In fact, she seemed positively elated, as if they were going to a fair, instead of to steal a transport.

  He had no illusions that if they were caught flying the Mock, they would be tossed straight into Hell's Gate Prison for possessing a Council-protected, army-only weapon. He had gotten banished for possessing three paltry cases of obsolete blasters. He knew exactly what would result from being caught with something as high on the food chain as this transport.

  Easing forward, he rubbed the dirt off one of the windows in the Summer House and peered inside. The building was primarily a large ballroom that had been used to give the lavish parties, for which Jax's grandmother had been famous. When she died, it had fallen into disuse.