Reclaim Me (The Jaded Series Book 2) (26 page)

I roll to the side and settle down beside Mia, pulling her to my chest.

“Holy shit, Mac. That was…” she stops, unable to find the right words.

“Yeah,” I tell her. Not able to find the words either.

We lay there for a few minutes, Mia running her hands along my chest, me rubbing her back.

“Are you okay?” I ask, concerned I may have over done it.

“What? Why wouldn’t…” she looks up to me and sees the expression on my face and realizes what I mean. “Shit, Mac, I may be tiny but my body can take more than you realize. What we just did, the way you fucked me, was mind blowing, life changing. I’m going to have a serious problem going back to regular sex.”

I chuckle, relieved she enjoyed it. “Regular sex, huh? Don’t know if what we have would be considered regular sex, Pix.”

“Hmm…that’s true, but you know what I mean.”

“Yeah.”

I get up off the bed and slip on my jeans, leaving the button undone. I walk across the hall to the bathroom, and after cleaning myself up, I wet a washcloth with warm water. Back in the room, I clean Mia and then toss the cloth in the hamper that’s by the closet. Crawling back into bed, I settle her into my arms. This is the first time I’ve held her in a bed after making love, and I want to cherish every second of it. We’ve lain in a bed before when we were younger, but never like this. I know I have to leave soon so Trent doesn’t catch us together, but I want to hold her a bit longer before I go.

I broach the one subject that I know Mia’s going to fight me on.

“I talked with your brother tonight, and he agrees that you shouldn’t be left alone, that someone should always be with you.”

As expected, Mia stiffens beside me, “Fuck that, Mac. I’m not going to change the way I live and inconvenience people because that bitch wants to scare me.”

I roll to my side so I can see Mia’s face when I speak next.

“Mia, I know this isn’t what you want. I know it’s eating you up inside, but you need to think about your safety here. You’ve shown no fear when you should.”

“That’s because the bitch doesn’t scare me. Yes, she one-upped me with the drug, but that shit won’t happen again. Just because I may show no fear, doesn’t mean I won’t be careful. I’m not stupid, Mac.”

I know it’s going to hurt, but I’ll use whatever I need to, to get her to understand the seriousness of the situation. “Did you think Anna was stupid?” She sucks in a breath, and I feel like an asshole, but I push forward. “What about Bailey? They used every precaution they could, and Bailey was still taken. I refuse to take that chance with you, Mia.”

The hurt in her eyes is palpable and breaks my heart, but I need her to see reason. It doesn’t matter if she does or not, but it’ll go a lot smoother if she goes along willingly.

“That situation was different, Mac.”

“How is it different, Mia? Steven had an obsession and was willing to do whatever he could to get Bailey back. Tessa’s obsession with me is proving to be just as strong, just as twisted. You know this, Pix.”

She stares off into space for a minute before turning her eyes back to me. “Alright, I give in,” she grumbles. She hates it, but knows I’m right. “But I’m telling you right now, no one is following me into the bathroom, that includes you, Sheriff. I pee in privacy, not with an audience.”

I grin at her silliness and am glad she gave in somewhat easily.

“Deal.” I pull her forward and kiss her lips to seal the deal. We pull apart, and she lays her head on my chest.

“You probably need to go to your room, huh?” She asks me sleepily.

“I will in a few minutes,” I tell her and pull her body closer, not wanting to leave her. “Sleep, baby.”

She yawns and murmurs, “Mmm…I miss you already.” She snuggles her nose against me, and I feel her place a single kiss against my skin. My dick jumps, but I ignore it.

“I do to, Pix.”

It’s not long before I feel her breathing even out, and I know she’s asleep. I close my eyes, giving myself a few more minutes before carefully slipping out of bed and tugging the covers over Mia’s sleeping form. I stand over her and watch her sleep.

Leaning down, I place a gentle kiss on her forehead and tell her quietly, knowing she can’t hear me, “I love you, Pix.”

I stand back up and quietly leave her room.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Mac

Her sassiness…

Mia and I walk through the door of Jaxon’s pub the following night and are bombarded with loud laughter and clapping. The place is crazy, even for a Friday night. We walk over to the bar and understand why. Only Andrew would cause a scene like this.

He has Chris laid out on the bar with her shirt pulled up looking like he’s getting ready to do a body shot, as she has a wedge of lime in her mouth. Her face is flush, and she has a look of pleasure written all over it.

Even though Andrew is into guys, he’s always been a big flirt with everyone, no matter if you’re a male or female. The women know they have no chance, but they still go crazy over him.

We walk behind the bar just as Andrew bends his head to lick the salt that’s in Chris’s cleavage that’s hanging out of her low hanging tank. The crowd around them goes wild, egging him on. He looks at his audience and gives them a wink before moving down Chris’s body to the sip of Tequila in her belly button. The whole scene is sexy as hell and has my dick twitching in my pants, not from watching Andrew and Chris, but from imagining me doing it to Mia.

I move closer to her, bring my front up against her back, and wrap my arms around her. I bend down and whisper in her ear, “That’s hot as fuck, isn’t it?” I feel rather than hear her intake of breath. I nip her ear and ask, “Want me to do that do you?”

She doesn’t answer right away. Instead she turns her head and kisses up my neck until she reaches my ear and says huskily, “Yes.”

I groan at her answer and bring her closer to my growing erection. She wiggles her ass against me, and I grunt in response.
Fuck, this woman is going to kill me.

I see movement off to my left and look over to see Nick standing there watching the show. He has a scowl on his face, and his knuckles are white from clenching them so tightly.  His body is rigid and it looks like he’s holding his body back by pure force of will.

I bring my eyes back to the scene when there’s a loud shout from the crowd. Andrew’s moved up Chris’s body and is currently sucking on the wedge of lime that’s still in her mouth. What has the crowd so hyped, though, is Andrew’s hand that is creeping up Chris’s side towards her breasts. Right before he reaches it, he pulls away from her and quickly plants a kiss on her neck before standing to his full height. His shirt for tonight is black with big, white, bold letters saying “There’s nothing a woman can do that two men can’t do better.” The crowd boos, but Andrew just gives them a flirty smile before helping Chris up from the bar. She looks a little dazed and breathless from what Andrew just did, but shakes it off and turns to give the crowd a big grin.

Mia pulls away from me, and we both walk over to the duo.

“Are you done copping a feel of the waitresses, Andrew?” Mia asks with a smirk.

Andrew turns at Mia’s voice and sees us both standing there. He looks at Mia first, then me, and then the hand that I have placed on her waist. I see a glimmer of mischief enter his eyes before they turn back to Mia.

“How about instead of copping a feel... I just feel a cop? What do you say, Mia? Willing to give up the Sheriff here and let me do a body shot on him?”

I laugh at his ridiculous suggestion but start to choke when Mia says, “Have at it. That’s one thing I’d love to see.”

My laughter dies a sudden death, and I look down to Mia and see mirth in her eyes. I reach behind her and give her ass a pinch for her joke.

“Ow!” She says but gives a loud laugh.

Andrew takes a step closer to us, and I pull Mia in front me as a shield. “You and your wandering mouth and hands stay the fuck away from me, Andrew,” I growl at him. He laughs with a wink and saunters off down to the other end of the bar where Jaxon is serving a customer.

Chris walks up to us still looking flushed. “It’s a damn shame that man isn’t into women,” she says, fanning her face.

“It really is. Any of the girls would give their left breast for a chance with him,” Mia returns and I wonder if she is including herself in the ‘any girl’ category. I know I have nothing to worry about, but I still don’t like the thought of Mia having any type of fantasies of Andrew in that way. I scowl over at him even though he can’t see me.

“Besides, there’s one person that I think may have a problem if he was straight,” Mia says, pulling me from my disturbing thoughts.

She points over to the left, and we see Nick still standing there sending Chris death ray lasers from his eyes.

“He’d probably cheer me on. That man is hard as nails and doesn’t give a shit about me,” she says sadly.

“I think he cares more than you think, Chris.” Mia reaches over and gives Chris’s hand a squeeze. Chris smiles at her, but it doesn’t reach her eyes, like she doesn’t believe Mia. That is one fucked up situation.

I look down to where Jaxon is, and I see him watching me. He gives me a chin lift, and I give in one in return. He walks out from behind the bar and moves toward the hallway. It’s his silent demand that it’s time to talk.

I pull Mia’s attention back to me where she and Chris were making plans for us all to go to the lake this weekend. “I’m heading back to Jaxon’s office. He needs to talk to me.”

“About what,” she asks curiously.

“Guy stuff,” I tell her. I’ll tell her later what Jaxon and I talk about. I know she would try to stop me if she knows beforehand. She knows just how fierce Jaxon is, more than I do.

I give her a quick kiss before walking down to the end of the bar and lifting the partition. Jaxon’s door is closed when I reach it, and I knock twice before opening it and walking inside. I close the door behind me, not wanting anyone to overhear our conversation. It’s no one’s business except mine and Mia’s, and now Jaxon’s.

I walk over to Jaxon’s desk and stand in front of it while he stands behind it.

“You want a shot?” Jaxon asks, before taking his own shot of whiskey.

“Sure.” I may as well. Maybe the alcohol will numb my body enough that I won’t feel the beating I’m sure is to come.

He pours a generous amount into a clean shot glass and hands it to me. I throw it back and set the glass on the table.

“Another?” Jaxon asks.

“Yes,” I grunt.

Again, I throw it back. I welcome the burn coursing down my throat.

“One more,” I tell Jaxon, and he pours my third shot. After shooting that one back as well, I put down the shot glass and push it to the side, indicating I’m done.

Jaxon puts the stopper on the bottle and puts both his hands on his desk. Leaning forward, he growls, “Tell me what the fuck happened all those years ago, and why that bitch Tessa wants to hurt my sister.”

“Before I tell you, I want you to know that, for whatever reason, Mia has decided to give me another chance.” This is something I need him to know and understand before I tell him what happened. “I know you love your sister and are very protective of her, but I need you to know that I love her just the same. You know me almost as well as I know myself and should know that I would never purposely hurt her. I’d give my life for her in a heartbeat, and after I tell you what I need to, I won’t have you interfering with our lives. I’ve finally gotten Mia back and nothing, or no one, is taking her away from me again.”

From the hard look in Jaxon’s eyes, I can tell he doesn’t like what I’ve said. I hold his gaze to let him know I’m deadly serious. I know I’m going to get what’s coming to me from Jaxon, but no way in hell am I going to let him manipulate Mia into leaving me.

He finally realizes the seriousness of my words and the determination in my eyes and gives a curt nod.

“I don’t know if you realize, but I’ve loved your sister way before we ever got together. First, as a sister, and then as something more. After we got together, I wanted to take things slow, to make sure I was what she wanted. Because of the age difference, we decided to wait until her eighteenth birthday before we had sex.” I stop to let Jaxon process that. His jaw ticks from the grinding of his teeth. I know he doesn’t want to hear about that part of our relationship, but it’s part of the reason why we split up and he needs to hear it in order to get the full story.

I continue after a few seconds. “We were both going to be the others’ first. I had waited years to be with her. I had planned this special evening in a hotel, but I wanted her to have her fun with her friends first.

“We were at a party when we somehow got split up. I only had a couple beers, knowing I was going to be driving later. I went to go look for her and couldn’t find her. Stacey came up to me and told me she was upstairs waiting for me. I had started feeling woozy and way off center as I made my way upstairs. I thought my body was reacting to the alcohol, even though I had drunk more than that before and was never affected like that.

“Anyway, I walked up the stairs, getting more and more dizzy as I went, and checked every room until I found Mia.”

I go and explain to him everything that happened in that room. How I thought the girl was Mia. How I tried stopping her, but ended up giving in because my body wouldn’t fight anymore. I told him I kept blacking out and waking up. Jaxon stands quietly while I tell him how Mia walked in the room, and it was only then that I realized it wasn’t Mia in the bed with me, but Tessa. I finish with telling him I tried getting up to go to her, but I couldn’t when I retched over the side of the bed and passed out until morning.

When I am done, I look Jaxon right in the eye and wait for it to come. It doesn’t take long before Jaxon suddenly reaches across the desk, grabs my shirt, and lands a fist in my face. “You fucking piece of shit bastard,” he snarls across at me.

I stumble back a step, but hold my ground and his gaze. A trickle of blood leaves the cut on my lip. I need this pain to help alleviate some of the pain in my heart for what Mia went through.

Jaxon rounds his desk and approaches me. He rears his fist back and slams it forward into my side. I hunch over a bit and suck in a sharp breath at the pain, but don’t give into the need to grab my sore ribs. Again, my eyes stay locked with Jaxon’s multi-colored ones. The blue in his eyes, which are normally a steel blue, are now stormy grey.

Jaxon once again brings his fist back and lands another punch to my jaw. My head jerks to the side and blood slings from between my lips, but I still bring my eyes back to his. Every instinct in me is screaming for me to fight back, but I force it down. The only way Jaxon will get through this, and in turn, Mia and me, is for him to quench the need to do some damage.

One of Jaxon’s hands reaches for my throat, and he pushes me back until I hit the wall. What he says has me seeing red and pushes my need to hurt Jaxon to the forefront.

“You think I’m going to let my sister be with a piece of shit like you?” he grates out in my face.

I’ve had it. I warned him that he, nor anyone else, is going to take her away from me again. Not in this fucking lifetime.

I reach up with one arm and bring it down fast on the arm that’s holding my throat. It breaks the hold he has on my neck. With my other arm, I swing with all my might and send my hand smashing into his face so hard he stumbles back into his desk. I land one more hit, this one to his stomach, just for good measure.

I take a couple of steps toward him and growl, “I fucking told you that I won’t let anyone keep her from me. She’s fucking mine, Jaxon, whether you like it or not.”

Jaxon reaches up and wipes his fingers through the blood that’s dripping from his own split lip. Both satisfaction and remorse enters me at the sight of his damaged face. He’s my best friend, and I hate knowing we’ve come to this.

“Are you fucking done so I can finish?” I ask him sharply.

He stands back up to his full height with a glare and plants another fist to my already sore ribs. “Now, I’m fucking done.”

We both look wearily at each other while we catch our breaths. Once our breathing is under control, I tell Jaxon of my suspicions, and then confirmation, of me being drugged. I explain Tessa’s crazy obsession with me back then, and still today, and her plan to break Mia and me apart. I tell him everything, even about the tire and what Mia found in her house last night.

“Jesus fucking Christ, Mac. Why in the hell didn’t you ever go to the police?”

This is something I fought with myself over and over again. “Because I didn’t want to drag Mia into it. The whole town would have known what happened, and I couldn’t do that to her. I wanted her to know the truth but not be exposed to all the gossip that it would have brought if I went to the police. She had already been hurt enough. I couldn’t add more to it.”