Taming Jax (First Wave Book 5) (11 page)

“Come on guys, Bayla wants to see Cal and make sure he’s doing ok.” Jax said, ignoring Reven’s warning glance as she put the baby in the car seat Grai must have had installed in her car while they were still in MedLab.

Reven gave her an aggravated look over the roof of the car as he held the back door open for Melina. He was even more irritated when Jax completely ignored him and got inside, slamming the door behind her.

He gently closed Melina’s door before trying to slide into the front passenger seat. His boots barely fit awkwardly on the floor board as he scrunched his body into the compact car. Grunting and huffing, he finally got in, slammed the door closed and glared at Jax, who was barely suppressing her laughter.

The final straw was the snickers from Melina in the back seat along with the giggling of the baby.

“Yeah, I bet this is funny. Next time we take my SUV, or we buy Jax a new vehicle. What do you think guys?” Reven asked as he turned a funny, pained looking face to the little girls in the back seat causing them to erupt into a fit of giggles.

Jax couldn’t help but giggle herself at the large man whose knees were pulled to his chest and he still barely fit in the car. Now she knew why all the Valendrans and Tezarians had the larger SUVs and trucks; she thought with a snicker as she put the car in gear and backed out of her parking space.

She whipped the car around like she normally did when Reven was thrown into her before smacking hard into the door when she straightened out. The collective, “Ohhhh!” from the backseat caused her to slow down.

She turned a sheepish grin to Reven. “Sorry… I’m not used to having other people in the car with me. Especially not the really large kind that don’t fit in my seatbelts. Or the really small kind that can get whiplash.”

Reven shot her a look that screamed of retribution later before focusing his irritated gaze on the windshield as Jax proceeded more slowly this time.

Chapter Six

Jax pulled up to the entrance of the Sibiox Sanctuary and put the car in park. She swore it had taken ten times longer to get there at the much slower pace she’d had to adopt for the children and Reven. It’d been a long day, a long night, and she needed some sleep; she thought as she got out of the car and went to get Bayla out of the back.

She ignored the dark looks Reven cast her way as Melina helped him get out of the seat. “Come on baby girl, I’m sure Cal is going to love seeing you guys again!”

Seeing that Reven and Melina were waiting for her, she headed into the Sibiox Sanctuary, warning the young girl as she followed.

“The fence is programmed to only allow certain people inside. You won’t be able to come in here by yourself. It’s for your safety as well as the animals. They like their privacy too.” Jax explained as she watched the fence allow Reven and Melina inside.

Grai had already programmed it to allow the animal talkers, like her and Bayla in, but it would repel anyone else. If she hadn’t gone through first it would have never allowed them access. The precautions kept the townspeople from roaming into a dangerous area and allowed the animals some much-needed privacy. Jax also felt a little pride in the fact that it was her idea.

She headed towards the play area, keeping up her one-sided conversation. “After this, we’ll show you around town and then head to my place. It’s bigger than Reven’s, so we’ll stay there. You and Bayla can share a room until we find a bigger place, and you can have your own. But, we can talk about that later… Oomf!” Jax said before she was knocked to the ground.  

Reven let out a roar as Jax held the baby tightly to her chest. “Wait!!!” Jax screamed at Reven before he did something she would kill him for.

“He’s excited to see them!” Jax tried to explain as the baby grabbed both sides of the tiger’s face and pulled his hair in tight fists as she screamed in his face.

“He’s terrifying her!” Reven said storming towards the tiger.

“No! She’s happy to see him!” Jax yelled over the screaming baby and laughing Melina as she crawled out from under the baby and tiger.

One minute she was stuck and the next she was yanked up from the ground like she was a ragdoll. Swaying slightly, she allowed Reven to help steady her before she stepped away and slapped at his hands.

“You idiot! You’re the one that’s scaring everyone! Stop growling and snarling! Even the cats aren’t doing that!” Jax said with irritation as she tried to wipe the tingling off her hand where he’d held her, on her jeans.

“That cat is dangerous and shouldn’t be allowed around the baby or a child!” Reven snarled as he leaned down to tower over Jax as if daring her to argue.

Instead of intimidating Jax, he only succeeded in pissing her off. “You’re such an ass! You know nothing about that cat! That cat saved their lives! He damn sure wouldn’t have done that just to fucking eat them later!”

“Don’t give me that shit! There are a hundred ways that big thing can hurt them without eating them! Case in point is you being knocked on your ass just now! What if Bayla had been knocked out of your arms? What then? ‘He didn’t mean it’”, Reven mocked before continuing his rant.

“Isn’t going to fucking cut it! Can you get that through your thick, stubborn, damn head? You don’t know it all! You can’t prevent it all! Fuck woman, you are so damn frustrating!!!” Reven said with gritted teeth before walking away from her to pace.

“Don’t yell at me… wait. Where are the kids?” Jax asked looking around the empty clearing before panic started to set in.

“Melina? Bayla? Cal?” Jax screamed as she started sprinting towards the cave habitat.

Reven roared in anger and fear as he easily passed her, which made it hurt even more when he stopped dead in his tracks, and Jax flew into the back of him at a full run. Hitting him felt like being chucked into a wall, she thought as she bounced off his back and hit the ground equally as hard.

Jax lay sprawled out for a second before pulling herself together and sitting up to catch the breath she’d lost when she’d hit Reven. What he didn’t take with the first hit the ground did, she thought shaking her head to clear it.

“Are you all right?” Reven asked as he held his hand out to Jax.

Jax ignored him and rolled to the side. She stood and smiled as she watched the tiger play with the little ones. He pawed one of the big balls gently towards the baby while batting another one a little harder for Melina. Both of the girls were giggling and obviously enjoying themselves.

“Don’t! Don’t you dare.” Reven growled warningly when he knew Jax was getting ready to throw him one of her ‘I told you so’ smirks. He didn’t think he could take it right now.

His emotions were such a mess; he wasn’t sure if he wanted to throttle her or bend her over one of those balls and finally take what belonged to him. At the moment, both options held a lot of appeal to him; he thought with a scowl. Fortunately for her, the children were here.

“We need to get them into a proper bed. It’s already late.” Reven said through gritted teeth.

“Fine! You tell them that.” Jax said, crossing her arms over her chest in defiance. The only thing she accomplished was to push her cleavage up farther in her black tank top, drawing Reven’s eyes to her breasts.

Fighting the growl that threatened to erupt as he fought his need for her, Reven walked to the children and tried not to let it show that he was frustrated. Sexually, physically, mentally and emotionally frustrated.

All because of one smart mouthed, intelligent and beautiful woman who would rather kick his ass than kiss him again. Damn if he didn’t feel angry enough to kick those fucking balls off the damn mountain, he thought.   

Stopping several feet from the tiger, Reven cleared his throat to get their attention. “Girls, it’s really late and we all need to get some sleep. We have a lot to discuss in the morning, and rest will help you heal.”

Reven just about patted himself on the back for saying that so calmly when both girls burst into tears and ran to the tiger, clutching his fur as the cat turned angry eyes to Reven.

“What the f…?” Reven asked, looking helplessly at Jax, who cut him a scathing glare before she headed over to comfort the now hysterical children. What the hell, had just happened? Reven wondered as he watched the sobbing children fall into Jax’s arms.

“Shhh, it’s all right. He’s not mad at you; he's just tired and grumpy. He gets like that when he needs a nap.” Jax said to the girls, but Reven knew damn well it was for his ears as well.

Throttling her was looking better and better, he thought as he tried to tamp down his irritation with her. When the sobbing eased to little sniffles that nearly broke his heart, he’d finally calmed down enough to get close to the girls.

“Hey… I didn’t mean to scare you. Like Jax said, I’m tired. I don’t know how you two have so much energy because I’m pretty beat, and I doubt I’ve been up as long as you have.” Reven said squatting down near the girls and giving them a bright smile.

Melina was the first to give him a shy smile before she turned away to wipe the baby’s tears. Bayla was a lot like Jax and was going to be a little harder to win over; Reven thought with a sigh.

“We can come back and see Cal again, can’t we?” Melina asked Reven with those big blue eyes and there was no way that he could tell her they couldn’t.

“Of course, but like Jax said you can’t come alone, it’s too dangerous. Now who’s ready to check out the town before we get some sleep?” Reven asked, seeing that neither girl seemed thrilled to leave.

“Ha! Check out the town my foot! I’m driving through the ice cream parlor and grabbing a hot fudge sundae with nuts before we head home. Who wants some?” Jax asked while the girls looked at her curiously.

“Ice cream?” Jax asked as the girls continued to look at her blankly.

“Well, it’s closed now anyway. But, I think I have some rocky road and vanilla at my place. Since we need to stop by so I can get some things, we can grab the ice cream as well.” Reven said, trying to change the subject and get them out of the sanctuary. He’d had more than enough of Cal the cat for one day; he thought as he returned the narrowed stare of the tiger.

Jax glanced up at Reven sadly, noticing that he was also trying to control his emotions. “That’s a much better idea!”

Reven looked worriedly at Jax when neither of the children seemed inclined to leave the cat sanctuary. Thinking quickly, Reven sighed dramatically, ensuring he got their attention.

“What’s wrong?” Melina asked as she looked around nervously.

“Oh! Nothing honey. It’s just I’m a little worried about Wolfen.” Reven said sadly, looking down at his feet to move some leaves around.

“Who’s Wolfen?” Melina asked curiously as Bayla looked at him quizzically.

“I bet he is scared.” Jax said, playing along with Reven’s game even though she knew Wolfen was fine and being cared for at Reven’s place by a vet tech until Reven could get there.

Melina stood up and looked around worriedly. Not wanting her to be afraid, Reven rushed to ease her worry. “Wolfen is the baby dog we found while we were looking for you. His mommy died bringing him to us. He’s at my place waiting for me to get home and take care of him.”

Melina looked up at him with wide, excited eyes as the baby cooed and swung her arms up to be carried. Jax gave her a big smile before swooping Bayla into her arms.

“He’s a beautiful puppy that I think is going to be a wonderful dog.” Jax told the girls as they bent to say good-bye to Cal.

Jax and the girls gave hugs and wet kisses to the tiger and promised to come back again before Melina followed Jax out of the sanctuary.

“How old is the puppy? You named him Wolfen? What does that mean?” Melina asked curiously as they headed out of the forest.

By the time they reached the car, Jax was more than ready to head home and get the girls settled. She knew the medibands on the children were providing them with additional nutrients to combat the malnutrition, and they probably weren’t hungry.

However, all she wanted to do was get them in some warm pajamas and feed them until they were stuffed and happy. No thirteen-year-old  child, in this day and age, should have to ask what ice cream is, she thought sadly.

Getting Reven back into the car proved to be yet another adventure and this time Jax actually felt bad about it. She cringed when his knees cracked into the dash before he could pull them to his chest.

Jax shot him an apologetic smile before easing the car back onto the road. She made a really quick trip through the town, enough to show Melina around the area before parking in front of Reven’s cabin.

“I’ll grab the ice cream; Melina can get Wolfen; you get your things, and we’ll be homebound for ice cream!” Jax said as she got out of the car and started inside.

The giggling from the car drew her attention. “Shit! I mean, shoot!” Jax said before opening the back door of the car and getting Bayla out of her car seat. How she could forget the baby; she'd never know; she thought as she shook her head and ignored Melina trying to help pull Reven out of his seat.