Page 49 of Triple the Danger

“Don’t be sorry,” he scolded her gently. “Saylor, you needed that. It’s okay to not be a badass once in a while, especially with me. I’ll always be here to hold you up when you need it.”

She believed him. Instead of answering him, she draped her arms around his neck, then pressed her lips to his, needing the connection. Wanted him to feel how much she appreciated him being here for her. He kissed her back, keeping it gentle and unhurried, but she needed more than that. She needed him. Needed him to make a terrible day better. To give her a better memory to hold on to.

He pulled back and murmured, “Saylor.”

“Jax, I need you,” she whispered, pressing another kiss to his chin, then his jaw. “I need you to make me forget, just for a little bit. Please.”

Jax held her gaze, but then he seemed to come to a decision, and he took her mouth with his. The steam of the shower didn’t dim the fire between them. And while it wasn’t as passionate as their previous trysts, the desperation she felt for this man was like nothing she’d ever felt before.

He lifted her, bracing her back against the shower wall as she wrapped her legs around him. He lined himself up and worked himself inside her, making her pull her mouth from his to moan. The pressure, the pleasure, the angle, it was all too much, but not enough. She gasped out his name as he moved inside her, her body clamping down on his.

Her orgasm was slower to build this time, but when it finally swamped her, his name echoed off the tile, and it was all she could do to cling to him. He groaned her name as he followed her into oblivion, and as she went limp, it hit her.

After only two days, she was falling for this man. She didn’t know whether to be elated, or scared out of her mind.

CHAPTER TWENTY

JAX

He wasn’t surprised to find Saylor in the infirmary with Wren and Win, but he was surprised to find her and Rogue standing outside the room as raised voices filtered out the open door. Saylor looked amused, while Rogue appeared to be a combination of queasy, frustrated, and proud. Jax moved to stand behind Saylor, who looked up at him, her lips pulled up into a mirthful grin.

Peeking inside, his eyes widened as he watched Tom and Wren square off in the middle of the room, while Win sat on the edge of her bed, looking both concerned and amused herself. Doc sat against the back wall wearing an intrigued expression, while Scarlett stood sentry in front of Rogue, almost like she was trying to keep him from busting in. Jax could see the concern on her face, but also something else he couldn’t quite understand.

He turned back, and his jaw dropped when Tom yelled, “What the hell did you think you were doing? You could have been killed. Fuck, you almost were. Saylor told you to run, and what did you do? You turned right around and tried to take down an armed man.” This was the first time that Jax had ever seen the Prospect lose his temper. He was normally quiet, stoic, and intense. Never raised his voice, never got offended, or even outwardly irritated. Clearly, this pushed him over the edge.

Jax glanced at Rogue, whose eyes had narrowed to slits; his fists were clenched at his side, but he didn’t move forward. Had he entered the Twilight Zone? Because he was sure that, any other time, Rogue would have been pounding the Prospect into the ground for speaking to either of his girls that way.

“I thought I was helping save your ungrateful life!” Wren yelled back as she stepped into his space. Her face was still pale, but her eyes flared as she put her hands on her hips. “And instead of thanking me, you come in here and yell at me. What? You don’t like that a girl saved you? Well, you better get used to it. The women around here seem to save the men’s asses far more than the men save ours.”

Tom’s face flushed with anger, and he stepped forward, not quite crowding into her, but close. “I don’t give a crap about you being a girl,” he shot back. “What I do care about is you putting yourself in danger when you damn well know better. You might spend time with Karissa and Glitch, but you are not them. You are not a Special Ops badass that can disarm and disable an opponent with your eyes closed and one hand tied behind your back. You’re a kid, so act like it. When someone tells you to run, you run – away from the danger, not towards it. And you never, ever, put yourself in a position where you would take a bullet for me.”

“Fuck you, Tom,” she hissed. “If it meant someone didn’t have to die, then I would fucking do it again. But maybe next time, knowing this will be your reaction, I’ll take a bit longer to think about it, huh?”

“There won’t be a next time,” he said tightly. “Because after this, I’d be surprised if Rogue ever lets your ass out of your damn room for more than a couple minutes. And even if you do manage to get past him, I’ll be putting your ass right back in it.”

“You won’t do shit,” she taunted. “Wouldn’t want to mess me up further, right? After that little session in the gym, you’ve avoided both of us like the damn plague. Like we blame you. What ever happened to you treating us normal and not like we’re broken? Huh? Not even you believe it. Besides, if you touched me, not only would I put you down, Win would have her turn, and then Rogue would finish you off.”

“I have a fucking job to do here,” he snapped. “You think because I don’t talk to you every second of the day, or because I’m not constantly giving you attention, that I’m treating you like you’re broken? You can’t be that stupid, Wren. I’m here to work my way into the club. That’s my goal. Not spending all my time looking after a couple of kids.”

“Dude, you’re an idiot,” Win sighed. She shifted back on the bed, getting comfortable for the fireworks.

Jax glanced at Scarlett and Rogue. Scarlett looked sympathetic, while Rogue still looked like he was contemplating tearing Tom apart. Saylor, she watched with a smirk on her face. If he was smart, he’d stop this now, but he also wanted to see what the hell was going to happen, so he kept his mouth shut.

“Kids?” Wren hissed, her voice low and lethal. Tom took a step back as he looked down at her, his face a mask of cold indifference, but Jax could see in his eyes he was far from unaffected. Especially not when Wren continued, “I haven’t been a kid since the day I was abducted, drugged, and locked in a cage with my sister. I haven’t been a kid since the day I was raped by a dirty old man that liked to fuck eight-year-old girls. I haven’t been a kid since the day we escaped with Scarlett. I haven’t been a fucking kid the entire time you’ve known me. You want to make yourself feel better by pushing me away, acting like I’m nothing more than an annoying brat, you go ahead, but we both know that this kid was the one that saved your ass. You’re only pissed because you didn’t get to play hero, and neither did the rest of the guys you’re so desperate to call brothers. You know what? Fuck you, fuck every man in this club, and fuck all your hero complexes.” Then, she turned and stalked toward the door. She didn’t look at anyone, so focused on the exit. Jax and Saylor quickly moved out of the way; her parents didn’t so much as budge, but they didn’t stop her either.

Win sighed and looked at Tom, who was staring after the departing Wren like he was trying to make up his mind about going after her. “Tom,” she said calmly, quietly. He turned to look at her. “Win and I might be identical twins, but when it comes to her sense of what she needs to do to save herself or those around her, we’re worlds apart. I’ll fight with everything I have, but Wren takes all of that to heart in a way I don’t. You calling her a kid was a slap in the face to how hard she’s been working to better herself, to make herself stronger. She’s not chasing after you like a girl with a crush. You saved her, and you helped her find her strength and her sense of purpose after the incident in the gym a few months ago. Her saving you was her way of trying to repay you, and showing you it wasn’t in vain. You’ve just taken her gratitude and thrown it back in her face. You’re lucky she walked out instead of gutting you.”

Tom’s face warred with shock, pain, and guilt. “Fuck,” he hissed, running a hand through his hair. “I didn’t mean?—”

“No, I know,” Win interrupted. “But I’m the more level-headed of the two of us. It scared you, and it scared her. But you’ve taken a huge step back. If you want to regain that ground with her again, you’re going to have to work damn hard. Well, if you want to. After all, we’re just a couple of kids, right? You’re a man who wants to be a part of the big, bad Dragons MC. You have to prove yourself, not spend your precious time catering to the feelings of two girls that just want to belong somewhere, right? Because it’s not like we could ever Prospect for the Dragons, or be part of something like the Predators, right?” Her eyes went icy and lethal as she climbed off the bed and looked up at him. “Wren was right. We are not kids. We have survived unfathomable things. Things that people can’t ever understand. If you ever belittle either of us, but especially Wren, ever again, it won’t be her gutting you. It will be me. And I will do it so slowly and so painfully that not even Doc would be able to save you when I’m done.” Then she walked around him and out the door, just like Wren: unseeing and uncaring of anyone around her.

She met Wren at the door to the common room and they walked out, shoulders squared and heads held high. The room was silent as they left. As the clubhouse door swung closed, Taz followed a few steps later, with Karissa and Glitch not far behind.

Jax looked back at Tom. His face schooled into an expressionless mask, but his eyes, they held a wealth of emotions. Pain, guilt, remorse, and uncertainty. It was a long moment before he finally walked stiffly toward the door. Personally, Jax thought he was being stupid, considering his path put him directly in front of Rogue, who was seething with fury. Jax nudged Saylor back behind him, out of striking range, just in case Rogue went... well, rogue. He was surprised when he merely hissed at Tom, “You will fix it, Prospect, or I will ensure you never get your patch.”

Tom gave a curt nod and then stalked toward the door. But when he got outside, he didn’t follow the girls; he went the opposite way, toward the gate. “Don’t,” Scarlett snapped at Rogue when he gave a low growl of disapproval. Rogue’s gaze whipped down to hers. “Don’t you even think about interfering any further,” she told him firmly. “It’s been an emotional day, and everyone’s feeling it, including them. Shit was said, and they were both wrong and right. So you will let them figure it out on their own, and you will stay the hell out of Tom’s way when it comes to getting his patch. That was unfair. If you decide to meddle anyway, I guarantee both girls will hate you for it.” With that, Scarlett headed for the stairs, her entire being drawn with exhaustion.

Rogue stared after her but didn’t move to follow. When she was out of sight, he unleashed another growl and slammed his fist into the wall, then stormed off toward the basement. A few people exchanged wary glances, and Fury, Savage, Simba, and Jag all headed for the steps behind him.

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