How wrong I'd been. It seems the fairer species could also house an unspeakable evil.
Benny and I were on the door, checking names and keeping an eye on the front of the property. Instructed that, should anyone seem even remotely suspicious, we were to shoot first, ask questions later. Thankfully, everyone was behaving so far. I'd preferably have avoided getting blood on my hands.
The auction was well underway by now, I had seated my father and his men, seeing them all had left a gaping hole inside of me and I found myself fucking homesick, and then I saw her. Beautiful and broke, and goddamn delicious. And then her husband had called her name, and once again the fear she oozed returned, and I had to leave.
The grounds were hustling with bodies now, and in the distance, when a hand smacked me on the back. I winced, hard, nearly shattering all my teeth as my wounds screamed.
I knew who it was before I'd even seen his face.
“Jax,” he grinned.
I turned to face Marco. Fuck Vlad for keeping him around. “The hell do you want?” I shook my head and cast my gaze towards the gardens once more, wholly aware that Benny was watching with great interest.
He moved before us lighting up a cigarette and regarded me. “What's with the hostility, man?”
I ignored him, biting my tongue and repeating over and over inside my head that he wasn't worth a second of my time.
Marco flicked his smoke, sending ash to the floor, which landed on the toe of my boot. “Anyone would think he hadn't had his tongue down the boss' wife's throat.”
My body moved, but Benny was quicker, his enormous hand gripped my upper shoulder, and he moved in front of me.
“Jax, don't, mate.” Benny looked at Marco, who's smug grin was well and truly back and plastered on his face.
I pulled my arm free and stifled a growl. “I don't know what the fuck you're talking about, but what I do know is that you should get the hell out of my goddamn face before I destroy yours.”
He chuckled, taking deep drags of his cigarettes in between. “Amy looks good, too, by the way. She nearly has a face again.”
Without thinking, only moving and working by the rage this cunt created in me, I gripped my gun and smacked the butt of it into the side of his face.
Marco roared as he hit the floor, the ember from his smoke had fallen and was now burning a hole in his white shirt, blood poured down the side of his head, trickling on to the white material and I stood over him, the red mist encompassing me.
“Say what you want about me, but don't you ever mention her name to me again.”
“Fucking hell, Jax,” Benny grumbled, crouching to press a handkerchief to Marco's wound. “Go take half an hour and calm yourself down. I'll hold the fort for a bit.” He didn't look at me, and I didn't argue.
There was only one place I had in mind that had the potential to hold the respite I needed. I'd dealt with an array of men, some good, some bad, some indifferent, yet I'd always dealt with it in the way I was raised to: calm, collected, and with dignity. Murdoch men were never flustered, they never lost their temper until it was the only option, and somehow Marco had me abandoning all I'd ever put into practice. His words gnawed away at my insides, and no amount of telling myself he was looking for a rise made me feel better.
A day in Purgatory felt like a damn week, and having my father and Graham here made the ache for home all the worse.
The yard was quiet, the swimming pool unmoving, the New Mexican air stifling and claustrophobic as I lit up a cigarette.
The noise of my lighter wasn't the only thing I heard, and there was a small gasping coming from the unintentional cove to the right. The building went in and came out, creating a small place, perfect for someone to hide. The noise grew louder the closer I stepped, and it then took a few seconds for me to realize what, or more like who was making it.
My eyes met Ella's. Her slight frame was huddled on the floor, dress around her thighs and knees close to her chest. Her pale cheeks were flushed red, and I about died right then and there. She looked sensational. My fingers ached to touch her once more. Her presence caused a nuclear reaction inside of me, and I had to be close to her again.
In silence, I flicked my cigarette to the ground before slumping down next to her. My hands dangled off my knees and brushed hers ever so slightly.
“You okay, bird?” I said against the warm night air, our faces gazing forwards, not trusting to look at each other.
She sniffled. “I just needed five minutes.”
I nodded, understanding more than she knew. Being surrounded by people, it was suffocating.
“Won't you be missed?” She asked. I felt her head turn my way, and I looked at her. Her blue eyes looked like the deepest part of the ocean in the dimmed light around us, beautiful pools I wanted to swim in and taste.
I smiled. “Don't you worry about me, sweetheart.” Without thinking, my fingers brushed her long, red hair over her shoulders and from her face. I wanted to see every inch of her. And if I was honest, I wanted to bury myself inside of her and forget all the reasons why I was here. My muscles hurt. My brain was foggy, and I was dog fucking tired.
Her skin peppered with tiny bumps, and she closed her eyes, the corners of her red lips turning up. She shivered as I moved my hands, tracing lines down her bare arms, and when I pulled her into my side, she didn't fight. She rested her head against my chest, and for just a moment, the world was quiet.
Chapter Eighteen
Ella.
Jax was so warm. I could hear the gentle thump of his heart, and I could feel the safety of him as he wrapped an arm around my shoulders, holding me. His pants gripped his thighs, and I watched as his free hand moved from his knee on to mine. The softest touch ignited the most devastating fire within me. There was a place locked away in my soul that had never been reached before, and yet he here was, knocking at the door, gently encouraging me to step from that dark and lonely room and to embrace what I had found in him. It was crazy. Beyond crazy. But I couldn't stop.
Moving just so, I looked up into his beautiful face, and my breath hitched in my throat. He was already gazing at me, a look I was beginning to recognize across his features. His dark eyes darted from my mouth back to my eyes.
Kiss me, I urged mentally. Let me forget where I am again, who I am.
He didn't kiss me, though. With feather-light fingers, he kept his eyes on mine and stroked soft, curvy lines and shapes on my thigh, slowly working his way farther down. The air stuck to my skin as he nudged my knees apart, with each movement he paused for just a second, as though waiting for me to tell him no, like I should have, and yet I didn't. I let my legs fall shamelessly open, as far as my dress would allow, and my breaths came fast and sharp as I waited to see what he did next, where he touched next.
My vision swam, and that feeling he elicited inside of me exploded to the upper layers of my skin, making every inch of me hyper-sensitive. When the tips of his fingers brushed against my panties, the feeling was unbearable. I collapsed into him, gasping quietly, my hands gripping his dark, unruly hair. Without meaning to, my hips began to move, and Jax pressed harder.
His mouth was against my ear, a soft “Ohh,” all I could hear as he stroked up and down against the fabric, teasing that most alien pressure to bubble.
“Jax, please,” I panted, but he was already moving again. With a swift tug to the side, he pulled my panties and exposed me to the New Mexican air, fingers seeking flesh. The wetness felt as though it came in waves as he expertly touched and rubbed me down there. I'd never felt anything like it.