by Mikayla Lane
Reven could sense the change in her; the strength in her counter thrusts as she responded to him with abandon, the way she clawed his back as she tried to pull him closer to her. He knew she was submitting to their bond, and it only drove his need further.
He increased his pace until Jax was breathless beneath him, and he could feel her beginning to reach the edge. He pulled out further and drove himself in as deep as he could before circling his hips.
Jax lost it. She screamed out his name as wave after wave crashed over her, her body trembling uncontrollably as Reven panted above her. He scooped her into his arms and held her tightly until her shaking stopped as they both waited for their breath to return to normal.
Reven stayed inside of her as he reveled in the new strength of the bond that they shared. He could more easily read her energy, sense her emotions, and he was humbled by the intensity he felt coming from her.
He wanted nothing more than to stay like this for a little while and enjoy the feel of his mate in his arms. More so because she was quiet and not fighting him, he thought with a small smile.
Jax was still floating in a realm of unbelievable satisfaction. One that she really didn’t feel like leaving at the moment. Although she wasn’t a coward, she didn’t want to face what they had just done. Again. Or the new and stronger feelings she had for him and deeper connection she could sense between them.
Her eyes flew wide when she heard the front door open, and she looked into Reven’s startled blue ones for a second before they both realized the children had come back in.
Reven bolted upright and pulled his tact pants up while throwing Jax’s sweat pants over to her. When he was dressed, he looked at her and nodded while he stood by the door. He watched her try to find the waist of her pants before she blushed a deep red and nodded back to him.
Reven hid his smile as he left her bedroom and quietly closed the door behind him. He moved to the end of the hallway on shaky legs and peeked around the corner of the living room.
When he saw Melina, Bayla and Wolfen playing on the floor, he sighed in relief. “Can you keep an eye on them for a second while Jax jumps in the shower, and I get something from my room?” Reven asked the young girl.
“Sure.” Melina said distractedly as she and Bayla played with the excited puppy.
Reven didn’t waste a moment and fled into his room where he sat on the bed for a minute and tried to calm his racing heart. He ran his hands through his hair as he replayed every moment with Jax in his mind again, trying to remember if he hurt her or disappointed her. He’d been so lost in her that he hadn’t paid enough attention to ensuring her pleasure, and he felt like an ass.
Reven felt relieved when he realized that Jax had been more than satisfied with their second mating. With his mind clear, he could easily remember reading her energy and emotions and knew that even though she was confused and surprised, she had been more than happy.
He smiled to himself as he stood and changed his pants. He had no delusions that she would make their joining any easier than she had before they had consummated their bond last night. He had no doubt that she would continue to fight him, but for the first time he had hope.
Even if she wouldn’t admit it, she was slowly lowering her defenses where he was concerned and letting him in. As much as he hated it, he knew he would have to back off again. He’d have to pretend it didn’t happen in order to control his urge to touch her whenever he could and take her when they were alone again.
Reven knew that if he pushed it, he would only drive her away, and he’d have to start at zero again. There was no way in hell, he was doing that, he’d come too far. Although he hoped that the stronger bonds would make things easier, he knew Jax would still try to fight the inevitable, and a part of him relished the thought.
When he heard her run down the hall and quietly shut the bathroom door, he opened his and headed out into the living room with the girls.
*****
Jax was completely and utterly humiliated as she sprinted down the hallway and into the bathroom. She closed the door quietly and leaned up against it trying to still her erratic heartbeat. She felt exhilarated and jittery at the same time, like her energy had somehow exploded in her cells and were running amok.
She swore she could feel the strands of energy wrapping around her and pulling her closer to that annoying man and no matter how much she wanted to protest it; she couldn’t help but welcome it. The damn man had found a way to burrow inside of her, and it pissed her off that he had been able to do it so easily.
Oh, she couldn’t deny that when they came together last night that it had been the single most incredible experience of her life. But, he’d accomplished it underhandedly. Somehow. She wasn’t quite sure how he’d done it; she thought as she turned on the shower and stepped inside.
She sucked in a deep breath as the cold water poured over her body before it warmed up. Jax had hoped it would clear her head, but of course the dratted man had to take that away from her too. If he thought, she was going to be some fawning little groupie now, he had another think coming, Jax thought, trying to keep her anger going.
Damn if even that wasn’t working, she thought as visions of the possessive look on his face as he took her, floated through her mind. She shivered in the warm spray and shook her head to clear the images.
Jax growled lowly as she rushed through yet another shower, her anger becoming real now that he had completely invaded the privacy and peace she’d always found in there before. She roughly dried her skin and hair and yanked her clothes on. She was running the brush through her hair when she stormed into the living room, expecting to see his gloating face.
She stopped short by the couch and grinned at a laughing Reven as he was pinned down by a barking puppy, cooing baby and giggling girl. Wolfen kept hopping up and down on Reven’s belly as he barked and growled playfully, while Bayla stood on the other side of him and smacked his belly as she giggled and blew bubbles at him.
Melina sat back behind Bayla and helped the baby stand while she smacked Reven’s stomach. Jax was happy that the girl seemed more confident and secure. And oblivious to what had happened between her and Reven while she’d been outside. Jax couldn’t help but feel relieved. It was not an explanation that she really wanted to make with the girl right now.
“Ok, ok I think it’s safe to say that the young ones have won this round.” Reven said as he sat up, then stood.
Jax wasn’t sure if she was pissed or not that he’d avoided eye contact with her. She looked at him with narrowed eyes, trying to see if he was angry or embarrassed but didn’t notice anything that would give her an answer.
He brushed against her as he went past her, and she felt the jolt of his energy. The few seconds of contact told her everything she needed to know. Jax was a little overwhelmed by his barely controlled desire to touch her and not just sexually.
She could almost feel her own palm itch at the desire he felt to hold her hand, or caress her cheek. The need he felt to be near her and make her happy almost caused her to reach out him as he passed her, but she didn’t.
She had expected his normal arrogance, not his feelings laid bare like this. The feeling of being a voyeur into his soul was a little creepy, and she tried to block it. Like a door that couldn’t be closed once it was opened, she couldn’t.
He didn’t even turn or react in any way to her intrusion into his energy, and she wondered if he even knew she was playing with the strands that now bound them together more tightly. She felt the small ripple of fear that ran through him and wondered what could cause such a strong, solid man to fear anything.
The closer she pulled the strings, the more she could read the strands and was shocked to realize his fear was for her and how she would treat him now. She was ashamed to admit that he had known she’d be angry and was expecting her backlash.
Damn, Jax thought, am I that much of a bitch? At her beast’s resounding “YES!” she shook her head. No, she wasn’t.
Ok, so she’d never really given the guy a truly fair shake, but this whole mate business pissed her off! If they could stay this roommate kind of thing, maybe friends with benefits, it wouldn’t be so bad.
But the man wanted to take over her life in some misguided and delusional attempt to turn her into a robotic housewife, and she wasn’t cut out for that shit! She wasn’t ready to stop the fight and start being a pregnant soccer mom.
She ignored her beast while he argued there was a way to compromise and turned her attention to the girls in an effort to distract her thoughts.
“Ok, we’ll hit the school for your new learning plan, then we can go to the grocery store and get some food. What do you think?” Jax asked Melina, trying to sound cheerful.
Jax blushed slightly when Melina looked at her strangely, then nodded her head. Jax headed into the kitchen to grab her purse and keys while Melina picked up Bayla.
“What about Wolfen?” Melina asked, and Jax cursed her own stupidity for not calling a vet tech to come watch the puppy while they were gone. Damn if the man wasn’t making her stupid!
“I got hold of someone while Jax was in the shower, they will be here within a few minutes of our leaving. He’ll be fine since you already took him outside.” Reven said as he came back into the room.
Jax saw that he was still avoiding her gaze, and it was beginning to irritate her. She refused to admit, even to herself, that she felt a pull towards him that was a little more difficult to fight than it had been before they had wild monkey sex in his room. Then her room, she thought with a contented sigh.
“I’ll go put him in the bathroom.” Jax said and without thinking about it, she laid a brief hand on Reven’s chest as she passed him. She turned to glance back as she scooped up Wolfen and was pleased to see that he looked a little stunned.
Jax was feeling pretty smug about how she affected him until he turned his heated blue gaze on her. The promise of retribution in his eyes sent a shiver down her spine before she hurried into the bathroom.
She stood against the closed bathroom door with the puppy in her arms and breathed deeply to calm her suddenly erratic pulse. When she opened her eyes, she stared straight into her own smiling face in the mirror over the sink.
“Your daddy is pretty potent little guy.” Jax whispered to the squirming puppy before she set him down on the floor to play with his toys.
Unwilling to go back out there right now until she calmed herself a little, she sat on the closed toilet lid and watched the puppy wag his tail and play with his toys.
When she had touched his chest, Jax could feel the heat and desire rise in him. She had felt her energy pull towards his and the sparks that occurred as she had run her hand across him. Damn if the heat and desire hadn’t crashed through her as well, she thought with a sigh.
“Jax? Is he ok?” Reven called from outside the bathroom door, shaking her from her musings.
“Yeah, yeah he’s fine. I was just making sure he had his toys.” Jax lied, irritated that he’d interrupted her thoughts.
Her beast, Ritan, screamed ‘hypocrite’ in her mind, reminding her that she had broken another of the hybrid code rules by lying to him. She didn’t want to think about it right now.
Jax flung open the door and was a little surprised to see Reven standing right outside. The hallway was certainly not big enough for the two of them with his wide shoulders crowding it, and Jax tried to avoid touching him as she turned to the living room and the girls.
Reven was hot on her heels and right before she entered the living room, she felt his hand between her shoulder blades. The heat from his hand and the sparking of their combined energy distracted her until he trailed his fingers down her spine.
Jax gasped and shuddered at the goose bumps and chills that rushed up and down her spine at his intentionally erotic touch. She grasped the corner of the wall for support before turning accusing eyes to him.
Reven didn’t bother to disguise the raging desire she’d caused to rise in him and made no apologies for teaching her a lesson about teasing him at an inappropriate time.
Jax narrowed her eyes at him. Between his energy, his attitude and that look on his face she knew that he was trying to beat her at her own game. It didn’t start out being a game to her though, more of a curiosity.
However, she had no reason to defend herself to the irritating oaf either, and if he wanted to turn this into a game, then she’d be the one to school him; she thought with a challenging grin at him.
Oh shit! Reven thought as he shook his head at her. “No, no, no! Jax don’t do this!” Reven said as he reached for the crazy woman.
Damn if she didn’t twirl out of his grasp and head into the living room with the girls. Reven took a deep breath and adjusted himself in his pants. He’d had no intention of giving her the impression that this was a game. All he wanted to do was impress upon her that giving him a raging hard on in front of the kids wasn’t a good idea.
Leave it to Jax to assume that he’d issued a challenge, Reven thought with a sigh. He didn’t need the gift of future sight to know that this was going to be the most miserable day of his life. It was hard enough to control his desire and need for her before they had mated, now that he’d had a taste of his beautiful mate, he wasn’t sure he would be able to stop.
“Come on Reven! We’re waiting on you!” Jax cheerfully called from the living room.
Reven could hear the taunt in her voice, as if daring him to accept her challenge. He knew nothing good would come of this. That Jax was expecting some kind of clear win in this little game, but he knew there would be no winner. Unless…
Reven tried to hide his smile as he turned the corner and entered the living room. He ignored the smug grin on Jax’s face and headed to the front door. He held it open as Melina ran out and Jax walked quickly passed him with Bayla, as if she thought he’d try to touch her again. Not yet, my beautiful mate, he thought to himself. Not yet.
Reven clicked the fob to unlock the doors on the SUV while he secured the front door. By the time he got to the vehicle, Jax already had the kids buckled inside. He laughed to himself at how she was making a concerted effort to avoid any more ‘chance’ opportunities to touch.
He had no idea what the rules of her game were, or even what it would take to win or lose. But it didn’t matter; he thought as he slid into the driver’s seat and drove to the headquarters building. He would win. He didn’t have a choice.
Reven sucked in a sharp breath when Jax ran her hand over his. The rush of erotic thoughts and feelings she projected to him through her energy nearly had him slam on the brakes. He yanked his hand away as if burned and glared at Jax.
He wasn’t the least bit fooled by the innocent look she tried to give him or the mouthed ‘sorry’. The mocking smirk on her face further killed any delusions of innocence. She was playing dirty, and he wasn’t amused.
Feeling a little gun shy, Reven kept his peripheral vision on watching her hands until he pulled into the parking lot of the building. He’d no sooner put the vehicle in park before he launched himself out of the vehicle and opened the back door to get Bayla.
He watched warily as Jax calmly got out of her seat and shut her door. She waited until Melina got out and put an arm around the girl, leading her to the building.
With a grunt of irritation, that Bayla mimicked adorably, Reven stopped fumbling the buckle on her seat belt and finally pulled her free. He cuddled the baby to him as he shut the door and followed at a more sedate pace, giving himself a chance to clear his head. The woman was going to kill him; he thought with a groan.
He couldn’t play by her rules. Her rules were set up so that only she could win. He knew that from months of painful experience. She thought to flit around and drive him crazy as she teased then darted to safety. Her first mistake was thinking there was anywhere, on any world, that she would be safe from him; he thought.
Reven smiled at the babbling baby as he entered the building and watched his mate’s s
exy ass sway as she walked down the hallway with her arm around Melina.
No, there was nowhere she could hide now. She had played with their energy for only moments since their mating last night. He had been playing with energy his whole life, and she had no idea the power of the bond that came with mating. He’d had a thousand years of watching it first hand with Ivint and his mate, Sacara.
It was time to create his own rules. Reven closed his eyes for a moment, concentrating on the newly formed energy strands. He focused carefully on a particular thought before looking intently at Jax and releasing it through the energy strand.
Direct hit! Reven thought as Jax stumbled slightly. He quickly looked down at Bayla’s smiling face as Jax stopped and turned to glare at him. His long stride quickly caught up to them, and he stopped and looked down at Jax with what he hoped was surprise.
“What? Why are we stopping?” Reven asked innocently, as Jax glared at him with narrowed eyes. When Jax didn’t answer, Reven looked behind him as if to see if there was someone else she was looking at besides him.
